skip navigation

Captain's Corner

Yard Goats Make Valiant Playoff Run

By John Miller 11/04/2024, 5:15pm CST

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.

Yard Goats Can't Stop Splittin'

By John Miller 10/06/2024, 2:30pm CDT

The Yard Goats are still looking for their first sweep of the season to get back into the playoff hunt. Game 1 against Andy Williams’ Bulls saw the Goats coming out swinging in the first. 4 singles scored two runs with Dustin Bone and Todd Dicken picking up the ribbies. In the second Scotty Doyle got a bases loaded single followed by a Drew Waggoner 3 run double to give the Goats a 6-2 lead that they never relinquished. 5 more runs in the sixth led by an inside the parker by Drew, an RBI single by Ro Gulhati and a two run double by Mitch Klaassen provided the final victory margin of 11-5. Outstanding defensive play was a rocket thrown to the plate chest high from center field by Drew Waggoner which snuffed out a rally by the Bulls.

Game 2 against the Udder Tuggers was tied at 3 after the first. A two run dinger by Waggoner provided the firepower. The Udder Tuggers had too much power today as home runs by Scott (2), Hyson and Steele sent the Goats to a 17-8 loss and another split.

Great Goats for this week were Drew Waggoner 5-7, two doubles, two home runs, 4 runs, 6 RBI’s and terrific defense. Todd Dicken was 4-5, Scotty Do 4-7, Ron Roberts having a great season with 3-5, Ariel Rodriguez with 3-6 and a home run and Garreth Johnson 3-6 with a triple.

Yard Goats Split, Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

By John Miller 09/30/2024, 7:30pm CDT

Week 4 saw the Yard Goats host the Exploding Whales in game 1. The Goats have experienced two problems in the season so far, slow starts and lack of run production. Both occurred in this game as the Whales came out swinging, scoring 5 in the first, followed by two and two to build a 9-1 lead after three innings. The Goats rallied late, closing the final margin to 9-5.

Game 2 against the Space Cowboys looked like a whole different Goat team. The first 8 batters all reach base scoring 7. Ariel Rodriguez and Todd Dicken both blasted home runs to pace the attack. The Cowboys rallied to trail 8-6 after 4. A second home run by Todd added one. 4 from the Cowboys gave them the lead at 10-9 after 6. A two run homer from Drew Waggoner and RBI single from Mitch Klaassen netted 3 but the pesky Cowboys got 2 from the bottom of their order to tie it at 12 and send it to extras. Problem was the Goats had the bottom of their order, while the Cowboys had the top of their order coming up. Singles from Garreth Johnson and Ron Roberts brought Tony Lowery up who hit a sac fly to right producing one run and giving the Goats hope. The Cowboys went down 1-2-3 to give the Goats a precious 13-12 win, keeping playoff hopes alive.

Great Goats this week were Todd Dicken 5-7, double, 2 HR’s, 4 runs, 4 RBI’s. Drew Waggoner was 5-7, 1 HR, Ariel Rodriguez 4-7, 1 HR, Scotty Do 5-8, Ron Roberts 3-5 and Ro Gulhati 3-5 with 2 BB’s.  

Yard Goats Split

By John Miller 09/23/2024, 4:45pm CDT

Banta’s Blue Rocks provided the competition in game 1 of week 3 for the Yard Goats. The Goats were busy grazing while the Rocks opened with a 7 spot due to some defense that was solid the rest of the day. The Goats responded with 4 in the first thanks to an RBI single from Dustin Bone and a 3 run double from Mitch Klaassen. The Goats took a 9-7 lead in the second due to a two run single from Tony Lowery and a 3 run dinger from Drew Waggoner. The offense could only generate one run over the next 4 innings as the Goats went down 12-10.

Game 2 was against Greenberg’s Trash Pandas. The game was tied at 1 as we entered the third. Ron Roberts, Garreth Johnson and Tony Lowery all singled to load the bases. Scotty Do singled home 2, Drew doubled home 1, Ariel Rodriguez and Dustin Bone each knocked in another as the Goats took a 7-1 lead. Again, the offense stopped but the defense was tight producing a 7-4 much needed win for the Yard Goats.

Great Goats for this week were Drew Waggoner with 4-5, walk, double, homer, 3 runs, 4 RBI’s. Ariel Rodriguez 4-6, Garreth Johnson and Ro Gulhati were 3-5. At 3-6 were Scotty Do, Dustin Bone, Todd Dicken, and Robbie Franklin. Tony Lowery was 2-4. A special shout out to the defense led by the steady play of Scotty Do at shortstop.

Yard Goats Drop 2

By John Miller 09/16/2024, 7:15pm CDT

Week 2, the Yard Goats opened with Babb’s Green Jackets. The Jackets started with a 2 spot and the Goats responded with 4 due to RBI singles from Dustin Bone, Robbie Franklin and Scotty Do. Unfortunately, those 4 runs in the first were only followed by 6 more the rest of the day. Gary Frank shut us down in right field, as 5 batters tested him unsuccessfully as the Goats lost 12-8.

Game 2 against Allbrook’s Aviators saw Grant Carver sprinkle 10 hits throughout the game as the Goats had hits in every inning but couldn’t bunch them effectively. Carver also notched 3 strikeouts, all on the front edge of the mat as the Goats went down 10-2.

Great Goats for the week were led by Ariel Rodriguez 5-5, walk, double, 3 runs scored and 2 RBI’s. Scotty Do was 3-4, John Miller 2-3, Dustin Bone 3-6, Ro Gulhati and Robbie Franklin both 2-4. The Yard Goats will regroup for next week and look to break loose offensively.

Yard Goats Win A Thriller

By John Miller 09/09/2024, 8:00pm CDT

The Yard Goats opened the Shalom season against Knox’s Cyclones. The Cyclones started fast with 4 to open the first. The Goats responded with 3 thanks to an RBI double by Ariel Rodriguez, sac fly by Dustin Bone and run producing single by Mitch Klaassen. The Goats led 7-5 after 5 when the Cyclones put up a 4 spot to take a 9-7 lead. Trailing 10-7 entering the bottom of the 7th, the Goats had one last chance. A lead off triple by Garreth Johnson was followed by a John Miller sac fly. Tony Lowery singled and Todd Dicken got an inside the parker to tie it up, sending the game to one pitch extra innings. The Cyclones went down 1-2-3. The Goats went down 1-2 before Robbie Franklin kept hopes alive with a single. Ro Gulhati singled him to third bring up Scotty Doyle with a chance to be a hero. A single through the infield brought in the winning run in an exciting 11-10 Yard Goat victory. What a way to start the season!

In Game 2 against the Buhrow Beach Chickens, the Goats had a letdown only scoring 4 runs in a 10-4 loss. A Drew Waggoner homer and double and Ron Roberts triple were the big hits for the game.

Goat Greats for the week were Drew Waggoner 6-6 with a double, homer, walk, 3 runs and 2 RBI’s. Ariel Rodriguez was 5-6 with a double. Ro Gulhati was 4-7 with a triple and Ron Roberts was 2-5 with a triple and robbed of another on a great catch by Heath Jones.

Epilogue – Volume I: The Anatomy of a Championship

By Larry Lachman 07/28/2024, 12:15pm CDT

Royals Reign Supreme: Crowned 2024 TSSL Spring Champions

By Larry Lachman 07/24/2024, 7:30pm CDT

lugnuts week 2

game 1 tarpons vs lugnuts 14-10 loss

game 2 dragons vs lugnuts too much to not enough

We scored more runs in either game than all of last week combined.  Sadly it was not enough to pull off a win.  Super Subs Matt Ruckel, Mike Glosier, and Rodney McClure were great additions to help fill in some missing nuts.  Brian Smallz stepped up big time and slid into the leadoff spot and showed he as what it takes to continue to lead the team at the plate going 4-6 with 4 runs scored on the day.  Darius Wu was on fire with 4 homers and a triple/shalom inside the park homerun while going 6-6.  Freddy Baerez showed real athleticism by playing 4 different positions on the day and flashed his speed in the outfield.  John Braun smashed a double in game one.  Chris peterson hit for extra bases in both games with a double and a triple helping sky rocket his slugging percentage and earn a POW nomination.  And last but not least everyones favorite 11 who falls to the 12th Jeremy Turbo Golden went 2-4 and played through injury after getting hit by a wild throw to first in his first at bat.  Not the result we wanted but the awesome attitudes of Freddy B. and John B. kept the dugout upbeat and ready for the next challenge.

Around the Pond

The Ducks had a tough day at the park, but have several bright spots to build upon.

Game 1 vs Carvers 66ers.

Sub Kyzer Hoover played well all day long, and he performed admirably in the first game.  Any ball hit in his direction was gobbled up and his offense came through in the clutch.  Jacob Stites showed his speed in the outfield, making play after play, while Kelly Stites got on base with every opportunity he had.  The Ducks fought from behind to take a late lead heading into the final frame.  

Game 2 vs Banta's Blue Rocks

For reasons that baffle Banta still, someone decided to send him home on a hit to Kelly Stites in right field.  After watching the younger Stites flex his defensive chops in game 1, Kelly decided to show he still has the skills by throwing out Banta at home.  The Ducks outfield defense continued to be a strong suit of the team with Rohit Gulhati showing plenty of range in left field, making plays both on the line and in the gap.  David Fiorello toughed out back pain to play solid defense at SS.  Oh, and Justin Reed hit a Grand Slam.  The heat definitely got to this Duck towards the end of the game, as I had to enlist the much younger Jacob Stites to keep the positive voices going while I tried to cool down.

LUGNUTS WEEK 1

Blue Rocks vs Lugnuts

10-4 loss field 2.

Everyone's favorite team fell short this week to the Blue rocks.  Although we lost we did have a few shining moments.   Star handicapping goomba David Shaw was 3-3 with half the teams Rbi in the contest.  Fast Fingers Freddy was a wall at third making people question if Brumley is still the best glove in the league.  Brian Smallz was an inspiration as he lead off the 6th with hustle and later scored our first run of the season.    Johnathon Braun showed his versatility when he rotated positions mid inning to move from outfield to first base and later hit a seed in the 6th inning.  Doug "Iron Man" Wolff was pulled into the baseline by a throw from Chuck Knoblauch causing him to get trucked by the quick hustling blue rock.  Doug would later come up to the plate and blast the ball deep into the wind about 285' showing everyone that he is the not a man that gives up easy.  Chris Peterson let everyone know that the lugnuts won't be shut out as he hit an RBI sac fly to give the good guys their first run of the season.  Jeremy Turbo Golden lead off the top of the first to spark a rally that led to 3 runs in the inning.    

Game 2 66ers VS lugnuts

14-4 Loss

I would like to say that this game was a lot of back and forth but that just wont be true.  Two runs by each team in the first and then a go ahead run in the 2nd left the lugnuts feeling like they had righted the ship.  Good defense by the 66ers and the lugnuts hitting ATOM balls the rest of the game lead to the 66ers running away with a victory.   

Lets turn the page and see some of the silver lining from the game.  Sean Greeley lead the team in hitting going 3-3 with a double.

Jose Baho worked a walk, hit a double, and fielded 1.000 for the day.

Darius Wu hit 1.000 with 2 sacs and did Wu like things in LCF.

Jason Niswonger did not get his 1st baseman killed this game.

Smallz hit a triple to lead off the 2nd inning and showed great hustle.  That hustle later lead to a sac fly by Chris Peterson.

Braun made the best defensive play of the day on any field, yes better than tishindorf robbing the home run, as he came charging in with a fully body extension to catch a short hit pop up.

Travis Olander stepped up and played a great 1st base.

 Next week...WE WIN TWO!!!!!