Gameday

Gameday 16: Ducks Vs. Express

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

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (8-7)

vs.

Carrick Express (6-7)

9pm

Springview Field

Big game tonight as the Ducks try to gain ground on the WOLFPACK and keep pace with BIG OIL and a resurgent Eagles team.

The standings are tighter than traffic on Sawmill Run Blvd.

A win puts us in a tie for second with the Oilers, and a loss drops us back into a three-way tie for fourth with the Express and Rebels, both of whom would have games in-hand.

We beat Carrick earlier this season on an Andy Nichols walk-off single. Figures to be another close one tonight.

KellyLeak_cig

  Bad News for the Express

Gameday 10: 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

9pm

Springview Field

After two tough losses and what feels like a month off, the Ducks (5-4) take on the Eagles (5-5) at Spring Hill tonight. The Ducks held on for a 10-7 win in the teams’ previous meeting.

South Side has the second best run differential in the league, but is only at .500. They score a lot of runs.

The standings are really tight right now. The Wolfpack are in first place at 6-3 and the next six teams are separated by 2 games. Cranberry is having a rough start at 1-6-1, but are only three back in the loss column.

This is a big game tonight as South Oakland looks to gain separation from the pack and stay in the hunt for a first round bye in the playoffs.

KellyLeak_cigBad News for the Eagles

Game Day 8: Ducks at WOLFPACK

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

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (5-2)

at

West View WOLFPACK (3-3)

8:30PM

John Herb Field

The first place Ducks look to win their fourth straight game when they face rival West View in what should be a close game between two evenly matched teams. South Oakland beat West View 9-6 early this season, but the WOLFPACK!!! are tough at home. They have a loyal and vocal fan base.

Some history for the new guys:

 

The WOLFPACK eliminated us from the playoffs in the 2014 semis in a series that turned when we were kicked off that field in Jefferson Hills over a permit dispute the weekend of some country music concert. In the rescheduled game, Strom was perfect through 3 innings before Donnie was thrown out at the plate and accidentally ran into their catcher. Benches cleared, as they do sometimes in adult league sports. They came back from a 1-0 series deficit to beat us in 3 games. Fetter blew out his knee and moved off the grid to southern California, never to be heard from again.

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They are always tough. John Herb is one of the nicest fields we get to play on, and it’s always in great shape. This game will pit the veteran savvy of the Ducks against the youth of West View.

doc naba

 Bad News for the WOLFPACK

 

 

Game Day 5; Ducks vs Express

2016 South Oakland Ducks, Gameday

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

vs.

Carrick Express (2-0)

9PM

Springview Field

South Oakland looks to bounce back after a tough walk-off loss to the Oilers against the Carrick tonight in Spring Hill. The Express are always tough and are under new leadership with the semi-retirement of NABA legend and former manager John Vernaccio. The Express are one of a few league teams with a singular noun as their mascot. Can anyone name the others?

Maybe Abe Lincoln will bring us some luck during primary season.

abraham-lincoln-antietam-battlefield

Bad News for the Express

 

 

Game Day 4: Ducks at Oilers

2016 South Oakland Ducks, Gameday

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side

at

Hebrew Oilers

6:45pm

Mellon Park

I can’t think of a better home field for the Oilers than one in Bakery Square, ground zero for Pittsburgh gentrification. If I ever wind up in Social, I’ll slit my wrists and bleed all over the tech bros and trust funded faux artists that drink there and have helped price out the working class from the East End.

kirkcelebrate

Bad News for the Oilers

 

 

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.

Duck

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

duck pnc

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

Gameday 22/23: Ducks vs Monsters/Ducks vs Bombers

2014 South Oakland Ducks, Gameday

Game 1: Ducks vs Monsters

6pm

Springview Field

Game 2: Ducks at Bombers

8:30pm

Springview Field

We’re getting down to it. This is the first double header at Spring Hill in Ducks history. Of course we are the away team in game 2.

Here are the Standings:

Screen Shot 2014-07-16 at 12.43.25 AM

If North America beats the Warriors at 6:15 in Etna, they clinch the top spot, and it will come down to us and the WOLFPACK!!! for the other first-round bye. I don’t know how West View is going to get five games played in three days. We are probably going to play them on the 19th.

Today we have two games against teams that have played us tough, but are below us in the standings. We need two wins to get a bye. I don’t know who is going to be available to pitch, or who can still walk at this point in the season. We are really banged up right now. We’re going with throwback unis in game 2 vs the Bombers.

These are the greatest throwbacks ever.

houston-astros-uniform

 

Bad News for the Bombers and Monsters

Game Day 22: Ducks vs. WOLFPACK!!!

2014 South Oakland Ducks, Gameday

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side

vs.

West View Wolfpack

8:30pm

John Herb Field

So far the game is still on tonight. Since it’s the Ducks’ umpire money, and it’s West View’s call as to whether or not the field is playable, I don’t expect to hear anything.

We need to win tonight if we want a shot at a first round bye, and to stay in the hunt for the one seed.

I found this awesome Rambo/Captain America picture in my files, and I think it’s time to re-tread this one. Whoever photoshopped this is my hero.

Go Blues

Bad News for the WOLFPACK!!!

Game Day 20: Ducks vs. Senators

2014 South Oakland Ducks, Gameday

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (14-5)

vs

Senators (5-12)

8pm

Springview Field

The Bombers forfeited our regularly scheduled game for tonight, The Senators rain out has been rescheduled in its place.

bombers

It feels like we haven’t had a home game in a month.

We have five games remaining, tonight vs. the Senators, a home game played in Bellevue this Sunday against a resurgent Titans team, a home game in West View against the WOLFPACK!!! on the 13th that will likely determine who gets a first round bye and possibly the one-seed, and then a double header at Springview vs. the Monsters and Bombers at 6pm on July 16th. Though, I think we are the visiting team against the Bombers.

We’re a game out of first place. We need to win out and have North America go 3-2 down the stretch to get the top seed. The WOLFPACK!!! and North America have a game against each other that hasn’t been counted in the standings, which will either be rescheduled or it just hasn’t been entered for some reason. At least one of them will lose.

North America has the Warriors twice (pending a forfeit ruling), the Bombers twice, and the mystery game against West View.

The WOLFPACK!!! have to play five games in ten days, plus a potential makeup game against the Senators and the aforementioned mystery game vs the Lions. Unless there are forfeits involved here, they will have to play seven games before the first round games start on the 21st.

The WOLFPACK!!! have allowed 20 fewer runs than us, and I think that’s the first tie breaker after head to head. So It’s likely we will have to finish a full game ahead of them to pass them in the standings, even if we win our game on the 13th.

If we are going to win out, we can overlook anyone. We have to finish on a high note. Peak at the right time, and all that.

Ciccone and Jones are pitching tonight.

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Bad News for the Senators