HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE GRISSLIES.
Game # 15 - July 20th, 2017
Hurtin' Units win 20-15
Team Record- 9-6-0
Keogh Park- For the first time since 2014, I was unable to play. I had a sore toe (not sure, could have been gout), but there was no way I could play. It was time to call up the P2. It would be the first time that Peter would pitch this season. I thought he did an excellent job.
The weather was really good for the game, there was some humidity, earlier in the day there was a risk of thunderstorms, but by game time it was all cleared up.
At game time, the Units had 10 players ready to play. Missing from this game were Dave and Jimmer.
Just like the HTKP tournament, this game was a tight, well played and very close. Each team would hold the lead on several occasions and it came down to the final inning to determine a winner. The Hurtin' Units would prevail by a score of 20-15.
Nice game Units.
HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DODGE CITY ROUNDERS.
Game #14 - July 19th, 2017
Hurtin' Units win 18-9
Team Record- 8-6-0
Keogh Park- In the first have of the season the schedule did not play in our favor. We were the visitors most of the time and we were playing most of our games in Coventry. Over the next 8 games were are the home team 7 times and the bulk of the games are at Keogh Park.
The weather for this game was good. The temperature was hovering around 25 degrees, the skies were clear and there was a slight breeze.
At game time, the only missing Units player was Dave.
The home team Units would take an early lead in this game scoring 7 runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Rounders had a couple of innings where they fought back. In the 3rd inning, Dodge City would hit a 3 run homerun and a single run homerun. The Units would score another 7 run inning in the sixth to seal the deal.
The Units were solid defensively and offensively in this game. Nice job Units.
HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE SLIDERS.
Game # 13- July 10th, 2017
Hurtin' Units win 10-9
Team Record - 7-6-0
Keogh Park- The HTKP Tournament was played over the weekend before this game. This game vs. the Sliders was actually the first game of the week.
Based on the final score, it would appear that both teams had a little bit of a tournament hangover, although now that I think about it, the Sliders didn't even put a team in the tournament. There were several of the Sliders players scattered on different teams. The Hurtin' Units picked up Al (Bones) from the Sliders in HTKP tournament.
This game was a slow starter and it took until the third inning to see a run put up on the board.
The 3rd to the 5th saw only one run scored.
The final score was a 10-9 win for the Units.
Play of the Game:
Winston made a running catch (running a long way) to have the ball hit in his glove, bounce out, juggling from hand to hand several times, all while still running. Awesome catch!!
HTKP TOURNAMENT.
Coventry Park- It always amazes me how quickly the year goes bye. The 2017 Oldtimers season is half over and the Help the Kids tournament is upon us again. This year the tournament is a little different for the Units (obviously the team is different with the exception of Peter and Myself), but this year the Hurtin' Units are the defending champions of the tournament.
Last year, the Units won the tournament for the first time. There has never been a team that his won the HTKP tournament twice in a row, in fact there has never been a team win the tournament twice in the 10 year history of the tournament. Could this be the year that a team will win twice?
Winning this tournament for the second year will be a tough task. The Oldtimer division has some good teams this season. The Grisslies, the Twisters, the Bat Flippers and the Dogcatchers are all having a great season. The Units are a good team, but have been a little inconsistent over the last 5 or 6 games. I believe we have the team to win the tournament, but we have to play a solid defensive and the offensive has to be firing on all cylinders to have a chance.
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| Darren Hall is dreamy. |
Game # 1- Saturday July 8th, 2017
Hurtin' Units vs Hottub Woodies
Hurtin' Units lose 16-8
Coventry Park-I'm not sure what it was, but the Units bats were not hitting well, at all, in this game.
I'm really not very lucky when it comes to coin tosses. In the round robin portion of this tournament, I lost the toss everytime. The first time was against the Hottub Woodys.
Against the Hottub Woodys, we did not have a very good start, in fact I can honestly say it was horrible. Our bats, in the first couple of innings, were weak and our defense was a little shaky. I will call it first game jitters. The Woodys would be victorious in our first game of the tournament.
Game # 2 - Saturday July 8th, 2017
Hurtin' Units vs. Beer Bros.
Hurtin' Units win 9-3
Keogh Park- Our second game would see the Units up against Beer Bros. at Keogh Park. The Beer Bros. picked up Steve Lahey as a replacement player for the tournament. Steve would hit a blast into the tennis courts during the game.
This game was a defensive gem, with both teams shutting down their opponent. Going in to the seventh inning the score was 3-2 for the Beer Bros. The first 2 Hurtin' Units batters would get out, the second out would be myself. I would hit a pop up to Steve Lahey, I would stop running, Steve would drop the ball, upon realizing the ball drop I began running again,
Steve would recover the ball, throw to second base for a fictitious base runner, and then the ball was thrown to first to get me out (I could hear Stef in my head, telling me to always run it out). D'oh!!
The Units had 2 out and it was up to Dion to keep the inning alive. Dion would hit a single. The next Unit's batter was Ryan Rawn, Ryan would hit to the second baseman, the ball would get tied up feet of the baseman and all runners would be safe. This would bring up the top of the Units order and the boys at the top would deliver. When the diamond dust settled the Units would have scored 7 runs, all with 2 outs. The Beer Bros. would have the bottom of the inning to come back. Unfortunately, they would down 1,2,3. The Units would win their first game of the Tournament by a 9-3 score.
Game # 3- Saturday 8th, 2017
Hurtin' Units vs. Gruesome Devils
Hurtin' Units win 20-6
Coventry Park- In the Units vs. the Gruesome Devils game, the Units came out to play. In the early innings, the game was very close, but the visiting Units (lost the coin toss again) would start to string multiple hitting together over multiple innnings.
When the dust settled, the Units would be victorious and put up a much needed +7. At the end of the round robin, the Units had 4 points and a +6, tied with two other teams for the final 2 bye spots. The Units would squeak in to the final bye spot. The Grisslies would be the odd team out and would play a elimination game vs. the Gruesome Devils on Sunday morning. The Grisslies would defeat the Devils and face the Units in the quarter finals.
Quarter Final Game- Sunday July 9th, 2017
Hurtin' Units vs. Grisslies.
Units win 7-6
Coventry Park- Win or go home! The Units and Grisslies always have a good games and this one was as good as it gets. I loved the intensity of this game; every at bat, every pitch, every mistake could result in a loss or a win.
Hooray!! the were the home team for the first time in the tournament, based on seeding.
This game was close and going in to the bottom of the 7th inning, the Units found themselves down by a score of 6-5 for the Grisslies. The Units would score the tying run on an in the park homerun by Steve W.
The Units would get the winning run to third base, Jimmer (myself) would be batting, Jimmer would hit a line drive in to RCF and drive in the winning run. The Units win 7-6 in an awesome game.
The Units were headed to the semi-finals vs. the Tap Masters.
Semi Final Game-
Sunday July 9th, 2017
Hurtin' Units vs. Tap Masters.
Hurtin' Units lose 15-12.
Coventry Park-The Hurtin' Units and the Tap Masters had played earlier in the week and the Tappers won the game by a 25-22 score. This game was a little tighter.
This game would be a back and forth event, each team scoring and other countering. At the end of 4 innings the Units lead by a score of 5-4.
In the fifth inning, the Tappers scored 3 runs and the Units scored 2, after 5 complete innings the score was tied 7-7.
In the sixth inning, the Tap Masters would put up 7 runs and take a huge lead. In the bottom of the inning, the Units went down 1,2,3. The score at the end of 6 innings was 14-7 for the Masters.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Tappers would tack on another run. The Units were now down by 8 runs. In the bottom of the inning, the Units would score 5 runs with no outs, Dave would be the first out. The Units would get a runners on 3rd and 2nd bases, the tying run would get the tying run to the plate with 2 out. Unfortunately, the tying run would ground out and the Units come back attempt would end. The Units tournament run had come to an end.
The Tappers would go on to play the Sons of Pitches in the final, the Tap Masters would would be victorious and win their second HTKP tournament. Tap Masters won the tournament in 2014.
HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE TAP MASTERS.
Game # 11- July 5th, 2017
Hurtin' Units lose 25-22
Team Record - 6-5-0
Keogh Park- This season I have struggled to keep up with the blog. I find that I seam be distracted by other stuff going on and can't seem to get my head into it. So, the best I thing I can do is to say something quickly and move on to the next posting.
The game before this one, the Units played the Twisters and would come away with a 11-4 win. This game we score 22 runs and lose. WTF! The truth is this game we a real back and forth event, the Tappers would score 5, the Units would score 4, the Tappers would score 2, the Units would score 4... it would be like that all evening long. In the end when the diamond dust settled, the Tappers would walk away with a 25-22 win.
Next up for the Hurtin' Units is the HTKP tournament.
HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE TOTTENHAM TWISTERS OF NEW TECUMSETH.
Game # 11- July 4th, 2017.
Hurtin' Units win 11-4.
Team Record- 6-5-0
Coventry Park- Coming in to this game, the Twisters were sitting on top of the league standings. The Twisters only had a single loss. This game was going to be a challenge for the Units.
The weather for this game was great, the temperature was around 22 degrees, the skies were a sun/cloud mix and there was soft breeze.
The Units defense was stellar in this game. The Twisters were the top run producers coming in to this game and the Units would limit them with very few opportunities. The Units offense would capitalize on their chances and scoring 11 runs would be enough to hold on for the victory. Hurtin' Units win 11-4.
