HURTIN' UNITS CAUGHT BY DOGCATCHERS...

Hurtin' Units vs. The Dogcatchers...

Game # 14- July 6, 2011

Hurtin' Units lose 11-6

Team Record 5-9-0

Keogh Park- The last time we played at Keogh Park was the game against the Dusty Cleats on June 15, and going into the game we had a winning percentage over .500, in fact we had a record of 5-4. We played the Dusty Cleats tough and our bats were on fire in the first 3 innings of the Cleats game scoring 16 runs, but as most of us remember the Cleats came back in the bottom of the seventh inning with a walk off home run to win the game...It seems like a long time since we have played in the Keogh Park, it seems like a long time since our bats have connected like that, maybe the game against the Dogcatchers will be the game that changes our fortunes...The good news is that we have only 2 more Tuesday night games on the schedule at Coventry Park, the park were we have had mediocre success, with 4 of our losses coming in the last two weeks, maybe a change of venue is just what the doctor ordered...

The weather for this game was similar to the game on Tuesday night, overcast skies, but with the sun causing a little bit of havoc for players facing the western sky...The temperature was hot and there was a lot of humidity...

At game time we had 11 players suited up, ready to play. Paul E. was missing again tonight. In the first inning Bill was running to first base, tripped and took a spill, scrapping his knee, elbow and hurting his ribs. Bill would try to pitch again, but would come out of the game with discomfort in his ribs...Bob Mc. came in to pitch...

There is a point when things get bad enough, that we are more than just frustrated, but almost angry with the situation...I think we are almost at this point and I like it...We had been playing a little softly with teams recently and getting ourselves in a defeated state of mind early in the game. We are solid, good players and we should be giving the teams we play a more difficult game than we have shown recently... I think we need to play tougher and harder, we need to get mean and play to win, even if we don't... Recently we have played the best teams and we completed hard, we need to complete hard with every team we play... Last night's game was a good start, although we still seem to be getting down on ourselves a bit early. We have the horses to come back in any game, we just need to be mentally tough...This upcoming weekend tournament is a chance to really turn this thing around, we are playing some tough teams, I think we can beat anyone of them...It's time to step up and play hard...

The game against the Dogcatchers, we played much better, but still not good enough to win...We were robbed of some base hits, by a strong Dogcatcher outfield, but we hit the ball hard and well...

In the top of the first inning we scored a single run, but Bill went down hard over first and this worried us a little bit ( I called him today, his ribs are still sore and probably couldn't play this weekend if he wanted to, but he is doing okay and will hopefully be ready for Tuesday's game). In the bottom of the inning the Dogcatchers scored 2 runs...We didn't score in the second or third innings and the Dogcatchers scored 2 more runs in both innings... 6-1 Dogcatchers after 3 innings...

We were shut out again in the forth and fifth innnings and the Dogcathers scored 4 in the forth and 1 more in the fifth. In the sixth inning we managed keep the ball away from the Dogcatchers fielders and actually put 5 runs on the scoresheet and not only that, we stopped the Dogcatchers in the bottom of the inning... Unfortunately, the rally would not continue in the seventh for us and Paul G got out, Richard hit a solid single to left center field, Bob flied out and Brad did the same, game over, Dogcatchers win 11-6...

Boxscore:       1    2    3    4    5    6    7       Total  

Hurtin Units   1    0    0    0    0   5    0            6    

Dogcatchers    2    2   2    4    1   0    X           11   

This game was a better game for us, but I still think we are a much better team, we just need to restore our confidence and play our opponents tougher... Looking forward to the weekend....