2015: The Return of Split City

All the way to Week 5 of Season 1 in Year 2015 we had to wait for a return of Split City. Against 2-8 MidLife Crisis,,, Split City reared its ugly head and 3-6-1 OBI now sits tied for 5th place. The remaining two weeks of Season 1 are against good competition, thus we have our work cut out for us heading towards the first tourney of the year.

This week, OBI jumped out to a 10-1 lead after two innings on the strength of timely hits and a bases loaded walk by Steve (Nice stare down btw)... Starting the game with Matt and Spillane being driven in by Steve's Double, then John and Jakob cruising in on Juan's Big Fly was just the start needed. Matt, Clint, Spillane were all moved forward on aforementioned Walk by Steve in inning 2. John and Jakob followed with RBIs to cap the 9 run lead.

When MLC had pulled to within 6 at 5-11 going to the bottom of the fourth, OBI was just an infield Triple away from pushing the score back out to an 8-run lead. Things happen when you put the ball in play, sometimes even when a grounder to third turns into a 3-bagger.

Surviving one more good inning and Split City was setup going to Game 2 with a 13-9 win. Inning One was productive as OBI,,, errr, Split City pushed across 4 runs but also left 3 ducks on the pond. Inning Two ended in a Base Running error as Larry was doubled off second. Base Coaches may or may not have helped...

MLC extended their lead with an 8-spot in the bottom of the 3rd inning, taking a commanding 14-5 lead. Impressively, OBI's Defense stiffened, allowing No Runs over the next 3 innings. Unfortunately, Split City could muster only four of our own for a 7-inning final of 9-14.

A few notes from this weeks games:
-- Nuta played admirably at Short with Michael relegated to coaching duties.
-- Both Clint and Paul found their strokes in Game 2 prompting Michael to consider sitting them in all future Game 1's ,,,, LOL ...
-- Both JR and Larry pitched well, again.
-- Split City continues to be the favorite for our next Team Name Change. Though, OBI is still fresh,,, you never know ...
-- Missing from the lineup this week were Jayse and Michael. The defense was solid even with these two youngsters off the field this week. Nicely Done, Gents !!!

Two Weeks, No Wins, One Return, One Injured ...

Softball in 2015 started with a bang and now Earth is slamming into our backside,,, with relish. After winning the 2014 Season 6 D2 Championship and two Season 1 games in early January, life on the OBI side of the fence seems to have not been over seeded.

Two close losses to the Heights were followed by two whippings by Shock Therapy. And now, against 2nd 2 None, Injury ruled the night. First, Matt returned and his back has recovered well enough that the ball was jumping off his bat. Second, after OBI tied game 1 8-8, Michael felt a right hamstring pull during a play and joins the IR for a few weeks. OBI lost game 2 and now sits 0-5-1 over the past 3 weeks after starting the year 4-0.

Having missed the Shock Therapy week of games, I reached out to a few teammates to get the skinny and put the week in perspective. Basically, the suggested missives were all as follows: We got our ass kicked!  Ok, 'Nuff Said...

Game 1 this week ended up in a tie. The proverbial kiss of the sister,,, well, at least We Kissed A Girl !?!?!?? The 8-8 tie was close throughout and was most notable as JuanR played against us and seemed to play better than typical on Defense,,, Curse You, Batman!!!

Down 6-3 going to the top of the 4th inning, with one out, Jakob, Jayse, Paul, Nuta and Larry collected consecutive hits. And with Matt rounding out the hitting with an RBI single of his own, OBI took a 7-6 lead. Welcome back, Matty!

John drove in the 8th run in the fifth inning and OBI held an 8-7 lead going to the bottom of the last (sixth) inning. With one-out, a 305' Big Fly tied the game at 8 and that is where we stayed.

Game 2 started with Michael pulling his right hamstring when the third batter grounded a slow roller to the 5-6 hole. Assisted from the field, Michael has been treating his leg since that moment and expects to missed 3-4 weeks. An 11-13 loss was tough to take as other OBIers were forced to play out of position to make up for Michael's hammy (or lack thereof).

Matt, Steve, and Clint were exemplary hitting 1,2,3 while going 8-10 while scoring 6 runs and driving in 5 runs. John, Paul and Nuta each collected 2 hits in the game. Down two runs in the bottom of the 6th and final inning, the tying runs were on base as the last two OBI hitters flew out to LF.

Well, here are the stats for our 2015 Season 1 start... Michael will be prepared on Thursday to bark orders, keep score, and coach the base closest to the dug out... See ya there!!!

Combined 2013 & 2014 Stats for One Bad Inning ...

My thanks to the OBI crew for their ScoreKeeping skills during the past 2 years. As a stat geek, I am happy to present the OBI 2013-2014 Stat sheet.

192 games have been played during the 12 seasons of the past two years. OBI has a very respectible 105-84-3 record playing in both the D2 and D1 divisions on Thursday nights at Victory Lane Sports Park.

Following are the statistical highlights:

• Matt and Larry both played 186 of 192 games.
• Both Matt and Larry spent significant time at the leadoff spot in the order. Clint hits in the 2 hole. These three have more At Bats and Hits. Matt leads both categories with 333-600.
• DC easily wins the Batting Title at .682 but falls short of the required minimum Plate Appearances of 346 with only 292. 
• At .617, Michael takes the Batting Title for the combined two years over KC's .612 and Steve at .605.
• Steve and Michael combined for over half (108) of the teams 214 Base on Balls.
• Spillane takes the RBI Title at 239 and led in Triples with 24.
• Michael's 76 top Spillane's 48 to lead in Doubles.
• DC had 45 HRs in 86 Games.   'Nuff Said...
• Steve takes both the OPS an OBP categories with 1.536 and .643 respetively.
• 10 players met the minimum Plate Appearance qualifications!

Here are the stats... All I ask is that you ALL keep up the good work!!!