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...