Ducks
vs
Eagles
10 AM
Stoneridge Field
Strom takes the hill for the Ducks in a win or go home cage match at Stoneridge.
Bad News for the Eagles.
Author: mightyeskimo
Ducks Swim Into Playoffs
2015 South Oakland Ducks Baseball, NABA, pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks BaseballSouth Oakland of the North Side has won three straight and four of their last five games to finish with a semi-respectable 10-11 record. The Ducks clinched the 5th seed with a 10-0 win over the Devils, last Sunday.
The Ducks have won their last two games by a combined score of 26-6.
Our game vs. the Bulldogs tonight was cancelled becuase the city gave our rain date to the youth league that plays at Spring Hill, didn’t tell anyone until this afternoon, and we couldn’t find an open field anywhere else tonight on such short notice.
I guess it’s fitting. The regular season was somewhat disappointing (as was the blog), but high points include beating the defending champion WOLFPACK 7-1, the wild, 13-12 walkoff win vs. Cranberry, and the walkoff come-from-behind 3-2 win against the Eagles last week.
We can make up for all that mediocrity with a couple wins this weekend.
Our lineup matches up well. We scored 121 runs in 21 games. If we keep playing sound defense, we can make a run at it, especially given the playoff format. We just have to get past the play-in game. The one and done round is intense.
Here is the bracket:
Here are the standings, pending the outcome of tonight’s Carrick / WOLFPACK! game
On Saturday morning we will play the Eagles, with whom we have split a pair of really close games this season.
If we lose to the Eagles our season is over.
If we win, we will play the winner of the Cranberry vs. Oilers Game immediately following the Eagles game.
I remember when the Eagles had a lefty shortstop for like 3 years and routinely beat us anyway. Bad times.
Hopefully we have 3 games next weekend for me to not recap.
quack.
So Much Rain
2015 South Oakland Ducks BaseballAs of now, the Ducks (8-11) have three games left. The Clinton and WOLFPACK games don’t look like they’re getting made up. I’ve not heard from the West View coach, and there isn’t an open day for the Cherokee game with the current make-up date log jam.
The rainout today actually helps us, as we would have been playing with 9 guys and without several starters. We should have just about everyone for the makeup game Monday.
Upcoming schedule:
South Oakland plays tomorrow at 11:30 vs West View Apache at Moore Park.
I don’t think I’ve ever played a day game at Moore Park.
We will make up today’s rainout vs. the Devils, 8:30 Monday night at Hershel Park.
We will finish the season against the Bulldogs, Wed, 9PM at Spring Hill. In a game where both teams will just try not to burn pitching before the playoffs. Mike Brandt is getting an appearance on the hill in this one.
The playoffs start next weekend.
Top 2 teams get a bye to the semis
3 seed gets a bye to the quarterfinal
4 vs. 9
5 vs. 8
6 vs. 7
We will likely finish 5th or 6th, setting up a first round matchup against one of the Devils, Oilers or Eagles. If we win that game, we will play either the 3 seed or the winner of the other first round matchup for a spot in the semi finals. I don’t know if the brackets re-seed every round or not.
A couple early season losses in winnable games really changed the complexion of things for us. We’d be playing for a bye this week if we had a couple bounces go our way. Those are the breaks, though, and when things aren’t going well, it feels like every close call and bad hop goes against you. We needed to do a better job with the stuff in our control and we didn’t. I managed us out of a few wins. But none of that really matters now. If our pitchers throw strikes and we make the routine plays, our lineup matches up well against anyone. We’ve won a few close games in the last couple weeks, despite a couple ugly losses. We can make a run at it. Maybe we’re due for a couple good breaks.
quack.
Ducks Win
2015 South Oakland Ducks Baseball, Ducks win, NABASouth Oakland beat the Warriors 5-4 on Wednesday night. The Ducks got strong pitching performances from Ben Phillips and Andy Nichols (W, 1-1). The Ducks had RBI from Culp. Tuomisto, Koshzow, Galvanek and Morgan.
The Ducks (5-8) play Saturday afternoon vs. The Senators (11-2). 12pm at Pie Traynor Field.
Ducks Lose
2015 South Oakland Ducks BaseballWe are losing to Single A teams now. This is not OK. No way I’m recapping this bullshit. Good game, Monsters. That guy pitched pretty well and kept it low.
South Oakland looks to right the ship Monday night against West End. 8:30pm at Herschel Park.
Game Day 12: Ducks at Monsters
2015 South Oakland Ducks BaseballSouth Oakland Ducks of the North Side (4-7)
vs.
Monongahela Monsters (4-7)
9PM
Moore Park
South Oakland looks to build on Wednesday’s win over the WOLFPACK in tonight’s inter-division game against the Monsters. This team played us tough last season. We need to bank wins against Single A teams, but we can’t look past these games. I hope they have their boom box with walk up music like last year.
We need our pitching staff to step up during this upcoming stretch where we have five games in eight days. Four of these games are against single A teams, and another against West End (0-6), who has struggled against AAA competition so far this season. If we take 4 of 5, we can get back to .500 while the teams ahead of us beat up on each other. After a rough start, I think we’re starting to come together.
Bad News For the Monsters.
Ducks Win
2015 South Oakland Ducks Baseball, Ducks win, NABA, pittsburgh NABASouth Oakland snapped a two-game losing streak last night, beating the WOLFPACK 7-1 at Spring Hill.
Pat Dipaola pitched a complete game for his first win as a Duck, improving his record to 1-2 on the season. He struck out 6 and walked 2.
The Ducks took a 1-0 lead in the first when Tuomisto singled in Gwin. Gwin has been hit by a pitch in every regular season game the Ducks have played against West View in the last two seasons.
West View didn’t really threaten until the third when they had a guy single and steal second with one out. Limbach threw him out trying to steal third, and Pat struck out the batter to end the inning.
In the bottom of the third, the Ducks added 2 more runs on four singles. After a fielder’s choice, Strom was by a pitch in the goin for his first RBI of the season. AFter a 2-for-2 night at the plate, Strom is batting .500 on the season.
The Ducks scored two more in the fourth when Nichols doubled to lead off the inning and scored on a throwing error by the thirdbaseman on Casale’s infield single. Casale was thrown out at second trying to advance. Then Gwin doubled and scored on another throwing error by the thirdbaseman.
That kid had a rough night. He’s normally really solid over there.
West View scored a run in the fifth, loading the bases on 2 one-out singles and a walk, and scoring on a single to right. Doc worked out of the jam, getting a wolf to ground into a 1-2 out out, and then inducing a bases loaded flyout to center.
It was during this inning one of their fans taunted Morgan in right. Because the league needs more old men who come to games and scream at the slightly younger men who are playing adult league baseball against their children or grandchildren. Great stuff.
In the bottom of the sixth, Morgan hit a one-out single to right, driving in 2 runs to put the game out of reach.
Their pitcher threw over 130 pitches. We had many good at bats and wore him down. We didn’t make any errors.
This was a much needed win against a good team. We crushed the defending champs a week after losing to the last place Devils. It’s been that kind of year, but things are looking up.
With the win, South Oakland imroves to 4-7 on the season. The Ducks next game is 9PM Saturday night, at Moore Park vs. the Monsters.
quack.
Ducks Lose.
2015 South Oakland Ducks BaseballWe’ve got to get this figured out. It’s never taken us this long to put it together.
When we pitch we don’t field, and when we field we don’t hit and when we hit we don’t pitch.
Bad news.
South Oakland (3-7) plays next on Wednesday 6/3 vs. the WOLFPACK. 9PM at Springview Field.
quack.
Ducks Lose
UncategorizedSouth Oakland dropped to 3-6 on the season with a 10-0 loss to the Black Sox Brookline Thursday Night. Ducks starter Brian Strom kept South Oakland in it for 4 1/3, allowing 4 runs, 2 of which were unearned. Then the wheels fell off in the bottom of the fifth after some errors and walks.
This was a very disappointing game.
South Oakland resumes league play Monday night at 8pm at Volunteer Field in Carrick against the Express.
Gameday 9: Ducks as Black Sox
2015 South Oakland Ducks Baseball
Tonight we write another chapter in the history of a storied Pittsburgh NABA rivalry. There are a lot of guys on our team that haven’t played Brookline, or haven’t played them as Ducks. But I think they’ll learn quick. In 2007, I think, The Sox split and the Rebels were formed. From the Rebels came the Gray Bats and then the Militia. This current group of Ducks has several former Militia players. Last year when we moved down to Single A, several Ducks went to the Black Sox. Former Ducks manager and current outfielder TJ Morgan played on the Sox last year, current Sock, James Fago won a title as a Duck and managed the team for a couple seasons. Skovron was a Duck for two seasons. In 2010, Mark Guthrie shut down the Sox in game three of the finals to capture the Ducks 2nd championship.
Arguably the two most successful franchises in league history, the Ducks and Black Sox have been playing each other for nine years. This is likely the last season for the Sox, before they disperse and Rob Cool starts stalking Fago and that lefty they have.
There’s something about playing in Moore Park, with the terrible lights, the cigarette smoke and spilled beer in the the concrete bleachers, trying not to break your ankle in that gully on the first base line that brings out the best in the Ducks.
Bad News for the Black Sox
South Oakland Ducks Baseball 