Back in the day, the Knights were stacked, but could never get over the hump: Barchie, Fago, Guthrie, Cool, Sorosky, Tremel, a bunch of kids from the Rakers, they were solid and constantly took the last playoff spot from the Ducks. They played in a historic two-site playoff game involving rain delays and power outages in what amounted to a three day loss to the eventual league champion, Confederacy. They were the Orioles for a season, causing my dyslexic brain to hemorrhage whenever i had to differentiate between them and the Oilers (Phantoms, Pythons was also a toughie).
The Knights are one of 16 teams that has folded (in this case they’ve re-manifested as an expansion team ) changed names, or merged with another team since 2003.
The original Knights lineage since ’05:
Knights-Orioles-Knights-Rakers and _wlz-Gray Bats-Militia.
It’s not easy to keep a team going for eight seasons.
We should all take some pride in playing on the only team that’s been around since the league’s inception.
(Ducks all-time record now stands at 75-80-2, but are in the process of recording a third straight winning season.)
The 2010 Knights’ lone win is against 18A Division leader, Big Oil.
Since James Fago and James Tessyier have joined South Oakland prior to the Oilers game, the Ducks have won five straight.
The South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (9-5, 3-1) cruised to victory over the North Shore Titans (0-10) by a score of 10-0.
After an eight-run top of the first for the Ducks, neither team seemed very interested. The exception being Ducks starter, Pitcher of the Year candidate, James Tessyier, who has allowed one earned run in 18+, and has pitched eleven consecutive shutout innings while playing a significant factor in the Ducks resurgence this season.
Tessyier (3-0, 0.38 ERA) pitched a complete game three-hit shutout striking out nine, walking none.
The Titans were half dead when we got there, and played like a blind man in a sauna: sweatily and with brail or something.
Their catcher almost died, literally, I think, of heat stroke or exhaustion; I suppose we can laugh about it now that he lived and played a decent game at first.
The replacement catcher ate sandwiches between innings and the game didn’t end till midnight.
What a shit-show.
I don’t know a lot about pitching, but the best coaches I’ve had always told our pitchers to work fast: Get the ball and get on the rubber.
It was like watching miniature giraffes fight over a bottle of Boone’s Farm out there.
The Titans can hit a little but defensively, several balls were misplayed- like a blind man in a sauna.
Kenny Cool coached his brother Rob to a 2 for 3, 4 RBI day at the plate that included a bases-clearing triple and a double.
DeFilippo (2), McCray, Baumgartel, and Fago had RBI for South Oakland.
Player of the Game: Kenny Cool.
South Oakland has won five straight, outscoring opponents 48-7 during the streak.
The Ducks take on the Knights at Spring View Field, Monday night at 9pm.
The Black Sox game can’t get here soon enough:
Gwin vs. Powers
Captain America vs. The Hulk
Les Gies vs. Randy
Rob Cool vs. that loud guy in the stands
Abe Lincoln vs. Vampires
Fago vs. Chalfin.
Ducks vs. Black Sox
Thick with sub-plotz.
First place and a shot at the AA title is on the line.
I know nothing about this team except they are in the A division and were recently swept by the Maulers.
We’re catching them on the second half of a double header. They play the Maulers in game 1.
The Militia are facing federal prosecution for importing illegal Canadian immigrants and have lost two of three to the Sox and three straight division games.
The Black Sox are now in first place in the Wales Conference. If things play out as the rankings dictate, Brookline and South Oakland will play next Monday for first place and both teams will have won several games in a row.
Big Oil beat the Bulldogs 2-1 and squeaked out two, one-run victories over the Knights. I don’t even know what to deduce from that except what is already common knowledge league-wide.
They’ve got nothing without that lefty and they cheat.
THE HURRICANES! haven’t played the Bulldogs yet, but they lost by more than one to the Oilers, so it’s fair to say the Bulldogs will beat them, although, the HURRICANES!!!! Beat the Ducks by 7 and 10 runs respectively, and the Bulldogs only beat us by 4 so maybe they will play to a scoreless tie?
Either way, the Oilers should just be in the Campbell Conference and the Militia are basically fucked in the division race unless they sweep the Eagles, take the last two from the Ducks, and get help.
They will be officially eliminated if we beat them once more. They’d be able to finish no better than 5-4 in the division, and will lose tie-breakers to both the ducks and sox.
It’s shaping up to be a two-horse race for the division.
We will need the Eagles to beat the Black Sox if we don’t take the last two games from them.
Bring on Kenny Powers.
That’s gonna be some intense ball.
Not that we’re overlooking any opponents; that’s how losses happen.
The Ducks have been bi-polar this season: losing streaks of 3 and 2 preclude two 4-game win streaks.
Manic Depression.
There have been two waves of new player arrivals this summer. The first to start the season and the second after the Warriors game. In both instances it took some time for the flock to come together, for that oft-spoke-of, intangible, all-important “Chemistry” to manifest, to become something palpable and real we could wrap our wings around.
We’re beating on teams now, two consecutive ten-run rule victories over division opponents.
Last night the hitting was contagious, the defense was steady and Mark [Captain “Last thoughts on Woody” America] Guthrie turned in another solid outing to raise his record to 2-2, and lower his era to 1.37.
TC Jones recorded an RBI single in the 4th and is batting 1.000 against Adam Smith for his career, while striking him out once in the first Ducks/Eagles’ game this season.
The grudge match, which probably means more to me than either of those two, makes for solid blog post material.
Essentially, Smith left the Ducks because he disagreed with TC’s managerial style.
Smith has not defeated the Ducks since leaving the team, the Eagles are 4-7, while the Ducks are 8-5 and in first place.
The Ducks have outscored the Eagles 24-5 over two games.
TC Jones has the 3rd highest winning percentage over two years of any Pittsburgh NABA manager.: 14-12-2, and then 16-8 for a 30-20-2 record.
The coach with the highest winning percentage over two consecutive seasons is also a Duck.
No idea who #2 is, and I’m not going to look it up.
My all-time record as coach is not good, but it’s improving.
The Ducks play the Titans on Sunday at 5:30 at Ohio River Blvd. Field, the Knights at 9pm next Monday night, then, after a week off, Ducks vs. B-Sox at the Pond.
Bring on Kenny Powers and the Fightin’ Florians.
6/28 9pm at Spring View.
That’s the game we have to have.
Without further hyperbole, the recap:
Guthrie allowed the only Eagles hit of the game with two outs in the first. Then, after an error, he K’d Adam Smith to end the inning.
South Oakland sent ten batters to the plate in the first:
Five walks surrounded DeFilippo’s rbi single, Nick Homa followed Chris Wojton’s rbi base-on-balls with a two run single.
5-0 Ducks after 1.
Guthrie puts the Eagles down in order in the second, and the Ducks sent nine batters to the plate in the second.
Mike Duffy is batting .437; he led the inning off with a single, stole second and scored on DeFilippo’s second hit of the game.
Nick Berdine followed Flip’s single with an RBI triple to right, and scored on Lipp’s single to center.
Adam Smith entered the game as a relief pitcher at some point.
8-0 Ducks after 2.
Guthrie faced three batters in the 3rd.
Gwin finally got a hit, singling to lead off the bottom of the 3rd, the first of two on the night for the arthritic catcher.
Duffy followed with a single, Rob Cool did not get a hit, then Casale hit one up the middle which was thrown away by Smith, loading the bases for Defilippo who drove in another run with his third hit on the game.
Then TC “Boyle” Jones stepped to the plate with Casale on third and Drop City’ed a 1-2 pitch into left for the Ducks’ 11th run.
11-0 Ducks after 3.
The Eagles were Baconated in the top of the 4th.
The Ducks added 3 more runs in the bottom half: “Slick” Rick Whalen and Murphy walked to open the inning, Gwin singled to right, and Whalen scored on a throwing error, that I probably credited as an RBI for myself because I have no respect for the sanctity of pgh naba baseball.
Duffy singled in Murphy.
Guthrie walked to load the bases. Flip drove in Gwin with a fielder’s choice.
After the storm, and three rain outs since a 10-5 win over division bird rival South Side Eagles, the South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (7-5, 2-1) claimed an early hold on first place in the Wales Conference with a brutal, 11-1 disarming of the Michigan Militia Monday night at Springview Field.
Ducks pitcher, James Tessyier earned a complete game victory, striking out 7 in six innings of work.
***
The Baseball gods shit on the Militia for not using this sweet “M” logo on their caps,
allowing the natural bad-ass spin-off of these uni’s and bathing in the delicious irony of using a non-existing Canadian team’s design as a template for their American Patriotic team of Awesomeness while paying backhanded homage to the two dissolved teams from whence the Militia came and the twilight of Pete Roses’ career.
quackquackquackquack…
The Militia bombed the post office in the first inning, scrapping out a 1-0 lead off a lead-off double, an error, a past ball, a ground out and a homemade proximity mine made of roofing nails and propane.
The Ducks answered in the bottom half of the frame, with some excellent base runnig by center fielder Rob Cool.who walked, and stole third after a Tony Casale single, then Cool took home on a wild pitch.
Despite being the last player on the team without a hit, Cool finds ways to help the team.
1-1 after 1.
Tessyier retired the side in order in the top of the second, then the Ducks scored two when Gwin adn Murphy led off the inning with HBP, followed by a FC by Duffy.
Mike Cinefra drove in two with a two out single.
3-1 Ducks after 2.
Things got tricky in the 3rd.
The plate ump’s strike zone was tighter than any number of inappropriate metaphors.
The Militia’s fierce brand of urban guerilla warfare, had the Ducks cornered, lookng down the barrell of a homemade, plastic gun which can be smuggled through customs undetected – like in In the Line of Fire. They had those things, it was terrifying.
Militia Leutenant, and former Braves prospect, John Tremel was up with the bases loaded, and bazooka-ed a shot, ear-marked for the rightfield corner, but 1B Nick Berdine had other ideas.
Great hands.
The oh-my-gosh snag led to a double play to end the inning.
hands that heal…
The militia only had one more baserunner past first for the rest of the game. Berdine’s catch was pivotal.
Sorosky struck out on a high fastball and was hit in the sack like five times at second.
This pic came up when i googled "militia."
Berdine added two RBI and a stolen base in the bottom of the 3rd.
5-1 after 3
in the fourth, the Ducks scored four more, putting the game into blow-out territory.
Tim Lipp, Anthony DeFilippo and Rob Cool had RBI.
Mark Guthrie scored in the fifth.
Alex Harsh singled, stole second and scored on Tony Casale’s game-ending single in the sixth.
11-1 Ducks.
Game.
South Oakland plays the Eagles at 9pm, Monday night at Springview.
11-0 Ducks after 3.
and bathing in the delicious irony of using a non-existing Canadian team’s design as a template for their American Patriotic team of Awesomeness while paying backhanded homage to the two dissolved teams from whence the Militia came and the twilight of Pete Roses’ career.
South Oakland Ducks Baseball 