The Yard Goats came into the playoffs as the 8 seed, drawing the number 1 Beach Chickens in the opening round. In a show of solidarity, all 13 Goat players and Captains showed up with “Goat-Tees” on their chins in a dramatic fashion statement probably overlooked by the casual observer.

In game 1, Ariel Rodriguez started the party with a 3 run dinger in the first. The Chicks responded with a 5 spot. In the third, Drew Waggoner blasted a two run double, followed by an RBI single from Dustin Bone and SF from Todd Dicken to give the Goats a 7-5 lead. Rinse and repeat in the fifth, another RBI single from Bone and SF by Dicken made it 9-6 Goats. The Chickens took a 10-9 lead in the bottom of the fifth. A two run single by Tony Lowery in the 6th allowed the Goats to re take the lead at 11-10. A two run single by Garreth Johnson in the seventh gave the Goats a 13-10 lead that held up as the Chickens could not score. Game 1 to the underdogs!

Game 2 saw Drew Waggoner and Ariel Rodriguez hit solo blasts in the first. Two more in the second and 3 in the third gave the Goats a 7-0 lead after 3. The Chickens pecked out 2 in the fourth but the Goats stayed strong with a 4 spot, a Tony Lowery RBI double being the big hit. 11-2 Goats! In the top of the fifth, the game changed. With two out and the bases loaded Scott Lawrence (birthday boy) was up to bat. An out here should have wrapped up the game but Scott had other ideas, a grand salami. 3 more runs followed and the margin was cut to 11-9. One more by the Goats made it 12-9 but the Chickens tied it at 12 and took the game in the seventh 16-12 as the Goats suffered a crushing defeat.

On to game 3 with the weather getting iffy.  The Chickens did not let up, sprinting out to an 8-0 lead after 3. The Goats narrowed it to 8-2 when we went into a weather delay. The delay seemed to revitalize the Goats as they scored 3 in the sixth on a two run double by Ariel and RBI single from Dustin. The Goats had one more chance in the seventh down 10-5. A single By Garreth Johnson followed by 3 walks brought Drew to the plate. A bases clearing double closed the gap to 10-9. An intentional pass to Ariel brought up Dustin Bone, 8-10 on the day. A sinking line drive to left center was snagged by a diving Dylan Buhrow to end the Goat dreams of an upset, 10-9. Kudos to the Chickens for a well played series.

Great Goats on the day were Drew Waggoner 7-9, two doubles and a home run. Dustin Bone 8-11, Todd Dicken 5-7, Garreth Johnson 6-8. The 2024 Goats are a great group of guys who displayed a great sense of team unity throughout the season.