south oakland baseball

Gameday 5: Ducks vs Grizzlies

2019 South Oakland Ducks

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

vs

Bauerstown Grizzlies (3-0)

9pm

Springview Field

The Ducks can take sole possession of first place with a win at home tonight against the undefeated Grizzlies.

Bauerstown picked up a catcher/pitcher from Pitt Johnstown who’s hitting .800, throws 95 mph, runs a 5.8, 60 yard dash, and hits 500 foot home runs. I hear he also has a solid low post game.

The Grizzlies have some solid guys and are young. They swept the Bandidos over the weekend, and beat the Devils to open the season. They are scoring 8 runs a game. Last season, they eliminated us from the playoffs in the losers bracket final, after our exhausting, ten-inning win against the Devils. Historically, we play these guys close, including a tie a couple years ago. In that game Lonnie threw out the go-ahead run at the plate in the top of the seventh. This game will probably also be close.

 

A win tonight will go a long way towards keeping us out of the losers bracket in this year’s playoffs. This will be another good test for us. I like our chances at home.

Bad News for the Grizzlies

 

 

Ducks Win. South Oakland 6, BIG OIL 4

2019 South Oakland Ducks, Ducks win, NABA, pittsburgh NABA

Mark Lombardi hit a second inning, 2-run home run to give the Ducks an early lead they wouldn’t relinquish, as South Oakland (3-1) held off the Oilers by a score of 6-4 last night in Spring Hill. Lombardi also threw out a runner at home on a 7-2 double play, and scored on an infield hit later in the game.

Before the game, both teams provided the IDs of all players involved, and after lengthy debate and cross-referencing, all players were deemed legal. However, that piping on Dave Winfield’s pants looks so good it should be outlawed.

Ducks starter, Cody Quinn (W, 1-0) went four inning for the victory, allowing one run on a solo home run by Witer Jimenez in the first. Quinn worked out of a bases loaded, one-out jam in the second and cruised the rest of the way. Ducks reliever, Steve Bielefeld allowed one run in the fifth, and Smiley pitched a perfect sixth. James Fago recorded his second save of the season, entering the seventh with the bases loaded and no outs. Fago struck out some guy, walked someone, then struck Jimenez out. The Oiler’s first baseman grounded out to end the game with the go-ahead run on first.

South Oakland has won three straight to pull within a half game of the first place Oilers (4-1).

  • The Oilers left the bases loaded in the second, fifth and seventh innings.
  • Brandt, Clark, Patton and Lombardi had RBI for South Oakland
  • Pulice and Clark hit doubles
  • Overall, another solid outing from the bullpen
  • The defense was also solid, I think we had an error-free game

The Ducks play next against the Sheraden Jays, Sunday, 3pm at Chartiers Field.

Quack.

Gameday 4: Ducks vs Oilers

2019 South Oakland Ducks, Gameday, NABA, pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

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

vs

Hebrew Oilers (4-0)

9pm

Springview Field

South Oakland looks to win its third straight tonight when the Ducks take on the defending AA champion Oilers. Reports of the Oilers demise have been greatly exaggerated, apparently. They are returning a good team and have been in first place for the entire rain-drenched, opening month and a half of the season.

The Ducks swept the last regular season series against the Oilers, but lost to them 3-2 in the opening round of last year’s playoffs. It should be a good matchup.

The Brendan Chartier Memorial Scooter Series kicks off with the nominal rivalry trophy on the line. I don’t think anyone really wants to hold onto the actual scooter, which we confiscated from some local kids who threw it at us from the basketball court before a Ducks/Eagles game in 2016. This year the teams will play three times at three different venues (Springview, Mellon, West Field). Winner gets the trophy. The trophy is named after the Ducks former catcher who also moonlighted as an Oiler in a scrimmage game against Kenyon College.

We need to close the gap here so the Oilers don’t put too much distance between them and the rest of the league before everyone has to play four games a week to make up  all the rainouts. This is the start of a tough stretch for us, with the Devils and Grizzlies coming up. If the rain ever stops, this season is going to very competitive.

Oilers games are always fun. They’re a good litmus test. We will have almost a full squad tonight, so we will at least have them outnumbered. I like our chances at home.

Bad news for BIG OIL

 

Gameday 3: Ducks vs Wolfpack

2019 South Oakland Ducks

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

vs

West View Wolfpack (0-1)

9pm

Springview Field

South Oakland looks to win its second game in a row tonight against West View in a rematch of the 2014 and 2016 semifinals. West View looks to rebound from a loss to the Oilers yesterday. Last season the Wolfpack bowed out of the playoffs after too many forfeits during the regular season, a move that helped the Ducks earn a free first round bye that set the team up for a deep run that resulted in another third place finish.

Also, the Oilers haven’t lost yet. We need a win to keep pace.

The Wolfpack has been around for close to ten years now, in some iteration or another. They pulled guys from the old Sharks teams, and some from the Matadors. It would have been a shame if they folded during the off season.

West View always plays us tough. It should be a good game tonight, but I think Spring Hill gives us an edge.

 

Bad news for the Wolfpack

Ducks Sweep BIG OIL, Keep Fist Round Bye Hopes Alive

2018 South Oakland Ducks

Cody Quinn and Randy Patton lead South Oakland to back to back wins over the Hebrew Oilers. Quinn pitched a gem on Tuesday in East Liberty, going six innings and allowing one run. He worked out of trouble early, stranding the bases loaded, and striking out the side in the second. Patton pitched a scoreless seventh inning, in the Ducks 6-1 win. Tom Pulice hit a bases loaded double to give the Ducks some breathing room, and added an RBI single in the seventh.

Wednesday night in Spring Hill, Patton threw a complete game against his former team and the Ducks pulled away with a four run sixth inning to break a 4-4 tie. DJ Dover drew a bases loaded walk, and Paul Cucco hit a bases clearing triple. South Oakland went on to win 8-4.

Both games were close until the late innings.

South Oakland is now .5 games out of third for the final first round bye, and one back in the win column of the first place Eagles.

It’s going to be exciting down the stretch.

South Oakland’s next game is Saturday night at 8pm vs. Carrick at Volunteer Field. Hopefully the permit situation is worked out.

Ducks Win. South Oakland 6, South Side 3

2018 South Oakland Ducks, Ducks win, NABA, pittsburgh NABA, Recap, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

The South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (6-6) got back to .500 on the season against a tough South Side Eagles (4-5) team, winning by a score of 6-3 in Spring Hill last night.

The Ducks lead 2-1 going into the bottom of the fifth. Dover doubled to start the inning, advanced to third on a wild pitch and Toumisto drove him in with a groundout to the right side. Five batters later, Tony Casale singled with the bases loaded, followed by Ben Sorosky’s clutch pinch-hit single to right to cap off the four-run inning.

The Eagles scored two in the top of the seventh, but the rally fell short.

Randy Patton (W, 3-3) pitched six strong innings, allowing only 2 hits and 3 walks along with 2 Ks. Andy Nichols recorded the save (2).

South Oakland’s next game is Saturday at 2pm vs. 1st place Sheraden Jays.

  • We had the ump with the small strike zone, and there were a few questionable calls
  • I think the Eagles were short guys?
  • This is the first season sweep of the Eagles since 2010
  • If we beat the Jays Saturday, we will sweep all other bird teams
  • We jumped from 9th to a 5th place with the win

 

 

 

I forget what I was supposed to title this blog post: Ducks Win. South Oakland 4, Cranberry 2

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

The South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (5-6) came back from a two-run deficit to defeat the Crusaders (4-4) by a score of 4-2 in Munhall last night. Starter Mike Longman (W, 1-0) scattered seven hits over five innings, and Andy Nichols pitched two scoreless innings for the save.

Cranberry scored two runs on a triple, a single and two errors to take a 2-0 lead in the fourth. The Ducks cut the lead in half after a triple by Dover and a sac fly by Lombardi.

South Oakland added two runs in the fifth on singles by Gwin, Zuzak and Maldonado.

Dover stole third and scored on throwing error in the sixth to give the Ducks some breathing room.

South Oakland plays next on Sunday night, 8:30pm at John Herb Field vs. West View

 

Everyone Cheats – South Oakland Ducks 2018 Preview

2018 South Oakland Ducks

If you haven’t paid, you need to pay me. Everyone needs to register on the league site before Tuesday. Same deal as every season. For fuck’s sake, register and pay your league dues. Guys who haven’t paid will sit.

No metal spikes on the new field. Get turf shoes, molded cleats or sneakers.

The first week of the schedule is up. We open with back-to-back games.  4/17 at BIG OIL; 4/18 vs WOLFPACK!!!

Tuesday at Mellon Park, 6:45pm. Former Oiler Randy will start in the grudge match, provided we aren’t snowed out.

Wednesday, West Field, 9pm. Starter TBD.

Roster Notes:

We have added a couple guys who can hopefully pitch, and first baseman Eric Tuomisto is back in town.

We lost utility player and closer, John Moore, and there are a couple guys who are up in the air right now. We have essentially the same lineup as last season.

This season marks our fifteenth in existence. With the Black Sox folding, the Warriors are the only other original five franchise still in the league (they were the piranhas in their first season, and we beat them for the our first championship). I started the Ducks when I was 22 and could still run and my back wasn’t all fucked up. Someone please take over for me. I’m old.

The Black Sox were our greatest rival when both teams were winning games, and this league was arguably at its peak. Certainly the blog was at least readable back then. So much has changed. Baseball lends itself to nostalgia. It’s fucking weird to be nostalgic about the early years of an adult league, but probably healthier than being nostalgic about high school or college ball. I’m incredibly grateful and very fortunate to still be able to play baseball and enjoy it. I don’t take our team and the league for granted.

Having said that, I will probably tear my ACL on the turf during warmups before our first home game.

I think Craig Boley and I are the last two players who have been in the league all 15 years of its existence. Boley kept the league running in the sketchy early days, and we all owe him a debt of gratitude for his efforts. I’m trying to get Boley to come play for us this season. I’ll poach the shit out of your players, Newman! Contract talks with Boley are ongoing.

We have a new home field. West Field in Munhall, former home of the Homestead Grays. It was recently renovated, and is now all turf. Pittsburgh NABA’s North American Lions used to play there back in 2014.

Over the years, I’ve put hundreds of hours into getting Spring Hill playable and I’ll never have that time back. Now, with the turf field, we should have fewer rainouts, and I will never have to rake it. It should help our infield play, and reduce the risk of dangerous bad hops. The dugouts are actually big enough to fit our whole team.

We will play two home games at the Duck Pond this season. Spring Hill is never in good shape, but I loved playing there. I might feel differently if I was an infielder. I’ll miss driving up that hill past all the meth addicts out on their stoops. The flying scooters, and how pissed off some teams were that they had to play in Spring Hill.

Ducks, another reminder: Pay me. Register. See you Tuesday.

Let’s win it this year. If our new pitchers work out, we have a great shot at it.

Quack.

I Heard Something Pop. Ducks 12, D2 9

2017 South Oakland Ducks

Ducks Catcher, Tom Pulice went 4 for 4 with two doubles and 3 RBI, and starting pitcher, Ben Sorosky (W, 2-0) gutted out four innings on the mound to lead South Oakland of the North Side (6-2) past Pittsburgh D2 (0-4) last night in Spring Hill.

D2 entered the game having gone scoreless in their first three contests. They scored their first run off Sorosky in the first on a bases loaded walk.

The Ducks took an 11-2 lead after four innings. Then D2 got to South Oakland’s middle relievers for five in the fifth, and two in the sixth before Brian Strom entered the game with the tying runs on second and third with  one out in the sixth. Strom struck out some guy and got Walking in Memphis to pop out to first to end the threat.

Ducks outfielder Lonnie Petril’s hamstring exploded on an infield single. Get well, Lonnie. (Let me know if you need me to erase this for workman’s comp purposes)

Dover drove in a run in the Ducks half of the inning.

Then in the seventh:

In the seventh, Ducks closer Jon Moore retired the side in order for his first save of the season.

Notes:

Big game by Strom in his first game back. Great catch against the wall with the bases loaded in the fourth, then worked out of a jam on the mound to get us to the seventh with the lead.

Offense looks pretty good through 8 games

Good fight by D2 to take advantage of some opportunities and get back into the game after being down early. I’m surprised they have not won yet.

From The Lawnmower Man IMDB page

A scientist performs experiments involving intelligence enhancing drugs and virtual reality on a simple-minded gardener. He puts the gardener on an extensive schedule of learning, and quickly he becomes brilliant. But at this point the gardener has a few ideas of his own on how the research should continue, and the scientist begins losing control of his experiments.

Tough four game stretch coming up: Dirty Birds (Bandidos) twice, then the Oilers and Eagles. We will get a good idea of where we are at relative to the rest of the league after these games.

South Oakland’s next game is this Sunday, 9:30AM at Mellon Park vs. the Dirty Birds.

Their website makes this blog look like garbage.

quack.