Resurrection Life enjoyed its fourth consecutive victory last night with a quiet 8-4 triumph over Eden Prairie Assembly of God in a contest of defense, or as some would say inept offense. Regardless of the lack of bats for the Warriors, the team managed just enough runs to let its superb defense handle the rest.
Brendan Finn hit three shots in the game, a two-run homer in the first, a double to deep right-center in the fourth and a line-drive out at the wall in left during the seventh inning. He earns his second Player of the Game honor of the season with his two runs and two RBI.
The Larson brothers narrowly missed sharing the honor as both went 2-3 on the night with some sparkling defensive plays. Nick made a highligh-reel diving catch in the third inning and AJ made a couple of beauties at shortstop in the early part of the game.
On the night, the defense had 6 assists to go along with the 21 put-outs in a seven inning game while playing very solid both inside the rim and out. Lee Valle and Jon Engbrecht continued their excellent play in the dirt while Finn and Chris Burr remained steady in the outfield.
Jordan Schumack had his best game on the mound, going the distance while walking just two batters. He also managed three put-outs fielding the bump, catching two pop-ups and covering third on a grounder to end the game on a real smooth finish.
To start the game, Austin Colby doubled off the wall in left and Matt Hanson just missed doing the same as he flew out to deep left-center, allowing Austin to move to third. Chris lined one to right-center to score Austin and give the Warriors the lead. Finn quickly followed with a high, deep foul-ball homerun that was impressive. Not satisfied with that, on the next swing he tasered one out to left-center for a fair-ball homerun and a 3-0 Rez Life lead.
Eden Prairie answered with three runs in the bottom half using three two-out hits to score them. Nick made a nice stab on a funny hop in left that saved a run for the Warriors.
Three pop-ups sandwiched singles from Nick and Jordan in the second and the Warriors went down without scoring. However, the defense showed its worth, leaving a pair of EPAG runners on in the bottom half to make it 3-3 heading into the third. After a lead-off out, Austin lined another one to left this time clearing the fence for a solo shot which pushed Rez Life on top for good, 4-3.
EPAG couldn't manage much in the third, as Nick made his diving catch to start the inning and kept Eden Prairie's bats at bay.
In the fourth, Rez extended its lead to 6-3 with two runs on three hits and a sacrifice fly. Finn doubled to start things and after a pop-out Lee doubled to score Finn. AJ singled to push Lee to third and a Jamy Antoine flyout scored Lee. EPAG pushed across a run in the bottom half but that was it and the Warriors clung to their 6-4 lead after four.
The offenses both went stagnant over the next two innings and neither team scored and it was still 6-4 after six. The Rez Life defense left the bases loaded in one inning as EPAG mounted a threat, but nothing came of it.
In the seventh, Eric Johnson mashed his first homerun of the season to start things and add another run to the cushion. Lee followed with his second hit of the night and moved to second on AJ's second hit. A grounder from Jamy forced AJ at second but advanced Lee to third and Nick ripped his second single to score Lee and give Rez its eighth and final run.
EPAG again managed to put runners on in the last inning but with two on and two out, a slow chopper to the left side got by Jordan and Lee but Austin charged and back-handed the ball to Jordan whose momentum carried him to third base for the force-out to end the game. It was a pretty cool finish.
The victory gives Rez Life an 11-5 record and a second-place standing. Life is still in first at 13-3 and Living Word is in second at 13-4. Next week is the final week for the regular season with the Warriors taking on Wooddale at 6:50 on field #2 and closing out the season against Living Word directly following. Should be a good finish with the game most likely deciding second place.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Warriors Slug Six Homers in Route
The bats were alive and mighty, slugging six homers, albeit two for outs, en route to a 21-2 dismantling of St. Andrew Blue last week. The team mashed out 25 hits with 3 walks including 2 doubles, 2 triples and 4 homeruns that counted. The team had extra base-hits in every inning and had a 12-run inning to cap the game's scoring after four innings.
Chris Burr and Jamy Antoine led the charge with there hits each in four at bats with Chris scoring four times while driving in three on a double and two homers. Jamy scored twice and drove home four with a three-run homer. His lone out was a two-on homer for an out that he mashed to the opposite field. The players shared Player of the Game honors.
Jon Engbrecht provided the other countable homerun with a two-run laser to left-center in the 12-run fourth. It was Jon's first homer of the year.
The bats opened the game with four runs in the first. Austin Colby single and scored on Lee Valle's deep double to right-center. Lee jogged home as Chris launched quite possibly the farthest homer of the season to left. After an out, Eric Johnson singled and moved to second on AJ Larson's single. Jamy then knocked out his first hit of the game, a single, to score Eric and make it 4-0. Both runners were left stranded as two line drives from Nick Larson and Jordan Schumack were speared to end the inning.
Blue scored its only two runs of the game in the bottom half of the first using a lead-off single, a two-out walk and three straight singles after that to push the runners home. A nice play up the middle from Austin and AJ ended the inning, 4-2 Rez.
In the top of the second, Austin hit a two-out triple but was left stranded. St. Andrew was unable to take advantage as Lee made a fine stab with two outs and the bases loaded to keep Blue from scoring.
The Warriors scored five in the third to open the game up for good using six hits and two walks. Chris doubled to right to open the inning and scored on Brendan Finn's single to left. After consecutive outs, Jamy singled to put two on for Nick who blooped one to right-center but the ball scooted right on a funky bounce which allowed both runners to score and saw Nick standing on third with his third triple of the season. Jordan followed with a single to plate Nick and make it 8-2 Rez Life. Jon walked and Matt Shuster hit an infield single to load the bases for Austin who was seen drooling and licking his chops as he strode to the plate. However, discipline and a team-first attitude kept Austin's bat on his shoulder as he watched three balls go by, walking for the third time this year with the bases loaded. On the tape, you can actually see his bat flinching about 10 times with each pitch with hopes of swinging, but knowing that he'd catch some major grief from his teammates for popping up on a bad pitch, he wisely chose to accept the walk and take the one free run. Unfortunately, the team left the bases loaded as a popout ended the frame.
Blue went down one, two, three in the third on three pitches and the Warriors were quickly up again. Chris opened the inning with a line-drive homer giving him two for the game and five on the season. Finn, Eric, and AJ all singled scoring Finn and making it 11-2. Jamy came up and smashed a three-run homer down the line clearing the bases and pushing the lead to 12, 14-2. Nick singled and Jon knocked his homerun out of the park for the fourth and final allowable homer and a 16-2 lead. Matt singled again and hustled to second as a bad throw got away from the first baseman. Austin lined one up the middle for his third hit which scored Matt. Lee singled to push Austin to second and Chris hit a grounder to second that squirted through his legs and allowed Austin to score and Lee to scamper to third. With the score now, 18-2, Finn lined his third hit of the contest to score Lee and Eric followed with an RBI single also, his third knock of the game. Now 20-2, AJ picked on the second baseman again who couldn't handle the grounder which allowed Finn to trot home and end the scoring. Jamy came up with two on, but hit a towering homer which counted as the second out. Nick walked to load them up for Jordan who picked a good time to hit his first homerun of the season as he lifted one to deep left for a would-be grand slam, but again, the four-homerun limit came into play and ended the inning, 21-2 Rez Life.
Needing five runs to keep playing, St. Andrew couldn't do much offensively, leaving two runners on as AJ speared a line-drive at short to end the contest. Lee made two fine defensive plays at third earlier in the inning.
The third straight win from Rez Life pushes its record to 10-5, good for third place. Life suffered one loss last week and sits atop the standings at 12-3 while Living Word is in between in second at 12-4. Rez plays EPAG this week who has played extremely well as of late, knocking off Life for the second time this season last week. Game time is 6:50 on field #4.
Chris Burr and Jamy Antoine led the charge with there hits each in four at bats with Chris scoring four times while driving in three on a double and two homers. Jamy scored twice and drove home four with a three-run homer. His lone out was a two-on homer for an out that he mashed to the opposite field. The players shared Player of the Game honors.
Jon Engbrecht provided the other countable homerun with a two-run laser to left-center in the 12-run fourth. It was Jon's first homer of the year.
The bats opened the game with four runs in the first. Austin Colby single and scored on Lee Valle's deep double to right-center. Lee jogged home as Chris launched quite possibly the farthest homer of the season to left. After an out, Eric Johnson singled and moved to second on AJ Larson's single. Jamy then knocked out his first hit of the game, a single, to score Eric and make it 4-0. Both runners were left stranded as two line drives from Nick Larson and Jordan Schumack were speared to end the inning.
Blue scored its only two runs of the game in the bottom half of the first using a lead-off single, a two-out walk and three straight singles after that to push the runners home. A nice play up the middle from Austin and AJ ended the inning, 4-2 Rez.
In the top of the second, Austin hit a two-out triple but was left stranded. St. Andrew was unable to take advantage as Lee made a fine stab with two outs and the bases loaded to keep Blue from scoring.
The Warriors scored five in the third to open the game up for good using six hits and two walks. Chris doubled to right to open the inning and scored on Brendan Finn's single to left. After consecutive outs, Jamy singled to put two on for Nick who blooped one to right-center but the ball scooted right on a funky bounce which allowed both runners to score and saw Nick standing on third with his third triple of the season. Jordan followed with a single to plate Nick and make it 8-2 Rez Life. Jon walked and Matt Shuster hit an infield single to load the bases for Austin who was seen drooling and licking his chops as he strode to the plate. However, discipline and a team-first attitude kept Austin's bat on his shoulder as he watched three balls go by, walking for the third time this year with the bases loaded. On the tape, you can actually see his bat flinching about 10 times with each pitch with hopes of swinging, but knowing that he'd catch some major grief from his teammates for popping up on a bad pitch, he wisely chose to accept the walk and take the one free run. Unfortunately, the team left the bases loaded as a popout ended the frame.
Blue went down one, two, three in the third on three pitches and the Warriors were quickly up again. Chris opened the inning with a line-drive homer giving him two for the game and five on the season. Finn, Eric, and AJ all singled scoring Finn and making it 11-2. Jamy came up and smashed a three-run homer down the line clearing the bases and pushing the lead to 12, 14-2. Nick singled and Jon knocked his homerun out of the park for the fourth and final allowable homer and a 16-2 lead. Matt singled again and hustled to second as a bad throw got away from the first baseman. Austin lined one up the middle for his third hit which scored Matt. Lee singled to push Austin to second and Chris hit a grounder to second that squirted through his legs and allowed Austin to score and Lee to scamper to third. With the score now, 18-2, Finn lined his third hit of the contest to score Lee and Eric followed with an RBI single also, his third knock of the game. Now 20-2, AJ picked on the second baseman again who couldn't handle the grounder which allowed Finn to trot home and end the scoring. Jamy came up with two on, but hit a towering homer which counted as the second out. Nick walked to load them up for Jordan who picked a good time to hit his first homerun of the season as he lifted one to deep left for a would-be grand slam, but again, the four-homerun limit came into play and ended the inning, 21-2 Rez Life.
Needing five runs to keep playing, St. Andrew couldn't do much offensively, leaving two runners on as AJ speared a line-drive at short to end the contest. Lee made two fine defensive plays at third earlier in the inning.
The third straight win from Rez Life pushes its record to 10-5, good for third place. Life suffered one loss last week and sits atop the standings at 12-3 while Living Word is in between in second at 12-4. Rez plays EPAG this week who has played extremely well as of late, knocking off Life for the second time this season last week. Game time is 6:50 on field #4.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Warriors Topple St. Andrew Red 18-12
Rez Life came through in a must-win game versus St. Andrew Red last week with an 18-12 victory that propelled the team into 3rd place. The solid victory keeps hope alive for a 2nd place finish in the league for the Warriors.
The offense was consistent, scoring at least two runs in every inning before time ended the game after six full innings. The team banged out 25 hits and drew 3 walks.
Lee Valle led the way and earned Player of the Game honors with a 4-4 game including a walk, three runs scored and two RBI. Eric Johnson added four hits with four runs scored and one RBI.
In the top of the first, Austin Colby singled to open the game and went to second on a flyout from Chris Burr. Brendan Finn then lined a single to score Austin and open the scoring. Eric followed with a base-hit and Lee drove home Finn with the third straight single of the inning. After another flyout, Jordan Schumack capped the scoring with an RBI single.
St. Andrew Red didn't score and Rez came to bat in the second leading 3-0. The first two batters went down but Austin and Chris hit back-to-back doubles to push one run across and then Finn singled to score Chris to make it 5-0. Red came back with five runs in the bottom half to tie it as the Warrior pitchers combined to walk five straight batters after the first two players reached on errors. After the fifth walk, three straight pitches led to three outs and ended the long inning.
Now tied, the Warriors first six batters reached base safely which led to four runs in the top of the third. Lee walked and went to second on Jamy Antoine's single. Jordan doubled to score Lee and Jon Engbrecht's grounder to short allowed Jamy to score and a bad throw allowed Jon to reach. Jeff Johnson then delivered a two-RBI single to plate Jordan and Jon all with no outs. Jason Merritt singled to make it first and second with no outs and the top of the order up. However, Austin, Chris and Finn went down in order and Rez missed out on a big inning.
Red came back with one run in the bottom half on four singles. There could have been more but a Jason to Finn to Jamy relay cut down a runner at home to end the inning. Rez Life scored three more runs in the top of the fourth to take a 12-6 lead. Eric, Lee and Jamy singled to start the inning, the last one scoring Eric. After an out and a walk loaded the bases, Jeff hit a sacrifice fly to score Lee for the second run. Jason singled up the middle to plate the final run of the frame.
St. Andrew scored one run and had four straight singles in the bottom of the fourth but Jamy fired a strike to Eric at home from right-center which cut down another potential run and a grounder to Jon at third ended the dangerous inning.
In the top of the fifth, the first two Warriors went down again only to see another two-out rally come alive. Eric and Lee ripped back-to-back singles and the bases were loaded when Jay walked. Jordan knocked out the two-out two-run single to make it 14-7 after four and a half innings.
St. Andrew used its three hits and walk well in the bottom half scoring two runs and making it 14-9 going into the last inning because of the time limit. The Warriors again used the two-out sparkplug to make things happen as Austin ripped a single to right with two outs and no one on to start the rally. Chris followed with a single and Finn's deep double plated both runners to add some cushion. Eric followed with a double down the left-field line and Lee plated Eric with his fourth hit of the game. Jamy lined his third single but both runners were stranded after the third out.
Leading 18-9 going into the last inning, the Warriors kind of cruised, alonging three runs while holding on for the comfortable 18-12 win. The team is all by itself in third place at 9-5 with four games remaining. With wins in all four games, the Warriors would surpass last season's win total and most likely finish in second place. Life is still atop the standings at 11-2 with Living Word in second at 10-4. Living Word missed out on its chance for first last week dropping a close one to Life.
St. Andrew Blue is the opponent tonight at 5:50 on field #3.
The offense was consistent, scoring at least two runs in every inning before time ended the game after six full innings. The team banged out 25 hits and drew 3 walks.
Lee Valle led the way and earned Player of the Game honors with a 4-4 game including a walk, three runs scored and two RBI. Eric Johnson added four hits with four runs scored and one RBI.
In the top of the first, Austin Colby singled to open the game and went to second on a flyout from Chris Burr. Brendan Finn then lined a single to score Austin and open the scoring. Eric followed with a base-hit and Lee drove home Finn with the third straight single of the inning. After another flyout, Jordan Schumack capped the scoring with an RBI single.
St. Andrew Red didn't score and Rez came to bat in the second leading 3-0. The first two batters went down but Austin and Chris hit back-to-back doubles to push one run across and then Finn singled to score Chris to make it 5-0. Red came back with five runs in the bottom half to tie it as the Warrior pitchers combined to walk five straight batters after the first two players reached on errors. After the fifth walk, three straight pitches led to three outs and ended the long inning.
Now tied, the Warriors first six batters reached base safely which led to four runs in the top of the third. Lee walked and went to second on Jamy Antoine's single. Jordan doubled to score Lee and Jon Engbrecht's grounder to short allowed Jamy to score and a bad throw allowed Jon to reach. Jeff Johnson then delivered a two-RBI single to plate Jordan and Jon all with no outs. Jason Merritt singled to make it first and second with no outs and the top of the order up. However, Austin, Chris and Finn went down in order and Rez missed out on a big inning.
Red came back with one run in the bottom half on four singles. There could have been more but a Jason to Finn to Jamy relay cut down a runner at home to end the inning. Rez Life scored three more runs in the top of the fourth to take a 12-6 lead. Eric, Lee and Jamy singled to start the inning, the last one scoring Eric. After an out and a walk loaded the bases, Jeff hit a sacrifice fly to score Lee for the second run. Jason singled up the middle to plate the final run of the frame.
St. Andrew scored one run and had four straight singles in the bottom of the fourth but Jamy fired a strike to Eric at home from right-center which cut down another potential run and a grounder to Jon at third ended the dangerous inning.
In the top of the fifth, the first two Warriors went down again only to see another two-out rally come alive. Eric and Lee ripped back-to-back singles and the bases were loaded when Jay walked. Jordan knocked out the two-out two-run single to make it 14-7 after four and a half innings.
St. Andrew used its three hits and walk well in the bottom half scoring two runs and making it 14-9 going into the last inning because of the time limit. The Warriors again used the two-out sparkplug to make things happen as Austin ripped a single to right with two outs and no one on to start the rally. Chris followed with a single and Finn's deep double plated both runners to add some cushion. Eric followed with a double down the left-field line and Lee plated Eric with his fourth hit of the game. Jamy lined his third single but both runners were stranded after the third out.
Leading 18-9 going into the last inning, the Warriors kind of cruised, alonging three runs while holding on for the comfortable 18-12 win. The team is all by itself in third place at 9-5 with four games remaining. With wins in all four games, the Warriors would surpass last season's win total and most likely finish in second place. Life is still atop the standings at 11-2 with Living Word in second at 10-4. Living Word missed out on its chance for first last week dropping a close one to Life.
St. Andrew Blue is the opponent tonight at 5:50 on field #3.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
8-5, 4th Place
The Rez Life Warriors head into tonight's contest at 8-5 on the season and in 4th place. St. Andrew Red is in 3rd place with a record of 8-4 and is Rez's opponent this evening. A victory would put the Warriors into 3rd place.
Last week Rez managed a split in its double-header versus Living Word and Pax Christi. Living Word took the first game 17-12 while the Warriors came back and won the nightcap 10-4 over Pax. The offense never really got clicking after a good two-week stretch.
Living Word showed why it is the league's hottest team by jumping out to leads of 12-2, 15-3, and 17-9 before shutting down a last-inning rally and winning by five. In the top of the first inning, Living Word took advantage of two Warrior miscues to score two unearned runs and three runs total. The Warriors failed to answer leaving one runner on in the bottom half without scoring. The offense was a little tentative in that first inning.
Living Word added four more runs in the second using a three-run homer for most of the damage. Three hits before the homer plated one run and the dinger capped the inning's scoring. In the bottom of the second, a leadoff double from AJ Larson was followed by a triple from brother Nick Larson to get the team on the board. After a groundout, an error scored Nick and a single put two runners on with just one out. However, another grounder and then a fine play from the pitcher ended the threat, 7-2 Living Word.
Living Word opened up a bigger lead with five runs in the third, again using one homerun. Six out of seven batters ripped hits en route to the five-run inning. Trailing 12-2, The Warriors put one run on the board on back-to-back doubles from Chris Burr and Austin Colby.
Three more runs from Living Word made it a 15-3 game going into the bottom of the fourth. Consecutive singles started the inning and a three-run homer provided all the scoring. With the offense still shaky, the Warriors put together three singles to score one run and make it 15-4 after four innings. Nick, Lee Valle and Jon Engbrecht hit the singles with Jon's driving home Nick. With two on and one out, Rez had a chance for more but the offense was unable to muster anything else.
A one-out double from Living Word in the top of the fifth was wasted as the defense made a couple nice plays to keep Living Word off the scoreboard for the first time. The offense picked up on the defense's cue and tried to turn it on to force another inning of play as the team stared the 10-run rule in the face. Unfortunately, the first two batters went down quickly and the team needed two more runs to force another inning. Austin and Brendan Finn made sure they got that inning with homers on consecutive swings to make it 15-6 with two outs. The offense kept going as AJ ripped a liner and moved to third on Nick's third hit. Jordan Schumack then doubled to score both Larsons and make it 15-8 and there was life showing in the dugout. Lee followed with a single to score Jordan and give the team a solid five-run inning.
Living Word came back and got two more runs in the top of the sixth to make it 17-9 and the offense fell asleep again with no runs in the bottom half. However, the defense held well one more time keeping the Living Word bats at bay, ending the inning with a nifty 1-4-3 double-play.
In the bottom of the inning, Rez needed the bats to get hot again and it looked promising early on as Austin knocked out a double to start things and scooted to third on Finn's liner single. AJ singled to plate Austin and make it 17-10 with two on and no outs. Nick hit a chopper up the middle which looked like his fourth hit of the game but a bad bounce richoceted the ball to the shortstop who just got it to second in time to force out AJ. Finn scored on the play to make it 17-11. After the second out, Lee doubled to make it second and third and kept the rally alive. A single by Jon (hits third hit of the game) scored Nick but a popout ended the rally and the game, 17-12.
Nick Larson earns Player of the Game with four putouts in left field and a 3-4 day at the plate that included four runs scored, two RBI and a triple.
The disappointment from the tough first game loss hung around the Warriors for five innings in game two and the bats were dead for much of the game. The team found itself trailing 4-3 going into the sixth inning before erupting for seven runs to take a 10-4 lead and hang on for victory.
In the top of the first, the team got five straight singles which scored two runs, but a double-play ended the inning without scoring another. Pax's bats were pretty much non-existent the whole game and went down very easily in innings one through three without scoring.
In the top of the second, Rez added one more run as Jordan singled to start, moved to second on an error, and came home on a Jeff Johnson single. After Pax's zero in the bottom half, the Warriors went down quickly in the top of the third leaving Chris on first after a lead-off single.
The defense had one more scoreless inning but the offense matched that with one of its own. In the bottom of the fourth, the Warriors were kind of woken up from their slumber as Pax's first six batters reached base and led to four runs. With the bases loaded and no outs, a sac fly plated the fourth run and the next batter hit into a double-play as Jon speared a liner at second and fired to Chris at first to double off the runner and end the potentially disasterous inning.
The Warriors now trailed 4-3 to a very inferior team and felt their pride tested a bit. Jon and Jeff provided singles with one out in the fifth to put two on for the top of the order but two shots were speared and Rez went down without scoring in the inning for the fifth time on the night. Another inning-ending double-play kept Pax from scoring in the bottom half and the bats shook out the cobwebs for a few minutes and scored seven runs to secure the victory.
Austin started the party with a double and scored on Finn's double. Finn went to third on AJ's single and Nick's double pushed Finn across to give the Warriors the lead, 5-4 with no outs. Jordan singled to score AJ and Lee followed with a single to score Nick and make it 7-4. After a strikeout and a groundout, Jeff blooped one to shallow right that bounced around to score Jordan and put runners at second and third for Jamy Antoine. Jamy delivered a two-run single to make it 10-4 and end the scoring on the night as Austin passed up a glorious opportunity to open up the game by flying out high to left with two runners on to end the inning.
Pax went down quietly in the bottom half as did Rez in the seventh. Pax got two runners on in the seventh but nothing materialized and the game ended on a pop-up to short.
Jordan Schumack and Jeff Johnson shared Player of the Game honors reaching base 6 out of the 7 times up while compiling three runs scored and three RBI between the two of them. Jordan also pitched a much better game on the mound walking only three batters over the seven innings giving the defense a chance to produce.
The 8:50 game tonight on field #4 will likely determine who finishes in third place as the top two teams have much easier schedules the rest of the way. Life still sits atop the standings at 10-2 even though they are just fourth in runs scored.
Last week Rez managed a split in its double-header versus Living Word and Pax Christi. Living Word took the first game 17-12 while the Warriors came back and won the nightcap 10-4 over Pax. The offense never really got clicking after a good two-week stretch.
Living Word showed why it is the league's hottest team by jumping out to leads of 12-2, 15-3, and 17-9 before shutting down a last-inning rally and winning by five. In the top of the first inning, Living Word took advantage of two Warrior miscues to score two unearned runs and three runs total. The Warriors failed to answer leaving one runner on in the bottom half without scoring. The offense was a little tentative in that first inning.
Living Word added four more runs in the second using a three-run homer for most of the damage. Three hits before the homer plated one run and the dinger capped the inning's scoring. In the bottom of the second, a leadoff double from AJ Larson was followed by a triple from brother Nick Larson to get the team on the board. After a groundout, an error scored Nick and a single put two runners on with just one out. However, another grounder and then a fine play from the pitcher ended the threat, 7-2 Living Word.
Living Word opened up a bigger lead with five runs in the third, again using one homerun. Six out of seven batters ripped hits en route to the five-run inning. Trailing 12-2, The Warriors put one run on the board on back-to-back doubles from Chris Burr and Austin Colby.
Three more runs from Living Word made it a 15-3 game going into the bottom of the fourth. Consecutive singles started the inning and a three-run homer provided all the scoring. With the offense still shaky, the Warriors put together three singles to score one run and make it 15-4 after four innings. Nick, Lee Valle and Jon Engbrecht hit the singles with Jon's driving home Nick. With two on and one out, Rez had a chance for more but the offense was unable to muster anything else.
A one-out double from Living Word in the top of the fifth was wasted as the defense made a couple nice plays to keep Living Word off the scoreboard for the first time. The offense picked up on the defense's cue and tried to turn it on to force another inning of play as the team stared the 10-run rule in the face. Unfortunately, the first two batters went down quickly and the team needed two more runs to force another inning. Austin and Brendan Finn made sure they got that inning with homers on consecutive swings to make it 15-6 with two outs. The offense kept going as AJ ripped a liner and moved to third on Nick's third hit. Jordan Schumack then doubled to score both Larsons and make it 15-8 and there was life showing in the dugout. Lee followed with a single to score Jordan and give the team a solid five-run inning.
Living Word came back and got two more runs in the top of the sixth to make it 17-9 and the offense fell asleep again with no runs in the bottom half. However, the defense held well one more time keeping the Living Word bats at bay, ending the inning with a nifty 1-4-3 double-play.
In the bottom of the inning, Rez needed the bats to get hot again and it looked promising early on as Austin knocked out a double to start things and scooted to third on Finn's liner single. AJ singled to plate Austin and make it 17-10 with two on and no outs. Nick hit a chopper up the middle which looked like his fourth hit of the game but a bad bounce richoceted the ball to the shortstop who just got it to second in time to force out AJ. Finn scored on the play to make it 17-11. After the second out, Lee doubled to make it second and third and kept the rally alive. A single by Jon (hits third hit of the game) scored Nick but a popout ended the rally and the game, 17-12.
Nick Larson earns Player of the Game with four putouts in left field and a 3-4 day at the plate that included four runs scored, two RBI and a triple.
The disappointment from the tough first game loss hung around the Warriors for five innings in game two and the bats were dead for much of the game. The team found itself trailing 4-3 going into the sixth inning before erupting for seven runs to take a 10-4 lead and hang on for victory.
In the top of the first, the team got five straight singles which scored two runs, but a double-play ended the inning without scoring another. Pax's bats were pretty much non-existent the whole game and went down very easily in innings one through three without scoring.
In the top of the second, Rez added one more run as Jordan singled to start, moved to second on an error, and came home on a Jeff Johnson single. After Pax's zero in the bottom half, the Warriors went down quickly in the top of the third leaving Chris on first after a lead-off single.
The defense had one more scoreless inning but the offense matched that with one of its own. In the bottom of the fourth, the Warriors were kind of woken up from their slumber as Pax's first six batters reached base and led to four runs. With the bases loaded and no outs, a sac fly plated the fourth run and the next batter hit into a double-play as Jon speared a liner at second and fired to Chris at first to double off the runner and end the potentially disasterous inning.
The Warriors now trailed 4-3 to a very inferior team and felt their pride tested a bit. Jon and Jeff provided singles with one out in the fifth to put two on for the top of the order but two shots were speared and Rez went down without scoring in the inning for the fifth time on the night. Another inning-ending double-play kept Pax from scoring in the bottom half and the bats shook out the cobwebs for a few minutes and scored seven runs to secure the victory.
Austin started the party with a double and scored on Finn's double. Finn went to third on AJ's single and Nick's double pushed Finn across to give the Warriors the lead, 5-4 with no outs. Jordan singled to score AJ and Lee followed with a single to score Nick and make it 7-4. After a strikeout and a groundout, Jeff blooped one to shallow right that bounced around to score Jordan and put runners at second and third for Jamy Antoine. Jamy delivered a two-run single to make it 10-4 and end the scoring on the night as Austin passed up a glorious opportunity to open up the game by flying out high to left with two runners on to end the inning.
Pax went down quietly in the bottom half as did Rez in the seventh. Pax got two runners on in the seventh but nothing materialized and the game ended on a pop-up to short.
Jordan Schumack and Jeff Johnson shared Player of the Game honors reaching base 6 out of the 7 times up while compiling three runs scored and three RBI between the two of them. Jordan also pitched a much better game on the mound walking only three batters over the seven innings giving the defense a chance to produce.
The 8:50 game tonight on field #4 will likely determine who finishes in third place as the top two teams have much easier schedules the rest of the way. Life still sits atop the standings at 10-2 even though they are just fourth in runs scored.
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