OBI Goes Back2Back and Wins Second 2016 D2 Title

The evening started off with a Barry Bonds style Gong and ended with a Bang and a Dive… #1 seed OBI hit consistently to down #4 seed MidLife Crisis 15-10 in a game not as close as the score indicates. Then, it was comeback city late to avoid a second place finish against #3 seed Retreads by scoring four runs in the bottom of the fifth to win 12-11 in six…

MLC was quiet at the plate over the first six innings, scoring only 6 runs on 10 hits,,, and scored their final four in the top of the 7th on 5 more hits. Larry’s stellar pitching (no walks) was helped by a double play in the 5th, and stellar defense up till the final frame.

But the gong goes to Mario, who after giving up 3 straight singles to start the OBI offense, Intentionally Walked Juan (aka Barry Bonds apparently) with the bases loaded for Juan’s only RBI of the game. Consider the strategy backfired… as follows,

The OBI offense was led by contributions throughout the lineup:
— Matt was 3-4 scoring 2 and driving in another.
— Clint, Jayse, Spillane, Mando, John, Paul, and Nuta each had two hits.
— Spillane and Matt each had a Double and a Triple.
— Brian and Mando each Doubled.
— In the first three innings, Spillane, John, and Brian each had a productive out called a Sac Fly.
— Tom, Nuta, Larry, and Matt all singled in the second inning to push the lead to 6-2.
— After MLC answered the bell in the third and fourth with 3 and 1 run, respectively,,, OBI pushed across 5, 1, and then another three spot in the bottom of the 5th for a 15-6 lead.  Game Over at that point.

Onto the Championship Game we went, with our chances dimmed by the 1 Home Run Rule and 2 Retread Ringers in Anthony and Kyle (both former Borrachos). The Retreads started fast with a 4-spot in the top of the first on 6 hits. OBI answered the early onslaught with 3 runs of our own. The inning could have been a bigger gold mine of runs had it not been for two base running mistakes that game the LFer 2 Assists in the inning. D’Oh !!!

Then, Retreads scored another four in the second inning on a 2-run Big Fly,,, which was promptly followed by a second line drive out that landed in the left field trees BONUS !!! The lead was pushed to 10-3 in the top of the third inning we pushed across 5 runs to make it a game:
— Consecutive singles by Matt, Clint, Jayse and Juan plated 2 runs.
— Next, Spillane’s Inside the Park HR plated the final 3 of the inning.
— After, Retreads were held to 1 run the next inning with the help of a retag at the plate to complete a 10-2 second out of the inning (on target throw from Mando to Matt did the job),
— Yaaaa, we did nothing in the bottom of the fourth LOL
— In the tope of the 5th, with one on, another throw from RF, this time to third (Tom to Clint), cut down the lead runner for the first out.
— Still down 8-11, OBI hit from the top of the order in the fifth with good results, Matt and Clint singled preceding Jayse’s RBI single.
— Then, in the loudest swing of the evening, Juan hit a Big Fly over the trees in CF and connected with a parking lot light pole for the lead …

In the final inning Retreads had two singles with one out when a line drive thru the box was called for the second out. The tying run was on its way home after the next ball was lined to mid-CF only to have its trek interrupted by a diving dad-to-be!!! Our defensive savior once again, Jayse makes the play of the day and someone owes us a Back2Back Tee Shirt I say … (the crowd goes wild at this point, nuff said)

Another great season, thank you all for your efforts,,, we are 25-7 in 2016, oh yeah, and Welcome to D1 !!! 

OBI Sweeps We Ain’t Dead Yet to Secure Season 2 Tourney #1 Seed

10-4 OBI has earned the #1 seed based upon Point Differential after tying for first place in the regular season with No Glove No Love. The schedule is not out yet for this weeks tourney, however, I anticipate that the D2 division will play early games with D1 playing later in the evening.

As with Week 1 of this season, also versus WADY, game 1 was low scoring with OBI overcoming a 2-0 deficit in the top of the fourth inning with 4 runs as Michael and Juan led off with singles and Spillane lined out to LF for a Sac Fly. Paul singled before Larry’s 3-run Big Fly… Ok, so, the ball got by the RFer and rolled to the wall, but it also traveled in the air a bit going out and much more slowly coming back in against the wind. ‘Nuff said…

We added 3 more the next inning as Fill-in John walked before Matt and Mando singled to bring him home. Then, with one out, Juan tripled home both gents to bring the score to 7-2. After WADY scored 2 in the bottom of the 6th, both squads went scoreless in the 7th inning for the 7-4 Game 1 final.

Game 2, OBI answered the opening salvo to tie the score at 3 after 1 inning. Mando and Michael singled to setup Juan’s 3-run Big Fly (one that actually did fly quite some ways)… OBI sent 12 men to the plate in the bottom of the second to take control of the game 11-4. Larry and JR started the ball rolling with singles and then with one out, fill-in Scott, Matt, Mando, Mike each singled. Juan once again crushed a 3-run HR maxing out our HRs for the first time in quite a while.

Not to be outdone, after Spillane doubled, Paul flew out to LC field and without stopping at third base, Chris scored easily to give Paul a 2 base Sac Fly. After Tom singled, Larry hit into a FC for the final out of the inning. The third inning was fairly uneventful as WADY scored one but was still down 5-11 going to the top of the fourth.

We Ain’t Dead Yet then scored back-to-back 7’s to take a 19-11 lead late as we entered the bottom of the 5th inning. Larry started it up there with a single and JR did the same ahead of John’s double and Scott’s single. After a Matt Dead Ball out through the box and Mando’s Sac Fly,,, Michael singled and Juan doubled to plate the fourth and fifth runs.

WADY went down quietly in the top of the 6 and final inning. With the score 16-19 heading to the bottom of the inning, the stage was set for breaking some WADY hearts… And OBI did not disappoint,,, nor did they make an out on the way… Tom Walked and Larry doubled to start the inning. JR, John, and Scott each hit an RBI single that now has the game tied and Matt striding to the plate. His single to left was too sharp to score the winning run and WADY brought in their outfield with the winning run on third base and none out. Mando stroked the needful lazy fly ball to left that fell in well beyond the drawn in outfield for the heartbreaking walk off single…

Again, #1 seed was well earned this season gentlemen. Let’s go see if we can nail down a second consecutive D2 Tourney Championship here in 2016!!!

Season 2 Wake Up Call as OBI is Swept in Week 6…

8-4 OBI took it on the chin in both games this past week. Game 1 loss was to Warning Track Power 14-17 in a game where we fought our way back into the game 3 times in the last 4 innings. And Game 2 was a 9-10 loss to Mamma’s Boys where both offenses were inconsistent and flashed brilliance late.

Though losing twice, OBI retained a share of first place and needs just one win this week versus We Ain’t Dead Yet to clinch a spot in The Dance, aka Season 2 Tourney. Let’s take care of business in Game 1 this week and enjoy the spoils with a relaxing Game 2…

Looking at the sweep, we have to give both our pitching, offense, and defense credit… This was the first time in 2016 that we have been swept at the D2 level. The last losing sweep was nearly four months ago on January 14th in 2015/Season 5/Week 6 (two full seasons ago) against The Boys R Back on field 4…

OBI was resilient in Game 1 but fell behind too far late to comeback. OBI scored 3 in the bottom of the 3rd to pull back within 6-7, then 2 in the 5th to make it 8-11. However, WTPs 6 spot in the top of the 6th was the difference, even though we scored 6 of our own,,, it was just too much to overcome on this night.

Clint, Juan, and Spillane each tripled and drove in 6 of our 14 runs. Jayse, Mando, and Michael each had 3 hits. The bottom 5 of the order were solid as well going 9-14 and led the way in the attempted comeback during our final at bat. Paul, Nuta, Tom, JR, Larry, and newcomer Brian turned it over well to the top of the order.

Not much to be said about Game 2 other than Michael made some questionable coaching decisions that did not work out to our advantage. That and Paulie had 3 hits leading off with Brian, Larry, Matt, Juan and Mando each collecting 2 hits. Paul’s triple and Spillane’s 2nd inning Inside the Park Home Run were about as exciting as we got on this night.

Both JR (swinging) and Michael (not) struck out on the evening. It will be beer-30 this Thursday Night for my K I tell ya!!!

Games this week are on Field 6 at 8 & 9 against We Ain’t Dead Yet… Again, win one and we are in…

Launching Pad Lives Up to its Name in OBI Sweep of Primos

8-2 OBI took two from 4-5-1 Primos Thursday night with a nail-biter slugfest and a 2nd Game Run Rule. The sweep keeps OBI atop the D2 Season 2 Standings with only two weeks of regular season play before the tourney.

5-Inning Game 1 was a hard fought victory that almost flew out of the park on the wings of a one-out Grand Slam in the bottom of the last inning. But two fly balls later and victory was in hand as OBI held on 16-15.

OBI scored every inning with the final margin coming on the strength of Back-to-Back Big Flys by Tom and JR. The three runs on these two HRs did not seem as big as they would turn out to be in Primos last ups… But it has been the second half of the order that has provided the biggest sparks in Season 2 including scoring 10 of the 16 runs this game and 9 of the 17 in Game 2.

Game 1 Highlights:
— Both OBI and Primos scored every inning with each scoring 3, 6, and 1 in the 1st, 2nd, and 4th innings.
— Matt went deuces wild with 2 hits, 2 run, 2 RBIs and 2 doubles in the game.
— Jayse and Juan each had a Sac Fly and 2 RBIs.
— Mando hustled like he was Pete Rose, scoring from second base on a Fly Ball that just would not stop being thrown wildly around the infield.
— Nuta was back to hitting looping liners and scored three runs in the game.
— John played well at 3B after getting warmed up and had a Walk and a Sac Fly, going 0-1 total for the game.
— A 4th Sac Fly was hit by Spillane who also went 2-2.

OBI remained in the field to start Game 2 after the exciting 16-15 Game 1 final. After getting 2 quick outs, Primos scored 3 and left 2 on base. In same-same fashion, OBI scored 3 to tie in the bottom of the inning as Juan hit a HR that set off warnings at Deer Valley Airport some 3-4 miles away.

Defensively, Larry was able to better control the Primos bats including 2 strikeouts of the same player in the 2nd and 4th innings. Promos scored only 1 run over the final three innings. OBI batted 5 innings in Game 2 and by scoring in each inning, scored in all 10 innings batted during the evening.

Game 2 Highlights:
— In the bottom of the 2nd inning, John became the 4th OBI player to homer on the evening. The 3-run shot was his second HR of the season.
— Spillane hit a HR for out #3 of the same inning as no HRs were left to give. Also, Michael hit a HR that stayed foul and then popped up to left field following. (Launching Pad to the rescue!!!)
— Paul hit a Sac Fly (imagine that, another OBI SF) and went 2-2 scoring 2 runs.
— Mando, Nuta, Juan, and John all were 3-3 with Juan (6) and John (4) driving in 10 of the games 17 runs.
— Matt hit a walk-off Triple to the left field corner as John scored the run-rule run from first base in the bottom of the fifth.

The final two regular season weeks are 8:15/9:15 games. This week on field 5 vs. Mamma’s Boys and next week on field 6 vs. We Ain’t Dead Yet… C’Ya this Thursday, as we battle the forces of D2 evil,,, or in other words, take the field to try and win a game or two.