Ducks Lose. South Oakland 3, South Hills 7

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South Oakland (2-4) lost a rematch to the Devils last night 7-3. The Ducks lead 2-1 until the fifth when the Devils scored three unearned runs. South Hills (2-6) added three more unearned runs in the sixth. Billy Welsh (L, 1-2) was the tough luck loser in this one despite recording 8 strikeouts in six innings. Brandon Bouchard pitched a complete game win for the Devils, scattering 11 hits over seven innings.

The Ducks have lost three in a row, and four of five.

If we don’t turn it around quickly, this is going to be a lost season. We have recovered after bad starts in the past, so there’s precedent for putting together long winning streaks. But we’ve lost a few dependable players in the last year who always showed up ready to play, and we haven’t replaced them. We have pitching now, but we don’t have any flexibility because our bench is too short and we can’t pull guys on defense to relieve our starters. We leave a ton of guys on base. I don’t know what the answer is. I’m not usually this negative.

We need to win Wednesday. A loss puts 2-7 in play as we follow that with two against the Grizzlies. A in and we can hang around .500 at least and hope we get better attendance. No one shows up on the weekends, so we will probably lose Sunday. Maybe it will rain.

South Oakland plays the Eagles tomorrow, 9pm at Springview Field.

Gameday 6: Ducks at Devils

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South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (2-3)

at

South Hills Devils (1-6)

8:30pm

Herschel Park

The Ducks have a chance to clinch the season series vs the Devils and get back to .500 with a win tonight in West End. Tonight’s game is a rematch of last week’s classic Welsh vs Bouchard pitching matchup that the Ducks held on to win in extra innings. It should be another highly contested bout this evening.

Nearing the quarter mark of the season, we need to keep our heads above water during the tough opening part of our schedule. We can’t take any team lightly despite their record. Billy will keep it close tonight, and we are due to start hitting better with guys in scoring position. I like our chances with our ace going for us.

Bad news for the Devils

Ducks Lose. South Oakland 7, Bk Sq. 11

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A shorthanded Ducks (2-3) team rallied late but came up short against the suddenly loaded Bandidos (2-2).

With the win, Bakery square took the first game of the inaugural battle for Greg Friend’s contract. The winner fo the season series between the two teams will acquire/retain the rights to disgruntled Bakery Square outfielder/relief pitcher, Greg Friend.

G. Friend allowed two runs in the seventh inning of todays game.

South Oakland has a quick turnaround. The team looks to get back to .500 when they take on the Devils (1-6) tomorrow night at Herschel Park.

First pitch is scheduled for 8:30.

Ducks Lose: South Oakland 1, Cranberry 2

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Box Score

Cranberry Recap

The Ducks lost a heartbreaker to undefeated Cranberry, 2-1 in Spring Hill Wednesday night. South Oakland starting pitcher Brandon Blackstone (L, 1-1) gave his team a chance to win. He scattered 9 hits over 7 innings with ten strike outs in his second complete game of the season.

After Cranberry scored a run on two hits in the first, the teams traded runs in the third. Cranberry starter Andy Germani worked out of a bases loaded no-outs jam in the second. Former Hurricane, Cranberry reliever Jon Hart (W, 1-0) got out of trouble a few times in four relief innings. The game ended on a bases loaded double play.

The Ducks have benefitted from great starting pitching so far this year. Timely hitting has been a problem for a team that historically scores a lot of runs. When the bats come around, South Oakland should be tough to beat.

The Ducks’s next game is a Sunday morning hair of the dog match against the Bandidos in Bakery Square.

Sunday, 9:30am at Mellon Park.

Gameday 4: Ducks vs Cranberry

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

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

vs

Cranberry (2-0-1)

9pm

Springview Field

After winning a nine-inning thriller vs South Hills on Monday, the Ducks can move into a tie for second with a win against Cranberry.

Devils Recap

Ducks 6, Devils 5 (9 inn.)

Bos Score

Billy Welsh (W, 1-1) allowed 5 hits and struck out 16 in nine innings of work. Welsh out dueled veteran Brandon Bouchard (L, 1-1) from South Hills who was lifted after surrendering 5 runs in the eighth.

South Oakland had eleven hits but couldn’t break the 1-1 tie until Mike Brandt singled home two in the ninth, followed by an RBI infield hit by Gwin that scored two runs. Lombardi added his second RBI of the game to put the Ducks ahead by five, and they would need the insurance runs. The Devils scored four in the ninth with the help of a couple walks and HBPs around singles by Rodi and Rush.

This game should have ended 2-1 in regulation. Ducks utility player/relief pitcher Ben Sorosky was safe by two steps at home on what should have ben an RBI fielders choice, but was called out to the surprise of everyone.

Cranberry

Here’s a link to the Cranberry blog. It would be great if their 8-3 extra innings win from last year wasn’t still in the “last game” section. Here’s some new art for future blogs, Andy:

Cranberry is historically a terrible matchup for us. Even in the pre-Stumpf era when they didn’t really have a short stop, and Andy’s dad was manager, we struggled to hit their pitching. We do better against pitchers who try to overpower us. This isn’t news. We need to find a way to beat them. Two years ago, they finished in first, and we were a half game behind them thanks to two one-run losses. Last year, they swept us, and if we had split that series, we might have avoided the Oilers in the semi-finals. If we had just split those games, all of which were one-run or extra inning games, we could have had a much easier draw in the playoffs.

Tonight should be a good test for both teams, if the last two years are any indication, it will come down to the last inning.

I like our chances in a tight game at home tonight.

Bad news for Cranberry

Gameday: 3 Ducks at Devils

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

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

at

South Hills Devils (1-4)

8:30pm

Herschel Park

After a rainy week, Ducks look to get back over .500 with a win against struggling rival South Hills. The Devils have had some bad luck early this year, but they are still a solid, experienced team that can score runs. Eventually the back luck will swing the other way, they have too many good players. Last year we split the season series and the run differential was even. It will be a close one tonight.

We need to keep wining games to stay in the top half of the standings. With the monsoon last week, there will be a backlog of games later in the year. We need to position ourselves for the stretch run before we start playing four games in ten days in June. We have the bullpen rested and most of our starters tonight.

Bad news for the Devils

Gameday 3: Ducks vs Grizzlies

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

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

vs

Bauerstown Grizzlies (5-0)

9pm

Springview Field

Weather permitting, the Ducks look to knock off the undefeated Grizzlies tonight in Spring Hill. Bauerstown has averaged ten runs a game while allowing three during its current winning streak. Also during the streak, the Grizzlies have comeback twice when trailing after six innings against the Bandidos and Devils respectively. It seems they have benefitted from their year off.

The Ducks send Billy Welsh (0-1) to the mound tonight to get the team back on track after a tough loss to the Eagles on Sunday.

Both Bauerstown teams are winning all their games this year, as the single A Turtles are in first place with a 5-0 record.

Realignment Watch 2021

This year we will keep track of how the Senators and BIG OIL fare after moving up a division.

The Senators are 0-2, losing both games by a combined 35-5, including a 20-0 opening day defeat at the hands of the Eagles.

The Oilers have not played a game yet.

The Grizzlies eliminated South Oakland from playoff contention the past two seasons. This is always a tough matchup for us, but I like our chances at home with Billy pitching in cold weather.

Bad news for the Grizzlies

Ducks Lose: South Oakland 2, South Side 3

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

Box Score

The Ducks (1-1) lost a heartbreaker in the West End this afternoon, dropping a close game to the Eagles (2-1) at Herschel Park.

The Eagles scored a run in the first off a HBP, and a double. Ducks starter, Randy Patton (0-0) settled down, scattering four more hits over five innings. The Eagles added their second run in the fifth when two Ducks collided in shallow center, leading to a two base error. The Eagles runner would later score on a single.

The Eagles starter was pulled after two effective innings due to arm trouble, but their relief pitcher was effective. He allowed two hits and worked out of trouble in the fifth thanks to a line out double play with the bases loaded.

The Ducks trailed 2-0 going into the seventh but tied the game on a walk, two hits and an RBI groundout to the right side that plated two runs.

The Eagles took advantage of another two-base, Ducks error when their leadoff batter advanced to second after an errant throw on a squibber to the infield. Their next batter hit a ground ball through the right side to win the game.

It’s tough to waste a good pitching performance, but at least we battled back to tie in the seventh. We had a few hard outs with guys on base. Overall, we played well but couldn’t hit their junk baller. This has been the recipe to beat us for a few years now. The Eagles haven’t looked this good since the days of Noonan, and I expect them to be in the mix this year.

The Ducks next game is Wednesday, 9pm vs Bauerstown at the Duck Pond.

Gameday 2: Ducks at Eagles

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South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (1-0)

at

South Side Eagles (2-1)

12pm

Herschel Park

The Ducks look to continue their hot start today in Elliot against the revamped South Side Eagles, fresh off a 20-0 dismantling of the expansion Senators. Last season, South Oakland went 1-2-1 against the Eagles, including a 15-5 loss at home. Their worst loss of the season. Ducks starter Randy Patton (0-0) looks to avenge that loss when he takes the hill today. The Eagles are probably throwing a new guy. It looks like they have a bunch of new pitchers. I’m not sure what happened to last year’s ace, Horowitz, but I think we should expect a good effort out of South Side and a hard fought game.

Even when the Eagles had down years, they beat us. This will be a good early season test for both teams. Double A is wide open this year, as expected. With the Grizzlies at 4-0, these early games are important. No one wants to fall back too far in the standings before the season even gets going.

Patton is starting today, with our full staff backing him up. Kenny and I are managing while Tom is at work.

Bad news for the Eagles