The Friday game ended in a 1-1 tie. Games that end in a tie in the IBL are determined via home run derby. This idea is hard for me to accept but it is exciting for the fans and I was pretty tense myself. During the game we had five hits, three came from Ryan Crotin. Then he helped us win in Home Run derby to earn our second victory. It was great to get another desperately needed win. The picture below show’s our elation.
Painful Loss
Sunday’s game was brutal. It impacted me more than any game thus far, it was devastating. It was a seesaw battle throughout the game. The game only went six innings because the umps called the game due to darkness. There are no lights at this new field and games start at five pm. So if play is prolonged there is a chance for a game to be called on account of darkness.
In the bottom of the sixth and final inning we were down 8-7 and we proceeded to load the bases with no outs. Now I am almost positive we have at least a tie game as it is very rare to get out of that type of situation unscathed…but it gets worse. They switch pitchers and the new pitcher proceeds to throw three consecutive balls. So now we have bases loaded, no outs and a 3-0 count. At this point I am willing to wager a substantial sum that we will win this game. It is too painful for me to recount the specifics that follow. It is enough to say that we joined the very rare company of teams that were not able to score a run in the situation.
The loss was extra tough on me because I was the losing pitcher. I am trying to adapt to a revamped style of pitching that Kenny is encouraging me to employ. I don’t trust the approach and ended up walking four guys in just over three innings and as often happens the walks came back to haunt the team. Without going into the details of how my style is being changed the essence is that I threw nothing but fastballs and my groundball to flyball ratio was 7-1. Batters went 2-12 off me which is good, I just have to trust the style of pitching and not try to be so fine, the walks are a killer.
It is hard to lose game by one run but when you lose the game due to errors, bonehead plays and walks it really hurts. As an example, the fourth inning Netanya run comes to mind. With runners on first and second a ground ball is hit to the second baseman. He picks it up and throws to the shortstop covering second base. The runner who was on second notices the short stop not paying attention and runs home. Kenny was not happy and the Short Stop was benched on the next game. The run should never have scored but I am equally to blame as the runner initially got on base via a walk that I issued.
Pitching on Sunday
Big Win
Last nights game was beautiful! For some reason it all came together for us. Our hitters that usually struggle hit well. Alper pitched a shut out and it felt good to cruise through a game for a change. Baseball is a crazy game! Ryan Crotin and Ben Dashevsky our two consistant hitter go 0-6 while the rest of our line up, who combined is batting around 150, goes 10-21, go figure. So we have won two of our last three games and tonight we have Abel on the mound against the hot hitting Miracle.
Israeli National Anthem
Fans at Gezer
Out at Home
Discussion with Kenny
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