NEPEAN– You and your baseball team were playing against the Rockets the other day…
In the one and only regular season meeting this year between the SweatSox and Rockets, both teams walked away losers after a 7-inning 6-6 tie, that was momentarily reverted back to a 6-inning 6-6 tie!
The Rockets opened the scoring with 3 unearned runs in the top of the first off SweatSox starter Josh Ramage, although he reluctantly gives full credit to the left side of our infield after they committed 3 errors in that half inning.
The SweatSox tied the game in the 4th after scoring 3 runs of our own, highlighted by a hard hit RBI double from yours truly: Shaun Keay. Note– it wasn’t nearly as impressive as my epic shot out of the ditch this past weekend…
With Russ T. Hughes, the hottest pitcher on the team, tier, and probably the entire NCBL fully warmed up, the Hero of Hydration called it a day and turned the ball over to the bullpen to hold the line, Lanark Tournament style. It was the smoothest transition from Ramage to a relief pitcher we’ve had, and probably will have, all season; after-all, there are no inherited runners on base to score if you get the hook between innings. The Merchandise was unable to recreate the magic from Brewer last week or from McDonalds Corner 3 years ago, and left the game giving up 3 runs before recording a single out.
It didn’t take long for the SweatSox to re-tie the game, getting all 3 runs back in the bottom of that 5th inning. Chris Lidstone, playing in his first game in nearly a month, came up big in the 5th, scoring Craig Cornell (ROE) and Eric White (1B) on a clutch 2-run single to left. MVP! MVP! Note– Liddy’s hands weren’t nearly as quick during the Hyjinx when he spilt the first beer in the SweatSox circle in recent memory.
Rockets starter Brad Richardson and SweatSox closer Cory Bond didn’t allow any runs over the final 2 innings, so there’s your tie… PDG and GLE were also the key players in getting the umpires to stay beyond the previously agreed upon drop dead time, when the SweatSox had 2 runners on, including the winning run at 3rd, with 2-outs in the bottom of the 7th. At most, the game could only last 2 more batters, but it ended up taking just 2 pitches to make this tie officially official, and asteriskless.
Pucker up Cornell…
While it is always a great pleasure whenever we get to suit up and play against the Rockets, it’s even more of a honour when Rocket legend Mike Bayley shows up to watch (or play), and last night’s game was one of those times. Bayley, who has un-retired in hopes of getting 5 more pitching wins and become the first NCBL’er to reach triple digits, was holding it down as 3rd base coach until Nick Lenardon was removed from the game after going 0/2 with a walk against our Arsonist. Enter Magic Mike. The Bringer of Helmets (more or less) was thrust into the defensive lineup at 1st base (the most important position in all of sports, trust me), and the Rockets even allowed The Bay Bay to pick up a bat and face our great lefty, who was only just good the last time those two faced off 17 years ago (2004). F4.
Next up for the SweatSox is our third and final regular season matchup with the Winchester Heat, Tuesday night at Southgate. Eric White is ready to take the mound once again, so he gets the ball, no questions asked.
Final SweatSox vs Rockets 1.0 Notes/Thoughts:
- John Groves agreed to host the Hyjinx if he hit the under of 2.5 errors in the game
- Despite the entire full time roster showing up to the game, there was no team photo (COVID protocols)
- Eric White will always do what the ladies want
- Josh Ramage predicted a 4-4 night for Kyle Stewart
- Ross Hughes didn’t remember his chair, again
- Per the Rockets, Jaspreet Sanghra is owed a hand-job from a random Rocket at a later date for the use of his helmet in the first few innings
- Mark Bond may be running a golf club scam on eBay
- “Let’s Get Dirty
PanthersRockets” -JC - Kent Johnston likes afghans
- Craig Cornell loves his knitted afghan
- Halloumi cheese has a high melting point
- Per Chris Lidstone and the Mayo Clinic, you can indeed cut the mould off some cheeses and then eat the cheese
- Josh Ramage likes the Orange Room better
- Kent Johnston left some foot skin on the parking lot ground
- I, Shaun Keay, only do things for spite, like returning clothes because I didn’t like the salesperson
- Cory Bond was right about chairs. Sitting is always better than standing.
