The Red Sox played 2 outstanding captains and their teams today. 1st was a road affair at Ryan Alford's Iron Pigs.  The Sox scored 4 in the top of the 1st featuring Jacob Forniglia's leadoff 2B, BB to Blake Jones, Joey Welter's run scoring hit, Jadon Forniglia's run scoring hit, a Danny Cortez BB, Jarred Forniglia's run scoring hit and a SF from the captain. The Pigs plated 3 of their own in the precursor  of a tight contest. Neither team scored in the 2nd, but the Sox plated 2 in the top of the 3rd on back to back 2Bs from Blake and Welter and a 2 out run scoring hit from Cortez. The Pigs added 1 in the home 3rd. The Sox put 1 up in the 4th and 5th on an RBI 1B from Darryl Jones scoring Chris Licurse and a SF from Welter plating Blake after a 3B. Unfortunately the Sox would not score again and The Pigs scored 4 to tie it in the home 5th and had the walk off hit from their captain in the home 7th.

Game 2 had the Sox host the venerable Brian Strull and his Pirates. The Pirates would score 6 in the top of the 1st and require the Sox to adjust their defensive plan and chase the entire game. The Sox would score 2 on a Blake 2 run HR and would add 1 more in the 3rd on Blake's 2b and Welter's SF where Blake took 2 bases. The Pirates added 1 in the top of the 6th but the Sox stayed close with good defense and trailed 7-3 going to the home 7th in the fast paced game. Jacob lead off the home 7th with an HR, Blake 2B again, Welter took a BB and Jeremy Pease had an enormous 1B to right to put the tying run on. Jadon took a RBI BB and Cortez won it with a 2B down the RF line plating all 3 runners for the 8-7 win. Both games were fun and spirited. 

Notables: POW Blake Jones 5-6, 6 runs, 2 RBI, 3 2Bs, 3B, HR, BB, outstanding SS defense all day; POW Danny Cortez 3-5, 4 RBI, game winning bases loaded  2B, BB, outstanding 3B defense;  POW Matt Roth hit, BB, nice IF defense and excellent at bats; ROW Jadon Forniglia 2 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBI, BB, excellent defense: Jacob Forniglia 3 hits, 3 runs, 2 2Bs, HR, excellent defense;  Joey Welter 2-3, 3 runs, 4 RBI, 2B, 2 SFs, BB, strong defense; Jarred Forniglia 2 hits, BB, excellent defense: Jeremy Pease, key hit in bottom of last inning, strong defense all over the field; Chris Licurse 2 hits.

       The TSSL Flying Squirrels overcame their captain's horrendous pitching and egregious Wildcard Rule malpractice to edge the Alexander the Great Woodpeckers 8-5 in the Opener.  The win gave the Squirrels their first winning streak of the year.  Tim "King" Jamieson chipped in a homer, double, walk and three RBI.  Zane "Grey" Belyea went 3 for 3 with a single, double and triple and 4 RBI (hitting for the 3 at-bat cycle?).  Omar O"Monument"valle went 3 for 3.

    The Nightcap was against the home standing Casper Wyoming Storm.  In the top of the first, the Squirrels took advantage of 7 walks, putting up a 6-spot, highlighted by a Tim"ber" Jamieson 3-run blast.  The Storm stormed back with 4 in the bottom of the inning, 3 more in the 3rd and 6 more in the 5th.  The Storm weathered a comeback by the Squirrels, led by Scott "Hanging" Chaddick's perfect game at the plate (2 for 2 with 2 walks), and hung on for the 13-12 victory.  

Deez Nuts Award Winners of the Week:
Offensive POW: Tim Jamieson - 4 for 5, 4 RS, 8!RBI, (2)HR, 2B, BB & SF
Defensive POW: Sheldon Fulton - Outstanding play in RCF including a couple of sliding catches
Honorable Mention: Omar Ovalle - 4 for 5 at the plate and with solid D at 2B

The captain of the little piggies has been M.I.A. the last few weeks on the Captain’s Corner.   So to rectify this, the slacker captain will write a quick synapse of the last few weeks finishing with games this week.

Week – 3 

Piggies dropped 2 by way of the excellent hitting by both the Dodgers and the Rangers.  

IRONPIGS – 5 vs DODGERS – 17  FIELD 2 @ 8:00

The Dodgers started the tough day for the Pigs.  Driggers was a beast as usual hitting fence bomb after fence bomb paired with gold glove defense.  Ariel pitched tremendously keeping the Pig’s O off balance.  Jay Swank peppered in some excellent defensive plays at 3rd base.  Couple all this with Cpt. Kevin Knox strategically placing his defenders and the timely hitting by his lineup top to bottom, and the little Piggies were simply outmatched in this game.

RANGERS - 11 vs IRONPIGS – 5  FIELD 3 @ 9:10

The Rangers were next up on the slate.  Tight ball game the first couple of innings, but the Rookies for the Rangers took over the game.  Timely defensive plays stifled the Pig’s bats.  The Rangers sticks got red hot as well.  Hit after hit paired with the Wildcard runner being utilized allowed the Rangers to push the bases and the scoreboard.  

Week – 4

Piggies bounce back with a sweep of their own.

GRASSHOPPERS - 5 vs IRONPIGS– 6  FIELD 2 @ 8:00

The Grasshoppers ball club was led by Ortega, Brumley, Greenberg and Cassell on the defensive side of the diamond.  Not to be outdone by the young guys, Jeff “Wild Thing” Roberts started a 4-3 double play to snuff out a Pig’s rally in the 4th.  The Pig’s returned the defensive favor with great plays by Manz, Stutz, Miller, Brink and Cuddles; not to mention the duel pitching effort of Barth and Papi Chulo Rodriguez!! Hoppers put together a rally in their last at bat, but came up short in the end.

IRONPIGS – 11 vs WOODPECKERS – 9  FIELD 1 @ 9:10

Woodpeckers scored a run in every inning played in this game.  Kelly’s Peckers team hit from top to bottom, but the Pig’s D never gave up the really big inning.  The last inning, the Peckers fought their way back from being down 11-6 to 11-9.   The Pig’s D was led by the usual gang of Manz, Stutz, Miller, Barth, Adriano, Brink and Cuddles.

Week – 5

PIRATES – 15 vs IRONPIGS – 16  FIELD 4 @ 11:30

Buccos came out swinging AND gloving!!!  The Pirates peppered hits everywhere on the field, and the defense was amazing through 4 innings of play.  Score was 15-6 with 8 minutes to play in the game as the Pig’s went to bat in the bottom of the 5th inning.  

Ozzie and Cbass worked a walk and Manz drilled a liner over the fence.  Stutz and Cuddles each had a 2 bagger, followed up with an onslaught of singles from Steele, Miller, Brinkman, Adriano.  Dorian “Hustle” Moore drove in the tying run to knot the game at 15.  With 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd, Cbass hit a ball to the OF for his first ever Shalom League walk off hit.  

IRONPIGS – 14 vs PADRES – 4  FIELD 2 @ 12:40

Piggies were riding a high from game one, and the Padres were having none of it by capatilizing on some defensive miscues to take the lead.  Pig’s responded by manufacturing 2 runs of their own in the bottom of the inning thanks to a Manz and Stutz starting the inning off with hits against knuckleballer John Burke. 

Nothing doing in inning 2 for either team.  

Pigs plated 3 in the 3rd thanks to the bats of Stutz, Steele and Cuddles.  Barth, Adriano, Zurita, Moore and Cbass joined the offensive action in the 4th. The offensive barrage was capped off with a Miller/Brinkman combo to plate 4 for a 9-run inning.

Barth and Adriano held the Padres offense to 4 runs for a combined effort in the victory.  

8 AM:  Grasshoppers, Royals, Renegades,  Rangers

910:      Grasshoppers, Royals, Red Sox,  Woodpeckers

1020:    Brats, Squirrels, Red Sox, Woodpeckers

1130:   Dodgers, Padres,  Seawolves, Pirates

1240:   Mariners, Iron Pigs,  Dodgers, Pirates

Last week:  11-9

YTD:               40-40