HURTIN' UNITS BATTLE HARD AGAINST REBELS.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE RUSTY REBELS. 

Game # 4 - May 24, 2017

Hurtin' Units win 20-11

Team Record - 3-1-0

Coventry Park- Following this game I missed the opportunity take a picture of the game sheet, so I will try to remember a couple of highlights from the game and move on to the next posting. 

The weather for this game was a little unsettled, with overcast skies and a temperature around 15 degrees. There were a few light showers during the game, but it really did not affect the outcome of the game. 

At game time we had a full squad, all 12 players were dressed in green and ready to play. The Rusty Rebels were down players and had 3 subs for the game. 

Early in this game the Units were a little sloppy and the Rebels took advantage of it. The Units got down early again in this game, similar to the Batsters and Flippers games. The Hurtin' Units defense tightened up as the game progressed, highlighted by amazing catches by Winston. Bobby V. and Keith D. also made some great line drive catches. Stormsy made a great throw to Jimmer at 2nd base for another out. 

The Units Offense started off slow, but by the second time through the lineup, the bats started to fire on all cylinders and the runs started to pile up. Stormsy hit an in the park homerun. The Units 12 man lineup was hitting really well. Jimmer, Stef and Keith all went 4/4 in this game. 

The Hurtin' Units next game is Monday May 29th at Tottenham Community Center at 8:30pm.

HURTIN' UNITS CARTWHEELING OVER FLIPPER WIN.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE BAT FLIPPERS. 

Game #3 - May 23, 2017

Hurtin' Units win 18-5

Team Record- 2-1-0

Coventry Park-In this game the Hurtin' Units were up against one of the newest teams in the league. This season 2 new teams and 4 new captains were welcomed into the TOT league. The new captains are not new to the league, but they are new as captains. The two new teams are the Bat Flippers, captained by Kevin (Radar)B. and Kevin (Clouch)C. And the Tottenham Twisters of New Tecumseth, captained by Jimmy S. and Geoff K.

Kevin C. (Flippers) is a Hurtin' Units Alumni. Kevin played for the Hurtin' Units in 2014. The season Kevin played with the Units was not a very good season. We finished the season with a 3-18-2 record. A tough season to be sure, but we still had fun.

I was looking at the Flippers roster, prior to the game, and I saw that there are 3 other players that once dawned the Hurtin' Units jersey. Bill C. played in the same season as Kevin, Clayton A. has actually played 3 times with the Units and Ricky G. played in 2014.

I guess if you play a few years in this league, you can look across the diamond, into the opponents dugout, there will probably be someone you played with in the past. This season the Units did not draft a single former player.

The weather for this game was perfect for baseball. The temperature was hovering around 15 degrees, there was a soft breeze and overcast skies.

At game time we had 11 players dressed in Kelly Green ready to take on the Flippers. The only missing player was Ryan M.

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
	Hurtin' Units	2	0	3	4	4	2	3	18
	Bat Flippers	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	5

The game started off similar to our game against the Inglorious Batsters, where we got down early. We were not down as many runs in this game, but it was still is a little concerning to get down to a team that had not lost a game this season. The Flippers got off to a good start scoring 3 runs in the first inning, and 2 runs in the second inning. The Units countered with 2 runs in the first inning. The score after 2 complete inning was Bat Flippers 5, Hurtin' Units 2.

It was in the third inning, the Units began to take over the game. The Units offense would shift into high gear and score in every inning for the rest of the game. The Units defense would also step it up, and shut the Flippers down, not allowing another run to score the final score 18-5 for the Units. 

The Hurtin' Units played a solid game both defensively and offensively to improve to a record of 2-1-0. Good game Units. 

UNITS SMOKIN' BATS BEAT THE BATSTERS.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE INGLORIOUS BATSTERS.

Game #2 - May 17th, 2017

Hurtin' Units win 27-17

Team Record - 1-1-0

Keogh Park- This was a high scoring night, the game before ours ended in a 23-23 tie. Our game ended in a 20-17 win. A total of 90 runs for the 2 games combined. 

The weather for this game was hot, during the day of the temperature reached 29 degrees, an usually warm day for May. There was a slight breeze and the sun was shining in the eyes of the right side of the field. 

At game time, the Units had 10 players dressed in green, (actually, only 9 were dressed in green, Keith had not received his shirt yet), but 10 players were ready to play. Absent from this game were Darren (Lefty)and Dave (Stormsy). We were the visitors for this 8:15 start. I looked at the schedule, and I think we were visitors for the next a total of 4 games before we have a home game. How nice would it be to win some of these games before we head home in front of our home crowd? 

This game we got off to a good start, scoring 4 runs in the top of the first inning. But are spirits were quickly this squashed when the Batsters scored 7 runs in the bottom of the inning. I the top of the second inning, the Units went down quickly, only sending 4 batters to the plate. In the bottom of the second inning, the Batsters scored another 5 runs. At the end of 2 complete innings, the Units were down by a score of 12-4.

In the middle innings 3 to 5, the Units bats started to warm up, scoring 8 more runs. The middle innings also saw the units defense in start to tighten up, making some sound defensive plays. The Batsters only scored twice. The score of the end of 5 complete innings was 14-12 for the Inglorious Batsters.

In the 6th inning, the Hurtin' Units bats got even hotter, the Units would score 7 runs in the top of the inning. In the bottom, the Units defensive would, once again, shut down the high powered offensive of the Batsters. 

Going to the seventh inning(open inning), the Units now had a five run lead and in the top of the inning, the sizzling hot bats would continue to score more runs. When the diamond dust settled the Units would have put up 8 more runs on the board. In the bottom of the 7th inning the Batsters would push back a bit, scoring 3 more runs, but would fall short. The Hurtin' Units win by a score of 27-17. 

Considering how this game began, and how down we looked after the first 2 innings, I think this was a great confidence and character building win. Nice job Units!!!

Game highlights. 

• Steve Brooks hit a home run over the right field fence
• Dion B. playing, and playing well, after dislocating his finger the night before in the Units loss to the Dusty Cleats. 
• Steve W. and Keith D. both went 6/6 in batting; Steve scored 5 runs on the night. All the Hurtin' Units batters had great nights at the plate. 
• Units came back from a 8 run deficit, to win first game of the season.
• Brett, Bob and Pete all made some great defensive catches and overall the Units defense was really good for only the second game of the season. 

The Next Hurtin' Units game is Tuesday May 23nd at Coventry Park at 7:00pm.😀

UNITS GET DUSTED BY CLEATS.

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DUSTY CLEATS.  

Game # 1 - May 16th, 2017

Hurtin' Units lose 10-3

Team Record - 0-1-0

Coventry Park- The start of the blogging season has begun for me and this season I told myself I was going to scale it back a bit, hopefully I can manage to do it. I think I can get my point across with pictures of game sheets and boxscores. I will probably throw in the odd highlight, but no more long winded, babbling blogs. This post is/was giving me a difficult time; I could not change the font colour, and I could not get all the same size font...very frustrating at times. 

The weather for this game was a bit cool, only around 12 degrees at game time, overcast skies and, at times, there were strong wind gusts.

At game time we had 11 Hurtin' Units players dressed in Kelly green (new shirt colour this season), the only missing player, on opening night, was Keith D. 

We did have 2 hobbled players for this game, one before, one during. Dave (Stormsy) had a bout of gout and Dion would dislocate his finger while batting during the game. 

The season was slated to begin on May 1st, but mother nature had different plans. In week one, the rain came down all week canceling every game and the Town put a hold the league using the diamonds until things dried up. The diamonds were so saturated that the Town would not release the diamonds until the Thursday of week # 2. 

The bottom line is the season finally got under way and the Hurtin' Units had a layer of rust on opening night. The defense looked decent for a bunch of guys who had never played together, but the offense was the part of our game that seemed to have the issues. 

The Units defense made some good plays, but we had a couple of moments where we threw the ball away. The offense was not hitting well and the Units left numerous base runners on the bags. The game was close and the Units never gave up more than a 2 runs in an inning. If you look at the score sheet, the Cleats scored 2 runs in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th for a total of 10 runs.

I went back and looked up how the Hurtin' Units have done since they came in to the league. We have won more than we have lost, but the last 2 opening day games have started to even it out. This game is the second straight game we have lost on opening day. 

Season Opener	Result	Team
May 16, 2017	10-3 Loss	Dusty Cleats
May 4, 2016	5-4 Loss	Grisslies
May 5, 2015	13-10 Win	Hottub Woodies
May 8,2014	10-8 Loss	Blues Brothers
May 8, 2013	16-11 Win	Draft Kings
May 2, 2012	5-5 Tie	Dog Catchers
May 10, 2011	16-11 Win	Dodge City Rounders
May 6, 2010	14-19 Win	Red Dogs

Last season we lost on opening night, but we still went on to have a better than .500 season. We also finished in 5th place, won the HTKP tournament, won the Beer Cup and went 4-0 in the round robin portion of the 2016 playoffs. We did however lose to the 2016 champions in the quarter finals in the playoffs. So, when it comes down to this opening night, it can probably be chalked up to opening night jitters.  

The Hurtin' Units next game is Wednesday May 17th at Keogh Park vs. the Inglorious Batsters. 😞

LET THE PLAYOFFS BEGIN.

And so it ends...

Okay, so let me Tarantino this blog a little bit, starting with the end and then going back to the order in which our final games of the season were played.

Unfortunately, the Hurtin' Units season has come to an end.The Hurtin' Units were defeated by the Sons of Pitches on Sunday morning in the quarter finals. We played a good game (not great, and I think great is probably what we needed), but the Sons of Pitches got on a roll and rode that wave all the way to the championship.

I would really like to thank all of my teammates for a fantastic season. As I sat here writing this blog, I thought about how fast the season seemed to go by, I probably could have played a few more weeks. We had a really good season. A season filled with fun, great memories and some excellent baseball. I thought we had a team that meshed together very well. We had a good balance, we were strong in the outfield and infield, and our batting lineup was as good as any in the league. In fact we beat every team in the league in either the HTKP tournament or regular season.


Our season was successful on the field, in the standings and on the scoresheets. It was a season that saw the Hurtin' Units finish in fifth place (only the second time that we finished that high in 7 years), we won the HTKP tournament for the first time ever, won the BEER CUP for the first time ever and we finished first overall in the Round Robin portion of the playoffs for the first time ever. And although we did not advance to the semi-finals or the finals we can take some comfort in the team that knocked us out, went on to win the championship.

This was a year that introduced a several new team things. The first thing we did was to change our shirt colour and logo. I also had a Hurtin' Units banner made (thanks go out to Peter H. for making it for us) and I also bought some hats and had them embroidered with "Hurtin' Units" on the front.

I would also like to thank our 2016 sponsor, TOTTENHAM PHYSIOTHERAPY. I know some of the Hurtin' Units players spent some time getting treatment at the clinic.   

We gave it a great great run 2016 Hurtin' Units and it was my pleasure to have gotten to know all of you and it was my pleasure to have played with each and every one of you guys. Have a great off season.  


HURTIN' UNITS BEGIN THE 2016 PLAYOFF RUN...

Week of September 12th, 2016.

The 2016 playoffs will begin on September 12th and finish up on Sunday September 18th. 

The Hurtin' Units will play 4 round robin games, 2 during the week and another 2 games on the Saturday September 17th. The 2 games during the week will be played on Wednesday September 14th and Thursday September 15th. 

The Hurtin' Units would finish the regular season with a record of 15-11-0 and a plus/minus of plus 81.

This record would put the Units in 5th place after the final results and would see the Units in the second playoff pool with the Dusty Cleats, Beer Brothers, Tap Masters and the Inglorious Batsters. 

Congratulations go out to Hurtin' Units players Jon D. and Peter H. for finishing in the top 10 in batting. Great season guys!!

HURTIN' UNITS VS. INGLORIOUS BATSTERS.

Game # 1 Playoffs.

September 14th, 2016

Hurtin' Units win 18-11

Team Record- 1-0-0

Coventry Park- Coming in to this game, it had been more than 2 weeks since the Hurtin' Units had played a game. We had a little practice last week, but only 6 Unit players were there and we didn't really get a great practice in, however we did get some at bats. 

Before this game, with the Batsters, several Hurtin' Units players did some batting practice on Coventry # 1, I found it difficult to hit anything, but I was okay in our game. 

The weather for this our first playoff game was good, mostly clear skies, and temperatures in around 16 degrees. 

At game time we had 11 players dressed to take on the Basters. The only missing player was Mark B.

The Hurtin' Units were the home team. 

The game was close. In the first inning the Batsters would get off to a quick start scoring 4 runs. In the bottom of the inning, the Units would score 5 runs and it looked like this was going to be a battle to the end. 

It was a battle, the score was close thru the first 3 innings, but the Units would score 6 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning and this seemed to deflate the Batsters. The Units defense would shut the door and the Batsters would only score another 3 runs. The Units would win 18-11.

2016 Record vs. The Inglorious Batsters.
June 7th, 2016 - Hurtin' Units win 26-15
July 8th, 2016 - HTKP Tournament Hurtin' Units win 19-6.
July 9th, 2016 - HTKP semi-finals- Hurtin 'Units win 20-10
August 18th, 2016 - Hurtin' Units win 20-9

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE BEER BROTHERS.

Game # 2 Playoffs

September 15th, 2016

Hurtin' Units win 15-14

Team Record 2-0-0

Keogh Park- This game was the toughest of the Hurtin' Units round robin playoff. The Brothers have a solid defense and their batting was not to shabby either. 

The Beer were a little better than the Units over the first 2 innings, with a 7-5 lead. But after 5 complete innings the Units had fought back and the score was tied at 12s. Going into the top of the 7th inning the Units had a 15-12 lead, but the Beer Bros. kept coming, scoring 2 more runs. 

I would intentionally walk Laurier P. to get to Vince, but that move didn't quite pan out after Vince hit a single.
The Units would get the 3rd out and hold on for the win. In the bottom of the inning (still batting for plus/minus) the Units would get a few base runners, but could not bring them around to score. Final score 15-14. Hurtin' Units up 2-0 in the playoffs. 

Ted B., Jon D., Clayton A., and Gord D. were all 4/4 in batting on the night. Nice game guys. 

2016 Record vs. Beer Bros.
June 20th, 2016 - Hurtin' Units win 11-7 (only 1 game during the regular season)

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE TAP MASTERS.

Game # 3 Playoffs

September 17th, 2016

Hurtin' Units win 12-8

Team Record 3-0-0

Coventry Park- In the regular season the Hurtin' Units would defeat the Tap Masters on both occasions. The 2 wins were both close, a 16-15 win and a 11-9 win, and going in to this game I was not exactly comfortable playing the Tap Masters. My worry was amplified when the Tappers came out in the first inning and put up 3 runs and in the bottom shut the door on the Units bats. 

The Units defense showed up in the second inning and closed down the Tap Master for the next four innings. The Units offense also showed up and scored 14 runs over the same four innings. 

The Tap Masters would score 5 more runs over the final 2 innings, but could not get back in to the game. Going into the bottom of the 7th inning, the Units were up by 6 runs and had the win. The teams the would play the bottom of the 7th inning for the plus/minus. The Units would score the single run needed and end the game. 

The Hurtin' Units would be 3-0-0 in the round robin. 

2016 Record vs. the Tap Masters.
May 12th, 2016 - Hurtin' Units win 16-15
July 19th.2016 - Hurtin' Units win 11-9 

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE DUSTY CLEATS.

Game # 4 Playoffs.

September 17th, 2016

Hurtin' Units win 

Team Playoff Record 4-0-0

Coventry Park- For the second time, on C#1 this season, we have got to play the Dusty Cleats in the rain. What up with that? In the HTKP tournament we played in a heavy downpour and this game was almost a carbon copy of that game.

Robert was the only missing player for the Units.

This game would only be played for 5 complete innings, before the call was made to end the game. It was a strange game (they always are in the rain) and in the end the Units would prevail.

I did not get a picture of the game sheet or record a boxscore. I do know the Hurtin' Units were ahead by about 10 runs when the game was called. The Units would win their forth game of the round robin and would finish first overall in the standings. The Hurtin' Units would get a bye in to the Sunday morning quarter finals vs the winner of the Sons of Pitches vs. the Inglourious Batsters elimination game. 

2016 Record vs. The Dusty Cleats.
May 26th, 2016 - Dusty Cleats win 11-8
July 10th, 2016 - HTKP Tournament - Hurtin' Units win 15-9
August 3rd, 2016 - Hurtin' Units win 25-16

  

HURTIN' UNITS VS. THE SONS OF PITCHES.

Quarter Finals

Hurtin' Units lose 19-10

Team Record 4-1-0

Coventry Park- At the end of the round robin, the Sons of  Pitches had a 2-2-0 record and it was not quite enough for a bye in to the quarter finals. The Sons would have to play an elimination game. With all the rain on the Saturday, the games started to get pushed back, and a decision was made that the elimination games would be played early Sunday morning. The last games played, on Saturday, were the rain shortened round robin games, even though the rain had cleared out by about 4:30 and the skies were beginning to clear.

The Sons of Pitches would play an elimination game at 8am on Sunday morning vs. the Inglourious Batsters. The Sons would defeat the Batsters by a monstrous score of 32-10. A solid win going in to the quarter finals vs. the Hurtin' Units.

It is my opinion that the Sons gained a lot of confidence and momentum from their 8am game against the Batsters. The Sons would carry that momentum into the game against the Units. The Sons of Pitches were on a roll going into the quarter finals. 

The Hurtin' Units and Sons of Pitches might have been a little closer if the Sons had played their elimination game on the Saturday afternoon. I like to think , if the Sons had played on Saturday, that the momentum would have diminished a bit and that the Sons of Pitches players might have woken up a little bit more sore and achy for the Sunday morning tilt in the quarters. The games did not play out that way and the Sons played an awesome game. 

The Sons of Pitches scored in every inning but one. 

The Hurtin' Units season would come to an end and the Sons of Pitches would go on to win the T.O.T championship. Congratulations Sons!!

Mark D. and Winston G. were both on fire in the Hurtin' Units game. 

The 2016 season comes to an end.