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| A Hurtin' Units season is always a wild ride. |
Game # 5- May 28, 2015
Hurtin' Units Lose - 22-9
Team Record - 2-3-0
FINALLY... IT'S THE HOME OPENER!!
Keogh Park- Since the start of the season the Hurtin Units have been the visiting team. Over the 4 game stretch, we have a 2-2 record and we have played in to the seventh inning in every game. A 2-2 record after playing 4 games as visitors is decent, if a major league team came home 2-2, on a 4 game road trip, it would definitely be considered a successful trip.
In our first 3 games we had to defend our leads going in to the bottom of the seventh innings. In the game against the Beer Bros, we took the lead in the top of the seventh, we had to defend and almost came away with the win. After defending the lead so many times, it will be nice to go in to the bottom of the open inning not having to play or with a chance to come back for the win.
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| Gord and Dave are our buds. |
With
2 sets of captains packing it in this season, the door was opened for
Gord and Dave to step up. The captains that did not return were Bo
and Roddy (Brewjays) and John and John (Blues Bros.). Bo and Rod are still playing in the
league. Bo with the Hurtin' Units and Rod with the Grisslies.
Since
the Master Batters are new in the league, the Hurtin' Units have no
history with this team. So this game is the maiden voyage for our
teams to play. We may have no history with the Master Batters, but Mike
and I are very familiar with the captains of the team. Dave F. (Home
Hardware - "home of the handy man") and Gord T. (Tanners Self Storage - "Smokin, hot storage deals") have been in the league for awhile, we
have played together, played against each other and we even play
hockey together. These 2 guys are very competitive and I expect a
tough game against them.
So, here are the standings, after the first 4 games, for the Hurtin' Units. Last season, we started off in last place and rode that wave all the way in to the playoffs. In the playoffs, after the round robin portion, we managed to beat out the Hottub Woodys with a slightly better plus/minus for last place. It was still nothing to be proud of. The standings are so close at this time of the season, so close that a win or a loss could catapult a team in to first or a loss could drop them in to 14th, I only post this standings now, because it looks so good not to be at the bottom for the first time in over a year. The Units short term goal is to win 4 games on the season, bettering last year's record by a win. After this goal is accomplished, then we will set a new goal and progress through the season one step at a time.
I find it a bit difficult to get in to a rhythm when our games are so far apart. It has been over a week since we were on the field last. We played last Wednesday night (loss to the Tap Masters) and this game is 8 days later. I think teams need to play more often, to stay in a groove. Next week we have 2 games on the week. We play at Coventry on Tuesday and Keogh on Thursday. I'm looking forward to a week with 2 games. Hopefully the rust is not too thick for this game.
The weather for this game was perfect, there was a sunny sky with a few fluffy clouds peppered around thoughout. At game time, there was a slight breeze, but it would not factor in to game play.
At game time we had 10 Hurtin' Unit players warming up on the field. Dave M. and Todd (Hicks) were the only missing personnel. Todd was a last minute bow out, and I'm not sure what happened to Dave.
This game was reminiscent of most of the Hurtin' Units games last season. Last season, our opponents would crush the ball all around the diamond (usually out of the range of our fielders) and the bats would go ice cold, we never seemed to be synchronized, hence the high plus/minus and losing record last season.
By far this is our worst loss of our young season. This Unit's team batting is much better than a 9 run night. Yes, I did say a 9 run night; for the second straight game, I found a gaff on the scoresheet. The scorers (they were basically everyone on the field) missed or failed to tally 2 runs on the scoresheet scored in the fifth inning. Last game the scorekeeper missed Todd's monstrous homerun. The 2 runs missed really would not have changed things in the end, but it might have made us feel a little better.
The game started off well enough, the Units allowed 3 runs in the top of the first and in the bottom, the Units countered with a 2 spot to keep it close. Over the next 2 innings the Batters would put up two 4 run innings and the Units would countered with only a single run. The score after 3 complete innings was 11-3 for the Batters.
In the top of the 4th inning, the dagger was plunged deep in to the belly of the Units as the Master Batters put up 7 runs on the scoreboard and Units only managed 2 runs (the missing 2 runs, I might add). The fifth inning was the only inning, on the night, that the Hurtin' Units would win, by a 4-2 margin. We can't gain much ground with only one inning outscoring our opponents. The score after 5 complete innings was 20-9 for the Master Batters (although we thought it was 20-7), knowing about those 2 runs could have made a difference.
It was going in to the top of the sixth inning, when I said to Mike I'm going to work on some pitches, I think a line was " nothin' but knuckles" and I did start playing around with some junk pitches. The Batters would only score a single run. In the bottom of the sixth we were shut out, sending 5 batters to the plate. RATFARTS!!
In the top of the 7th (open) the Batters would only score another single run, but the downside was the Units would be shut out again. Make the final... Master Batters 22, Hurtin' Units 9.
It was not the Hurtin' Units finest hour (1.25 hours actually), but there were a few bright spots. Al made his first 2 catches of the season, Mike handled 3 pop flies at first, Vince made another shoe top catch on the right field line. At bat, we had a rough night, but we are very capable of bashing the ball around the park, it will come together. For most of us, our batting averages will take a shit kicking because of this game, Darrell might come away unscathed with a 3 for 4 night. UNITS UNITE!!
The Hurtin' Units next game is Tuesday June 2nd at Coventry Park at 8:15pm.
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| Standings after 4 games for the Hurtin' Units. |
So, here are the standings, after the first 4 games, for the Hurtin' Units. Last season, we started off in last place and rode that wave all the way in to the playoffs. In the playoffs, after the round robin portion, we managed to beat out the Hottub Woodys with a slightly better plus/minus for last place. It was still nothing to be proud of. The standings are so close at this time of the season, so close that a win or a loss could catapult a team in to first or a loss could drop them in to 14th, I only post this standings now, because it looks so good not to be at the bottom for the first time in over a year. The Units short term goal is to win 4 games on the season, bettering last year's record by a win. After this goal is accomplished, then we will set a new goal and progress through the season one step at a time.
I find it a bit difficult to get in to a rhythm when our games are so far apart. It has been over a week since we were on the field last. We played last Wednesday night (loss to the Tap Masters) and this game is 8 days later. I think teams need to play more often, to stay in a groove. Next week we have 2 games on the week. We play at Coventry on Tuesday and Keogh on Thursday. I'm looking forward to a week with 2 games. Hopefully the rust is not too thick for this game.
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| Quagmire, we said Master Batters. |
At game time we had 10 Hurtin' Unit players warming up on the field. Dave M. and Todd (Hicks) were the only missing personnel. Todd was a last minute bow out, and I'm not sure what happened to Dave.
This game was reminiscent of most of the Hurtin' Units games last season. Last season, our opponents would crush the ball all around the diamond (usually out of the range of our fielders) and the bats would go ice cold, we never seemed to be synchronized, hence the high plus/minus and losing record last season.
By far this is our worst loss of our young season. This Unit's team batting is much better than a 9 run night. Yes, I did say a 9 run night; for the second straight game, I found a gaff on the scoresheet. The scorers (they were basically everyone on the field) missed or failed to tally 2 runs on the scoresheet scored in the fifth inning. Last game the scorekeeper missed Todd's monstrous homerun. The 2 runs missed really would not have changed things in the end, but it might have made us feel a little better.
In the top of the 4th inning, the dagger was plunged deep in to the belly of the Units as the Master Batters put up 7 runs on the scoreboard and Units only managed 2 runs (the missing 2 runs, I might add). The fifth inning was the only inning, on the night, that the Hurtin' Units would win, by a 4-2 margin. We can't gain much ground with only one inning outscoring our opponents. The score after 5 complete innings was 20-9 for the Master Batters (although we thought it was 20-7), knowing about those 2 runs could have made a difference.
In the top of the 7th (open) the Batters would only score another single run, but the downside was the Units would be shut out again. Make the final... Master Batters 22, Hurtin' Units 9.
It was not the Hurtin' Units finest hour (1.25 hours actually), but there were a few bright spots. Al made his first 2 catches of the season, Mike handled 3 pop flies at first, Vince made another shoe top catch on the right field line. At bat, we had a rough night, but we are very capable of bashing the ball around the park, it will come together. For most of us, our batting averages will take a shit kicking because of this game, Darrell might come away unscathed with a 3 for 4 night. UNITS UNITE!!
The Hurtin' Units next game is Tuesday June 2nd at Coventry Park at 8:15pm.
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