Two undefeated teams entered Eliot Field tonight, and only one would leave. The Sea Dogs brought their bruising lineup and gold glove defense. The Red Wings countered with lights-out pitching and a stacked lineup of their own.
In the top of the first, Tom managed a single to center, but the Red Wings were unable to bring him home. Starting pitcher Eric took care of business in the bottom half, retiring 3 of 4 batters faced.
The Wings could not get anything going in their half of the second. Josh and Parker both made good contact but excellent defensive play kept them off the bases.
In the second, Eric retired the side in order. He had a good fastball tonight and he was hitting his spots. Through two innings, he had only allowed one baserunner.
With no score to start the third inning, Alejandro came to the plate. He worked a walk and then moved into scoring position when Alex took ball four on a full count. Two on for Eric. Batting lefty now, the switch-hitter took three balls and then launched the 3-0 pitch into right center for a single. With the table set, Tom stepped in and clocked a line drive that rolled up the rock and under the bush in deep center field. He thought he'd gone yard, but the call was a ground rule double. Two runs scored, and the Wings were on the board first. They were not finished yet. Next up was Jack, who smashed a hard single up the middle, scoring Eric and Tom. Wings 4, Sea Dogs 0.
Eric put the finishing touches on his masterful start in the third, striking out the side and keeping the Sea Dogs off the scoreboard. Eric had to battle the elements as well as the menacing Sea Dogs bats. It began to drizzle sometime during the second inning and cold air was moving in. By the end of the third inning, it was all out raining. But Eric kept his cool and made efficient work of a very good Sea Dogs lineup.
Three straight singles in the top of the fourth would produce another run for the Red Wings. Will hit the first up the first baseline and beat the first baseman to the bag. Great hustle. Josh hit the second up the middle and hustled to beat the throw. Noah hit the third and also hustled to beat the throw. Noah's shot brought Will in from third, scoring what would be the winning run. Wings 5, Sea Dogs 0.
When you look back at any close game, you see many different plays that could have won it or lost it for you. In tonight's game, the three singles hit by Will, Josh, and Noah in the fourth inning were three at-bats that won the game for us. Each player had to sprint to beat the play at first. If any one of these three guys ran a half step slower, he would have been out. Will would not have scored. The Red Wings would finish with 4 runs instead of 5, and the game would end in a tie. This is why, no matter where you hit the ball, you always, always run hard up the line to first base.
With the Wings still alive in the top of the fourth, "J.D." Drew stepped in. He worked a full count and then took ball four. With Drew on at first, Micah did what he could to keep the rally alive. He worked a full count, fouled off a few, and laid off a pitch that could have gone either way. Strike was the call. But what a battle!
We knew the Sea Dogs' bats would get going at some point, and that point came in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one on, the Sea Dogs clean-up hitter connected with a fastball and sent it across the basketball court in left field--a two-run homer. But Red Wings reliever Will would limit the damage at two with some crafty pitching. He would get one batter looking, get another to ground softly to first, and strike out the next batter to get out of the inning. A good pitcher stays tough no matter what happens, and that's exactly what Will did.
Alex got things going for the Red Wings in the fifth with a single up the middle. He was perfect at the plate tonight, going 1-1 with a walk. A ground ball to first base by Eric and a walk by Tom would move Alex to third, but he would be stranded there and the score would remain 5-2, Wings.
The Dogs would continue to chip away at the Wings' lead, adding two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. The Wings were able to get out of the inning without any further damage because of Jack's overpowering fastball and some nifty glovework at first base by Sam who made a nice stop on a throw from Jack to get out number two. Red Wings 5, Sea Dogs 4.
In a close game, doing the little things right can make the difference between winning and losing. When the second Sea Dogs run crossed the plate in the fifth, the ball was thrown to third base to hold the runner there. The throw was a bit off target and Alejandro had to stretch to make the catch. It was an important catch and not an easy one. If the ball got by him, the runner at third would have scored, and we would have a tie game. Alejandro saved the run with that catch--and the Red Wings' lead.
The Red Wings carried their one-run lead into the bottom of the sixth. Jack took the mound, and with rain falling hard at times and night rolling in, he stared face-to-face at the heart of the Sea Dogs' lineup. None of this seemed to faze Jack, though, who managed to grip the muddy ball well enough to strike out three of five batters faced and pick up the spectacular save. Parker helped the cause with some excellent work behind the plate. He held a steady target in the wind and rain and managed to stop almost every pitch.
This was truly a whole-team effort, and there were many outstanding contributions, so it was difficult to settle on only one player who deserved the game ball. Eric, our starting pitcher, gave us three scoreless innings in the wind and rain, displayed an absolutely dominant fastball, and produced at the plate with a single and a run scored. Tonight's game ball belongs to Eric.
A very exciting win for us against one of the best teams in the league. I have a feeling we will face these guys again in the playoffs. I can't wait!
