Kennesaw- A hot, hot Father's Day brought the Thunder back to Adams Park for a big game against the NYO Warriors. No rain in the forecast today as the boys looked crisp in their bright whites. Ryan Murray threw the first pitch at 12:55 with a temperature of 89˚ and rising. The Warriors, in their Sunday reds, started things off with a walk, stolen base and wild pitch to get the leadoff runner to third in no time at all.
A strikeout kept the Warrior runner at third. The next batter hit a sharp hopper back to Ryan and the runner broke home. Ryan fired it right to Ben, ready for the ball at home. The ump yelled, "On the tag, that runner is OUT!". An exciting play to say the least, but the next batter hit a single, moving the runner over to third. A wild pitch scored the runner to count for the first run for the Warriors. After two walks loaded the bases, Ryan was able to get the NYO batter to hit a grounder to Gaines at 2nd and the third out was made. The starting hurler for the Warriors only needed 8 pitches to dispose of the Thunder in the bottom of the first.
The second inning got going with a home run to dead center from the 8th spot in the NYO order. A walk and a stolen base set up a perfect sacrifice bunt moved the runner to third with one out. The next batter hit a grounder to short. Jack looked the runner back to third and threw to first for the out. The runner took off for home and after catching the throw at first, Jarrett fired the ball to Ben. The throw was on time but was bobbled and NYO went up 3-0. Back-to-back singles led to another run before a pop up to the pitcher to end the inning. Three consecutive singles for the Thunder plated their first run after Max was thrown out a the plate in a play involving a collision that took the NYO catcher out of the game. Another Thunder runner was thrown out at home before the inning ended, but the Thunder had gotten on the board.
The top of the third started with a grounder to 2nd and Gaines making a nice smooth play for the first out. An E6 had an NYO runner at first, but the next batter hit the ball right to Jack at short. He stepped on the bag and arced the ball to first for the double play to end the inning. Only four pitches in the inning for Noah Hammond. The bottom of the third got off to a boom with a solo shot by JJ. This sent a buzz through the Thunder crowd and upon returning to the dugout, a teammate asked, "Dude, where did that come from?" and the Thunder had pulled within 2 runs. With one out, Gaines hit his signature single over the third baseman's head and Kenny followed with a single. Mercer came up with runners on first and second. A wild pitch moved the runners over and Mercer battled the pitcher, fouling off ball after ball until hitting a single up the middle to score Gaines. Jack was up next and promptly deposited a ball over the fight field fence to put DHYS up 6-4. 3 errors and two walks led to two more runs and with the bases loaded Ben hit a single to score the innings final run. The Thunder had a five run lead heading to the 4th.
A single and a hit batsman led to a 2RBI single by NYO to make the score 9-6. Jack Purdy relieved Noah on the mound and Ben came in to catch, replacing Max. A single brought the tying run to the plate and the NYO batter cleared the scoreboard with a stunning 3 run homer. 9-9. Two singles and another hit batsman, followed by a double put the Warriors up 11-9. The last batter in the inning for NYO hit a towering shot to the wall, where Trevor timed his jump perfectly to take away extra bases and end the inning. The wheels had come off for the Thunder and they went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning. It was a heartbreaker for the Thunder.
Interesting stats and facts:
- 4 HR hit in game.
- The Thunder sent 14 batters to the plate in the 3rd.
- The trend of good defense continued with only one error committed by the Thunder.
- 9 of 11 Thunder players had base hits.
- 444 miles logged so far.
So long everybody.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E L NYO Warriors 1 3 0 7 11 11 3 8 DHYS Thunder 0 1 8 0 9 9 1 4
Jarrett's reply from when he was asked where he got that home run, "Over the rainbow."
ReplyDelete