The Heat Is On.

 

The Heat Is On.  

Hot town, summer in the city

Back of my neck gettin' dirty and gritty

Been down, isn't it a pity?

Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city

All around, people lookin' half dead

Walkin' on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head – The Lovin' Spoonful

Pre-game: A little bird told me that our game against the Brew Birds is going to be a Beer Cup game. I believe that the Brew Birds defeated the Meatballs on June 18th by a score of 10-9 to capture the Beer Cup. If all this is true, the Hurtin' Units' game on Monday, June 23rd vs. The Brew Birds will give the Units a chance to take the Cup. The Units have lost two games in a row and are struggling to put runs on the board; conversely, the Brew Birds are flying high with a five-game winning streak. I mentioned in the last post that the teams are starting to find their place in the standings, we are seeing the strong teams at the top, mediocre teams in the middle and weaker teams at the bottom. Now I know the standings are subject to change, but with over a 3rd of the season in the books, the numbers don't lie and after 15 games I'm betting the standings will look similar.

I don't know if any of the Hurtin' Units players know that Monday is a Beer Cup game, and I don't know if most even know what the Beer Cup is or what it's about. I'd bet that most of the Unit players don't know the Beer Cup (we have 4 rookies and 1 player who came in late last season) and it's not like we talk about it in the dugout. My dilemma is do I tell the Unit players it's a Beer Cup game and put unnecessary pressure on them or do I quietly let them play the game and let the chips fall where they may. We win, SURPRISE!!!! We lose, Oh, by the way, that game was for the Beer Cup.

Game Time: The weather for this Monday night match was hot,

the temperature during the day went up to 33 degrees and by our 7:00 pm Keogh start, it was still hot enough to cook an egg on the sidewalk. At game time we had 9 guys dressed in Units' shirts ready to take on the Brew Birds, missing from this game were Harley, Kevin C, and Mike B. The umpire was Billy Bob Thornton (just kidding, but that would have been really cool), the umpire was Roman and the scorekeeper was Rob Jordan. The Units were the visiting team again in this game.

With the Beer Cup on the line, the Units came up for their first at-bat and the bats were almost as hot as the weather. In the first inning, the Units put up 7 runs and took a commanding lead. The

Brew Birds came out just as hot, smashing the balls around Keogh Park. The Birds would score 5 runs and it was apparent that this was going to be a tight game. In the top of the second inning, the Units laid a fried egg and went down quickly. In the bottom, the Birds carried on where they left off in the first, they tacked on another 5 runs to take the lead 10-7.

The see-saw battle continued in the 3 inning, the Units scored 4 runs and shut down the Birds for the first time. The score was now 11-10 for the Units. In the fourth inning, both teams scored 3 runs each.

In the fifth inning, the heat was starting to slow the hitting down and each team only scored a single run. At the end of 5 complete innings, the score was 15-14 for the Units.

The sixth inning was called the open inning, and with the bottom of the Units' order coming up and leading by only a single run, the Units needed an insurance run or 2. It was not to be, batters went down fast and furious and the Units were left to defend a 1-run lead. The Brew Bird's first batter popped up to Kyle and there was one out, but the next 3 batters got hits and the Birds scored 2 runs to win the game.

This was a great game, back and forth action, good plays, and solid hitting by both teams and in the end, the weather did not play a part in the way the game was played. The Brew Birds defend the Beer Cup and will take on the Gamblers on Wednesday night. The Brew Birds have won 6 games in a row and could take over 1st place in the standings with a win over the Gamblers.

The Hurtin' Units' next game is June 25th at Coventry #1 vs. The Gruesome Devils.