South Oakland Ducks Baseball

Ducks Split Back to Back Games, Face Warriors Tonight

2023 South Oakland Ducks, Gameday, pittsburgh NABA, Recap, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland lost 5-1 to the first place Devils in Elliot Monday night. Four, first-inning errors led to a 4-0 deficit that the Ducks could not overcome. The rest of the game was played pretty tight. Randy Patton (L, 0-2) was the tough-luck loser despite throwing a good game, and keeping the Ducks within striking distance.

Box Score

The Ducks rebounded on Tuesday, beating Cranberry 2-1 in Spring Hill. South Oakland starter, Brandon Blackstone threw six innings of one-run ball and outdueled 2022 pitcher of the year, Jon Hart for the win. The Ducks scratched across two runs on six hits, and Luke Hudic struck out the side in the seventh for the save (1) to secure a much-needed victory.

Box Score

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

vs

Plum Warriors (3-5)

8:30pm

Springview Field

We lost 6-4 in 9 innings to the Warriors last week. It was a game we had a few chances to win, but made one too many mistakes. Tuesday’s win against arguably the best non-Duck pitcher in the league is the kind that can turn a season around, but we have to build on it. There are only two teams over .500 right now: the resurgent Devils, and the preseason favorite Bandidos. Everyone is pretty evenly matched. There is a lot of baseball left.

I like our chances at home tonight. We have Billy on the hill and Kenny Powers behind the plate.

Bad news for the Warriors

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Gameday 4: Ducks vs Warriors

2023 South Oakland Ducks, Gameday, NABA, pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (1-2)

vs

Plum Warriors (2-3)

8:30 pm

Springview Field

South Oakland and Plum both have a chance to get back to .500 tonight in Spring Hill. South Oakland is well rested coming off a rain out over the weekend while Plum will play its third game in three days. If tonight’s game comes down to bullpen depth, the Ducks should have the edge.

Tonight’s game is a rematch of the 2003 championship, which the Ducks won 9-8 or something. That contest saw the Warriors (then the Piranhas) field a lineup with several active college players including their starting pitcher who we did not see during the regular season. The roster rules were more relaxed then. The Ducks held off a late rally and won the inaugural Pittsburgh NABA championship as the five seed in the six team league.

The Warriors, led by all time stolen base leader, Justin Newman, have won 3 of 4 Single A titles and were forced to finally move up. They seem to be acclimating themselves fairly well with a handful of close wins scattered between lopsided losses. Tonight should be another exciting matchup. I like our chances playing at home with a rested pitching staff.

Bad News for the Warriors

Playoff Gameday 3: Ducks vs. Grizzlies

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

vs

Bauerstown Grizzlies (1-0)

9pm

Springview Field

South Oakland looks to even their semifinal series against the Grizzlies tonight at the Duck Pond. The Ducks played the Grizzlies to a 2-2 tie through five innings in game one before the bullpen allowed five runs in the bottom of the sixth. South Oakland stranded several runners early.

The Grizzlies have not slowed down after one of the best regular seasons, record-wise, in recent memory. The Ducks will need timely hitting and another good starting pitching performance if they want to avoid elimination.

Winning this game will take all we’ve got. I like our chances at home, playing for our season.

Bad news for the Grizzlies

Gameday 23 and Bandidos Recap

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South Oakland split a weekend set with the Bandidos, winning Friday’s game 5-2, and dropping Saturdays game 2-1. On the season, the Bandidos won the net runs by 1, and took two of three from the Ducks. They also won the negotiating rights of disgruntled, pitcher/outfielder Greg Friend who is set to become a restricted free agent after the season.

“Maybe after next year,” a source in the Ducks front office said. “We wish him the best.”

“Is this real?” Friend asked. “I wish I’d known about this before the game.”

Bandidos management was not available for comment.

Friend made a great catch in Friday’s game and converted the save on Sunday. 

 

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (12-10)

vs

Pittsburgh D2 (7-12-1)

9pm

Springview Field

Over the weekend, the Ducks clinched a non-losing record with their twelfth win. After a rough start, the team has rounded into form winning 9 of 12 down the stretch.

A win tonight would clinch the fourth seed and ensure a home game in the first round of the playoffs. We’d also stay mathematically alive for the three seed, depending on the outcome of the Cranberry (11-11-1) and South Side (13-9) game. A Ducks loss tonight keeps the six seed in play.

We want to stay hot heading into the meat grinder of an opening round next weekend and what looks to be an inevitable rematch with the new look South Hills Devils.

D2 has been a tough matchup for us historically. This one could go either way as both teams empty their bullpens, but we have a slight edge playing at home. Our record at the Duck Pond has been great this year. 

Bad news for D2

 

Ducks Win. South Oakland 7, Cranberry 3

2021 South Oakland Ducks, Ducks win, pittsburgh NABA, Recap, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

Box score

Brandon Blackstone (W, 6-1) scattered 5 hits and walked 2 over six innings to lead the Ducks to their eleventh win of the season. South Oakland jumped ahead thanks to a five-run second inning. TJ Morgan drove in three runs with a single off the wall. Ben Doak hit what looked like a home run into the overhanging branches in right, but settled for a double. Mark Lombardi had two hits and two RBI for South Oakland. Stef Blackstone faced 4 batters in the seventh for the save (2).

The win is the Ducks first over Cranberry since 2018, snapping an eight (?) game losing streak that included multiple extra inning games and some heart breaking loses. Let this be the start of a new streak.

South Oakland has matched its win total (11) from last season with four games to play: 

  • Two vs the Bandidos are on the schedule with Sunday’s start time up in the air and Friday’s start time moved up 8pm.
  • The D2 game is tentatively scheduled for Monday night in Manchester but is subject to change pending a field upgrade.
  • The Piranhas have not yet confirmed a time and place for our makeup game with them.

We can finish as high as third and as low as sixth. 

 

The Ducks play next on Friday, 8pm at Mellon Park vs the Bandidos.

Quack.

Ducks Win: South Oakland 14, Bauerstown 4 (6 inn.)

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Ducks Starting pitcher Randy Patton (W, 3-1) threw four strong innings, and Tom Pulice drove in three runs to lead South Oakland to the win yesterday in Spring Hill.

The game was close until the bottom of the fourth. The Grizzlies led 4-2 before the Ducks sent ten players to the plate without recording an out. South Oakland scored nine in the fourth behind a three-run double by Tom Pulice. They added two in the fifth and one in the sixth. Brandon Blackstone pitched two scoreless innings in relief.

The Grizzlies clinched first place with a 13-0 win over the Eagles in the first half of the split double header yesterday. They ran out of gas in this one, and saved arms for Tuesday.

We were playing without most of our starting infield, and four starters. Tuesday’s game should be a good one against a rested Grizzlies squad with hopefully most of our starters. We need to take wins any way we can get them down the stretch, and we played well in this one.

Stats n’at

Ben Sorosky: 3-for-4, BB, 2 RBI

Hayden Hoffman: 2-for-4, 2 RBI

Matt Mullen: 3-for-4, RBI

South Oakland improves to 10-8 with the win.

The Ducks next game is Tuesday, 8pm at Springview Field vs Bauerstown.

Quack.

Gameday 18: Ducks vs Grizzlies

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South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (9-8)

vs

Bauerstown Grizzlies (17-2)

4pm

Springview Field

South Oakland opens up a two game series with Bauerstown today in a rare late afternoon game in Spring Hill. The Grizzlies are playing a split doubleheader today. they play the Eagles at 12pm at Herschel Park before barnstorming their way across two rivers to play the Ducks on the North Side. I give them a lot of credit for making the effort to get the game in.

 

Around the League

Standings as of 7/10

Bauerstown can clinch first place with a win or a Bandidos loss.

Cranberry has a double header against Bakery Square today.

The Devils have the easiest remaining schedule with four against the bottom two teams in the division.

The Eagles finish with Bauerstown, Cranberry and two against D2. 

We have a brutal schedule down the stretch. Starting on Tuesday, we have five games in six days (we will play the Piranhas on Thursday the 15th) with the D2 game still to reschedule. If D2 gets scheduled for Monday the 19th, that would be six games in seven days.

Individually, each game is winnable. Winning four of seven will keep us in the top half of the standings. 

The last time we played Bauerstown, the Grizzlies won on a walk-off sacrifice fly. I like our chances in a close game at home.

Bad news for the Grizzlies

Gameday 18: Ducks vs D2

2021 South Oakland Ducks, Gameday, pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (9-8)

vs

Pittsburgh D2 (7-11-1)

9pm

Springview Field

South Oakland goes for the season sweep of D2 tonight in Spring Hill. The Ducks won against the Eagles last week. They hope to stay hot down the stretch and challenge for the third seed in the playoffs. D2 lost to Bauerstown last night, and is likely headed for the sixth seed and a play in game.

Injury update: Ducks ace, Billy Welsh suffered an upper body injury over the weekend, and may miss the rest of the season. The Ducks will lean on veteran pitchers Brandon Blackstone and Randy Patton down the stretch, and for a relatively untested bullpen to step up in Welsh’s absence. 

The Ducks and D2 have played two great games this year, and tonight figures to be no different. I like our chances in a close game at home.

Bad news for D2

Ducks Win: South Oakland 6, North Park 4 (9 inn.)

2021 South Oakland Ducks, Ducks win, NABA, pittsburgh NABA, Recap, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland abolished the filibuster, and held off a late obstructionist push by the Senators, winning a 6-4 thriller in extras yesterday in Homestead.

Ducks starter Randy Patton left with a 3-2 lead in the fifth. The Senators tied the game in the fifth and the seventh, but could not take the lead. The Ducks went ahead for good on a two-out, two run single by Gwin in the ninth. Brandon Blackstone got the win in relief, and recorded his first hit as a Duck.

  • Cody Quinn, TJ Morgan, Mike Brandt, and Kenny Rayl hit doubles.
  • Morgan is gunning for another batting title.
  • We were short handed, but our pitching staff did a great job.
  • The bullpen not only pitched well, but took advantage of getting some rare at bats.
  • I may be getting the innings wrong. It was hot. The Senators battled.
  • We really need guys to show up this week vs D2. These two games are huge. They are right in front of us in the standings.

The Ducks next game is Tuesday vs D2. 8:30pm at Herschel Park

Quack.

Gameday 12: Ducks at Senators

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South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (4-7)

at

North Park Senators (2-9)

3pm

Whitaker Field

The Ducks look to win the season series against the Senators today in Homestead. South Oakland has won two of its last three. A win today would put the team one game behind Pittsburgh D2 before a home and home series next week. With three games in five days, the Ducks chances to finish in the top 5 will become clearer this week.

Other games this weekend include a big series between the Eagles and Grizzlies, while Cranberry plays East Pittsburgh and Bakery Square on back to back days. It is the height of vacation season. Roster depth and flexibility will be paramount throughout June and heading into 4th of July weekend.

Image via Defector

The Senators are looking at this game as one they can sneak from a four-win team. We can’t take anything for granted. They stole one from Cranberry last week, and played us close for four innings before we pulled away last time. This is a game we have to win despite playing without several starters.

We’re short-handed, but we have enough pitching. I feel confident with Patton on the mound today.

Bad news for the Senators