pittsburgh naba

GAME DAY 3: Ducks vs Bulldogs

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side

vs

Bulldogs

9pm

Springview Field

South Oakland looks for their first win tonight in a rematch of saturday’s 4-4 tie.

The Ducks still have players who haven’t met one another, and figure to play the opening weeks of the season with the goal of getting everyone playing time, and figuring out our most effective lineup before divisional play begins in May.

When Ken Cool gets back in town, he will give the Ducks a welcomed boost at the top of the lineup, as the team has only scored 5 runs in two games.

No idea who’s pitching tonight or what the lineup will look like,  but it will be good to be back at the Duck pond, and get a win on our home field.

hopefully our gang-neutral color scheme will benefit us. To this affect, i’d recommend the bulldogs go with their black hats.

For some reason i have this rambo pic saved in my ‘ducks blog images’ file.

bad news for the Bulldogs

Ducks 4, Bulldogs 4 (8)

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

The Bulldogs scored three in the bottom of the seventh to tie SOuth Oakland 4-4.

The Ducks scored on a balk in the second and three other times by way of RBI from, I think, Ben Hartranft, James Fago, and Mark Guthrie.

It was early.

Brett Pusateri had a double, Ben Gwin had 2 hits, Garrett Moore reached base 3 times in 4 plate appearances. Guthrie went 4innings on the mound, and gave up 1 run.

The teams will play again wed in the Ducks home opener.

Quack.

GAME DAY 2: Ducks at Bulldogs

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side

at

Bulldogs

8:30 AM John Herb Field

Might as well just put this up a day early.

Looks like rain tomorrow, but be ready to play until we hear otherwise.

Vinny will be ready

I like the composition of the Ducks this year a lot. The nothing-to-lose attitude is refreshing. Everyone is just excited to be playing again, or at all. Everyone’s hustling, and no one’s bitching about anything.

That could change if we don’t start winning some games, but it’s early, and the wins will come—that will be the result of the aforementioned approach.

I know coaching the last two years, the immense pressure to please everyone is what ultimately led to a lot of unhappiness and stress that seemed ridiculous to have over adult league baseball. I think there’s a misunderstanding about playing hard and demanding a good effort from yourself and your teammates, that it has to come along with some sort of fucked up intensity and shit talking that makes it all not fun, that it’s only worth winning if you can take credit.

With this team, this season the more fun it is the more we will win, not the other way around as I feel it was at times during the last two seasons.

That said, I hate losing more than anyone. And our goal this year, with the talent we have, is to win a championship.

 Who the fuck knows, I’m just looking forward to walking into Moore Park in mid May, fearing for my life, questioning human kind while a fight in the stands breaks out, and hitting singles over the second baseman’s head. Stuff like that is why i love this league and being a Duck.

 

RIP Levon Helm.

TC Jones might have to come out of retirement to pitch Saturday.

Bad News for the bulldogs.

Quack.

The Roster

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball, pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball, who names their team the Rebels?

The South Oakland Ducks of the North Side will rol out a roster featuring the top players from the 2007 team, and members of the Fightin’ Ra 2009 League Champion Hurricanes.

Everyone is excited to get the season started. It will be the Ducks 10th.

Realignment was discussed last league meeting, no clue how that panned out.

Big time rivalry with the cherokee. Bring your smallpox-infested blankets to that one.

Godspeed flip, berdine and tish, etc.

I put the over/under on how long that team lasts at 1.5 seasons.

And there’s a new rebels team apparently, who we will not play as they are in the A division.

quack.

And We Start Again…

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

James Fago is our manager this season, and he’s in the best shape of his life.

Get in touch with him (or me, if you must) if you plan on playing this season. As always, roster spots go to returning Ducks before we fill in the gaps with Dominican League players Rob Cool knows through some ex-AAU coach, who used to play DII ball in Eastern Ohio, and sells sneakers out of the back of a truck at Waynesburg away games.

We owe the league our first $500 in the next few weeks, and Nike is sending people to my home trying to shake me down for the money we didn’t raise to cover our unis last year.

We’ll get it figured out soon.

We run a tight ship in South Oakland.

Motivation?

Quack.

We’re Going to the ‘Ship: Ducks Win 2-0, Sweep Bulldogs

Ducks win

Jim Teyssier pitched a complete game shutout, striking out 9, while allowing just 3 hits and walking 2.

South Oakland scored its first run with two out in the bottom of the second, on three straight singels by Baumgartel, Smith and Gwin.

The Bulldogs left two men on base in the top of the third and would not threaten again.

In the bottom of the fourth, Fago walked, and pinch runner Tim Lipp stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error; he scored on Nick Berdine’s rbi single to left.

The Ducks will face Elliot in the finals on Saturday time and place to be determined.

quackquackquackquackquack.

South Oakland Looks to Sweep Brookline for The First Time in team History

League Champion South Oakland Ducks

We’ve never finished the regular season with a better record than Kenny Powers and the Sox.

A win Saturday will assure that and all but clinch us the 3 seed in the end of season tournament.

Now some extended East Bound and Down highlights.

Quack.

Ducks Win

pittsburgh NABA

South Oakland of the North Side shutout the South Side Eagles 3-0, Wednesday night at SpringView Field.

Mike Fletcher pitched six scoreless innings allowing 1 hit, and striking out 11.

James Fago pitched a perfect seventh for the save.

Nick Berdine and Brendan Scioscia combined to play an error-free game at second base.

The Eagles recorded their only hit in the top of the first with a lead off single.

The Ducks improve to 13-4, and resume division play Saturday morning against the Express.

Duffy, Smith and Gwin had RBI for the Ducks.

quack.

Gameday [10] Ducks at Black Sox

2011 Ducks Baseball, Gameday

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (7-2, 3-1)

at

Brookline Black Sox (6-3-1, 3-2-1)

9pm

Moore Park

A rematch of last season’s championship series. and I’m 99% sure it will be Teyssier vs. Chalfin.

Tonight’s game will be the first time the Ducks come into More Park as the team who ended the Sox season the previous year.

Until South Oakland defeated the Black Sox in the Championship last year, the Ducks had never beaten the Sox in a post season series.

We still haven’t finished the regular season with a better record than the Sox, but you can ask the Bulldogs how much regular season success means (sorry guys).

This is the best rivalry in the brief history of  our league.

Since the days when Randy coached third, occasionally umpired, and would yell, “I got it,” at the Ducks infielders going for pop-ups, no two teams have played more games against each other or played harder.

The rivalry intensified when we absorbed the Owlz players (and more Black SOx hate) last season and then again when Guthrie beat Chalfin in game two of the Championship.

We beat them when it counted, and absolved seven years of futility.

But they’ve been waiting for this chance since they watched us drench Guth in beer while Joe brought down our trophy.

***

 A Ducks win will give the Sox something to think about till mid July when we finish the season with a two-game series against Brookline.

Moore Park is a tough place to play; tonight, it will be filled with crew cuts and beer cans and profanity.

 But this season they have to knock off the Ducks to win the title.

We are the defending champs, and we will play like it tonight.

Ty Cobb never threw a Series.

Bad News for the Black Sox.

Ducks Win 1-0 Thriller in 8

2011 Ducks Baseball, Bulldogs, Ducks win

Unrelated zeppelin song. Now for a letdown of a recap:

South Oakland of the North Side (7-2) won their seventh straight behind phenomenal pitching and timely hitting from the bottom of the lineup.

Ducks lefty, Mike Cinefra pitched a complete game, 1-hit shutout, striking out 12.

Ken Cool drove in the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the 8th.

Both pitchers threw exceptionally well. The Bulldogs’ guy allowed only 5 hits and went 7 and 2/3 with 9 Ks

 The Bulldogs threatened in the second when Rankin hit a leadoff double to right but was stranded on 3rd after a K a groundout and another K.

In the top of the 7th, Ducks catcher James Fago threw out a runner trying to take third on a past ball to end the inning.

 This was the first Ducks Bulldogs game in which we held Vinny Gala hitless.

 In the bottom of the 8th with two outs, Nick Berdine walked to lead off the inning. Gwin singled to right, and Ken Cool drove in the winning run with a single to center.

South Oakland’s 8-9-10 hitters came through with two outs to preserve the win in one of the best games I’ve played in for some time.

Anthony Defilippo, Rob Baumgartel, and Mike Cinefra also had hits for South Oakland.

Black Sox 9pm, Saturday night at Moore Park.

Tell your friends

 quackquackquackquackquackquackquack