On a chilly damp Sunday morning the Corny Dogs arrived with one thing on their collective mind. Playoffs. It would take help from other teams and likely a sweep from the good guys to get in. Unfortunately neither the sweep nor the help came to fruition and the Dogs season faded away along with the morning dew. Nonetheless a fun season for the Corny Dogs and their rookie captains. I certainly learned a lot and hope to have the opportunity again in the future.

Game 1: Corny Dogs at Flying Squirrels

The Softball Team on a Stick™ middle of the lineup got things started early. Taylor Abrego doubled, Miguel Duron used his elite speed to leg out an infield single, setting the table for the Barr/Parr combo to each drive in runs with singles of their own. Mitch Klaassen, taking a break from hitting doubles, also singled in a run to give the Dogs an early three run lead. The Squirrels answered with a five spot in the bottom half and it quickly became apparent these two teams clinging to hope were going to leave it all on the field.

Jim Finley got his day going with a sharp single, lefty Tommy Appligian and Ozzie Zurita each chipped in with hits and flipped the lineup. Tony Macaluso made it four straight hits with his RBI single. Duron had the big blast, a three run jimmy jack to give the Dogs back the lead. The pesky Squirrels would again answer to tie the game in the following inning and tacked on a couple insurance runs over the next two innings as the Corny Dog sticks went quiet. 

Trailing 9-7 heading into the fifth inning, Macaluso doubled and scored on an Abrego single. To cut the lead to one. This time the Squirrels were not able to answer. With the season on the line the Dogs bottom of the lineup came up huge in the final innings. Klaassen reached with an infield single on a very close play at first, Cesar Garza singled, Matt Roth blasted a double over the drawn in outfield, and Jim Finley smashed a triple to give the Dogs the lead for good. Brad Parr shut down the rodents in the bottom half to secure the win.

Before Game 2 it was picture time. Pretty good looking group.

Game 2: Flying Squirrels at Corny Dogs

With the Ducks dropping their opener, the Dogs would need a win and Tiburones loss to make it to the tournament. Unfortunately the offense sputtered out of the gate and new Squirrel pitcher Dustin Bone was wild and effective only surrendering back to back HRs from Abrego and Duron. Down 8-3 headed into the sixth the Corny Dogs knew it was now or never and strung together a gutsy five run inning against the patchwork defense. Macaluso led off the inning by drawing a walk, Abrego hit his second triple of the game to bring him in. Duron once again displaying his speed hit an inside the parker. Barr doubled to right and scored on a single by sub Brad Cox to bring the Corny Dogs within a run. About this time word of the Tiburones victory and subsequent Corny Dog elimination knocked the wind from the Dogs sails, and Operation Ketchup was halted. Dogs finished their season with a 10-8 loss.