When the SweatSox were created, Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister, gas was $0.69/L, and a grade school Craig Cornell predicted flying cars by the year 2000. When the Bytown Battalion were formed following the infamous Capital City Cubs Civil War of 2013, Stephen Harper was Prime Minister, gas was a few cents over $1.14/L, and the SweatSox were Craig Cornell’s odds on favourite to win the tier. While some things haven’t changed, these two teams were bred from different worlds, which collided last night.
For the first time since The Super Hyjinx, unless we count the #SweatTrip2016 morning assembly, the SweatSox returned to Faulkner to face the Bytown Battalion for the first time, unless we count the Brewer tournament game we had against them last year.
Josh Ramage made his season debut on the mound, and battled through the cold to throw 4 innings of 4-hit 1-run ball; well at least that’s what his line would’ve been had the Tier 5 SweatSox defense not showed up to extend a couple innings a few hits and few runs longer. We’ll blame a combination of the weather and our old age for most of those though. The Battalion weren’t impervious to the cold temperatures either; we scored 2 of our 3 runs on a wild pitch and balk. We earned the other one with a Dillon Lowry triple though. We earned nothing else that game.
FINAL: Battalion 8. SweatSox 3.
WP- Crabb
LP- Ramage#notashutout#notamercy#itscold #L3— SweatSox (@SweatSox) May 15, 2016
For the first time this year we dusted off the 2004 A&W Kamloops International Baseball Game MVP Award and gave it to Mark Stinson. After missing all the offseason workouts, preseason practices, and regular season games so far, Smiths Falls’ newest homeowner went 2/2 including a warning track Faulkner shot, and for good measure threw out a would be base stealer at 2nd. He wasn’t good enough to get us a win though.
Final SweatSox vs Battalion Notes/Thoughts:
- Craig Cornell is the first player to play 2B for the same team in all 4 tiers.
- Craig Cornell is the first player to play SS for the same team in all 4 tiers.
- Cory Bond is the first player to have 2 hits in a game for the same team in all 4 tiers.
- Kent Johnston had the Raptors flu.
- 3 different “Mark’s” have caught the first 3 games.
- Craig Cornell needs to work on his bunting.
- You can’t stretch a routine single into a double in Tier 1.
- It’s a good thing several SweatSox still haven’t taken their winter tires off yet, because during the Hyjinx it snowed.
- Chris Lidstone’s spit-up wasn’t nearly as good as Kent’s.
- The “auto-scanning thingy” in Cop’s unfinished story may or may not have been a gaydar.
- Angus MacDonald made his season debut for the Athletics in the game after ours.
- The Golden State Warriors did not play yesterday; they played tonight.
- Honey-Hot is Dave’s.
- Our new wing ordering strategy is going to revolutionize the Hyjinx.
- Liddy is *whipped*.
- Jose Bautista deserved everything he got in the Rangers game.
- R.I.P. to the Cubs’ Chris Armstrong’s jerking hand:
Next up for the SweatSox is our first matchup with the Athletics since the 2013 Tier 2 playoffs. I hear they’ve beefed up their roster a bit since then. This should go well.