Ducks Win

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

Chris Heisler pitched a complete game for the win, and South Oakland scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to beat the Express in another one-run game.

The Express scored a run in the top of the second, and the Ducks trailed 1-0 for most of the game. In the sixth, Gwin scored on a fielders choice, and then Moore singled and scored from first on McCray’s RBI double. Greundl pitched well for Carrick in the loss.

We still need to reschedule a rain out vs. the Express. We’ve beaten them 4-3, 3-2, and 2-1. So the next game will probably be 14-12.

South Oakland’s next game is Monday, 6pm at Shaler during the worst time slot in the league.

quack

Ducks Win 3-2. Umps Not Terrific.

2016 South Oakland Ducks

South Oakland of the North Side defeated the Carrick Express 3-2 in a bizarrely officiated game, Saturday night in Carrick. DiPiaola (W, 4-1) threw his first complete game of the season for the victory. He struck out the last batter of the game. Brian Grundle pitched well for Carrick in the loss, also going seven innings and generally keeping the Ducks off balance.

The Ducks (9-7) scored three runs in the first and held Carrick (6-8) to two runs over the final six inning to hold on for the win.

We made key defensive plays to cut down the tying run at the plate on a chopper to the pitcher, and turned a double play to end a threat in the third. So far, we’ve won more close games than we’ve lost this season, which is the sign of a good team.

There were bad calls against both teams in this game, which is a shame because it was a well played and well pitched game that could have gone either way. The plate ump forgot the count and missed a fair/foul call on a potential double that went against the Ducks, and made a few bad calls on pitches against the Express. It probably evened out, but who knows. You can’t fix one call and then replay everything in a vacuum. The space time continuum would collapse on itself.

The Ducks play next on Tuesday night 6:45 at Mellon Park vs. the Oilers.

Depleted Ducks Split Double Header With Cranberry

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

South Oakland (8-7) won game one 3-2 over Cranberry (5-8-1) behind a complete game victory by pitcher Chuck Zuzak and timely hitting and defense. Trailing 1-0 in the fifth, Ducks utility player, Joe Graff doubled in two runs, and Chartier drove in another. Gwin was hit by a pitch in the fifth, increasing his team leading HBP count to 5. Cranberry’s second baseman made some good plays on defense. Cranberry scored a run in the sixth.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Ducks lead 3-2. Cranberry started the inning with a walk and a single by the 9 and 10 hitters to put runners on first and third with nobody out. Zuzak struck out the leadoff hitter. The next guy hit a hard grounder to third and Chartier threw the runner out at home. Then with runners on first and second and two out, the game ended on a spectacular play by shortstop Jon Moore who made a diving stop behind second base on what looked like a sure single, and flipping the ball to Sorosky at second base for the game-ending force out.

We ran out of pitching in the second game and walked a bunch of guys and started kicking the ball around. We are all old and would have benefitted from having some subs. I probably shouldn’t have rescheduled this one as a double header, but didn’t know we’d be missing everyone on a random June weekend. In game 2, Moore hit a triple, and Brandt stole home in the bottom of the seventh. Cranberry’s starting pitcher threw a magical game, hitting spots and keeping the Ducks off balance.

It’s frustrating to lose games to teams at the bottom of the standings because everyone is on vacation or whatever (two Devils losses and this one to Cranberry come to mind), but that’s part of the deal with summer league ball. These things probably even out over the course of the season. Maybe we catch a team that’s in the middle of a four games in five days stretch when they have their whole outfield one a cruise or some hipster beer sampling event, and we take advantage of it. Who knows. Every manager and every team in the league deals with it. Hopefully everyone makes the playoff games.

Big picture: We have nine games left including a game with Carrick we still have to reschedule. It’s going to be an exciting stretch run. Two big games against the Express this week. They have a worse record than their talent would indicate, possibly have struggled with attendance due to NHL playoffs.

Standings as of 6/13

2016 Playoff Bracket

Gotta avoid the play-in games.

South Oakland next plays 9PM Wednesday in Spring Hill vs. Carrick.

quack

The Scooter is Safe: Ducks Win, 6-3

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

Chris Heisler (1-0) earned his first win and Gary Musisko recorded his first hit as Duck, leading South Oakland (6-5) to a 6-3 victory over the Hebrew Oilers (7-4-1) Wednesday night in Spring Hill.

With the Ducks clinging to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth, Graff and Zuzak singled to start the inning followed by Musisko’s double off the ivy in left-center. Sorosky followed with an RBI single to chase the General from the mound.

Still in the fifth, Casale walked and Gwin singled with the bases loaded to put the Ducks up 5-0. Gwin would later score on Chartier’s RBI groundout.

The Oilers fought back. In the sixth, some kid got hit three times before he was awarded first. One of the Ciccones got tossed. The Oilers scored three on an RBI double by NABA legend Dan Rouf (sic).

Zuzak relieved Heisler for the two inning save.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak and moves South Oakland into a tie for second.

Pat DiPaola stole third
Joe Graff has a two-game hit streak going
Weird batter interference call on the attempted steal of home by that fast kid on the Oilers. Also, how was the batter called out and not the runner in that instance?
A. Ciccone went 3-for-4 with three singles in a losing effort
Winner of the Ducks Oilers game on June 21st at Mellon Park gets the scooter that kid threw at us last week. The scooter will remain with the team that wins the season series between the Ducks and Oilers as long as the two teams are in existence. This is the inaugural Spring Hill Scooter Series.
Seven teams are within 2.5 games of first. Should be an exciting stretch run

All hands on deck for the Devils game this Saturday. A bunch of guys are out of town.

Quack

Ducks Swim Into Playoffs

2015 South Oakland Ducks Baseball, NABA, pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland of the North Side has won three straight and four of their last five games to finish with a semi-respectable 10-11 record. The Ducks clinched the 5th seed with a 10-0 win over the Devils, last Sunday.

The Ducks have won their last two games by a combined score of 26-6.

Our game vs. the Bulldogs tonight was cancelled becuase the city gave our rain date to the youth league that plays at Spring Hill, didn’t tell anyone until this afternoon, and we couldn’t find an open field anywhere else tonight on such short notice.

I guess it’s fitting. The regular season was somewhat disappointing (as was the blog), but high points include beating the defending champion WOLFPACK 7-1, the wild, 13-12 walkoff win vs. Cranberry, and the walkoff come-from-behind 3-2 win against the Eagles last week.

We can make up for all that mediocrity with a couple wins this weekend.

Our lineup matches up well. We scored 121 runs in 21 games. If we keep playing sound defense, we can make a run at it, especially given the playoff format. We just have to get past the play-in game. The one and done round is intense.

Here is the bracket:

Here are the standings, pending the outcome of tonight’s Carrick / WOLFPACK! game

On Saturday morning we will play the Eagles, with whom we have split a pair of really close games this season.

If we lose to the Eagles our season is over.

If we win, we will play the winner of the Cranberry vs. Oilers Game immediately following the Eagles game.

I remember when the Eagles had a lefty shortstop for like 3 years and routinely beat us anyway. Bad times.

Hopefully we have 3 games next weekend for me to not recap.

quack.

Gameday 9: Ducks as Black Sox

2015 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

Tonight we write another chapter in the history of a storied Pittsburgh NABA rivalry. There are a lot of guys on our team that haven’t played Brookline, or haven’t played them as Ducks. But I think they’ll learn quick. In 2007, I think, The Sox split and the Rebels were formed. From the Rebels came the Gray Bats and then the Militia. This current group of Ducks has several former Militia players. Last year when we moved down to Single A, several Ducks went to the Black Sox. Former Ducks manager and current outfielder TJ Morgan played on the Sox last year, current Sock, James Fago won a title as a Duck and managed the team for a couple seasons. Skovron was a Duck for two seasons. In 2010, Mark Guthrie shut down the Sox in game three of the finals to capture the Ducks 2nd championship.

Arguably the two most successful franchises in league history, the Ducks and Black Sox have been playing each other for nine years. This is likely the last season for the Sox, before they disperse and Rob Cool starts stalking Fago and that lefty they have.

There’s something about playing in Moore Park, with the terrible lights, the cigarette smoke and spilled beer in the the concrete bleachers, trying not to break your ankle in that gully on the first base line that brings out the best in the Ducks.

Bad News for the Black Sox

Gameday 7: Ducks vs. Dirty Birds

2015 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (4-3)

VS.

Mon Valley Dirty Birds (10-3)

9PM

Springivew Field

After a dramatic walk off win vs. Cranberry, South Oakland returns to the friendly confines of Spring Hill to host Mon Valley, in what figures to be our toughest game yet. Last year, this team was the second place Lions, most of their best players left and started the Dirty Dirds as an homage to former Atlanta Falcons great, Jamaal Anderson’s touchdown dance.

Their coach garaunteed a victory over the defending AAA champion Cherokee in the league meeting this winter. Clearly, they have huge, dirty balls. They also play Clinton on Sunday, while the Ducks face longtime rival Brookline on Thursday, so, perhaps, we are each others trap game tonight.

The Dirty Birds have a far more professional looking website than this one. Solid. Very GIF-centric. The effort there reminds me of the mid-to-late-aughts, when I didn’t mail-in 90% of these posts, and we had Star War characters and the Hurricanes shit talking each other in the comments for months.

South Oakland may have turned it’s season around, by avoiding a fourth division loss on Monday, but it won’t mean much if we can’t build on it. We showed some resiliance. If we want to make a run at the title this year, we will likely have to go through this team. I’m curious to see if they are as dirty as they claim. We will probably see #22 and that other pitcher who throws hard for them. They will yell a lot.

But we have Doc on the hill for us tonight.

Bad News for the Dirty Birds.

Ducks Even Record With Win in Greenfield

2015 South Oakland Ducks Baseball, NABA, pittsburgh NABA, who names their team the Rebels?

South Oakland of the North Side defeated the Single A Bombers (2-3) 15-1 in five innings last Wednsday at Magee Field.

Culp went yard. Mike hit two doubles. TJ Morgan hit a triple, Galvanek and Dover both doubled off the wall. We turned two double plays, and Ben Phillips (W, 1-0) and Brian Strom combined to allow 2 hits over five innings.

Ducks Pitcher, Brian Strom hit a batter extending his consecutive outings with a HBP to 65, a national record that spans his eight years in the NABA and includes post season games.

This was basically the opposite of our first game. I’m glad the Bombers at least didn’t have to drive an hour down 51 to lose like that.

After two games, the Ducks (1-1) have played 7 2/3 innings of baseball, scored 17 runs and allowed 18. Tuesday’s game figures to be a pitcher’s duel.

This week, South Oakland opens league play against the Rebels, in the dreaded Tuesday, 6pm time slot at Stoneridge Field in Shaler.

Notes on Springview Field:

Apparently, the Duck Pond was vandalized. The mound and home plate area had to be ruined before the city took any action to make it playable. According to sources close to the team, the field is now in great shape and will be ready for out home opener this Wednsday.

quack.

Ducks win: Ducks 8, Warriors 7 (8)

2014 South Oakland Ducks, Ducks win, NABA, pittsburgh NABA

South Oakland won on a walk-off fielder’s choice by Matt Limbach for their second come from behind win in as many days. Matt Swetz and Tony Casale (w, 1-0) Combined to hold the Warriors to 2 runs over the final six innings.

The Warriors trailed 1-0 after one, but exploded for five runs in the second off an four walks, and infield hit, a double and an error. Some guy stole home. South Oakland appeared ready to melt down.

The Ducks scored in the bottom half of the inning when Hartranft hit a hustling double to right, advanced to third on Donnie’s sac bunt, and scored on Moore’s single. Moore finished 1-for-4 with an RBI

Warriors 5, Ducks 2 after two.

Swetz entered the game and worked out of trouble for 2 2/3 innings allowing one run and keeping the Ducks within striking distance.

Limbach and Swetz drove in runs in the fifth for South Oakland

6-4 Warriors after five

The Ducks went down in order in the sixth, and the Warriors added a run in the top of the seventh to take a 7-4 lead on Craig Boley’s laser beam of an RBI single to right center.

To start the Ducks half of the seventh, Casale reached on an error, Gwin walked, and Limbach reached on another error. Matt Swetz then singled to right and drove in three when the right fielder’s throw went over the backstop.

7-7 after seven.

With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Casale doubled, Gwin was intentionally walked, and Limbach hit a hard grounder in the hole between second and third. The Warriors second baseman couldn’t handle the throw to second from the short stop. Casale came around to score and end the game. 8-7 Ducks.

***

The Ducks are 4-2 in one-run games this season.

We’ve won a handful of games where we’ve been down or tied after the fourth, if someone wants to count the number of come from behind wins we’ve had this season, I’d appreciate it.

Apparently you can just put a guy on without throwing the pitches for an intentional walk. Several times, Boley called for intentional walks, and basically went with the same strategy Ducks management tried to implement in the ill-fated, botched intentional walk game earlier this season. It’s the right move. However they didn’t go with five infielders, which would’ve been awesome, theoretically, for someone.

South Oakland returns to the Duck Pond to face the Monsters, 8pm Wednesday night. Who wants to pitch?

Gameday 16 and Titans recap

2014 South Oakland Ducks, Ducks win, Gameday, pittsburgh NABA

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (12-3)

vs.

Warriors (2-8)

6pm

Stoneridge

This will be our first game at this field. We are the home team. 6pm starts are the worst.

Bad News for the Warriors

Titans Recap:

South Oakland defeated the Titans in a come-from-behind 7-6 victory yesterday in Bellevue. The win keeps South Oakland tied for first with North America, and a full game ahead of the WOLFPACK!!!

After a frantic start by the Titans who took advantage of a few questionable calls by the umps and some missed opportunities by the Ducks, South Oakland settled in and scored a bunch of runs to erase deficits of 2-0, and 4-1. The Ducks lead 6-4 after 5 but the Titans tied it in the 6th before the Ducks scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 7th on Ciccone’s RBI double.

Doubles were hit by Casale, Ciccone and Gwin. Hartranft had a sweet single to start a big inning in the 5th, and Mike Brandt walked twice to bring his OBP up to .453.

***

I’m really glad we won and I’m not here trying not to blame the umpires that we lost. This was the first time I’ve tried to file a complaint with the league office about the umps. They were admittedly out of position, and generally didn’t give a shit. Which is a shame because the Titans played us tough, again, and I don’t want to take anything away from their effort in what was a good game.

This is what I found when I tried to log in to the umpire association’s page today to file a complaint:

Looks about right.

The Ducks have won five straight games.

South Oakland plays tonight and Wednsday before traveling to Munhall for a double header against North America with first place on the line this Sunday.

Who wants to see if they can pitch?

quack

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