Final Record: 2-7
The Park Players lost last night in the final game of the season, 16-9. Mike Manwaring took the loss, despite crushing a home run well over the left field wall. Thanks to all of the team for their hard work this season.
The Park Players had to forfeit this evening when only 7 people showed up. Both Jeffrey Allen and Steve Arianoutsis took to the mound in the abbreviated game. David Becktel played left field and made several nice catches, while Greg Potts also turned in a nice catch in center.
The team struggled tonight as many players were out of town, resulting in another loss.
Both the Park Players and Slackers came up one body short to qualify for a "full team," thus resulting in a forfeit. Many people did not show up for the game when heavy rain, and even thunder, rolled through Peoria near gametime. The umpires allowed the contest to proceed, with each team supplying a catcher.
Jeffrey Allen started for the Players and had a rough first inning, walking several batters. The second inning, he allowed only two unearned runs. Offensively, the team had an off-night. Six soft ground balls were hit back to the pitcher. The two hardest hit balls of the evening came on back-to-back hits by Chris Arrick, who clubbed a double to deep center, and Nate Metcalf, who was able to get a triple. The final score was 9-4.
The Park Players picked up several late inning runs but ran out of time in their effort to beat the Dozers. The Dozers jumped out to a large lead. The team launched a comeback, getting a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fifth to facilitate a sixth inning. However, the ten-run sixth inning was not enough. Highlights of the game include a home run by Mike Manwaring over the left-field wall and an inside-the-park home run (over the right fielder's head) off the bat of Jeffrey Allen. The game was the first win of the year for the Dozers.
The Park Players were beaten by "Nothin's Easy." Steve Arianoutsis made several nice catches in centerfield. Also, Dave Becktel pitched well with the exception of one bad inning, partially facilitated by several unearned runs.
The Dirty Dozen was closer to the "Half Dozen" and forfeited last night's game, resulting in an automatic win. The game went on, however, and the Park Players outscored them by at least 14 runs (exact score not available as the umpires stopped keeping track after the forfeit). Mike Manwaring pitched a complete game, giving up only 7 runs. The team scored 10 runs in the first inning. Later in the game, Neil Johnston hit a grand slam home run.
El Nino's handed the Park Players a serious beating, 32-10, in a game that saw the team without 3 of the regular starters. Virgil Hollaway made his first start of the year but was victimized by a combination of good hitting, including three home runs, and several defensive mistakes, mostly the result of people playing out-of-position. On a positive note, Greg Potts had a couple of base hits in his first game of the year.
The first game of June will have to wait another week as pouring rains resulted in the first cancellation of the year.
For the second week in a row, the Park Players found themselves trailing going into their final at bat. This week, the story had a happy ending. With one out and a runner on first, Mike Manwaring hit a home run over the left field wall, giving the team a 15-14 win. The victory enabled David Becktel, who pitched his second complete game, to raise his record to 1-1. The Park Players kept Them Still scoreless through the first three innings by turning two double plays on line drives hit to Kevin Socha at short and Mike Manwaring at third. Going into the fourth inning, the Park Players held a double-digit lead that dissolved as a result of a barrage of singles. In other news, New Hire Rob Elwell made his first appearance of the year and had a couple of base hits.
On a cold, wet evening last night, the Park Players dropped their first game of the season 10-7. They had a chance to win in the bottom of the 6th inning with the bases loaded and one out but could not bring in the winning runs. Mike Manwaring provided the hardest hit ball of the evening for the Players - a long drive to center field, good for a double. Neil Johnston came up with a couple of nice running catches in left field and showed great hustle. Kevin Socha also showed nice range at short, making several backhanded stabs. Three of last years' CPBU new hires also played well in their first game: Chris Arrick went 2-2, Nate Metcalf played solid second base, and Jeffrey Allen accomplished an unusual feat of catching the first four outs of the game while playing catcher.