Author: mightyeskimo

Game Day 10 and 11: Ducks at Cherokee

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (2-0, 3-4-3)

at

Clinton Cherokee (0-0, 5-2)

1pm and 3:30pm

Middle of Nowhere (seriously, according to this yahoo maps link, we’re playing in a parallel dimension)

In this alternate universe, all teams want pictures like this taken of their summer league teams.

They look like they mean business – and check out the sick piping!

This is probably just some art students’ school project, but whatever.

If Ken Cool’s brother had stuck around we might have Ducks pics like this: I’d want a silhouette  of Guth holding up that cigar on top of the Cool’s picnic table right before he blacked out and fell on the driveway after we won the championship, imposed in front of Dan Marino field in Oakland with a drug deal taking place in the background and some little kids playing with a broken 40 bottle.

Sadly, me and Fago’s inability to provide our team with posters of ourselves led to the loss of some quality players.

Our pitching situation is gonna be touch and go, but we should have most of our lineup.

Bad News for the Cherokee.

Stats Posted

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

Stats are up for all games but the Express game in which everyone got on base at least twice.

Thanks, Kenny.

Ken Cool leads the team in most offensive categories.

Doubleheader vs. Clinton Tomorrow starting at 1pm.

Maybe I’ll put together some kind of incredibly literary write up for it, but probably not today. At some point the split will be addressed on here for the 30 or so readers we get regularly, but I’m not sure how I want to approach it.

We’re playing good baseball recently, and we need to keep that momentum going.

Ducks Win

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland 6, Brookline 3

We’re all part of the tribe.

Ducks pitcher James Fago went seven innings, allowing 3 hits, and 2ER, while striking out several and walking few.

The Ducks scored 2 in the top of the first on  TJ Morgan’s bases loaded infield single. On the play Black Sox third baseman Kenny Powers made a spectacular barehanded catch on a well-placed roller down the line but could not throw out the hustling Morgan. Gwin scored from second on the play also hustling.

Brookline answered in the top of the third when with two outs their two hitter fouled off a pitch that hit his hand, then after he struck out swinging, Ducks catcher, Ben Gwin, misplayed the pitch in the dirt and hit the kid in the hand again with his throw to first. He would later score on a ball up the middle, on the play, however, Ducks second baseman Ken Cool hit the kid in the back.

Later in the inning, Kenny Powers scored after he stole second but was nearly thrown out.  Ball beat him there, but he slid around the tag.

Fago handled himself with composure and calmness in the dugout after the Ducks allowed 2 unearned runs in the inning. It was as if it didn’t phase him.

The game remained tied.

We caught the second baseman in a rundown between third and home in the top of the fourth when we executed the first and third play we’ve been working on all season. He was out.

To end the top of the fifth, Kenny Powers was thrown out at home at one point trying to tag on a shallow fly to center.

in the bottom of the inning  Brian Strom recorded his first hit as a Duck, after we saved the ball for enshrinement on his mantle, Strom  stole second and advanced to third on a groundout by Gwin. Strom scored on a Fago single.

The Sox starter was pissed. He was pulled for another lefty.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Ducks scored three runs on a walk, 2 bunt singles another infield hit and a linedrive to right by Ken Cool’s friend Brian.

The Sox scored a run in the top of the seventh, on a double by Florian and a single by their really intense catcher.

Fago struck out Goldie swinging to end the game.

***

South Oakland is 2 – 0 in division play heading into their Saturday double header against Ken Cool’s brother’s team.

We are in first place.

quack, quack.

GameDay 9: Ducks vs Black Sox

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

Ducks vs Black Sox

9pm

SpringView Field

 

Trying to write any more about this rivalry makes me want to puke. It’s all redundant at this point. Brookline is always tough. Somehow, we always seem to absorb players from teams who have a history of fighting (whether in the stands on the field or whatever) during games against those guys. The Hurricanes beat the Sox to win the ’09 title, after the Sox beat the Owlz in the semis. We beat the Sox to win the ’10 championship. I think they’ve got some big time pitching this year. Our field is so slanted towards first base after all that rain, it’s  a joke. I wonder what the all time Sox-Ducks series is at. I think Kenny and I are the only two players who’ve been around for all those games.

We’ve got to keep our momentum going within the division. We’ve already allowed more runs than we did all of last season. We need to reverse this trend. Defense and pitching need to be more consistent. If so, we can play with anybody.

Bad News for the Black Sox

Ducks Win

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball, pittsburgh NABA

South Oakland 7, Cranberry 3

Paul Emig (1-o-1) earned his first win as a Duck since 2007, allowing 2 runs over 4 innings, to help South Oakland (1-0, 2-4-2) open divisional play with a  7 – 3 win over Cranberry (0-1, 2-5).

Trailing 2-0 in the top of the fifth, Fetter led off the inning with a double, followed by four singles by Roberts, Emig, Ken Cool, and Gwin to put South Oakland up 3-2. With two out in the inning, Swartwout doubled in Ken Cool to give the Ducks a 4-2 lead.

In the Sixth Fetter singled to lead off the inning, and advanced to third on a wild pitch and a fielder’s choice (not sure in which order, the book is a mess). Fetter would score on an overthrow back to the pitcher.

In the seventh, Ken Cool and Gwin hit back to back singles to start the inning,  Ken Cool scored on Swartwout’s second double of the game, Gwin scored on an rbi groundout by Houseman.

In the bottom of the 6th, TJ Morgan and Houseman teamed up to throw a guy out at third attempting to stretch a double into a triple.

Fetter may have picked up a three-inning save, allowing 1 unearned run in relief. Not sure if that’s possible.

We really needed this one.

South Oakland will face the Black Sox wed night, 9pm at SpringView Field.

Quack

Ducks and the Sopranos

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

I started  watching the Sopranos from the beginning a while back, and i’m on the second to last episode.

The Ducks did so much to add sympathy initially to Tony’s character. Very well done.

South Oakland opens division play at Cranberry, Sunday, 2pm.

quack