The 2013 south oakland ducks roster is nearly set. Everything hinges on a couple pitchers.
TJ Morgan has been named manager, and will make all the in-game decisions. Mark Guthrie is in charge of finances. Garrett Moore is in charge of the bases and helmets.
I will play left field.
we’ll pull it together and be competitive again.
Ken Cool’s jersey will be retired when the ducks play the indians.
no idea how to get rid of this ad.
quack
Ken Cool singled in 2 runs in the top of the sixth to put the Ducks ahead 4-3 after six.
TJ Morgan led off the top of the seventh with a double and we left him stranded.
Elliot drove in the winning run on a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh.
***
Game Two got ugly in the fourth. We led 1-0 and then they started hitting home runs. It got to 10-2 at one point, then they added two more in the top of the seventh. South Oakland scored three in the bottom of the seventh.
**
What we accomplished this year was to re-lay the foundation of a winning team. We literally stared in late January with five guys after the exodus to Clinton claimed most of the roster, and we put together a team that was just a couple pieces away.
***
Team Awards
MVP: James Fago
Offensive player of the year: Bobby Swartwout
Defensive player of the year: Dave Houseman
We have a solid nucleus for next season.
We’ll probably get a fall ball team together so be ready for that.
quack.
South Oakland Ducks
at
Elliot
4pm/6:15pm
Volunteer Field
Thunderstorms rendered Herschel unplayable yesterday.
The Ducks will face top-seed, Elliot in a playoff doubleheader starting today at 4pm.
Game 3 (if necessary) on Monday, time and place tbd.
quack.
South Oakland Ducks
at
Elliot
6pm
Herschel Park
***
We’re 1-7 all time against Elliot. The only win coming in game 2 of last year’s finals before we lost the series in three games.
As far as I’m concerned we’re playing with house money at this point.
Given the injuries we’ve suffered this season and all the unnecessary drama that has gone down, we can go out and play like we have nothing to lose. No one expects us to get out of this round. A win this evening will put us in great position.
Bad News for Elliot.
There’s a good chance elliot will not expect much from us this weekend. We’ve lured them deep into a false sense of security with our horrible play against them in our two regular season meetings.
Game 1: Saturday July 29th
6pm
Herschel Field
Game 2: Sunday July 30th
4pm
Volunteer Field
(game 3 to follow immediately if necessary)
quack.
Practice Tonight at 8:30, Spring View Field.
We’ve rolled our way into the semis.
Clinton plays the Bulldogs this weekend and the Ducks play Elliot.
The Bulldogs just won their first playoff game in team history, which was their 100th franchise victory. A nice way to remember both of those events, but I think it’s kind of like having your birthday on Christmas.
Anyway, in a fit of math I figured our all time regular season record to be 114-96-4.
We likely own the all-time ties record.
Our playoff record is 17-7
That adds up to something like: 131-103-4
We’ve completed our tenth regular season.
Noteable ten year Pittsburgh NABA players: Craig Boley, Kenny Powers, me and Newman of the Warriors, but he may have taken a sabbatical one season.
I don’t think there are any other players who’ve been around since ’03, and since the Black Sox and Warriors started as the Piranhas and Stampeders, we are the only team that’s been around since the beginning.
Ten years ago, Ken Cool and Bob Swartwout, two of our best players this year, were 11 and 9-years-old respectively.
Since the Ducks formed in 2003, the Pirahhnas, Stampeders, Rangers, Insulright, Yankees, Owlz, Maulers, Knights, Matadors, Hurricanes, Orioles, Bombers, Colonials, Pythons, Phantoms, Arthropods, Rakers, Gray Bats, Sharks, Oilers and Rebels have come and gone.
That’s 20 teams and I may have forgotten a few.
Next season we could get a patch with an X on it if we wanted.
This season we have a chance to reach the finals for a third consecutive year, if we can get past Elliot.
Not that it wouldn’t have been tempting to put aside the team I’ve been a part of for 1/3 of my life to be the sixth outfielder and fourth-string first baseman for Clinton this summer.
quack.
Anthony DeFilippo drove in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh and James Fago pitched a complete game for the victory. scattering 4 hits and one walk to lead South Oakland to the victory over the Monroeville Militia Sunday night.
The Militia led 1-0 when Dan Stell scored on an RBI triple by Lombardi in the top of the fourth.
The Ducks answered in the bottom half of the inning when Jesse Ferko reached after a strikeout and a dropped third strike, stole second, advanced to third on a past ball, and then stole home.
it was technically a past ball, but that backstop is six inches behind the plate. Still a great hustle play.
The Ducks pushed the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth: Bob Swartwout hustled out a ground ball to deep short and reached on an error by the first baseman, Fago singled, and after both runners advanced on a past ball, TJ Morgan delivered a 2-run single.
The Militia tied the game at 3 in the top of the seventh on a two-run, two out double by Banner.
In the bottom of the seventh Gwin led off with a bunt single, advanced to second on a past ball, and scored the winning run on DeFilippo’s single to center.
The Militia’s starting pitcher Joe Stupka left South Oakland earlier in the season due to scheduling conflicts, and struck out 15 Ducks in the loss.
What a game.
This recap in no way does justice to how tense and well played the game was.
South Oakland will play Elliot in a best of three series in the league semifinals starting this weekend.
Quack.
Fago
Bad News for the Militia.
South Oakland opens the 2012 postseason against the Monroeville Militia Sunday July 22nd, 8:30pm at Moore Park.
The All-Star starters are up on the league home page.
Interesting how last-place Cranberry has 4 starters compared to the Ducks and Black Sox who have one apiece.
From our team I nominated Fago, Ken Cool, Morgan and Swartwout. Who will represent us at the all-star game in August if they choose.
Cases could be made for Houseman and me based on the numbers and Houseman being sick at fielding. But i’m not about to vote for myself, certainly not to start over whatever low-A prospect Clinton has in left field, and for some reason I thought Elliot was in our division and Wes White was a more deserving starter at SS. Sorry, House, for not knowing what teams are in our division.
I think we need a return to the mid-season all-star game next year so people actually show up. That was a lot of fun a couple years back, despite coach Kenny Powers not getting me an at-bat.
Apparently the Rebels and Warriors game last week ended in a fight with police called.
I forget the details. Hopefully they meet in the A championship and it’s really intense.
***
The Ducks Elliot game will not be rescheduled. We tried, but the weather and field availability worked against us. I would’ve liked to get some at bats before sunday.
Anyway…
After a brutal off-season and losing pitchers upon pitchers for a variety of reasons, the Ducks finished the regular season 11-10-2 and 8-4 in the division.
Good for fourth overall and second in the Monongahela.
We will be the home team on Sunday.
If I had known the 2-seeds were going to switch brackets, it would have been a lot tougher to release Stupka to the Militia. Ethically I made the right decision.
If both teams have everyone show up on Sunday night, it’s going to be a great game.
More tomorrow.
quack.
South Oakland Ducks Baseball 