2017 South Oakland Ducks

Ducks Win Two Straight, Set Up Rivalry Game Showdown with Oilers on Friday

2017 South Oakland Ducks, NABA, pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

The South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (9-4) defeated Pittsburgh D2, 5-1 in Banksville on Tuesday, and notched a wild come-from-behind, 7-6 victory over the Carrick Express at Spring Hill last night.

The wins move South Oakland into sole possession of second place behind the 9-1 South Side Eagles.

Re-enactment of Mike Koshzow’s triple last night in Spring Hill

On Monday South Oakland got a gem from starter Chuck Zuzak, (W, 2-1) who threw five shutout innings. Reliever Mike Annerino took over in the sixth, and allowed one unearned run on a throwing error after what appeared to be a game-ending pickoff play in the seventh.

Zuzak worked out of a bases loaded, one-out jam in the first with a double play ball, and D2 didn’t really threaten after that. South Oakland scored two in the fourth, and added three insurance runs in the sixth.

Morgan, Dover, Pulice, Gwin and Moore had RBI for the Ducks. Casale had two hits, and is on fire since his return from the DL. Maldonado kept the Ducks’ spirits up with lots of chatter and clapping, which may have rattled the D2 starter, and somehow did not lead to a D2 throwing at him.

Wednesday’s game vs. Carrick was vintage Pittsburgh NABA. I left after trading a page of our score book for a cigarette from one of the Express players. The game itself featured questionable umpiring, ejections, multiple three-run home runs, and several lead changes.

Opportunity for alternate Express unis

Carrick jumped out to an early lead off Ducks starter Ben Sorosky, but after a four run first, Sorosky settled in, and went four innings without allowing another run. Some guy on Carrick hit a three run homer with two outs in the opening frame. Carrick was up 4-0 after one.

The Ducks battled back. Mike Koshzow hit an opposite field, three-run home run, and added an acrobatic triple later in the game.

Carrick took a 5-4 lead in the sixth.

In the bottom of the sixth, pinch hitter Chris Heisler delivered a game tying RBI double, and Andy Nichols drove in what proved to be the game winning run with a two out, two-run double later in the inning off John Smiley’s kid, who was traded to the Reds for prospects after the game.

Jon Moore entered the game and tomb stoned the Express for the four out save.

Doc pitched 1 and 2/3 in the fifth and sixth, and earned the win, I think.

By all accounts, the plate ump had a rough night. Two guys were tossed in the bottom of the seventh for arguing balls and strikes. Carrick’s manager was pissed.

Ducks outfielder Brian Strom improves his 2017 managerial record to 1-1 and somehow got fourteen different Ducks into the game.

After a rough start to their season, the Express look rejuvenated. They are going to be a tough out in the playoffs. We play them once more in Carrick.

The Brendan Chartier Memorial Spring Hill Scooter Series continues Friday at 8:30 PM when the Ducks face the Hebrew Oilers (6-4) at historic Moore Park in Brookline.

quack.

 

 

 

Put A Spell On You. Ducks 7, Sorcerers 8

2017 South Oakland Ducks

Wexford scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning for a walk-off win over the South Oakland Ducks on Saturday.

The Sorcerers played tough, capitalized on the few mistakes we made and came through with timely hits.

We left a lot of guys on base and had some bad luck. The would be final out of the game, was a routine pop-up to our best player, who lost it in the sun, allowing the game tying run to score.

We win and lose as a team.

We needed to do more collectively to win this game. I needed to do more as a player and manager. We will get back at it Tuesday vs. D2.

quack.

Gameday 10: Ducks vs. Bandidos

2017 South Oakland Ducks, Gameday, pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (6-3)

vs

Bakery Square Bandidos (5-3)

9PM

Spring View Field

South Oakland looks to regain sole possession of third place with a win tonight vs Bakery Square. The Oilers (6-2) beat the Eagles (8-1) yesterday, setting up a potential log jam at the top of the division.

The Ducks are only two games out of first with two remaining against the Eagles, and two left against BIG OIL, but the rebooted Dirty Birds figure to be in the hunt down the stretch as well.

The Bandidos franchise won the A title in 2014 as the North AAmerican Lions. Then changed names, dropped some players, and won AA title two years ago as the Mon Valley Dirty Birds, then suffered through a dismal regular season in AAA that culminated in a playoff win over Ken Cool’s brother’s team in the playoffs. Then they split with half the team joining Clinton, and the other half starting the Bakery Square team. It would be funny if they won the title this year and had to keep repeating the process.

The Bandidos franchise arc is one that we may see play out again in the current league format that has the AA winners move up into AAA.

In 2014, the Ducks dropped from AA to A. That season the Rebels, Eagles and Devils moved up. They went a combined 19-52 that season, with the Rebels posting the best record at 9-15. South Oakland went 17-6, and that was the most fun I’ve had playing baseball.

The Devils allowed 196 runs that season. The Bulldogs, who finished first in the regular season, allowed 66.

in 2015, we went to three divisions, which allowed the WOLFPACK to skate by without having to play against the AAA teams after winning the A title over the North American Lions after the Beedle Park incident in Jefferson Hills allowed West View to reschedule the semi-final against the Ducks which lead to one of the most frustrating playoff losses in Ducks history. The following season most of AAA dropped down to AA, leaving 5 teams in the top division, and forcing inter-league play, which was pretty shitty.

In 2016 the Dirty Birds moved up and finished 6-18, which brings us back to this season, and the Rebels in AAA, who should stay there so we don’t have to play on that shit field at 6pm on a weekday.

So that’s some stuff that happened in our league over the last few years.

I hope it doesn’t rain tonight.

Bad News for the Dirty Birds

New Pittsburgh. Ducks 2, Bandidos 3

2017 South Oakland Ducks, pittsburgh NABA, Recap, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland of the North Side dropped a heartbreaker, on a walk off throwing error Sunday morning in Bakery Square.

Randy Patten threw seven solid innings, but took the hard luck loss. The Ducks dropped to 6-3 on the season, and the Bandidos (5-3) pulled even with the third place Ducks in the loss column with the win.

The two teams play again this Wednesday night in Spring Hill.

Sorry for the shitty recap. I wasn’t at the game.

quack.

 

I Heard Something Pop. Ducks 12, D2 9

2017 South Oakland Ducks

Ducks Catcher, Tom Pulice went 4 for 4 with two doubles and 3 RBI, and starting pitcher, Ben Sorosky (W, 2-0) gutted out four innings on the mound to lead South Oakland of the North Side (6-2) past Pittsburgh D2 (0-4) last night in Spring Hill.

D2 entered the game having gone scoreless in their first three contests. They scored their first run off Sorosky in the first on a bases loaded walk.

The Ducks took an 11-2 lead after four innings. Then D2 got to South Oakland’s middle relievers for five in the fifth, and two in the sixth before Brian Strom entered the game with the tying runs on second and third with  one out in the sixth. Strom struck out some guy and got Walking in Memphis to pop out to first to end the threat.

Ducks outfielder Lonnie Petril’s hamstring exploded on an infield single. Get well, Lonnie. (Let me know if you need me to erase this for workman’s comp purposes)

Dover drove in a run in the Ducks half of the inning.

Then in the seventh:

In the seventh, Ducks closer Jon Moore retired the side in order for his first save of the season.

Notes:

Big game by Strom in his first game back. Great catch against the wall with the bases loaded in the fourth, then worked out of a jam on the mound to get us to the seventh with the lead.

Offense looks pretty good through 8 games

Good fight by D2 to take advantage of some opportunities and get back into the game after being down early. I’m surprised they have not won yet.

From The Lawnmower Man IMDB page

A scientist performs experiments involving intelligence enhancing drugs and virtual reality on a simple-minded gardener. He puts the gardener on an extensive schedule of learning, and quickly he becomes brilliant. But at this point the gardener has a few ideas of his own on how the research should continue, and the scientist begins losing control of his experiments.

Tough four game stretch coming up: Dirty Birds (Bandidos) twice, then the Oilers and Eagles. We will get a good idea of where we are at relative to the rest of the league after these games.

South Oakland’s next game is this Sunday, 9:30AM at Mellon Park vs. the Dirty Birds.

Their website makes this blog look like garbage.

quack.

Veteran Savvy. Ducks 8, Sorcerers 3

2017 South Oakland Ducks

South Oakland of the North Side defeated expansion Wexford 8-3, behind another strong outing from starting pitcher Randy Patton (W, 3-1). Patton pitched five solid innings, recording seven strikeouts, before giving way to Zuzack in the sixth. Zuzack pitched two shutout innings, striking out the last five Sorcerers he faced.

The Ducks sent nine men to the plate in the first inning, jumping out to a 5-0 lead. highlighted by a Joe Graff hbp before Matt Swetz collected his first RBI of the season with a line drive up the middle, and Sorosky drove in the ducks fifth run on a blistering ground ball to the right side.

South Oakland scored three more in the third on a Lombardi triple that drove in two runs, followed by a throwing error on a double steal that allowed him to score from third.

Despite trailing 8-0, the Sorcerers had some tricks up their sleeves as they conjured up two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth. But ultimately, they ran out of magic, falling to the Ducks in their inaugural NABA game.

Another big win without several starters

We are old

Wexford will win some games this year, and they have the best uniforms in the league

South Oakland next plays on Wednesday night, 9PM at Springview Field vs. Pittsburgh D2.

Gameday 7: Ducks at Sorcerers

2017 South Oakland Ducks, Gameday, pittsburgh NABA

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

at

Wexford Sorcerers (0-0)

12pm

North Allegheny Intermediate High School

South Oakland looks to rebound after a tough loss to the Eagles when they take on Wexford today at noon.

Wexford hasn’t played a game yet, and they’re new to the league this year. Who knows what’s up with this team. I think they’re young. Their coach seems like a decent guy from the league meetings.

If you have the balls to name your team the Sorcerers, you’re either going to go undefeated, or be absolutely terrible. I don’t think there’s much of a middle ground in this regard.

Here’s what comes up when you google sorcerers baseball.

Lots of disney hats and a few girls softball teams. Also a picture of this game:

Who’s still got a Dreamcast? I remember this game for  Sega Genesis. Solid non-EA Sports baseball action. So thank you, Wexford, for allowing me to find this image. Sweet green helmet and batting gloves on that guy, love the two-stripe cleats that don’t violate the Adidas trademark.

Here’s a thirty minute video of this game on youtube:

Bad News for the Sorcerers

Dental Dammed. Ducks 4, Eagles 5

2017 South Oakland Ducks, NABA, pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

This post is brought to you by Ondek Bats.

South Oakland (4-2) dropped a nail biter to the South Side Eagles, 5-4 in Spring Hill Wednesday night. With the win, the Eagles (4-0) retain sole possession of first place.

South Side scored a run in the first off a couple walks, and a single.

The Ducks took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth but the Eagles tied the game in the top of the fifth, and added runs in the sixth and seventh.

Sorosky struck out seven batters and was cruising until he ran out of gas and walked some guys. Nichols gave us three solid innings in relief. He escaped a bases loaded one out jam in the fifth, and kept the game close. There was a suspect balk call that I didn’t really see which moved a guy to second, and he scored on a single.

Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh, the Ducks had runners on second and third with no outs, but could only plate one run. The Eagles relief pitcher worked out of trouble, and they threw out two guys at home.

It was a well played game by two evenly matched teams.

We ran ourselves out of a couple innings, but I’d rather we make aggressive mistakes than passive ones. Still, we need to pick our spots a little better.

Our pitching was good enough to win, and we had a shot at it in the seventh. Frustrating way to lose.

I like how we’ve battled in the first six games. 4-2 at the quarter mark is pretty good.

South Oakland’s next game is Saturday at 12pm. vs. the mysterious Wexford Sorcerers at North Allegheny Intermediate School.

quack.