WINCHESTER– On August 14, 2014, I, Shaun Keay, got a speeding ticket driving north on Bank Street. That was also the day the SweatSox last lost a baseball game in the town of Winchester, until “last night”. In a game Kent Johnston swore would never take place, the SweatSox blew 2 different leads, 3-0 and 5-4, ultimately losing 7-5 to the Winchester Heat.
I, Shaun Keay, don’t really want to talk about how I, Shaun Keay, stumbled over 1st base twice on the same play; instead let’s talk about the official NCBL debut of Nicholas “Nikolaj” Groves. With several SweatSox players falling ill just before the big trek to North Dundas, we called up the Son of John (not to be confused with Kent, the Ston of John) to fill the void in left field, the biggest of the 3 Winchester outfields. The taller of the Groves’ missed out on becoming the SweatSox all-time leader in batting average when he popped out to 2nd base in his first at bat, and finished the game going 0-3 with a walk and 2 strikeouts (truly a SweatSox in the making).
Please send your thoughts & prayers to Mark Bond, Chris Lidstone, and Marc Lett on their speedy recoveries from the vaccine-less virus known as the Native Winchester Flu.
With the loss, the SweatSox finish the first half of the 2021 season with a 2-3-1 record. If we were handing out mid-season awards, here’s how I imagine that would look like:
- Doug Dorion Memorial Trophy (MVP): Chris Lidstone
- Batter of the Year (highest AVG): Kent Johnston
- Pitcher of the Year (lowest ERA): Cory Bond
- Defensive Player of the Year: Chris Lidstone
- Manager of the Year: Cory Bond
- Rookie of the Year (SweatSox): Kyle Stewart
- Rookie of the Year (NCBL): Nick Groves
- The Shaun “K” Accolade: Jaspreet Sanghra, Craig Cornell
- The GLE: Cory Bond
- Mr. Hyjinx Two Thousand Twenty One: Cory Bond, Shaun Keay, Josh Ramage
- The Murdock: Kent Johnston
- SGA Professional Golfer of the Year: Kent Johnston
- SGA Amateur Golfer of the Year: Ross Hughes
Apres le game, my life changed forever…
Next up for the SweatSox is our 3rd and final regular season matchup with Beau’s Misfits. The season series is split 1-1 so far, and we’ve got all the momentum heading into this rubber match, that is unless they picked up somebody new…
Final SweatSox vs Winchester Heat 2.0 Notes/Thoughts:
- Cuba’s first 2 games were against us
- Misfits first 2 games were against us
- Winchester’s first 2 games were against us
- Jaspreet Sanghra and Josh Ramage need to get a room
- Our honourable mentions did not get an honourable mention
- Cory Bond is the Tier 3 leader in offensive walks, and pitching saves
- Kent Johnston has made a powerful enemy out of me
- You only release the Twitter hounds when absolutely necessary
- John Groves does not wear pants in his house
- Anything goes in the Chester
- Would blowing the Winchester field up make it better or worse?
- Eric White incorrectly predicted we’ll “get 30 minutes of play in before it pours and the diamond is unplayable”
- Ottawa’s Best Hotel is Dunn’s Famous
- It doesn’t rain in Winchester
- Craig Cornell: 5, 2, 1, 6, 4
- “Put it in the Air” – Don’t mind if I do.
- How did Eric White have an error?
- Do not piss me off when I’m on the Pilsners