naba

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.

patton1

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.

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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.

bullets_fever

  • 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

disco rubber ducks

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

Quack

 

 

 

 

Ducks Win

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

South Oakland of the North Side (4-2) beat the South Side Eagles (2-4) by a score of 10-7 in an ugly win at Herschel Park.

Chuck Zuzak (3-2) pitched five strong innings for the win, and Tuomisto faced two batters for the save. Tuomisto doubled and drove in 2, Strom had 2RBI and both Gwin and Brandt drove in a runs via hit by pitch.

According to the schedule we should have been visitors this game, but the Eagles insisted we were the home team, and then we played the first two innings with those weird rubber coated baseballs supplied by South Side. Shrewd move on the Eagles part, as it might have prevented a home run by Tuomisto during the Ducks seven run first inning.

The Eagles fought back, scoring two in the 4th and one in the 5th. South Oakland scored three more in the fifth and held off a late Eagles rally.

Ben Sorosky was caught stealing.

South Oakland is now in first place after six games, but several teams have played 4 or fewer games. Shaler has only played twice so far. We’ve played everyone but Shaler, and it doesn’t look like anyone is going to run away with it. Double A should be the most competitive division the season.

The Ducks next game is 8pm Monday night in Carrick against the Express.

 

 

 

Let it Bleed. Ducks Lose 3-2

2016 South Oakland Ducks, pittsburgh NABA, Recap

South Oakland lead 2-1 going into the bottom of the seventh. With one out, BIG OIL  DONT YOU LOVE THE SONG YMCA IT IS AWSOME I SAID YOUNG MAN SOMETHING I SAID YOUNG MAN SOMETHING BA BO BABA  YMCAA

My daughter got ahold of my laptop there, I think I’ll just leave her work. An ode to the village people, mid-blog.

Tyranny-of-Oil-cover-198x300

So then, with one out BIG OIL drew two walks, then hit a double down the line to tie the score, then after an intentional walk to load the bases, some guy hit a game winning walk-off to right center over a drawn in outfield.

Morgan drove in a run in the first and Moore had an RBI double for the Ducks. Zuzack pitched five strong innings and Musisko pitched a scoreless sixth.

The Oilers have a good lineup. If their pitching holds, they will be tough to beat.

If the Oilers take two of three from us this year, I’ll buy their manager a drink at

Despite this loss, we have a good team and we’re coming together quicker than last season. Chemistry is a tricky thing, especially in baseball since it is based so much on individual match-ups. I feel like we will rally after this tough loss. How we come out tomorrow will be telling.

South Oakland plays next tomorrow night, 9PM at Spring Hill vs. the Carrick Express. Strom and Sorosky are in charge.

quack

Game Day 3: Ducks vs. WOLFPACK

2016 South Oakland Ducks, NABA, pittsburgh NABA

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

vs.

West View Wolfpack (2-1)

9pm

Spring View Field

South Oakland takes on West View at home tonight at 9pm. The WOLFPACK played three games over the weekend, including an early season split-double header. They split with the Eagles and beat Cranberry. They are always tough to play against and they travel well. This would be a big early season win over one of the top teams in the league and should give us a good idea of where we stand early on.

KellyLeak_cigBad News for the WOLFPACK

First League Meeting Today

2016 South Oakland Ducks

The South Oakland Ducks of the North Side gear up for their 14th season in 2016. We are the longest running franchise in the Pittsburgh NABA and have a long tradition of mostly winning.

As of now, the Ducks will return around 11 players from last year’s team and look to contend for the franchise’s 3rd title. Our lineup should be solid, but we lack pitching depth. We will have to roll the dice with the draft if we can’t figure something out before late March. I encourage pitchers from other teams to defect and play for us.

If you are a pitcher and want to play on our team email: bengwin4@gmail.com for details.

We also might need a catcher.

Returning players, pay your dues asap. Send coach a check or pay via paypal.

quack

Game Day 12: Ducks at Monsters

2015 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (4-7)

vs.

Monongahela Monsters (4-7)

9PM

Moore Park

South Oakland looks to build on Wednesday’s win over the WOLFPACK in tonight’s inter-division game against the Monsters. This team played us tough last season. We need to bank wins against Single A teams, but we can’t look past these games. I hope they have their boom box with walk up music like last year.

We need our pitching staff to step up during this upcoming stretch where we have five games in eight days. Four of these games are against single A teams, and another against West End (0-6), who has struggled against AAA competition so far this season. If we take 4 of 5, we can get back to .500 while the teams ahead of us beat up on each other. After a rough start, I think we’re starting to come together.

 

Golf, Confederates Dominated by Bulldogs, misc

Bad News For the Monsters.

 

 

Ducks Split 2 Games Last Week

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

On Tuesday night, South Oakland of the North Side lost to the Shaler Rebels, 11-9, in a game they lead 8-4 after three and a half innings.

A combination of walks, hitbatsmen and errors led to a seven-run fourth inning for Sahler. The Ducks could not recover. South Oakland left the bases loaded twice and had the tying run at the plate in the top of the seventh.

Pat Dipaola hit a 3-run homerun in the loss and pitched 3 scoreless innings. Culp had a great game in center field, making an over the shoulder catch at the wall, and throwing a guy out at home. Donnie hit a ground rule double.

That team could hit a little bit, but we should win games in which we score nine runs. The defense has not helped out our pitching thus far.

abraham-lincoln-antietam-battlefield

On Wednsday, The Ducks beat the Maulers 6-1 in Spring Hill. Andy Nichols and Ben Phillips (2-0) combned to allow 1 run over seven innings. Nichols pitched the last four, and I think he allowed 2 baserunners. Culp hit a three-run home run over the house beyond the left field fence. I’ve never seen a ball hit that far at Spring Hill. We played better defense in this one.

Ducks firstbaseman and DH, Eric Tuomisto went 6-for-6 with a walk over the two game stretch. I don’t think he’s gotten out yet this year. Mike Brandt and Ben Sorosky both have 2-game hitting streaks. TJ Morgan was hit by a pitch.

To summarize: We can hit, but we need to play better defense. Our fifth guy off the bench is probably batting .400 right now. And, I swear, the big roster will payoff when people start going on vacation.

RIVER MONSTER

South Oakland (2-2) next plays on Wed. 5/13 at home vs. the resurgent BIG OIL who beat the first place Dirty Birds last week. The Hebrew Oilers (2-3) are led by a couple former Ducks. It should be a fun game.

Note: Jeremy Barchie may have re-retired after blowing his arm out again. We are willing to offer him a one-day contract so he can finish his career as a Duck.

quack.

 

 

 

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 Open at Jefferson Hills, Sunday at 6pm

2015 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland will start its season Sunday, April 26th, 6pm at Beedle Park against one of the top teams in AAA.

This will be a strong test right out of the gate for a retooled Ducks team that looks to challenge for a title this season.

Notes: In an odd turn of events, South Oakland lost a great one when team lawyer and super-utility player, Anthony Ciccone, defected to play with his cousins on BIG OIL. In the end, their pockets were just too deep. The Oilers are currently 0-2.

quack.