The games are coming fast and furious this week, and last night it was yet another matchup against Lieber’s squad, who I was informed before the game are the Redrum.
The Red Scare were the visiting team, and Jordan N started things off by beating out a hard grounder to third for a leadoff single, then immediately stealing second and third. Jordan G walked, and took a huge lead off first — when Redrum pitcher Constantine threw over, Jordan G took off for second, Jordan N took off for home, the throw from the first baseman went wild, and we had both an unusual delayed double-steal and the first run of the game.
If it was an inauspicious beginning for Lieber, it only got worse the rest of the inning. Ben M singled to right, scoring Jordan G. Yates crushed a long double to the right-center gap, putting runners on second and third. After an out, Max smacked a ball up the middle that the pitcher deflected just enough for the second baseman not to be able to make a play, driving in Ben M. Sam followed by dunking a soft liner into center field to plate two more runs. Shiloh was plunked in the rib cage by Constantine, then a wild pitch sent her to second while Sam scored. Roan walked, Ben C crushed a long single to almost the exact same place in right-center that Yates’ double had gone to, Jordan G walked, and finally Ben M delivered a bases-clearing double over the center fielder’s head, and the Red Scare had a 10-0 lead before Redrum had even come to the plate.
With Dylan absent (and having pitched a complete-game no-hitter two days earlier anyway, so not available), Ben M took the mound, and immediately struck out Izzy for the first out. He walked the next hitter, Dash, then a single up the middle by Constantine moved Dash to third, Constantine taking second on the throw. Dash scored on a wild pitch, then after another strikeout and a walk, Constantine tried to cut his team’s deficit to a mere nine by racing home on another pitch that went to the backstop; Red Scare catcher Max quickly retrieved it and sent a hard underhand back to Ben M, in the perfect location for him to make the low tag of the runner at the plate for the third out.
We scored five more runs in the 2nd off Lieber reliever Oliver on singles by Max, Roan, Ben C, and Jordan G, a walk by Jordan N, plus a fielding error. Thus staked to a 14-run lead, Ben M proceeded to shut down Redrum completely for the next two innings, striking out six batters in a row.
With the lead now 16-1 on an RBI single by Roan in the 4th, the Red Scare went to the pen for Yates’ second relief appearance of the season, and he didn’t disappoint, delivering a steady diet of sinkers that flummoxed the Redrum batters: a groundout back to the mound, a popup to Shiloh at first, then two more grounders and a popup that our defense all made errors on, which wasn’t Yates’ fault. (Well, except for the two of the errors that Yates himself committed.) Two singles followed, but Yates got the next hitter to ground to Jordan N at second, where he made the easy throw to end the inning. In the bottom of the 5th, Yates made easier work of it, sort of — a popup behind first that Roan dropped then threw to a sprinting Yates for the out, a popup in front of Jordan N at second that he trapped and then threw to Roan for the out, and finally a hard smash to Max at third that he made a laser throw to Roan of — and we had an easy win. Red Scare 16, Redrum 4
Next game is vs. Miller this Friday at 6 pm, but as we’ve discovered that the lights go out at 8 pm sharp, I’d like to try to start at 5:45 if the umps are there and the previous game is finished by then. Please try to arrive by 5 pm for practice, but no later than 5:30.
