You'rrrrrrrrre Outa Here !!!

1-4-1 OBI played well but was over powered by middle-hitting and power-hitting 3-2-1 DL. The boys from DL hit about 7 or 8 though the pitchers box for Dead Ball Outs, 2 HRs each game, and at least another half dozen HRs for Outs as well (sans 1 HR that was simply recorded as a fly ball out by Armando, but we can chat about that later).

Game 1 was an offensive power outage for OBI as we were able to push across only 5 runs in 5 innings on 9 hits. The 5-19 loss was more painful to Larry than anyone else as DL started early with DBO up the middle, going 1-2 right after the old man... However, they followed up the 2 out start with hits including 2 HRs to take a 5-0 lead.

Spillane, Paul (both RBI Doubles), and Matt each had two hits. Clint, Larry (a double and Sac Fly accounting for his 2 RBI), and Michael each picked up one a piece for the other three. 

Larry struck out the lead off hitter in the top of the second. A bit of payback after being lit up by him in the opening frame.

Game 2 was more contentious as OBI battled back late to earn a tie at 15-15. Batting around in the top of the first was perfect and set the stage for DL to take an 8-6 lead after one inning as again, they do not know their own strength (HR Outs flittering all over the place).

Jayse started the game with a double to the target wall in Left, and Juan promptly popped up 310' to left field for our first two runs of the game. Yes, even HRs can be hit by our team. Spillane and John hit singles and then OBI's world was once again turned on its head due to injury. Chris turned on the jets around second only to feel his quad muscle give and now, well, he is day-to-day, or is it week-to-week? Anyway you cut it, Spillane is destined to miss time as the quad needs to fully heal for those athletic late night moves at home... We would not want him to miss any of those ;~)

But I digress, Clint, Paul, and Larry followed up with singles scoring us two more runs. John was caught in a run-down that accounted for our first out of the inning. After JR's Sac Fly, Armando, Matt (RBI), and Michael each singled before Jayse made the 3rd out to go 1-2 in the inning. Juan opened the second with a double, moved to third on John's single and could not score until a 2-out Larry single that also got Paul thrown out at third. Two base running outs and one injury, oh my...

OBI put up goose eggs the next two innings as DL poured it on and took a 14-7 lead. There were more DBOs through the middle and then there was the catch. Armando, not one to leave it to fate, pulled a HR Out back into play 315' away as he was able to reach over the fence and snag the out away from ,,, well, where ever those HR Outs go deep, deep in RC field on #4... Holding onto the ball and completing the catch, Armando jogged back in to check on his daughter and said, "That one was for you"... She promptly held out her two tiny hands, and spitting out her binky formed her fingers into the letter W and stated, What evvvvveeerrrrr... Nice Catch, Mondo !!!

Failing to mention the rising tension is a writers failure as to this point, the umpire had sadly only allowed one or two DBOs to go over our pitchers' head with no DBO being called. Apparently, bending down causes forfeiture of the DBO rule. However, OBI was prone to Double Plays and the Second Baseman was taking liberties with the Vicinity Rule on the turn. The final one came in the top of the fifth as he hopped, skipped, and jumped 4' from the bag and still got the putout.

As Michael complained to the umpire, requesting he be thrown out of the game,,, there was beer to be drunk somewhere,,, all oration fell upon deaf ears and I had to bat. After a single down left field line, I was promptly thrown out of the game because i threw my bat down to the ground,,, hard. Jayse promptly knocked in two more runs and we went to the last inning down four.

With two outs, the final rally started when Paul doubled, and Larry & JR singled. Armando then drove the ball on a line to deep CF. The LC Fielder dove and missed, allowing the ball to roll to the 350' sign in deep CF. All runners score, tie game. DL could not push a run across but did hit another HR Out and ended the game on one file DBO through the box,,, go figure...

Split City Returns to Form...

1-3 Split City avenged 2-2 Murphy's Laws' opening salvo with a solid game 2 victory. MLaw took it to OBI 18-3 in a quick 4 inning affair that saw us send only 20 men to the plate in 5 innings. MLaw needed just 3 innings at bat to score their 18 runs.

OBI scored 2 in the second and another in the third for our tallies. John and Gary doubled to score the first run, then JR finished off the 2nd inning scoring with an RBI single. Clint scored on Spillane's Sac Fly in the third inning after Jayse's double moved him to third. Defensively, Michael's lineup was not conducive to converting opportunities to outs. He needs to get healthy and back on the field so others do Not need to continue playing out of position.

Game 2 saw MLaw jump out to a 4 run lead in the top of the first. Cheers abound as we held them under 5 runs,,, Yaaay !!! Split City did something different and made it a game in the bottom half, pushing across 4 to tie it up. Jakob and Clint singled and scored on Jayse's Triple. Then, after Spillane's RBI Double, Matt drove him home with a Triple of his own. When Larry singled later in the inning, our hit total came to 6 for the inning. We had 8 hits in 4 innings at the plate in Game 1, just for comparison.

The next inning and half was scoreless when OBI whipped out a can of Split City Magical Whoop Ass! Spillane and John singled, and Matt hit a Sac Fly to score Spillane. Then, the can of MWA was unleashed upon MLaw,,, as Gary Doubled, followed by consecutive singles by Larry, J.R., Michael, Jakob, and Clint bring our inning run total to 6. Spillane capped the scoring with one more single pushing runs 7 & 8 across in the process.

MLaw pushed back but was only able to score 3 runs in the top of the 4th inning. Amazingly, both OBI and MLaw went scoreless thru the 6th inning, where the game was called due to time. Final: 12-7... Great job this week everyone!  See ya in December!!!


Just as a reminder: Moving forward, League fees for 2016 seasons will be due week 1. Fortunately, it looks like Season 1 will begin in Mid-January. Please budget accordingly.

Also, if you have not paid your league fees for Season 6, please bring cash on 12/3 as the full fee will be funded in the Victory Lane office prior to our next games. Thanks!

Just The Stats, Ma'am...

Have added both Armando and Gary to the stat sheets for Season 5 & 6 plus the 2015 YTD totals. We have one additional outfielder that will be joining us in December who may also get their own stat row...

Blog entry for last Thursday Split City will be posted later today or sometime else in the future...

Have a great Turkey Day !!! and will see you all on Thursday, December 3rd.

SEASON 5 -- Complete Season Stats...

2015 YTD Stats -- Thru Week 2 of Season 6...

SEASON 6 -- Stats thru Week 2...

OBI Shocked in DoubleHeader Loss

Season 6 opened with 2 losses for OBI as Split City stayed home due to the cold. Shock Therapy was able to wrestle both victories from the jaws of de'feet with 2 late inning comebacks, including a thrilling 3-run HR in the bottom of the 6th inning of game 1 as time lapsed.

The OBI lineup had a few interesting tweaks as both Jakob and Nuta were missing. However, Armando adeptly filled in at leadoff and a welcome back sign was hung for myself as I returned, at least offensively.

OBI scored 4 in the top of the second as John singled, Matt walked, then JR doubled them both home. After Larry singled driving in a third run, Michael and Armando followed with singles that eventually tallied the 4th. Leading 4-2 in the third, Jayse singled and scored after Spillane's double and John's RBI single. In the bottom of the inning, Spillane shined through with a wonderfully-Jayse-like dive to take away and a hit, helping OBI retain the lead at 5-4.

In the 4th inning, Paul, Larry, and Michael singled scoring the first run. A second scored on Armando's FC. Shock Therapy plated 3 to tie the game at 7 then another 2 in the 5th taking a 9-7 lead going to the last inning.

Paul, Larry, and Michael singled scoring the first of 4 runs. After Armando singled, Clint drove in 2 with his own hit and Jayse capped the scoring on another. Now leading 11-9 with time winding down, it was on the defense to complete the comeback victory. However, Shock Therapys' offense would have nothing to do with this and scored 6 as noted above before the time ran out. GrrrrrFest...

Game 2 was a little less a thriller but exciting in the end after we fell behind 3-13 going to the bottom of the 5th inning, 3 runs we scored to double our run production. Juan and Spillane single preceding John's walk. Then runs were pushed across by Matt, Paul, and JR. That is the good news. The bad is we gave up another 3 to them in the top of the sixth.

Break some hearts we almost did as we pushed across 4 and still had the bases loaded when the final out was made, making the score 10-16. Armando single and Clint followed with a double. Jayse drove in a run then Juan 2 with his own double. Matty plated the final run a few at bats later.

Onto week 2 it is versus Murphy's Law on Field 4...

Don't forget your wallet this week as only 5 of 13 players have paid to date. Let's get the fees paid this week and then start saving for 2016 Season 1 as those fees must be paid the first night of the season.  Thanks in advance for budgeting appropriately.

Stats still not caught up. Michael is slacking,,, sue me...

Season 5 Tourney Excitement Yields 2 One-Run Games

Not Your Mama's Split City this week!!! Nope, #3 seed OBI went back and forth with #11 seed Dirty Dawgs winning a wild one 18-17. Then, followed up with an extra inning almost wilder loss 15-16 to #2 seed Murphy's Law.

The quarter-final game vs. Dirty Dawgs did not start well as DD scored 3 in the top of the first and another 5 in the second. OBI scored 2 in the 1st and trailed 2-8. Excitement abounded as Nuta took a called third strike after Jakob's lead off single. Brent lined to right moving both Jakob and Jayse, who had singled,,, and Spillane doubled both home. Quiet we were in the second sans Paul's single.

After holding DD scoreless, OBI lit up the 3rd and 4th innings to take a 13-8 lead. In the third, JR, Armando singled before Jakob doubled scoring JR. Okay, Okay,,, it was a ground ball to third, mishandled and then throw towards second base only to end up in RF allowing all 3 runners to advance 2 bases each when it possibly could have been a double play in the first place. (whew, 'nuff said there). But I digress...

Nuta singled in a run as did a double by Jayse (who really enjoys these blog entries). Brent made another out but this turned into a Sac Fly, whatever...  The fourth inning rocked as Matt, Juan, Larry, all singled before JR and Armando doubled in 2 apiece. After Nuta singled for the second inning in a row (amazing what happens when you actually take the bat off ones shoulder and swing), Jayse doubled for the second inning in a row scoring 2 more runs. Oh and Brent doubled in the 7th run of the inning.

DD rallied back with 4 in the 5th and was within one, 12-13, as we went to the last inning. After a leadoff HR tied the game in the top of the 6th inning, DD scored 4 more to take a 17-13 lead. This would have been much worse had it not been for the person who most likes to read this blog (Jayse) as his defense shown once again during a dive to take away an extra base hit from one of the DD faithful.

Hearts of the DD faithful were further broken as OBI began with singles by JR, Armando, Nuta, Jayse and Brrrrrr, wait, he left, so Michael pinch hit and singled to right. Spillane followed with a Sac Fly to bring us to within one. Clint, hitless in the game, scored the tying and winning runs on a Double heard all around Field 1... And so, the legend continues...

In the semis vs. Murphy's Law, OBI went quietly in the first and scored 3 to take a 3-2 lead that lasted through the third inning. Juan singled, Clint doubled (again), Paul tripled, and Larry,,, ya, not a homer but a single to score the runner from third worked ;~)

Spillane doubled and scored on Clints single in the 4th as OBI fell behind 5-4 after 4. The scoreboard began lighting up after this as OBI scored 4 on Armando's double, Matt and Jayse singles plus Juan's Outside the Parker (3-run HR) that by Spillane's account finally landed Friday morning. Another 4 runs were pushed across as time expired in the 6th inning, as Nuta, Paul, and Larry singled preceding Armando's Inside the Parker (also 3-run HR). 

And the game was tied at 12 with two outs in the bottom of the inning, only to have Michael make a bonehead coaching decision to walk the bases loaded and pitch to (DOH!) Brent... Who promptly blasted a two-hopper to Larry for the out unexpected (insert pic of passed out Michael here)...

We batted in the extra inning starting with one out and Jayse on second base. Juan was walked and Spillane promptly doubled home a run, then Clint hit a Sac Fly for run #2 and Nuta Tripled home a third run.

This look good as MLaw seemed reeling, however, the winning run scored with 2 outs as they plated a 4th run to take the contest 16-15.  All in all, a great season 5 was had by all. 

And now we enter the Season for the Reason!!! 2015 #6 should be fun, let's go boyz!!!

**Note: Look for stats later this week as am adding Armando into the mix and want the numbers to all line up. Welcome to the OBI family, Armando!

OBI Fights Off Split City with 2 Close Wins

9-5 OBI began Season 5 with a 2-win week and finished the regular season schedule the same way. Five Split City appearances in between earned OBI the 3rd seed for the Season 5 Tournament.

In Game 1, OBI built a 15-6 lead through the Top of the 4th inning and held off Murphy's Law 15-12 in a six inning victory. Game 2 went the full 7 innings and OBI proved their metal coming back from a 4-9 deficit late to win their second game of the night by a 12-9 count.

The split sweep for OBI was a first if memory serves and accomplished a few positive results:
-- With the two wins, OBI earns the 3 seed (of 11 teams) in the D2 Season 5 Tourney. This is a big move as we jump 2 spots from a 5th place tie the week before.
-- Murphy's Law absorbs 3rd loss of season and falls to the 2 seed with Shock Therapy winning their 2 games.
-- OBI scored double digits in the second game of a split DH. Unheard of in this century. Prepares us the the tourney as we have a game wait after we play our first game of the tourney ;~)
-- Offense continues to show improvement in consistency as Season 5 has progressed.
-- Defense remains solid despite our constant moving pieces.

Game 1 found OBI hot early and hanging on late. Jakob, Clint, and Juan each singled plating our first run. Paul followed with another and Larry capped the rally with a 2-run Double. After MLaw tied the game, OBI rolled for 5 runs in the top of the second. Consecutive singles by Armando, Matt, John and Jakob started the inning with the last 2 driving in runs. After a Jayse SacFly, Juan was served a cookie and homered scoring the last 2 runs of the inning.

The third inning was a mirror of the first as both team pushed across 3 runs. It was all Armando, Matt, John and Jakob this time. John's triple scored 2 and Jakob singled in the third run. 

The 4th was a 4-run outburst with Jayse's triple and Juan's single being followed up by two Dead Ball outs through the middle (good job Michael and Paul). With 2 down, Larry singled prior to run scoring hits by J.R. (double) and an Armando 2-run single. MLaw pused across two runs in each of the last three at bats to bring the score to 15-12. Winning !!!

Game 2 against We Ain't Dead Yet was typical OBI fare in a split DH. After the impressive home first to tie the score at 4. It was silence,,, errr, crickets in a meeting and going into the bottom of the 5th, a 4-9 deficit. OBI batted around and 7 runs later, Big Mo' was changed and victory was at hand.

The bottom of 1 started with Spillane, Armando, and J.R. singles. John doubled home 2 (though stats sheet was originally missing his double I was able to fix it this time). After singles by Jakob and Clint, Jayse's SacFly turned into a double play to end the inning. While WADY scored 5 runs over the next 3 innings, OBI collected 5 hits.

Waxing biblical about our fifth,,, In the Big Inning (really reaching here I am),,, OBI pushes across 7 runs to take an 11-9 lead. Larry started the BI with a single and lead off hitting Spillane sent a Big Fly out of the park for a 2-run HR (am so happy for him,, and us). Armando, Matt (double), J.R. and John each reached base prior to Jakob's SacFly. Cint and Jayse each doubled pushing across the final run of the inning.

Larry scored an insurance run in the bottom of the 6th on J.R.'s SacFly, our third of the game. I do so love productive outs. Good pitching and solid defense held WADY scoreless in the final three innings for the 12-9 score.

The Season 5 tourney has been pushed back a week due to the timely wet weather. We will have Nuta back and possibly Michael. However, tourney time is hitting on John's off week. Look for another Armando sighting next week!!!

Home Team Come Backs Rule Week 6

7-5 Split City stayed true to form this week falling to E-Machine 8-9 in Game 1 while winning 8-7 in Game 2. Both teams hit timely HRs, made good defensive plays, and had trouble hitting their way out of a wet paper sack (at times)...

Game 1 was jumped started by Jayse and Juan as the latter hit a Big Fly for a 2-0 lead. E-Machine took the lead in the second and consistently built it up until the score was 7-2 after 6 innings. During that time, OBI had collected 8 hits, had a Dead Ball single for an out through the pitchers box annnnd hit into 3 double plays.

Enter, One Big Inning,,, Jakob, Nuta, and Jayse started the inning with singles to load the bases. Then, with one out, Spillane singled home the first 2 runs of the inning and OBI was off to the races. The race was impressive as with 2 outs, Paul rakes an RBI Single, Larry walks, and then both J.R. and Armando come thru with RBI hits. 6 runs in all and an 8-7 lead.

However, E-Machine up to the task and after a Called 3rd Strike on their first batter of the inning, a Big Fly tied the game. With that, the machine relaxed and collected 3 more hits plating the winning run.

Game 2 was E-machines turn to jump out early. After their 2 runs to win Game 1 in the bottom of the seventh, they had 6 hits and scored 4 in the top of the first of Game 2. The score was still 0-4 in the bottom of the 2nd when Clint opened with a Triple, and Paul followed with a Double. The fun about stopped there as we hit into 3 consecutive fielders choices. Good Baserunning by Paul advanced him on both the first two as he scored on Armandos FC,,, errr Productive Out.

E-Machine attempted to get going in the top of the 3rd but with 2 on and 1 out, Jayse makes the play of the night with a diving catch and easy Double Play at second as the baserunner had sprinted home.

After 2 more FCs in the 4th inning by OBI, E-Machine pushed their lead to 5 at 7-2 with a 3-run HR. OBI was up to the task with our own One Big Inning and pushed across 5 of our own to tie the game at 7.

Nuta and Larry singled, followed by Armando's walk loaded the bases. Then, with one out (again, just sayin) Jakob singled in a run and Matt WALKED in another run (two thumbs up). Jayse followed up with a two-run Double and Juan hit a Sac Fly for run #5. The game was destined for extra innings as time allowed and E-Machine had 2 hits in 6-8 innings, while OBI had two hits, a walk, and two more FCs giving us 7 for the game.

With the score tied going to the bottom of the 8th, we were delighted to see the ball travel 300'+ off Juan's bat for the second time that night. This providing Split City with the needful winning margin of 1.

SPECIAL NOTE: Chris Nuta put up with an unnecessary tirade from myself this past Thursday. Please do know that he and I have spoken and I have apologized for my behavior.

Split City Rocks Shock Therapy Late in Game 2...

6-4 Split City stopped a bad habit of winning Game 1 and rolling over in Game 2 this past week. However, Split City just went oppo and lost a close Game 1 by a 12-15 count and then came from behind in the home half of the 6th inning batting out the clock and scoring 3 runs in a 13-11 come from behind Victory.

OBI batted around in the 1st inning of both games scoring 7 in the top of the first of Game 1 and 6 to take a 6-4 lead after the fist in Game 2. The offense in game 1 went almost silent as second-place 7-3 Shock Therapy pulled to within one after 4 innings by a count of 9-8.

After we scored one in the top of the fifth, S.T. pushed across 7 too many and finished us off after a 2 spot in the top of the 6th for the 12-15 final tally.

Offensively, we had fun with the John leading the way in a 4-4 effort. Spillane and Joshnow each had three hits as Joshnow led the team with 4 RBIs again. He has fit in very nicely in the important bottom of the order role over the past few weeks.

Larry, Paul, and Clint each had a productive out with their Sac Flies. And other than a Joshnow double, the only other extra base hit was fillin Brent's Big Fly (should Michael stay on the sidelines???).

We were out homered in the contest 4-1. Good News, 2 of those HRs were Dead Ball Outs (whew).

Game 2 was another fun offensive performance. After scoring the 6 in the bottom of the first and taking a couple innings off from running (or jogging) the bases,,, OBI scored 4 runs to tie the game at 10 in the bottom of the fourth inning. 

Larry, Joshnow, John, and Brent each singled and after a Juan rocket for an out through the pitchers box, Nuta and Clint each singled in a run with the latter tying the game. The final at bat was all about the right hops as Brent tripled, Juan singled him home, then with 2 down Clint Tripled in another run and Jakob followed with the final dagger,,, another single that scored the final run,,, time was up.

Defensively, the night was mostly about Clint,,, and when he caught the ball, he knew what to do with it. Which included an unassisted Double Play as the mobile third baseman tagged two runners out in the vicinity of second base. Hey Clint, give peace a chance...

Split City Times 3

5-3 Split City has consistently battled hard week in and week out to the point where we are also a model of consistency within each week. Winning a close game 1 and losing an exciting game 2 has almost become the new mantra. 

This week, we helped 2-6 No Glove No Love to their second victory of the season in just this fashion. Game 1 was a lower scoring affair 10-8 and we held off the love with the tying run on second and lead run on 1st (whew)...  In fact, the score was 8-2 in the top of the 5th when Love's fill in SS hit a one-hopper off the yellow border of the CF fence for a Grand Salami, bam, 8-6...

Game 2 was a barn burner and 15-16 loss. With the score going back and forth then tied at 11 going in the fifth and final inning, Split City seemed to put the game away with a 4 spot in the top half. However, the Love was with the home team this game as NGNL was able to score five with one out and take the win back...

Due to the 6:15 start time and injury (Matt's knee/heel and Michael's other hamstring this time),, a few adjustments were made to facilitate a steady defense,,, annnd the batting order was a little out of sync. The hitting was consistent throughout the lineup with Jakob and Juan each 3-3 while Jayse, Nuta and Spillane each collected 2 hits. Juan, Spillane, and Clint bat in that order and each had 2 RBIs. John, Jakob, and Jingleheimer Schmidt,,, sorry, sorry,,, my fingers just got a little crazy,,, i meant Spillane each doubled.

On Defense, the play of the night was turned in by Jayse with his full layout dive and catch of a line drive to CF. Overall, very good defense was turned in by our squad especially considering several folks were empowered to play positions other than the norm. Thanks...

NGNL was very giving in Game 1 and we returned the favor in Game 2. Physical mistakes are bound to happen and what is more important than making allll the plays is how you respond once these "mistakes" occur. And am proud to say that OBI is the type of team that knows how to take a punch, get up off the canvas and never give up.

NGNL took the hammer and ran with it building leads of 5-1 and 9-2 after two innings. A 5 spot pulled OBI back into the game and well, I have already written about what happened after the 11-11 tie after the 4th. Let's see how we respond to that against Shock Therapy this week...

JR led the way from the number 2 hole in this game by going 4-4 (and 5-5 for the night). Spillane, Clint and Nuta each had 3 hits while we got 2 each from Paul, Matt, Jayse, Juan, and Larry. Your RBI leaders for the game were Clint 4, JR 3 and Jayse with 2...

Spillane and JR each had 2 extra base hits. A double and triple for Spillane and JR,,, 2 doubles.

Matt will miss this week due to sickness,,, and Michael is still a week away from returning to the field. But I see good things ahead in the final 3 weeks of the regular season as we begin to show our true stripes as our tie for 4th place right now finds us pitted against the top 4 teams in the division over this time frame... Gooooo OBI,,, or at least Split City,,, LOL....

Split City Shows for a 2nd Week in a Row...

4-2 Split City (aka OBI (aka One Bad Inning)) battled 3-3 Midlife Crisis in our weekly doubleheader this past Thursday. Game 1 was a close affair ending on a snared line drive by Michael at 2B giving OBI the win 9-8... Game 2 was a much quieter engagement between Split City and MC as we were easily taken down 6-13.

Game 1 got busy in the top of the second inning with Paul walking and Larry, JR, and sub Gary each singling. Matt doubled in the final run of the inning after Michael's Sac Fly.  Spillane got the third inning going with a single and then it was the Paul and Larry show as each singled with the second hit plating Spillane for the innings sole run.

Down 4-5 going to the top of the fourth inning, OBI sent 9 men to the plate. After Gary singled, Michael walked and Jayse singled to load the bases. What followed was a game changer, and most folks would have simply popped out to LF, but Juan's pop fly was High enough, and Deep enough, and Carried beyond the confines of field 4 for a Grand Slam. After the game changing,,,errrr epic blast, Spillane hit a seed to CF that netted him a Triple. He then scored as next sub Armando blasted a Sac Fly to CF.

With the score now 9-5, OBI went into hibernation mode on offense. Fortunately, the defense gave up only 3 runs over the final 3 MC at bats and the victory was ours...

Game 2 was quiet offensively and no longer a ball game after the MC's top of the third 9 runs that pushed the lead to 12-1. After Split City scored 4 in the bottom of the frame to bring it to 5-12, once again, the offense went to sleep. This time it was for 3 2/3 innings. Ouchitty...

The third inning highlights were singles by Larry, JR (ok, this was a double), Gary, and Michael (some of these names are repeated as they actually did produce in both games, holy foul ball Batman!)... Juan and Spillane later singled with each driving in a run.  Then, in the 7th, (more copy/paste here LOL) Gary singled and scored on Michael's double. 

Split City (aka OBI (aka One Bad Inning)) continues to experience a renaissance with scoring runs, yet sometimes we hit like we think it is still D1 teams we are battling... Continue to strive for consistency at the plate and in the field,,, fun and magic is just around the corner ;~)

Warning Track Power Hands OBI First Loss

OBI is now 3-1 after splitting this week with WTP (2-1-1). Game 1 was taken by OBI 13-9 and then WTP thumped OBI 3-14,,, run rule style. 

It will still be a few weeks before the newly reorganized lineup gets presented in its full glory,,, or in other words such as Nuta's, "Priorities..." Ok, one word...

The fun part is we hit well enough to score in double digits for a third game in a row. The not so fun part is we did not finish strong and scored 3 runs in 5 innings during the second game. 

Good News, Mario will be pitching to us this week as we face Midlife Crisis in a 615/715 doubleheader on Field 4. But I digress...

Game 1 highlighted by 4 players (Jakob, Armando, John, and Spillane) getting 3 hits. Interestingly, the latter 3 also had 3 RBIs a piece...  Armando led the way with 3 runs scored as well.

Game 2,,, VIP !!! Shhhhhhh,,, check out the hook while the DJ revolves it...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rog8ou-ZepE&index=10&list=PLJ3IXo8PGojtFXFl_Hul-j4Kn_zFmM0US

Maybe, I should have referenced instead, Can't Touch This by MC Hammer,,, Dang Pitcher as he gave up only 12 hits and 3 run over 5 innings. At least we figured out who is gonna be there for Week 3... Oh what the Hell !!! Hammer Time !!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otCpCn0l4Wo

 In the Game, Matt scored 2 runs and Spillane 1. And some other players on the team did things that were entirely appropriate in the Victory Lane Sports Park environment,,, other than hit the softball. Clint and Paul each had 2 hits, Matt 3...

Here are the stats...

Season 5 Starts With a Bang and "Juan" More Hit

Old Buz was enjoying OBI's night at the plate so much, he let us score 5 more runs than needed during a Game 1 20-4 run rule of Blue Ballers. Though, officially we only score 1 run in the final inning instead of 7, we are including the stats for posterity...

Game two was just as offensive, and Blue Ballers made a game of it in Game 2 as OBI picked up the sweep with a 20-14 win.

The night highlight could have been the Top 3 hitters in the order (Nuta, Matt, and Jayse),,, between these three made a total of six out, hitting .727, scored 14 runs, and drove in 10.

Or it could have belonged to our new full time sub, Armando. His 4 hits were key as he hit directly in front the the 3 noted above.

Or it probably should belong to the new Murders Row (Juan, Spillane, and Clint),,, These three made but one out a piece, hit .875, scored 14 runs, and drove in 20 runners.

Instead, we will try not to ask for the following stat line from our most offensive player of the week:
Juan goes 7-8 (.875), scores 6 run, drive in 13, and hit wise had 1 single, 2 doubles and 4 Big Flies (2 each game)...  No pressure ;~)

After not rocking it for the past 4 seasons, the D2 level Defense gave us opportunities to continue innings that did  not come along till now in 2015. 

Keep it rollin' gents!!!

Stat Update !!!

Season 4 Stats Completed,,, plus YTD Stats...

Happy Monday !!!

As the Winds Blow, So Does OBI,,, All the Way Back into D2...

One Bad Inning is on the move,,, back to the Lower Division in Thursday Night Men's Softball at Victory Lane Sports Park.

This truism despite a productive offensive outing in the Season 4 Tournament where the team scored 27 runs in only two games. What seems a slightly above average outing to most was an explosion by Season 4 standards. Hell, we scored 5 runs just the week before...

The offense was potent this week and I think we can all agree that one factor was the key. The wind was blowing out at about 100mph forcing OFers to play deeper than normal as pop flies were warning track depth at times.

Irrespective of the wind direction, mostly we saw line drives off everyone's bat and that was good to see. Our defense, though not particularly spectacular, was solid as we typically play it.

Clint was super solid in Game 1 with a 4-4 effort and there three hits each by Jakob, Juan, Paul and Nuta. Game 2 was less offensive, in fact it was more about Juan's Big Fly and 7 RBIs than anything in our 11-13 loss.

With the move back to D2, a few changes have been made to our lineup. Ok, very few...

-- Jakob is moving to #1 spot in the order.
-- Matt is moving to #2 spot in the order. 
-- Jayse is moving to #3 spot in the order.

Week 1 we will be missing Jakob and John, but have Armando as a fill-in. Field 2 at 6:15 & 7:15 gents... Let's begin rebuilding our missing attribute(s) and prepare ourselves to return to D1 someday in the near future... Goooooo OBI...

No So Triumphant Return...

3-11 (and #8 seed) OBI layed two eggs this Thursday by taking it on the chin 4-15 and 1-12. The 5 runs scored in two games is a season low that will be tough to duplicate, fingers crossed. The two losses put us into a play-in game for the Season 4 tourney, which starts Thursday at 6:15 on field 1 vs. #9 see Murphy's Law.

Game 1 was all about hitting: 

• Our opponents hit consistently throughout the game, scoring 14 runs in 4 innings at bat.
• OBI had one hit that drove in a run.
• Michael returned from 2 week sabatical and tripled in 2 runs then scored on a ground out by Larry.
• Fourth run scored on a Sac Fly by John.
• OBI had 10 hits in their 5 innings at bat.
• Both Matt and Juan collected two.
• Nuta is recovering from a foul bat taken across the nose. As is a key subject in Major League Baseball, broken bats do enter the stands from time to time. Thus, all should be mindful of flying debris (but I digress).

Game 2 was all about hitting:

• Our opponents hit consistently throughout the game, scoring 12 runs in 5 innings at bat.
• OBI had five hits, total.
• JR raked two hits and scored the lone OBI run.
• Matt, Jayse and Michael each had one hit.
• Spillane, John, and Juan each had one plate appearance.
• Interestingly, the run was scored on a Fielders Choice by Larry.

  I think enough has been said about our lack of offense again.

Bring your $75 this week for Season 5. See ya there for the 6:15pm game on 1 !!!

12 Reasons Life Will Get Better

OBIers, take note of the 12 Reasons Life Will get better...

12 Players will pave the way into the future.
Last week, 11 Players felt momentum begin to crumble.
10 Baserunners stranded in Game 1.
Almost all 9 lives used up by Team Wear It.
Ain't (8) Gonna Play those guys no more... (Really?)
Scored 7 Runs in the double header.
6 Baserunners stranded in Game 2.
5 Gold Rings (sorry, had to do it).
4-ever and Never are a really long time.
Total of 3 players batting .500 or better through 6 games in season 4..
2 Wins There for the taking turned into losses.
1 Chance we Each have, every time we take a breath.

No matter your past victories or failures,
Standing up and giving you best each time you are given an opportunity,
That is what makes you the best you can be, in life, in softball, in your own heart.

Let's play OBI Softball from today forward. As Babe Ruth once said, "Never let the fear of striking out get in your way"... Just hit, baby...

And as I like to say "Be The Ball"...  However, the real quote goes like this,,, "There's a force in the universe that makes things happen; all you have to do is get in touch with it. Stop thinking, let things happen, and be the ball." -Ty Webb  

Ok, am about cliched out. Is it August yet? Yes !!!

Flying Force are just Runnin' Fools in Disguise,,,

0-2 OBI Coach Michael Lee walked towards Field 1 this past Thursday with a bounce in his step. We were riding a 6 game losing streak and heading into a battle against a New opponent in 0-2 Flying Force.  And then there was Jeff, sitting in the dugout opposite J.R., and realization set in. Flying Force was simply Runnin' Fools renamed.

Pleasantries were exchanged and onward Matt and I marched, me cursing under my breath to no avail. We had two games to play, against a known opponent, and it was stinkin' hot on field 1 for the 6:15 game. Even when things change, they stay the same. C'est la vie (such is life for those who do not eat french toast)...

This weeks version of softball life was all about defense and timely hitting. We made the defensive plays we needed and hit just well enough to come from behind in game 1 and simply scratched and clawed our way to two victories in pitching duel fashion at 9-6 and 5-3.

Game 1 started with a Brent two-out Single driving in Nuta. Then, after The Force put up all 6 of their runs in the bottom of the 1st, Larry and Paul started some fireworks OBI-style by each Doubling. Then, Matt, Nuta, and Spillane singled to answer back and bring the score to 4-6.

After Brent's 300' Single (I mean his bat flip and HR trot looked good), Larry and JR singled as we pulled within 1 run. Tie the game we did in the top of the 4th after sickly Matt collected his second hit of the game, eventually scoring from 2B on a Deep Sac Fly by Jayse,,, to third base... Moving on,,, the score remained the same until the top of the 7th inning when OBI broke out on Singles by Jayse, Brent, Jakob,,, and, oh ya, a 2-run Triple by J.R. 

Defensively, after giving up 6 runs in the first, we held The Force scoreless in their final 6 at bats. We made the plays when we needed and Larry pitched extremely well the entire game.

Game 2 was another 7 inning affair. Again, good defense, not so good hitting (especially by the Force), and pitching were the difference in this game. After The Force put up a run in the top of the first. OBI went quietly into that dark night, 1,2,3...

OBI then put up back to back 2 spots over the next two innings and took a 4-1 lead after 3. Jayse, Michael, Larry and J.R. singled in the second. While it was Nuta and Spillane who singled and scored on Brent's double in the third inning.

The Force made it interesting scoring 2 in the top of the 5th inning. But, OBI was up to the task and pushed across a run in the bottom of the 6th. This insurance run made the difference and was the final tally of the double header, giving OBI the 5-3 win.

J.R. pitched game 2 and was as on point as Larry in game 1, giving up only 3 runs. Combined, the Lefty/Righty combo,,, errr, combined to give up only 9 runs over 14 innings. Even more impressive is the fact that over the final 13 innings, we gave up only 3 runs defensively.

This is where I bow to the pitching and defensive gods. Keep on Keepin' On !!!

OBI Drops 2nd Double Header to Midlife Crisis in 3 weeks...

Season 4 started where Season 3 left off, another Double Header loss. Grrrrrrrrr,,, as OBI scored 6 runs in both games and lost to Midlife Crisis 6-8 & 6-11. We played excellent defense in both the outfield and infield. In fact, one of the double plays has Matt's fingers still numb. 

A few notable things happened this week:
-- J.R. was unable to play and contacted his own fill-in.
-- Brent played well as J.R.'s fill-in.
-- Nuta and Hanshaw begged out late and did not provide a fill-in.
-- Juan Reynoso has agreed to join our squad, but will miss week 2.
-- A different Brent will fill-in for Juan this week.
-- Did I mention Matt's hand is still numb from last week?
-- Spillane hit very well batting second

Only a couple players did not have 2 hits in the game. We were simply unable to put more than a couple hits together for the first four innings.

Game 2 was very similar, obviously as we once again scored only 6 runs. As we all know, only going to win a few games scoring this number of runs per game.


However, good things are on the horizon. OBI heads to field 1 this week and is poised to make some noise.

Let's each work hard to perform this week at the level we know we can. Play within ourselves, hustle and "Hit it where they ain't".

Season 4 stats will be available after the Week 2 games...
 

#8 Seed OBI Unable to Play Up to Competition...

Before their contest against #1 seed Team Wear It,,, the OBI squad conceded defeat with their actions in the dugout and on the field.  Tough to stay positive and play against well a team we dislike so much, I get it. This is simply a culture issue, it is not a reflection of the talent on our OBI team. We can hang with any team when we play our game.

It really boils down to how we approach each game,,, the culture cultivated by the coach. Here is where I have failed OBI/Split City/2x Champs in 2014... And I hope to right the ship as we move forward.

I feel the key is maintain our core group and add a piece or two that will have a positive affect on the overall performance of the squad (from both an offensive and defensive perspective). The first move has been made, I am putting it in writing here in the blog...

Next step, another on me,,, be a better leader on the field and in the dugout. Leadership by example on the field and at the plate is my plan. Am going to take Paul's words of encouragement to heart and I hope each of you will do the same... "Hit it like you do in the batting cage". Thanks for the reminder Paul !!!

In the Season 3 tourney opening game, we found ourselves down 15-2 after 3 innings. Dim things looked prior to the top of the 4th inning where things took a positive turn with Clint leading off with a Double. One out later, Michael doubled, then Jayse and Nuta each singled. After John walked, Jakob singled in another run and finally, Paul singled home 2 more runs to bring the score to 15-7.

The final score was a 5 inning defeat of 18-7. This sent us to up against Runnin' Fools in the 7th Place Consolation game,,, wellllllll, after 3 innings OBI was once again down, but this time was only 8-1. Our 1 run courtesy of hustle and back-to-back singles by Nuta and Jayse with a Sac Fly by Michael.

Again the 4th inning played a big role in the game as J.R.'s one-out single followed by a Nuta double set the tables for Jayse's 2-run single. Then the unexpected happened in the bottom of the inning as the Runnin' Fools loaded the bases with  no outs. The next batter, Jeff, hit a two-hopper to Michael playing shallow at third base and an unusual triple play unfurled.

With the runner on third not immediately breaking from third base, Michael took the ball in his hand and in one motion tagged the runner standing on 3rd base (first out), stepped on 3rd base (second out), and threw to 2nd base for the third out of the play.

There, Jayse,,, I posted the note about the play (whew)... This was a special play in my life, especially getting a high five from all my teammates as they stepped off the field afterwards. I look forward to making the second half of 2015 special as we continue playing hard, no matter which team is in the opposing dugout.

 

OBI Drops 2 to MidLife Crisis, Finishes Season 3 as 8th Seed,,, No Film @ 11...

OBI finished Season 3 as the 8th Seed at 5 wins, 9 losses. That puts us 3 games out of first place as Team Wear It's 8-6 record topped Division 1's regular season. OBI will be given the opportunity to prove we belong in D1 in the season 3 tourney as we will face off against Team Wear It in Game 1 this Thursday.

OBI was knocked to the canvas after giving up 6 and then 3 more runs in the top of the First and Second innings of Game 1.  However, getting back up and pushing across a 9-spot in the bottom of the Second to tie the game at 9 was needful and impressive.

Michael opened the inning with a 4-pitch walk (leads team with 4). Jakob and J.R. both singled to load the bases prior to Paul unloading on a pitch and drove in all 3 with a Triple thru the LC Fielders glove. Larry singled in Paulie, followed by Hanshaw staying out of a Double Play with hustle to first. This was important since after Lucas flied to LC,,, Matt, Nuta, Nick, and Spillane each singled to bring the score to 9-6 with 2 outs and bases loaded. Michael stepped up and promptly drove the first strike to the warning track in LC.

Fortunately,  the ball was lined to the wall (on a hop) annnnnnd the outfielders were all playing at about Larry depth. Obviously, they were unaware of the new bat and upgraded confidence Michael was feeling holding said bat. Bases cleared and Michael made it all the way to third on the throw to the plate, Triple (leads team with 4).

Unfortunately, MidLife Crisis scored 5 more twice, in both the 3rd and 4th innings to achieve their 19 run total. This overcame Larry's 2-run Bomb,, errr Rocket,,, ummm Line Drive that snuck down the RF line for an inside the parker in the bottom of the 3rd. After Spillane drove in Nick from first with his own single in the bottom of the 4th, J.R., Paulie, and Larry each single in the 5th to tally the final 14 run total as OBI came up a nickel short.

Split City remains in hiding,,, again, as a pitchers duel ensued in Game 2. After OBI scored 4 runs in the top of the 1st and one more in the second,,, no further damage was done by our offense. In fact, only two base runners advanced to Second Base during the final 5 innings. There were 7 singles put into play during that time.

Hitting stars for this week include J.R. and his 6 for 6 effort, Larry had 4 hits and drove in 4 runs including a 3 for 3 effort in game 1, and Michael with his new bat making one official out (on a diving catch in Centerfield, Jayse-style.)...

Special thanks this week to Matt Hanshaw, Lucas and Nick. Without these three individuals we would have had to pick up 2 other individuals at game time just to have 10 Players.

After next week, along with full Season 3 stats, we will get a look at the Mid-2015 YTD Stats. Here are the stats thru Season 3 Week 7,,,

June is Vacation Time, Split City takes the Week Off...

5-7 OBI held off bitter rival Murphy's Law twice in glorious fashion this week. Two close wins, 9-6 and 10-8, were on tap with essential 2-out hits and ever-present consistent defense. And of course,,, the infamous doubled up back-to-back Sac Flies...

OBI opened Game 1 with a 4 run outburst in the Top of the 1st,,, all scoring with 2 outs. After Matt's lead off single and then Out #2, a John Backwards-K, hits by Spillane, Michael, Nuta, Jakob, and Jayse made it happen. John redeemed himself with his own 2-out hit in the second to make the score 5-1 after the Top of the 2nd.

After a quiet 3rd, 4th, and 5th innnings,, bases were loaded after scoring a run to make the score 6-1 when Matt and Paul both hit Sac Flys, back-to-back fashion. John followed with another two out hit and the score was 9-1 going to the bottom of the 6th. Murphy's Law made it close by scoring 3 and then a pair in the bottom of the 7th.

Murphy's Law continued their hot hitting and scored 4 in the top of the first in Game 2. OBI answered back with 3 of their own,,, again, all scoring on 2 out hits after Matt and Paul singled when John and Spillane drove them in.

The game was taken over as 4 then 3 were scored in the bottom of the 2nd and 3rd innings, respectively. Nuta, Jakob, Jayse, and J.R. started the 2nd with hits and Matt finished off the inning run scoring with another hit.

The lead was then stretched to 10-4 as John and Spillane singled, followed by a Michael Walk and Nuta single. Topping off the inning were Back-to-Back Sac Flys by Jakob and Jayse.

The OBI offense could be counted on for NoMoRuns and the defense was again steady enough to hold off Murphy's Law late comeback bid,,, which ended up to low and they did not win the auction,,, so to speak.

The 10 runs in the second game were pushed across by only 15 hits. Game 1's 9 runs were courtesy of 20 hits.  Hopefully, the offense can continue the consistent output as we head into Week 7 of Season 3 contest against Midlife Crisis on field 2... 815/915 Games,,, ooohhh yyyaaaaaa

Runnin' Fools Start with 8, Give Up 13 in Bottom of 1st...

On June 18, Split City started the evening off with a Lucky 13 by sending 18 to the plate who mostly took advantage of the 8 man defensive start for the Runnin' Fools. Withstanding an 11 run top of the 4th inning, Split City held on to take Game 1 18-13.

Matt collected a hit in the first inning for his only single of the game. It was not necessary for him to carry OBI on his back this game as the remaining 9 in the lineup stroked 28 hits in the 5 innings.

Highlights include Jakob's 4 for 4, Spillane's 2 Doubles and 3 RBIs, 3 hits each by Clint, John, Michael, Paul and Nuta.  Nuta's 2 Doubles and Infield Triple impressively drove in 7 runs.

Split City went quiet for Game 2 by collecting only 9 hits and scoring 4 runs in the 6 inning game. Highlights were few and far between. As offensive OBI was in Game 1, opposites attracted and only John and Michael had 2 hits in the game.  Michael's unexpected triple over the 3rd base bag was an interesting moment (still not happy I had to run out a sticking triple).

Defense remains a specialty of the OBI squad and kept us in Game 2 until the final inning when RFools pushed across 5 runs to earn the 11-4 final.

Next, Split City takes a week off...

OBI Fails to Capture the Split City Glory Against Team Wear It

After giving up 19 runs in Game 1's Top of the 2nd inning, a 24-10 loss was not toooooo bad. However, Split City was unable to hold onto the lead in the final inning of Game 2 after scoring 4 in the top half. Thus, OBI is OBI and Split City will wait to be referenced again in a future blog post.

OBI scored 10 runs in 5 innings at bat in Game 1 by scoring run(s) in each inning. Clutch hitting was rampant as all 7 runs scored thru the first four innings touched home plate with 2 outs. There were 8 runners left on base as OBI pounded out 19 hits in the losing effort.

Matt and Fill-ins Travis & Leo each stroked 3 hits. Nuta, DC, and Leo each scored 2 runs. And Doubles were frequent to the tune of 5 in the game as Spillane, DC, Michael (2), and Jakob took the extra base.

Interestingly, everyone had 1 RBI in the game with only two exceptions,,, Matt had none and Michael had 2 (RBI hog). Both J.R. and Larry had Sac Flies,,, and J.R. to a Called Third Strike (being unable to stay this past week for post-game festivities, I have not been able to confirm if massive quantities of beverages were consumed as celebration of said taken pitch,,, someone please chime in to let us know)...

Game 2 was a tale of 3 Games:
-- OBI off to a fast start, led 7-5 after 2 innings.
-- TWI quietly took the lead in the middle 3 innings, outscoring OBI 5-0.
-- OBI puts up a 4 spot in the Top of the 6th (last) inning.
-- Only to have TWI push across 2 in the bottom half for the 12-11 victory.

Jakob complained and played his way out of future lead off opportunities with a 1-4 performance in Game 2. Matt was 1-2 in Game 2 before taking off for Little League practice (not sure what the age limit is in that league, but some coach is gonna check his birth certificate).

Leo again had 3 hits and joining him on the Game 2 hit parade was DC and JR. It is possible initials and shorter names may positively affect batting outcomes, thus the lineup may be written as such for upcoming games thru the end of Season 3. Could just be the heat talking too, not sure yet...

Extra base hits in the game were highlighted by this seasons first Big Fly,,, this was a pop up by DC to LC field. The lunging swing was sweet enough to tie the game at 10 in the top of the last inning. Larry had a 2 run Triple in the top of the 1st to cap the 4 run inning. Michael's Triple was thanks to the RC fielders glove inability to close at the proper time allowing a jog for the full 210'. JRs 3rd hit of the game put us in the lead for a short time... Leo also stroked a double...

 This week we once again take on Runnin' Fools on field 6. This time it will be 110 degrees, yay us... Jayse requires another week to recover from his back injury and JR is unable to make it. Fill ins will help us out and Split City will make a return,,, I have a good feeling about this.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to This Weeks Softball Game,,,

2-4 Split City opened up a can of whoop ass in the bottom of the 4th inning during Game 2 against Coyote Towing this past week. Netting Double Digit Innings is nothing new to the OBI crew, however, scoring in only one inning per double header certainly is.

4-1 Coyote Towing felt supremely confident moving into Game 2 as their 10-0 victory in Game 1 was won going away after scoring 7 runs in the bottom of the 5th inning. On a day when the winds shifted and came in from dead center field on #4, so did this softball battle shift to a pitchers duel. After OBI's 10 run home 4th outburst, a Travis-to-Michael-to-J.R. double play ended any threat mustered and the twin bill ended in two 10-0 victories,,, one by each squad.

Here are the highlights, interesting as they may be,,, kinda painful to look at:

-- Coyote Towing scored only 3 runs through 4 innings.
-- OBI scored 0 runs in 5 innings :~(
-- OBI raked it for 5 hits in 5 innings :~(
-- OBI's biggest threat was DC hitting a 2-out single fairly deep into CF that was perfectly played to get Nuta at home 9-6-2.
-- Fill in SJ ran down a deep fly to CF in the bottom of the first that easily travelled 320'.
-- J.R. pitched well, including into the 5th inning.
-- Michael and Clint realized they need to confirm that game time changes are understood by all as both Spillane and Larry were both all set to arrive at 7:15 game time.

-- Game two was an unadulterated pitching duel, won by OBI on the strength of fill-in Jim's consistent and constant change ups.
-- OBI had 8 hits in the first 8 innings at the dish.
-- OBI had 11 hits and a Base on Balls in the bottom of the 4th inning of Game 2.
-- Clint scored twice in the inning, becoming the only multi-run scorer of the night.
-- DC was 3-4 in his first game played since,,, ummm, last time he played.
-- Travis hit his second triple of the season and it cleared the bases pushing the lead to 7.
-- The outfield was burned on a couple of occasions early, but great running catches were made in Game 2 by Nuta (running into fence running down third base line) and Paul from RC running to catch a ball that ended up directly behind DC in RF.
-- Jayse was supposed to make the plays that challenged Matt's hold on 1B. Instead, it was J.R. that caught line drive after line drive to make us all take notice.

Best wishes go to Jakob, who we missed this week after his involvement in an automotive type accident. Get better soon, Jakob!

Ok, 'nuff said about this week fo'sho' !!!

Split City Takes it on the Chin and Settles for OBI tag against Mamma's Boys

Game 1 was all about consistency. OBI was all that in the first four innings and raced to 14-10 lead. Then, with an opportunity to put the game away in the top of the 5th after Jayse and Jakob led off with a single and double, respectively,,, three straight outs opened the door for 3-1 Mamma's Boys.

MBoys took advantage of a couple defensive miscues and scored 5 runs to take Game 1. In Game 2, the air seemed to be gone from Split City's bubble in an unspirited 6-10 loss. Defensive lapses will occur from time to time, as do OBI's offensive inconsistencies, the good news is that we will continue to improve as the season goes along. There have been several players who have made the same positive comments about the early Season 3 play that you have read in the blog. 

Now, if people would stop taking every other week off, going to DBacks games, being unable to avoid other drivers on the streets of Phoenix, and,,, maybe most importantly, keep their priorities in order and play less Tourney ball. Sheeeeeeesh !!!

Game 1's loss was a heart breaker. However, did anyone else notice that J.R. seems to be on a roll offensively and on the mound? (He even caught a line drive at 1B on Tuesday night,, Wh, Wha, Whaaat !!! I know right?) J.R.'s Big Fly put us up momentarily 9-8 in the top of the third inning. And I believe was the catalyst for the 5 run fourth that Almost sowed up the game.

Hitting was impressive as everyone had at least one hit and either scored a run or drove one in... Jakob lead the way with a 4-4 game, while Matt and Clint both had 3 hits at the top of the order. Jayse also raked it for 3 hits.

Game 2 was a rather lackluster affair and OBI lost (as stated above) 6-10 in 7 innings. John and Lucas had 2 hits a piece, while Clint and J.R. each had 3. Blah, Blah, Blah... We need more offense and our Shortstop needs more emphasis on the Stop in his position name. Just sayin'

This weeks games have been moved up and we have a 6:15 start. We will be playing Coyote Towing both games... Cya Tonight!

Season 3 stats are in Da' Hooouuuussee!!!

Season 3 Opens with Split City Coming From Behind on the Launching Pad

After Matt made the final out with the tying run on base in a close 9-10 loss to 2-0 Rimmer Construction to end the Season 3 opener on Field 3 (aka The Launching Pad), he calmly stepped up to the plate in the nightcap's home half of the 7th versus 0-2 Midlife Crisis and delivered a walk-off single to plate the winning run in Split City's 12-11 victory.

Run-on sentences aside, May 21st was a step forward for our OBI squad. Consistency at the plate was evident in greater fashion than in the first two seasons of 2015. Both games would have been walks in the park sans for our hitting into 2 Double Plays in Game 1 and leaving, ohhh, just shy of a Billion Runners on Base. The positive sign is that we actually were able to generate threats nearly every inning during both games.

Rimmer Construction has moved from Monday league play at Victory to Thursday. They are a solid ball club and OBI battled well in our close loss. With the score tied at 7 in the top of the 5th, OBI left the bases loaded after loading them with one out. RC scored 3 in the bottom of that inning for the winning margin.

Defensively, play was as consistent as ever,,, even with players in different positions. Nuta teamed up with Matt on a Line Drive to SS to 1B double play. And Jakob picked up 2 OF Assists as Michael collected the ball at the plate and threw behind a runner at 3B and 2B to cut short RC rallies.

Newcomers Travis and Lucas both played and hit well. Lucas discovered his softball swing and is quickly becoming an OF regular. Travis gives us the luxury of an additional infielder/pitcher combo. Besides these two, Nuta, Paul, and the aforementioned Matt were tops at the plate in Game 1.

Game 2 had a brutal start to go with Matt's late inning heroics. Midlife Crisis scored 10 in the top of the first and held 10-0 lead going to the bottom of the 2nd. Travis, Larry, and Lucas singled setting up an RBI Walk by Matt. This was followed up by RBI hitters Jakob, Michael and Spillane. Jayse singled in front of Nuta driving in the 6th run of the inning.

The score remained 10-6 MC until the bottom of the 6th inning when OBI pushed across 3 runs on a Michael Double and Spillane single. MC scored one to push their lead to 2 at 11-9 going to the bottom of the 7th,,, totally setting up Split City for:

-- 3 consecutive singles by Nuta, Travis, and Paul.
-- Bases Loaded Sac Fly by Larry cut the lead to 1.
-- With one out, Lucas singled in the tying run.
-- With Paul on third and Lucas on first, Matt did his thing driving in the winning run.

'Nuff Said, SPLIT CITY it is then !!!

Stats will be available with Week 2 posting that will be made later this afternoon.

And the Stats Come Marching In,,,

After much sole searching (still need new cleats), chicken scratch review (score sheet analytics), and statistical transfer (data entry into excel),,, the following two attachments contain the OBI Stats for 2015 Season 2 and 2015 Combined Seasons 1&2...

By the way, Matt's walk-off hit last Thursday culminated a dandy improved Split City performance and sets OBI up well to keep on keepin' on in D1...

2015 YTD Stats ...

 2015 Season 2 Stats ...

Did I mention Matt's walk-off hit last Thursday was a dandy?!?!?!!!!

Season 2 Tourney Provides a Stampede as Split City Overun by Runnin' Fools

7th seed OBI scored 3 runs with 2 outs in the top of the first against 2nd seed Runnin' Fools this past Thursday in the Season 2 Playoff Game #1. The Fools were not impressed and rolled up 7 of their own in the bottom of the first and a total of 14 runs over theier 4 at bats to win going away 14-3...

Yes, the offense for Split City took the rest of the game off and that was that... In fact, we had 5 hits in the first inning and 4 more in the final four. Our Consolation Game was against the lower division Diamondback Pools. This was a good game that OBI came out on the winning end of with consistent hitting (WHAT?!?!?!!??) and defense (typical, what ever)...

Game 2 Lineup was made courtesy of Matt. A reverse order of Game 1 including a daring move placing the coach in the 11th batting position. Fortunately, it worked out in the 14-8(ish) win.

Clint and I both request that each OBIer permanently pretend we are playing against Diamondback Pools each and every week from Here to Eternity. 'Nuff Said...

All seemed to point towards Split City/OBI moving back to D2 for Season 3. Alas, we belong in D1, well, for at least another season anyways. Joining us are the likes of MidLife Crisis, Murphy's Law, and Mammas Boys,,, along with those D1 teams that were solid the past two seasons.

Stats are being compiled for Season 2 at this time. Will be posted by end of the week.

Split City Rolls and Will Face Runnin' Fools in Season 2 Playoffs

*** IMPORTANT NEWS: We have just been informed that Shock Therapy actually defeated Runnin' Fools last Thursday and went 2-0 against them during the season. Thus, 9-5 Shock Therapy will host 3-11 Split City in the Quarterfinals of this weeks Thursday Night Playoffs !!! *** (You are now returned to your original programming) ...


3-11 Split City took down 8-6 Shock Therapy in Game 1 and then fell to 10-4 Runnin' Fools in the nightcap. Shock Therapy took two on the chin and fell from second seed to 3rd seed. OBI and Runnin' Fools will meet in Round 1 with the winner most likely facing Shock Therapy in the semi-finals.

Although these may well be two winnable games, OBI has been much more Two~n~Out than Split City this season. The question is,,, which of the 3 teams shows, Two~n~Out, Split City, or OBI???

With Jakob, Matt and Clint absent for Game 1 this week, an old friend dropped by to fill in and give us the boost we needed, KC. His 3-4 performance and play at 2B did nothing but fuel the OBI fires and our play showed it.

Jayse and Ron replaced Matt and Clint at 1&2 in the game and were a combined 4-8. Respectable and just what we needed from them, both were timely when we needed it. Hitting in the 3rd thru 8th spot were John, Spillane, KC, Paul, Nuta, and Michael. These 6 spots in the order Each went 3-4 and scored 12 of the teams 18 runs.

With the score 12-9 going into the final inning, OBI brashly put up a 5 spot to push the lead to 8 following Larry's lead off hit. Shock Therapy was done and unable to mount any sort of comeback. With another fine outing, JR picked up the win and continues to rule game 1s.

After an hour off drinking and cavorting, Split City scored two runs in a failed attempt at a sweep. Won't Runnin' Fools be surprised when we show up sober this week ;~)

Stats are on the way...

Albeit Slightly Overstated,,, Split City Returns to Fulfill Prophecy

OBI laid down and played dead against league leading The Heights. Our record dropped to 1-10 as OBI mustered 5 runs in the second inning. We managed 4 hits combined in the other 4 innings at the dish.

Jayse, JR, Ron, and Nuta started the second inning with hits. With two runs already in, Matt singled and Clint doubled, both scoring runs. Jakob capped the inning off with a Sac Fly. Bam, 5 runs,,, OBI, take the rest of the game off...

Honestly, JR pitched a good game, the Defense was sturdy, but The Heights bats were too much for Field 4 to contain. Things were not looking well after the 19-5 run rule.

However, as predicted, prognosticated, prophesied, masticated, or possibly ,,, ya, will leave that one out of this quickly disintegrates into a big swirling pile of ,,, any ways, the Epic Return of Split City was realized with a fine performance by all if not most of the OBIers.

Coyote Towing was the game 2 opponent and Split City was not to be denied. After giving up 5 in the top of the first inning, OBI's bats clicked to score 4 with Jayse and JR reaching base with a single and walk. Then, with two outs, Leo doubles in both, Matt follows with a Triple and Client cleans up the bases with a single.

Michael reached base on a fluke drive to the left field wall (my swing sucks big blue ones right now) in the bottom of the second. Paul pushed him to 3rd on a ground out to second and then Jayse scored him with the 2nd out of the inning. Small ball at its finest.

Down 2 in the bottom of the 3rd, Ron lead off the inning with a HR,, Big Fly,, huh, oh, I mean, Inside the Parker. Close enough... Still a 4-bagger. Stop yelling at me, Blue! but i digress... Leo Tripled an out later and Matt hit a Sac Fly to tie the game at 7.

The score went all Led Zepplin (song remains the same-ish) for a few innings till the bottom of the 6th when Jakob led off with a single and moved up on an out to second base. Eventually, scoring with 2 outs on Jayse's single. 8-7 going to the 7th, very exciting.

Coyote Towing earned 3 runs on good hitting and baserunning. This put the pressure squarely on Split City's back,,, and here is what happened...

Ron and Nuta single to lead off the inning. With the tying runs on base, and Leo at the plate one HR short of a cycle,,, he mearly TRIPLED to tie the game. Calmly, Matt stepped into the box and delivered his second Sac Fly of the Night giving Split City the come from behind victory and ensuring our 7th place finish in Season 2's D1 Thursday Night division based upon our 2-10 record.

Whew, what a game,,, Congrats to OBI for returning to Split City form. Tonight, it is Split City again !!! Mainly cuz we actually have a Split Double Header to Party with... We will be missing a few folks but expect at least one old friend to join us... We shall see...