Come From Behind Victory Vaults OBI to D2 Division Lead...

Season 6's Week 5 was a struggle for all three 6-2 teams tied atop the D2 Division standings:

• 6-4 Diamondback Pools/Cadcon took 2 on the chin, losing to 5-5 Empty Pitchers.
• 7-3 Mamma's Boys split with 3-7 No Glove No Love.
• 8-2 OBI came from a Game 2 12-1 deficit to win 14-13 by scoring 3 in the bottom of the 7th inning and sweep 1-9 BMW.

 OBI takes on Empty Pitchers and then Diamondback Pools/Cadcon before the Season 6 Tourney on December 18th. Our fate is in our own hands with this weeks sweep of BMW. The top 2 seeds in the tourney will receive a bye to the semis.

Play this week was offensively impressive in Game 1 and we even showed some grit in Game 2.

The four inning affair that was Game 1's 19-3 route was mostly about timely hitting, gifts from the generous benefactors playing BMW's Defense, and some decent defense. The big story of the night may be Jacob's three walks that have put him atop the category for Season 6. Or it just might be the BMW Defense, tough call...

The top of the first was highlighted by Michael's 2-run triple (aka, Single to Left that passed thru the fielders legs and rolled to the fence). In the second inning, OBI built an 8-0 lead by scoring 5 runs. This inning featured a second walk by Jacob and Nuta's Home Run (aka, Single to LC that passed thru the fielders legs and rolled to the fence). 

John scored the first out of the third inning. And the final out of the inning. In between, OBI pushed across 9 runs that included a 3-run Triple (aka, Single to Left that passed thru the fielders legs and rolled to the fence) by Matt... No mention will be made in this blog posting about consecutive hits to LF (aka dropped popups) by anyone, especially third basemen. 'Nuff said...

Game 2 started slow and we led 1-0 after one inning. The first batter made an out, and we scored a run in spite of that fact,,, both in Game 1 and 2. A good sign.

What was not a good sign was a stupid yellow ball that would not find its way into our gloves in the top of the second. Instead, BMW hopped out to a 10-1 lead which inflated to 12-1 going into the bottom of the third.

OBI scored 3 in the third, 5 in the fourth, and one each in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings. Hitting was contagious as each player did what they do best and did not try to force the issue.

Down 13-11 going to the seventh, the Defense held BMW scoreless for the 3rd time in four innings. In the last half, OBI was led by John and Paul singling to begin the parade. A deep drive to CF by JR was run down but the fielder was unable to control the ball. This put the tying run on third and winning run on 2nd base.

Simple enough, both Nuta and Larry produced run scoring singles that gave us the win, sweep, and D2 Division lead going into December play. Keep on Keepin' On OBI !!!

YTD Stat Notes:
-- DC and Steve have qualified and will win the Batting Average and On Base PCT titles in 2014.
-- Nuta may qualify but both Paul and Jacob will fall just short.
-- Matt, Larry and JR will have played the most games.
-- Okay, enough hints ;~)
-- At seasons end, along with 2014 YTD stat posting, the 2013-2014 stats will be accumulated and a sheet covering both years included in the blog.

It Is Good To Be One of the Haves ...

Halfway thru Season 6, our 6-2 OBI maintains a share of the D2 Division lead.  Split City battle 6-2 Mamma's Boys this week while 6-2 Diamondback Pool/CADCON swept 2-6 No Glove No Love. A three-way tie for the division lead and we hold in our own hands a sometimes slippery key,,, our own destiny.

With our Game 1 victory 12-8 and 9-11 loss in Game 2 to Mamma's Boys this week, we hold the tie-breaker by point differential. Week 7 battle with Diamondback Pools/CADCON looms if OBI can take care of business against BMW and Empty Pitchers over the next 2 weeks.

This weeks games were both close scores, although OBI lead 12-3 going into the bottom of the last inning in Game 1. Paul got things going in Game 1 by driving in Jayse to tie the game at 1 in the top of the second. And then OBI lit up the scoreboard, a bit, by putting up back to back 5 to build an 11-3 lead.

John continued his hot hitting by starting the 3rd inning parade off with a triple. Well, mainly Michael runs about the speed of a parade though that is only because he likes to slide, but I digress. After Matt, Clint, and Jacob singled,,, Spillane's 3-run triple broke it open. Michael finished off the scoring by doubling on a pitch that should have been a Sac Fly (I will take it)...

The 4th inning had another 3 singles from Paul, Nuta, and John,,, promptly followed by Larry's right field line type line drive that turned into a 3-run HR. Spillane later singled to score 4for4 Matt again.

The 5-man infield again worked its magic. Our play was good, but the mental game it forces our opponents to play is worth every bit of learning curve we are going through with this new defensive alignment.

Game 2 was a back and forth battle won by Mamma's Boys on the strength of a 5-run fifth inning. This wiped out a two run lead and down 8-11 at that point,,, OBI would muster only one run in the final two innings.

OBI's 4-spot in the bottom of the first inning was started by a Michael Base on Balls. Jayse, Steve (double), Nuta (triple) and John hit safely in the inning. We were quiet till the bottom of the third when Michael drove a 2-2 pitch deep into the night. Steve later informed me the umpire stated that he had just thrown in one of the old "Victory Lane" stamped backup balls (I do so miss the days of swinging at non-mush balls). 

A fourth inning 3-spot swung the lead back in our favor at 8-6. Paul, John, Larry, Clint and Jacob were contributors to this innings cause making the pendulum of momentum swing our way for a whole half inning. Alas, the Boys followed up with their 5-run fifth and Split City is Baaaaccckkk !!!

Following are a few special notes:

-- This weeks defense was very good, once again. A couple dropped balls after long runs in the outfield, a couple bobbled balls in the infield, and we converted almost everything else. Good Plays all, whether we play with what defense,,, I am always proud of the effort. That and the way Spillane always uses his head on Defense.

-- Thus far in Season 6 we have played 5-man infield 3 of 4 weeks:
Infield W-L   Runs_Against
5-Man   5-1   13.8   6.5
4-Man   1-1    8.5   6.0   (played on field 5)
Totals  6-2   12.5   6.4

Final Verdict is still out,,, but thus far, I am having fun I tell ya.

-- Forwards and Backwards: Paul (forward K) and Michael (backwards K) each had a strike out...

-- Stat of the Week: Jayse, Jacob and Mike walked... Steve did not!!!

He's Baaaaaaaacccccckkkkkk .......

An Old Soul returned to 5-1 One Bad Inning two weeks ago and in week 3 Steven has brought an element missing from our team's repertoire, patience at the plate. In the prior 20 games, OBI has tallied 2 Base on Balls. In two games this week, Steven now walked 3 times. The walks (patience, as it were) were infectious. Jayse, JR and Matt each reached base via BB giving us 6 on the night.

2-4 No Glove No Love did have their own moments in the Field 6 Lights. Cheers abounded in both games when they scored their first run of the game. NGNL scored two in the 4th inning of Game 1's 2-12 five inning run rule. They were also able to push across a 5 spot in the bottom of the 6th inning in game 2's 7-25 loss.

OBI scored 14 in the top of that 6th inning as we racked up 12 consecutive hits with 2 outs. Spillane saved Michael from a second opportunity to make the final out of our night. This was a nice 55th Birthday present for Michael (man I am old)...

Game 1 was highlighted by Matt's 3-3 performance, Jayse and Stevens' back to back Walks resulting in 1 RBI, plus a 7-run second inning. In the inning, Paul, John B., Larry, Juan R., and Matt singled to start the inning. Clint doubled and Spillane tripled to cap the strong hitting.

Game 2 was all about consistency at the plate, oh and the 14 run final inning at the plate. Leading 5-1 in the top of the 4th inning, OBI batted around, pushing 6 runs across the plate. After a quiet 5th inning, the dam broke,,,

21 batters went to the plate with all but 3 batting twice in the inning. Picking up two hits a piece were JR, Paul, John, Larry, Matt and Clint. All had at least 2 hits in the game.

Larry once again pitched extremely well (duh). Jacob, Jayse, and Paul patrolled the outfield, also extremely well. This allowed the 5-man infield to work its magic. Ok, Ok,,, our youth and speed in the outfield is what really makes the 5-man infield work... There, I said it... Can we please move on.........

Leaders at the plate bat throughout our lineup. Our consistency there pay dividends all of season 6. Back with us for the second consecutive season, John B. has found his groove and is in the top 3 for Batting Avg. Paul is leading both in Runs Scored and RBIs. Hmmmm, and Base on Balls is once again a viable category. 'Nuff Said...

This weeks matchup is against 5-1 Mamma's Boys on Field 1. Chris Nuta will return to the lineup giving us more depth in the outfield. Keep on Keepin' On, Boiz !!!

Split City and the 4-Man Outfield Both Return on FIeld 5

3-1 Split City (aka OBI) played a very good defensive 2 games and gave up 12 runs total (7 and 5). Offensively, SC/OBI was not much stronger, but was able to push across 17 runs in a 6-7 loss and 11-5 victory.

Defensively, especially on the infield, we spent much of the evening preparing for the 5-man infield we plan to play the rest of the season. Tonight was our last game on one of the big fields. Spillane proved prophetic as a few of the deep drives were tracked down where a 3-man outfield instead gives up big extra base hits.

On the offensive side of the ball, the middle and bottom of the order carried the evening. This part of the lineup scored 4 of 6 in game 1 and 8 of 11 in game 2. A huge part of the equation was the combination of Steve, JR, Paul, John, and Larry. 

Steve returned to OBI full time this week and was 4-5. He knocked in the first run of game 1 in our One Big Inning, the second, where we scored 5 of our 6 runs. Batting AVG team leader JR followed up with a run-scoring Double and the hits kept coming.

With the score tied 5-5 after 3 innings, 2-2 Diamondback Pools outscored us 2-1 the rest of the way for the victory.

Game 2 only lasted 6 innings as the OBI crew opened up a small can, very small, of whoop ass to take the night cap 11-3. The defense played well with player positioning a premium. The game could have been a run-rule with better,,, base running... 

There were bad decisions made at times, including Michael's ill attempt to tag and take second. An awkward slide later, he was out, and limping due to a bruised leg, hip, and buttocks region of the body. The bruising showed on Sunday, and it stretches from the hip almost down to the knee. Sorta like my own purple racing stripe... But I digress...

Matt, Steve, JR, and Paul were each 2-2 in the game and at the heart of our 6-run second and 4-run fourth innings.


Last season OBI was 4-0 against this weeks opponent, No Glove No Love. We battle once again on field 6 at 6:15/7:15. The 5-man infield will return,,, and hopefully, so will consistency in our offense. ;~)