Offseason
The 2005 season ended about as badly as any of the then four year old Redskins franchise. Players didn't even show up to play down the stretch of the Spring Season and the Redskins, at one time sitting atop the league in first place, came to a catastrophic ending with a series of forfeits resulting in a mediocre 5-5 Spring League and no team for the Summer League. The Founding Fathers were left with a bad taste in their mouths and a long offseason to ponder the future of the team.
As the 2006 season approached, the player pool was scarce. Arguably the heart and soul of the past 2 Redskin teams, Wheels was unable to play on Sunday Nights due to obligations with another team. Hazzard County's star shortstop and most solid hitter was lost. Undeterred by the loss, John Enneking was able to throw together a collection of former high school classmates with baseball pasts. He recruited Kyle King and Joe Broering. He brought back Jason Dean, who brought with him Chris Petit. Andy Inman also returned to the team after a year off. Travis McCormick and Nick Payne also returned to the team. And the last, but possibly best pick up of the offseason took place during the first tune-up tournament of the year when Danny Butcher was added to the roster. Little Butcher's versatility in the field and solid bat in the line up proved to be a much needed component.
Spring
The Spring Season began with a solid 14-8 victory over Completely Random. The game was highlighted by home runs by Jason Dean and Travis McCormick as well as a very impressive outfield assist at third base by right fielder Danny Butcher. The feeling of victory was quickly taken away in Game 2 when an undermanned Redskins squad fell to the lowly Psychoholics 7-9. The Redskins refocused and came back to win 2 games by run rule over the Longshots 20-10 and the Mob Squad 14-1. In Game 5, the Redskins had one of their most bizarre games of the year and were on the wrong side of a 19 run breakout game by Tom Greer's little brother's Brew Crew. The Redskins needed to rebound for the biggest game of the Spring on June 11th.
Completely Random. At 5-2 the Redskins faced off against MSW Packaging for a share of the league title. In one of the most exciting games in Pastime Park history the Redskins came away with a 20-17 8-inning win. A week later after reaching the highest of highs, they came back with the lowest of lows, almost getting shut out and falling 1-8 in the first round of the tournament to the Longshots. A week later Hazzard won a tie-breaker against MSW Packaging 11-10 to claim their first league title in franchise history. (Final Spring Record: 7-3)
The Redskins came out on fire in the summer season with a 4-0 start, 3 by run rule. The streak abruptly ended however as it was followed by a 3 game losing streak, each loss by an average of just 3 runs. Hazzard was able to take the season finale against Harrison Christian Center. The Redskins caught fire in the tournament, winning 3 straight games, the last two over the two teams tied for first in the League. They took the Tournament Championship over the Psychoholics 16-10 for their second round of shirts and trophies. (Summer Record: 8-3)
The Redskins played their first fall season in 2006 with pretty good results. A few players were unable to play, but for the most part the core stayed in tact. The team started 1-3 but ended with 5 straight wins to tie for second with a respectable 6-3 record. Highlights included a win over a B team that apparently didn't pay attention for 6 innings with a 2 home run game for Adam Begley and a 3 home run game for Chris Knollman in the season finale.
The 2006 Season laid solid groundwork for a good 2007 season. Get out to Pastime Park on Sunday nights this Spring and Summer and catch a game.