Express Yourself. Ducks Win: 4-3

2016 South Oakland Ducks, Ducks win, pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland of the North Side (3-2) beat the Carrick Express (2-2) by a score of 4-3, behind a strong start by ageless wonder, Brian Strom and a game winning RBI by Andy Nichols in Spring Hill last night.

The Ducks lead 3-0 going into the top of the seventh, then Carrick tied it after four walks, a single and two ground outs.

Then a day after losing on a walk-off single to the Oilers, South Oakland came back and won in the seventh after Mike Brandt singled, to lead off the inning and pinch runner Musisko advanced to second on a ground out and scored on Nichols ground ball that was misplayed by Carrick’s short stop.

The game marked Ben Sorosky’s first win as Ducks interim manager.

South Oakland’s next game is this Saturday 12pm at Herschel Field against the Eagles

Let it Bleed. Ducks Lose 3-2

2016 South Oakland Ducks, pittsburgh NABA, Recap

South Oakland lead 2-1 going into the bottom of the seventh. With one out, BIG OIL DONT YOU LOVE THE SONG YMCA IT IS AWSOME I SAID YOUNG MAN SOMETHING I SAID YOUNG MAN SOMETHING BA BO BABA YMCAA

My daughter got ahold of my laptop there, I think I’ll just leave her work. An ode to the village people, mid-blog.

So then, with one out BIG OIL drew two walks, then hit a double down the line to tie the score, then after an intentional walk to load the bases, some guy hit a game winning walk-off to right center over a drawn in outfield.

Morgan drove in a run in the first and Moore had an RBI double for the Ducks. Zuzack pitched five strong innings and Musisko pitched a scoreless sixth.

The Oilers have a good lineup. If their pitching holds, they will be tough to beat.

If the Oilers take two of three from us this year, I’ll buy their manager a drink at

Despite this loss, we have a good team and we’re coming together quicker than last season. Chemistry is a tricky thing, especially in baseball since it is based so much on individual match-ups. I feel like we will rally after this tough loss. How we come out tomorrow will be telling.

South Oakland plays next tomorrow night, 9PM at Spring Hill vs. the Carrick Express. Strom and Sorosky are in charge.

quack

Ducks Win. South Oakland 9, West View 6

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

South Oakland improved its record to 2-1, defeating the WOLFPACK (2-2) 9-6 in Spring Hill last night. Ducks starter, Chuck Zuzack (1-1) pitched four innings, scattering 9 hits, striking out 4. Catcher, Brandon Chartier went 3-for-3 with a walk, double and 2RBI and Andy Nichols went 2-for-2 with an RBI double and notched his first save of the season in relief.

The game was back and forth all night, with West View scoring two runs in the top of the first. The Ducks tied the game in the bottom of the second when Zuzack drove in Chartier with an RBI E6 and Sorosky scored on Nichols walk.

The WOLFPACK scored two more in the top of the third, and the Ducks answered with another two runs in the bottom of the third on Chartier’s RBI double. West View added one in the top of the fourth and the Ducks took the lead in the bottom half of the inning on two singles, an error and a walk.

The Ducks added one run in the fifth and two in the sixth. Musisko entered the game for Zuzack in the fifth and allowed one run in two innings of work, before Nichols recorded the save in the seventh.

***

I hope their second baseman’s leg is OK. He hurt it trying to make a sliding stop on a ball up the middle and it looked like his knee stuck and he had to be helped off the field. It’s terrible how much better shape the East End fields are in than Spring View. We need the gentrification to spread to Spring Hill and get some yuppie youth league playing there, and maybe that will change. We’ve been trying to find a better field for years, and haven’t been able to since the Oilers snagged Mellon out from under us in the great Ciccone defection of 2015.

This was a big win over a good team. We battled. Erasing 3 different West View leads before they ran out of arms. We also had a lot of good at bats and made them throw a lot of pitches. Last season we dropped a few winnable games early while management figured out where everyone fit, so far we’ve avoided that.

Next game is Tuesday, 6:45 at Hebrew Oilers in Shady Side.

quack

Game Day 3: Ducks vs. WOLFPACK

2016 South Oakland Ducks, NABA, pittsburgh NABA

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (1-1)

vs.

West View Wolfpack (2-1)

9pm

Spring View Field

South Oakland takes on West View at home tonight at 9pm. The WOLFPACK played three games over the weekend, including an early season split-double header. They split with the Eagles and beat Cranberry. They are always tough to play against and they travel well. This would be a big early season win over one of the top teams in the league and should give us a good idea of where we stand early on.

Bad News for the WOLFPACK

Ducks Split Weekend Series. Face WOLFPACK in Home Opener Wednesday

2016 South Oakland Ducks, Ducks win, NABA, pittsburgh NABA, Recap

South Oakland lost 9-4 to the Devils on Saturday. The game was 2-1 Devils in the third, then the Ducks relief pitching allowed 7 runs in two frames. The Ducks battled back to score three in the top of the seventh, but it was too little too late. The Ducks had the bases loaded for Tuomisto, trailing 2-0 in the 3rd, and he hit a deep line drive to left, but Huber made a nice catch for the Devils to end the threat. Huber later missed one while playing catcher that hit the ump in the balls.

Our best player was the kid we called up from single A. He went 2-for-3 stole 4 bases and scored twice. Ducks Pitcher Chuck Zuzak had a strong start, allowing 1 earned over 4 innings. Reliever Gary Musiko cleaned up the mess in the bottom of the sixth, striking out the last batter of the inning after allowing a single and a walk.

Overall not as bad a performance as the score might indicate.

The Ducks bounced back on Sunday to beat Cranberry 7-5 in Cranberry. South Oakland had RBI from DJ Dover and Jon Moore went 3-for-3. TJ Morgan went first to third on a single to right. Cranberry scored 3 in the bottom of the seventh to make it close.

The Ducks bullpen has been shaky, but when Andy Nichols and Brian Strom return from injury, it will help. If Moore and Sorosky can give us some innings we will be in great shape going forwards. Hard to say if we have no depth or great depth on the mound at this point. There’s a lot up in the air.

South Oakland will face the WOLFPACK Wed night at home. The schedule still says 8:30 so plan on that start time. However, there is a chance we will get pushed back by youth league.

quack

Game Day 1: Ducks vs Eagles

2016 South Oakland Ducks, Gameday, NABA, pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side

vs.

South Side Eagles

8:30pm

Springview Field

I trust everyone has been following the intense off-season training regimen put in place after last season, and that we will all be in mid-season form tonight.

South Oakland will start with four games in seven days. Of course, there’s a stretch from the end of May to mid-June where the Ducks play once a week. Fun scheduling quirk.

The Ducks added a few guys through the draft, and another pitcher off the street. Additionally, the team is in talks to bring back Ducks legend, infielder Andrew McCray, whose retired number 21 will still be worn by outfielder, TJ Morgan. The Commish might also make his long awaited debut in green and gold.

The Eagles upset the Ducks in the first round of the playoffs last year and then made a run to the semis, losing to the eventual champion Dirty Birds. South Oakland was without ace Doc Brown, who was busy saving the clock tower in Hill Valley.

We played the Eagles close in 3 regular season matches last year, but they beat us when it counted. Their manager is a solid guy. Really not much animosity here, considering they ended our season. Hopefully they’re coping with the tragic loss of Glenn Frey.

The start of every season brings optimism. The Ducks have added pitching depth, kept the core of last year’s team intact and look to make a run at the title again this year. Our lineup will produce runs and we will play solid defense. If our pitching holds, and our staff throws strikes, we can beat anyone. We still have some question marks, but we will figure something out. We really just need guys to throw strikes. Can’t stress that enough.

The best part of this season will be not driving five hours down route 51 to lose to Jefferson Hills by 13 runs and waste pitching in meaningless games.

So we will start this season on the night of a Pens playoff game, in cold weather at our field that will probably be in barely playable shape, with a few starters missing and one practice under our belt. Sounds like a recipe for domination.

Bad News for the Eagles

A Friendly Reminder

2016 South Oakland Ducks, NABA, pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

Ducks,

quack

Ducks Swim Into Playoffs

2015 South Oakland Ducks Baseball, NABA, pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South 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.

Ducks Win

2015 South Oakland Ducks Baseball, Ducks win, NABA, pittsburgh NABA

South 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.

WOLFPAAAAACK!!!

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.

The_Pack_Wolfpack_Party_cover

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 Win: South Oakland 12, Cranberry 11

2015 South Oakland Ducks Baseball, Ducks win, pittsburgh NABA

South Oakland snapped a two-game losing streak Monday night at Magee Field, when Brandon Culp capped a two run seventh with a walk-off single to center.

The Ducks lead 2-0 after two innings on RBI from Dipaola and Koshzow.

Then Cranberry scored five in the top of the 3rd to take a three-run lead. Some guy hit one into the pool beyond the left field fence.

The Ducks answered, scoring three runs with two outs in bottom half of the inning when Cranberry’s catcher threw a ball into center on a double steal followed by TJ Morgan’s two-run single.

5-5 after three.

Cranberry scored two runs in the top of the fourth. In the bottom half of the inning the Ducks scored two to tie the game at seven when Casale singled, Gwin reached on an error, Culp walked and Koshzow singled home 2 runs.

7-7 after four.

At this point, the strike zone seemed to shrink, and there were a bunch of walks.

In the top of the fifth, Cranberry scored three runs on two hit batters, two walks, a single, and a fielder’s choice before Duck’s reliever Ben Sorosky induced an inning ending 1-6-3 double play.

In the bottom of the fifth, of course, the Ducks scored three runs to tie the game, again. Strom doubled to right to start the inning, and pinch runner Andy Nichols scored on a single by Galvanek. Then Tuomisto doubled in Galvanek, Gwin singled in Tuomisto.

10-10 after five.

Cranberry scored one in the top of the sixth. The Ducks were kept off the score board in the bottom of the inning.

11-10 after Six.

In the top of the seventh, Garrett Moore made possibly the catch of the year on a ball down the right field line. The defensive specialist/bullpen catcher/bench coach made a Full extension diving catch to rob a sure double. Ducks pitcher, Ben Phillips (3-0), then retired the side with a K and a ground out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, Tuomisto drew a one-out walk, Limbach singled, and Casale hit into a fielder’s choice to put runners on first and third with 2 outs for Gwin who singled in Tuomisto to tie the game. Then, with runners on first and second, Brandon Culp hit a 1-1 pitch back up the middle and Casale scored from second.

12-11 Ducks.

What a game.

We only made one error: a low throw on a pickoff attempt at first. There were several fine defensive plays by the Ducks on the evening. Naturally, our defense won us this 12-11 game. Cranberry (4-8) made four errors.

Ducks of note:

Strom: 2-for-2, 2B, BB

Koshzow: 2-for-2, 2B, 2BB, 2RBI, R

Culp: 3-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI, 2R

Casale: 2-for-4, BB, SB, 3R

South Oakland (3-4) next plays tomorrow night at the Duck Pond when they take on the first place Dirty Birds (10-3).

quack.

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