Jim Teyssier pitched a complete game shutout, striking out 9, while allowing just 3 hits and walking 2.
South Oakland scored its first run with two out in the bottom of the second, on three straight singels by Baumgartel, Smith and Gwin.
The Bulldogs left two men on base in the top of the third and would not threaten again.
In the bottom of the fourth, Fago walked, and pinch runner Tim Lipp stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error; he scored on Nick Berdine’s rbi single to left.
The Ducks will face Elliot in the finals on Saturday time and place to be determined.
In a battle of formidable foes, two of the premier pitchers in the NABA faced off at Joe Graff a.k.a. Volunteer Field. I have been playing baseball for a long time and this is one of the best games I have ever been apart of. The Ducks of old would be proud as we committed 0, that’s right 0 errors. Not even Berdine could Faff it up. Tish was a master on the mound against a great Hurricane lineup and our offense picked up where it left off and gave him a huge early cushion against a very good pitcher.
The top of the first went smoothly, Tish didn’t allow a baserunner until the 5th. The Ducks faced off against Rafalski throwing from the top of Mt. Everest and kept up the hot bats, scoring 4 of the first 5 to come to the plate and 6 overall in the bottom of the first. Lipp lined a ball in the hole to lead it off, advancing to second on T.J.’s single up the middle, and ending up at third after a botched ball by the Hurricane’s third baseman. I guessed right and started early to send a fastball to the left centerfield fence to score two and end up on second.
After watching this video I sent Gwin the following text…
July 25, 2011 12:46 PM I think we we win 2-0 berdine hits a bomb with flip on
With Flip on third, Berdine demolished a 1-0 slider over the high right centerfield at Volunteer into the trees, I got a chub. The feathered ones of South Oakland didn’t stop there. With two outs Ben “Benedict” Gwin rifled a single into right followed by Kenny Cool and then Tim Lipp’s second single of the inning, finally scoring on a Raflaski walk to Zarewicz.
Ben Gwin’s Senior Yearbook Photo
Ducks 6 Hurricanes 0
The second inning only saw three batters a side, but in the third the Ducks broke through for our 7th and final run. I hit the ball harder for an out to start off this inning than I did for my double in the first so I can’t be too upset, and only Fletch saw that the throw was offline and my lack of hustle cost us a baserunner… I owe him laps. Baumgartel and Berdine stayed hot with singles and Gwin wore a 90 mph fastball on the right shoulder to load the bases with 2 outs. Kenny Cool worked a fast ball count and swung early, sending a spinner out in front of the mound, Rafalski bobbled, fondled, and juggled the ball for a hustle E-1 and another Duck run.
Ducks 7 Hurricanes 0
The rest of the game was dominated by pitching and Duck defense. The only runner to reach second was Rafalski after a two out double, and one of the Hurricane’s 4 baserunners was thrown out at second on a strike em’ out, throw em’ out double play in the 6th. The last out was recorded as Holloway grounded out to Tish and the Ducks shutout the Hurricanes for the third time this season.
Some important facts about the Ducks this season.
-We shutout teams 12 times this season
-Elliot is second with 7
-We have outscored our opponents 22-0 in our two playoff games
-With 45 posts last time I checked, the last post was the most popular I have ever seen and it was a blurry playoff bracket and large Duck penis reference.
The Bulldogs beat us 14-1 and tore Whalen’s leg open in the first game of the year, they have outscored us 14-2. Pitching will be key, defense will be imperative, offense will be crucial. If South Oakland plays the way they have in the last two games, we won’t need a game 3. The bark of the Bulldogs vs. the quack of the Ducks this Saturday, venue and time TBA. Rob Cool is still gay.
South Oakland of the North Side (1-0) defeated the Hebrew Oilers 15-0 at Woodland Hills this afternoon.
Mike Fletcher pitched (1-0) pitched four scoreless innings for the win, and Rob Baumgartel pitched a perfect 5th to preserve the shutout.
For the Ducks:
James Fago was 3 for 3
Tim Lipp had most of our RBI going 2 for 2 with a sac fly.
Mark “Captain America” Guthrie was 0 for 0 with an rbi walk, and a sac bunt.
Gwin and Berdine each doubled.
and
Jim Teyssier went 1 for 1 with 2RBI
***
In other news, Cranberry nearly upset the Militia. Jeremy Barchie was the hero in that game I’m sure.
The biggest upset of the day saw the Express eleminate the Black Sox, winning 5-4.
No way does Carrick take out Barchie and the Militia in the next round.
Something was off with the Sox this season.
***
In a match-up of the last two league champions, the South Oakland Ducks will face the Hurricanes Monday night 8:30 pm at John Herb Field for the right to advance to the semi’s.
James Fago pitched a complete game, allowing 0 earned runs for the win over the Black Sox on Saturday night, and on Sunday, Mike Fletcher allowed 3 runs over four strong innings of work against The Express, as the Ducks swept the season series’ against both Brookline and Carrick.
It got a little hectic at the end of the Express game, but we kept our composure.
Good thing we raked, collectively. Lots of doubles.
We play the Fightin’s Monday night at 9pm, and finish with Elliot on Wednesday, 6pm at Herschal
No word on the sharks game being rescheduled. If I don’t hear from their coach its a forfeit win for us.
There could be some scenario that allows the Bulldogs to fall to second in their division, while holding a better overall record than us, but that would mean a team with a worse overall winning percentage than the Bulldogs would win the Allegheny, get the two seed, and then the Bulldogs would beat us out for the 3rd seed because of a better overall won-loss. So technically we haven’t clinched, but I have faith in those guys to beat the Oilers.
The flaw in the current playoff system is that the division standings are based only on division record, and the rest of the playoff seeding is determined by conference record.
I think it should just be overall won-loss for everything.
Give the division winners the #1  seeds based on overall record and rank teams from there. I think it’s the way it is now to compensate for the A teams or something, but eventually there won’t be any inter-conference games.
The Militia split a double header with Elliot today.
Mark Guthrie was one out away from a no hitter, before allowing 2 singles in the top of the fifth as the Ducks (12-3) beat the Senators 10-0.
South Oakland plays Elliot (14-1) Saturday, 6pm at Herschel Park
Depending on the outcome of last night’s Black Sox Elliot game (a rare contest in which neither team name ends in ‘s’) a share of first place could be on the line for the Ducks.
If the Sox won we will be one behind Elliot in the loss column going into saturday.
James Fago started and pitched 2 innings, Mike Cinefra got the win in relief pitching 2 strong innings before Mike Fletcher finished the game off in the fifth.
South Oakland of the North Side (11-3, 5-2 ) hit its first two homeruns of the year: a solo shot by deadline addition Jared and a three-run bomb by Rob Baumgartel.
16 different Ducks recorded plate appearances. South Oakland sent nine batters to the plate in the first and ten in the second it got out of hand quick.
The South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (10-2) defeated the Hebrew Oilers (2-10) 11-1 Saturday afternoon at Pie Traynor Field. Ducks pitcher and resident super hero, Mark Guthrie allowed 1 run through four innings on just 2 hits; he also hit a sweet RBI double. Fago struck out the side in the fifth.
The Ducks hit four triples on the day; two by Nick Berdine, and one apiece by Tim Lipp and Anthony Defiippo. There might have been one more in there. The team slugging percentage skyrocketed and we hope to see our stats up soon on the league page.
Rick Whalen drove in a run with a sac fly in the 3rd, and 10 different Ducks had hits on the day.
South Oakland catcher, Jesse Smith threw out a runner trying to steal third in the first inning and had an RBI single.
Mike Duffy made several catches in centerfield, was hit by a pitch and singled twice for the Ducks.
The Ducks play undefeated, first place Elliot 9pm, Monday night at Springview Field.
South Oakland of the North Side (9-2) came from behind twice Monday night to beat the West View Sharks ( 5-3) 4-3.
Rob Baumgartel allowed 1 earned run over five innings. Mike Cinefra earned the win in relief after the Sharks took a 3-2 lead off reliever Garrett Mack in the top of the sixth.
Nick Berdine drove in the winning run with a two-run double to right in the bottom of the sixth inning after James Fago was hit by a pitch and Rob Baumgartel singled to left.
South Oakland looks to extend their win streak to 10 when they face Big Oil Saturday at noon at Pie Traynor Field.
Ken Cool and Tim Lipp drove in the game’s only runs as South Oakland (8-2, 4-1) shutout the Black Sox (6-4-2, 2-3-1) for the first time in team history, and extended their win-streak to 8.
The Ducks play the Sharks Wednsday night, 9pm at Springview Field
South Oakland Ducks Baseball 