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WOLFPACK!!! 2014 Single A Champs. Cherokee take AA title

2014 South Oakland Ducks, NABA, pittsburgh NABA

Congrats to ths year’s Pittsburgh NABA Champions.

I’ll post updates after the league meetings in January.

Roster spots for next years Ducks team will be offered to returning players first, and we will fill in as needed. We will also add a couple pitchers because our staff has an average age of 32.

Look for Ducks utility player, Anthony Ciccone’s NABA hotstove blog. Coming soon!

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Ducks Lose, Season Over.

2014 South Oakland Ducks, pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland lost 5-0 to the WOLFPACK Wednsday night in Carrick.

We scored zero runs, I think we only allowed one or two earned runs, but that was enough.

The Ducks only had two men in scoring postion all game. Not a great offensive night without our leadoff and five hitters. Their pitcher was lights out. Galvanek, Gwin, Hartranft and Sorosky (2) had hits for the Ducks, and that was it.

I think I’m pulling for the Lions in the finals. Their home field is more interesting.

***

This wasn’t the way we would’ve liked the season to end, but I’m more optimistic about the core group of players we have and the state of the team big picture-wise than I have been in years. This was the most fun I’ve had playing baseball since 2008.

We won a lot of games, many on the last at bat or by one run in come from behind fashion. With a few pieces we should content for the championship again, and I think moving ahead we will always be right there, quacking and playing teams tough as long as we can keep the nucleus intact. Feathers and bills and such. Green and gold. We were really close. Next year Garrett will announce games from the press box in Spring Hill, and maybe podcast play-by-play of our games. That would dominate the Lions fancy webpage with ther robot game recaps! Maybe we can get a decent writer on the blog. Though, Ciccone offered to write up team by team season previews before next season, so look for them in late March!

For next year, we need to figure out what youth leagues have all the city permits so we can get better time slots and help get PSL off the baseball fields. There are so many softball fields. Quit ruining our mounds, and trashing our batter’s boxes! Slow pitch softball is the worst.

Anyway, thanks for reading and thanks for a great season.

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Playoff Game Postponed

2014 South Oakland Ducks

Ducks vs. WOLFPACK Game 3 has been moved to Sunday night, 8:30pm at Moore Park.

I’m really glad I my team had to drive all the way to Jefferson Hills today to not play a game because the field was double booked. What a way to spend a morning.

Jefferson Hills’ coach was unaware of the youth softball tryouts that were scheduled for noon today, when he told the commissioner the field was available.

It Looks like the Lions swept the Titans. So the winner of tomorrow’s game will play North America for the championship.

In AA news, the Black Sox were eliminated. The Cherokee, I think, are in the finals and will play the winner of the Bulldogs vs. Jefferson Hills/West End.

Ducks Lose

2014 South Oakland Ducks, pittsburgh NABA

West View 6, South Oakland of the North Side 2.

Ducks starting ptcher Brian Stom faced 10 batters through 3, and South Oakland lead 1-0 going into the top of the bottom of the 4th.

There were a couple plays that weren’t made by the Ducks, a walk or two, and the WOLFPACK scored five in the bottom of the fourth, and we couldn’t get back in it.

We ran out of a couple innings, We had 10 hits, but we weren’t able to string anything together. it was really frustrating.

At one point one of our guys ran into their catcher who was well up the line, and their catcher wanted to fight or something. It was ridiculous. Benches partially cleared. Everyone should have been tossed. No one was.

The West View pitcher threw a good game, working out of trouble a few times. Two of their guys hit the ball pretty hard, their four hitter, and that guy who no one seems to have seen play during the regular season.

After the game, the West View coach was nice enough to offer to play game 3 at their home field. Ducks management declined the offer.

*EDIT game Saturday will be at Stoneridge, time tbd

Contemporary country music sucks.

***

In other Pittsburgh NABA news, Jefferson Hills lost in the opening round of AA playoffs in a big upset to Cranberry. Then Cranberry took one look the Cherokee’s awesome alternate jerseys in their next winners bracket game, and forfeited. The Rebels were crushed by the Bulldogs, the Black Sox beat West End, in what has become an intense seres between the two teams. The Carrick Express can eliminate Jefferson Hills on Saturday. I hope it comes down to Brookline and the Cherokee and that their is a fight in the stands and lots of guys getting beaned. It would be like old times.

The other side of the Single A bracket hasn’t started yet.

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Ducks Win.

2014 South Oakland Ducks

South Oakland scored 7 runs in the 4th inning, overcoming a 3-0 deficit en-route to a 8-5 victory in game 1 of the semifinals at Springview Field Monday night.

Jason Fetter threw five innings, allowing 4 earned runs, and recorded his first playoff win as a Duck. Ben Sorosky pitched a scoreless sixth inning, and Anthony Ciccone recorded the save, striking out the West View cleanup hitter with the bases loaded in the seventh.

Matt Limbach went 2-for-3 and drove in three runs, Rob Galvanek went 2-for-3 with a double and 3 RBI, Brandon Culp and DJ Dover each had multi-hit games.

Ducks catcher, Rob Galvanek threw out 2 runners out at second.

Short stop Tony Casale made a diving stop behind second base and threw out a runner from his knees to save a run. It was one of the best plays by an infielder I’ve seen in person.

Game 2 is Wednsday night, 8:30PM at John Herb Field.

quack.