Talking to the guy who runs the youth league, I found out that apparently someone stole all the food and drinks out of the concession stand. It wasn’t broken into, so they likely had a key. Whoever did that probably took our balls.
I naturally blame PSL for anything that goes wrong at the field, aside from the scooter/baseball bat incident last night. We don’t have a key for the concession stand.
The Ducks (5-5) dropped their third straight game, losing 10-6 to the South Side Eagles (6-5) in Spring Hill last night. The Eagles scored seven in the top of the first, aided by a couple errors and a bad hop that hit our short stop in the face.
Then kids started throwing shit at us from the basketball court. After a scooter was tossed before the game, a metal bat flew through the air and nearly took out our bench coach. Police were called. Where are these kids parents? Rough times at the Duck Pond.
South Oakland battled back, bringing the score to 7-6 going into the seventh. But the Eagles scored three runs off two hits and two errors and put it out of reach. The Ducks had the winning run at the plate in the bottom half of the inning, when Mike Brandt hit a shot to left field that was caught for the final out.
Joe Graff recorded his first hit as a Duck, reaching base twice and scoring in his South Oakland debut. TJ Morgan legged out an infield hit.
We left the bases loaded three times and couldn’t get a big hit early to close the gap. The Eagles got those hits with men in scoring position. This was almost a mirror image of the game the two teams played in Elliot, where we beat the Eagles 10-6 after jumping out to an early 7-0 lead.
Someone stole our ball bucket.
All the teams in our division are really close. We’ve played every team and been in every game. We’re never going to be over-matched. I’m more optimistic about where we’re at in relation to the rest of the league in regards to making a playoff push than I am upset at the recent three-game skid and the shitty first inning last night. This is a deeper team than any we’ve had in the post-Fago era. We should play with a lot of confidence going forward.
Quack
After two tough losses and what feels like a month off, the Ducks (5-4) take on the Eagles (5-5) at Spring Hill tonight. The Ducks held on for a 10-7 win in the teams’ previous meeting.
South Side has the second best run differential in the league, but is only at .500. They score a lot of runs.
The standings are really tight right now. The Wolfpack are in first place at 6-3 and the next six teams are separated by 2 games. Cranberry is having a rough start at 1-6-1, but are only three back in the loss column.
This is a big game tonight as South Oakland looks to gain separation from the pack and stay in the hunt for a first round bye in the playoffs.
Bad News for the Eagles
First base is under water. Therefore, tonight’s game vs. Cranberry is postponed. Makeup date TBD.
South Oakland’s next game is 9PM Wednesday, May 25th vs the Eagles at Springview Field.
![Game Day [10]: Ducks (6-3) vs Bulldogs (3-3)](https://southoaklandducks.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/abraham-lincoln-antietam-battlefield2.jpg)
Bad News for the Rebels
West View 7, Ducks 1.
There were eight runs in this game, but we scored the prettiest one.
Next game is Wed. 9PM at Spring Hill.
quack
The first place Ducks look to win their fourth straight game when they face rival West View in what should be a close game between two evenly matched teams. South Oakland beat West View 9-6 early this season, but the WOLFPACK!!! are tough at home. They have a loyal and vocal fan base.
Some history for the new guys:
The WOLFPACK eliminated us from the playoffs in the 2014 semis in a series that turned when we were kicked off that field in Jefferson Hills over a permit dispute the weekend of some country music concert. In the rescheduled game, Strom was perfect through 3 innings before Donnie was thrown out at the plate and accidentally ran into their catcher. Benches cleared, as they do sometimes in adult league sports. They came back from a 1-0 series deficit to beat us in 3 games. Fetter blew out his knee and moved off the grid to southern California, never to be heard from again.
They are always tough. John Herb is one of the nicest fields we get to play on, and it’s always in great shape. This game will pit the veteran savvy of the Ducks against the youth of West View.
Bad News for the WOLFPACK
South Oakland of the North Side (5-2) won its third straight game, defeating the South Hills Devils (2-4) by a score of 15-5 Wednesday night in Spring Hill.
Doc Brown (2-0) relieved starter Brian Strom in the third and pitched two and a third scoreless innings for the victory. Strom (ND) allowed one earned run, struck out one and did not bean the Devils catcher.
Erik Tuomisto went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a single and 3RBI and made a spectacular diving catch with the bases loaded and two out with runners on in the fourth. Brian Strom, batting in the eleventh spot in the order, went 2-for-2 with 2RBI. Casale went 2-for-2 with a walk and 3 runs scored, and made the defensive play of the game. On what looked like a sure single up the middle, he made a diving stop and threw the runner out from his knees. Ducks outfielder TJ Morgan was hit by a pitch and threw out a guy at second.
South Oakland started slow, possibly still in shock that the field was in such good shape, and kicked the ball around in the first couple innings. The Devils jumped out to a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the third.
The Ducks scored two in the bottom of the third on an RBI ground out and a single. In the 4th inning, the Ducks scored three runs with two outs to take a 6-5 lead.
Then in the bottom of the fifth, South Oakland chased the South Hills starter, and scored 9 runs. The Ducks drew five straight walks off the Devils situational lefty, followed by a strikeout, a single, two more walks, another single and an almost grand slam by Tuomisto that lined into the ivy covering the centerfield wall for a double. The game ended on a bases loaded walk to Zuzak.
After playing seven games in 18 days, the Ducks are tied for first place with a record of 5-2. Aside from the yet-to-be-rescheduled Express rainout, the schedule thins out a little for the next month or so, and our pitching will be back from honey mooning/the disabled list. It’s early, but things are setting up well for us. I like our depth.
South Oakland’s next game is Sunday night, 8:30pm at John Herb Field vs. the WOLFPACK!!!
South Oakland of the North Side was rained out on Monday.
The Ducks next game is Wednesday night, 9PM at home vs. the Devils.
South Oakland Ducks Baseball 