Quest For The Keg
Season One -- Week Three -- April 15th, 2007
It was a very historic week in the Beer League. It was a week that saw some dominating pitching performances. We look back at the week of the pitchers before we see the best individual performance of the year in the Game of the Week.
Yorex: 3
Tellshing: 6
Time: 3:15
Attendance: 95 (100)
Weather: Clear skies (51 degrees), wind blowing out to right at 8 mph
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Wilson “Shoeless” Baillie (Tellshing. 3-3, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 HR)
Game Notes: SP Jay Kroger (TELL) sets a career high for K's in a game (15). SP Julian Olivera (YX) sets a career high for K's in a game (7). LF Wilson “Shoeless” Baillie (TELL) hit the longest homer of his career, it went 364 feet. 1B John Pan (TELL) hit the longest homer of his career, it went 369 feet.
2B Sydney Gast (YX) was ejected in the 6th for arguing a strike three call, and threw down with the umpire before his teammates drug Gast off. He had a bit too much alcohol in his system, and apparently shouldn’t drink more than the traditional can before the game. He was replaced at second by Francisco Leon.
Tellshing home runs: Wilson Baillie (1, 8th inning off Olivera, 0 on, 1 out.) John Pan (1, 8th inning off Olivera, 0 on, 1 out.)
After game notes: The lefty ruffian Jay Koger, well-known for his chains and Mohawk, got a standing ovation from his home town crowd after his 15 K performance. They carried him to the bar on their shoulders and everyone went into Monday morning with a hangover. Koger is said to of been found by the barroom toilet with lipstick all over his face and his Mohawk messed up.
Antonville: 1
Green City: 6
Time: 3:03
Attendance: 85 (100)
Weather: Clear skies (51 degrees), wind blowing in from left at 9 mph
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Pedro Moya (Green City. 9 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, 1 HR)
Game Notes: LF Benjamin “Big Louie” Hisle (GC) hit the longest homer of his career, it went 356 feet. CF Bennie Clingman (GC) hit the longest homer of his career, it went 373 feet. CF Bennie Clingman (GC) hit the longest homer of his career, it went 383 feet. LF Benjamin “Big Louie” Hisle (GC) set a career high for RBI in a game (3).
Antonville home runs: Adrian Calzada (3, 4th inning off Moya, 0 on, 1 out.)
Green City home runs: Benjamin “Big Louie” Hisle (2, 1st inning off Bester, 1 on, 1 out.) Bennie Clingman 2 (2, 3rd inning off Bester, 0 on, 1 out, 6th inning off Bester, 0 on, 0 out.)
Old Cranshire: 0
Rushcannon: 2
Time: 2:54
Attendance: 76 (100)
Weather: Partly cloudy (52 degrees), wind blowing in from right at 9 mph
PLAYER OF THE GAME: CL/RP Alden Hipps (Rushcannon. 4 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K)
Game Notes: SP Slugger Puente (RC) was injured while pitching. SP Bleeder Gilbreath (OC) sets a career high for K's in a game (9).
INJURY REPORT: The right-handed starting pitcher for Rushcannon, multi-positional Dave “Slugger” Puente pitched three innings, gave up three hits, and had two strikeouts. When starting the fourth, 2B Ramon Cruz singled down the third base line. It was apparent that Puente was in pain as he walked around the mound for a little bit. The team held a meeting and decided to sit him down on the bench. Alden Hipps threw four innings for the win, and Richard Steve picked up the save.
He has a strained elbow ligament in his right arm, and he is listed as day-to-day. It isn’t known if he’ll pitch next Sunday vs. Green City. If he doesn’t go, 29 year old lefty Pedro Montes of Venezuela is said to be getting prepared to face off against Green City’s RHP Pedro Moya.
Fieldton: 0
Recker Lane: 2
Time: 2:45
Attendance: 68 (100)
Weather: Clear skies (48 degrees), wind blowing right to left at 10 mph
PLAYER OF THE GAME: SP Hulk Vanhoose (Recker Lane. 9 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K)
New Cranshire: 4
Ellore: 2
Time: 3:21
Attendance: 99 (100)
Weather: Cloudy (51 degrees), wind blowing right to left at 9 mph
PLAYER OF THE GAME: SP Loren “Not A Chick” Stromain (Old Cranshire. 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HR)
Game Notes: RF Donald Rein (NC) hit the longest homer of his career, it went 366 feet. RF Donald Rein (NC) set a career high for RBI in a game (3).
New Cranshire home runs
: Donald Rein (1, 4th inning off Fields, 2 on, 2 out.)
Ellore home runs:
Martin Koehn (2, 9th inning off Stromain, 0 on, 1 out.)
The Beer League Game of the WeekLochester @ Borg TownRHP John Goodfellow (2-0, 1.00 ERA) vs. RHP Julio Cavazos (2-0, 3.00 ERA)Ninety-six residents of Borg Town stood around the local baseball diamond. They all heard of the visiting pitcher, undefeated John Goodfellow. What they knew was based on what others told them. They knew about their boy, a 24 year old Dominican whose name was getting around town very quickly. It was the battle of undefeated teams, and undefeated pitchers. A game like this one can really test an individual’s nerves.
It was 53 degrees at the start of the game. The smell of rain filled the air, and gray clouds darkened the land below. It was a very grim and grizzled setting, one that appeals to those wishing to prove their toughness.
Julio Cavazos downed a bottle of Corona before taking the mound. He struck out SS Robert Coy looking, made 3B Miguel Romero ground out, and struck out LF Waldo Hollins looking. He seemed nervous before the game, but Julio let it all out then. He looked composed after the first inning, and he was determined to shine in the Game of the Week.
Goodfellow saw the impressive inning, and needed to rise to the challenge in this big road game for Lochester. He walked LF Larry “The Wanker” Baker, but would get bailed out at Baker would be caught stealing during the next at-bat. SS Jules Tully replaced Baker on the bases with a one out single, yet Goodfellow would pick him off. He would get 2B Salvador Escalona to ground out, avoiding what could have been a very shaky inning.
The eyes of Borg Town turned to Cavazos to equal his first inning, and he did just that. He got 1B Ronald Jurgens to ground out before striking out Lochester’s best - SS Jesus “Wizard” Matamoros. He caught him swinging, and CF Allen Maynard also swung at strike three. Julio Cavazos was throwing something nasty, and Lochester batters were like deer in the headlights.
Goodfellow was counted on to match the stuff Cavazos was brewing. The bottom of the second wasn’t good at all, as Escalona’s fielding error at second allowed 3B Shane Reece on. Goodfellow managed to get through the inning, not letting anyone else on base and striking out one. As Lochester took the plate, there was a feeling that luck wasn’t on their side that night.
The rain came down hard in the third inning, and it looked like the action could’ve been called. But the Beer League, while they may not be the most talented ballplayers, are some of the toughest. Braving the elements, Cavazos struck out the side. The onlookers stood in the wind and rain and they roared as he struck out Goodfellow to pick up his seventh strikeout in three innings. He was just getting started.
Going into the bottom of the third, drenched in rain like everyone else, Goodfellow didn’t like striking out swinging in what was apparently a pitcher’s duel. He, like Cavazos, also braved the elements as he punched out C Stephen Matas looking, and got payback by making Cavazos swing at a wet curveball. A Wanker Baker double to the gap in left didn’t bother him much as he got Tully to fly out to left to end the inning.
The rain and wind eased up in the fourth, and would slowly die out as the game went on. After striking out Coy, Cavazos gave up a double down the leftfield line by Romero. His perfect game was broken, but greatness was still unfolding. He wouldn’t let that runner score from second, but he wouldn’t strike anybody else out in the fourth.
After Goodfellow retired the side in order in the bottom of the fourth, Cavazos came out to strike out two straight before RF Nicholas Depue grounded to first. With the rain drizzling a little bit at this point, the grass went and the base path a muddy and nasty place to stand and run, Goodfellow cracked his neck before slipping his glove on. He grabbed the battered and dirty ball and took the mound, adjusting his cap and looking to lead his team through a storm on the road.
The Borg Town crowd starting shaking the chain link fences and making all sorts of noise. Little children cursed at Goodfellow, and Borg Town laughed like a pack of hyenas as CF Andrew Trusheim pulled a fastball to right for a double. Goodfellow was determined to keep himself under control, making Australian switch-hitting RF Edward Witham to ground to first. Trusheim moved to third, and room for error decreased with one out.
After every called ball, the crowd would get louder and try to get on Goodfellow’s back. He went into a 2-2 count against the catcher Matas, baffling the righty with a changeup to strike him out looking. The crowd went quiet, as it was two outs and the pitcher was hitting. Cavazos was a hell of a hurler, but pitchers can’t hit can they? Cavazos had great contact ability for a pitcher, and stunned the crowd with a two out single to center. Trusheim crossed the plate, and the place went into a frenzy.
Lochester: 0
Borg Town: 1
Bottom 5th, 2 out
Stud leftfielder Larry Baker, a hitter from the right side, was often called “Wanker” due to a very humiliating incident in college that involved him, a tissue, a Playboy, and a bathroom on campus. Now here he was, facing 2-0 count against one of the Beer League’s best. With Cavazos on first, he took the liberty of supporting his pitcher’s phenomenal game. His 343 foot two run home run to deep left field had Borg Town citizens screaming into the muggy night and waking up the elders.
While no more runs would score, the damage has been done. The pitcher and The Wanker made it happen on a two out rally.
Goodfellow pitched eight, struck out five, and gave up three walks. But in the top of the ninth, all he could do is watch as Cavazos gave up a single to Robert Coy. Lochester’s chance of a rally, though, seemed further than it really was. It was hard to feel a rally when the city’s faithful cheered Cavazos’ seventeenth strikeout of the game. Romero went down swinging, and Hollins went down looking. Ronald Jurgens walking, however, made the game dramatic.
With runners on first and second, and two outs, Cavazos had a three run lead to hold. He had eighteen remarkable strikeouts, more than anyone in league history at the point. But at the plate was The Wizard of the Beer League - Jesus Matamoros. He stood at the right side, looking to hit his second homer and pull one to left. He wanted to tie this game up and kill all of the work Julio Cavazos had done.
Cavazos was at a 3-2 count, and the fans were at their peak. Matamoros refused to give it up, fouling off pitches. But Cavazos made him his nineteenth strikeout victim, a slider caught Matamoros looking.
Everyone rushed out and lifted Julio Cavazos and Larry Baker up. Those were the heroes of the game, though Cavazos was given Player of the Game honors. Gave up three hits, only walked one, and struck out nineteen. Julio Cavazos had churned out one of the greatest, if not the greatest, single game performances in Beer League history.
Borg Town won, 3-0
Length of game: 2:48
STANDINGS
NORTH DIVISION
Borg Town: 3-0
Lochester: 2-1
Rushcannon: 2-1
Recker Lane: 1-2
Antonville: 0-3
Yorex: 0-3
SOUTH DIVISION
Ellore: 2-1
Green City: 2-1
New Cranshire: 2-1
Tellsing: 2-1
Fieldton: 1-2
Old Cranshire: 1-2
NEXT WEEK’S GAMES
- Borg Town @ Antonville
RHP Julio Cavazos (3-0, 2.00 ERA) vs. RHP Kid Bester (0-3, 5.88)
- Recker Lane @ Yorex
RHP Hulk Vanhoose (1-2, 2.52 ERA) vs. LHP Juan Olivera (0-3, 9.13)
- New Cranshire @ Lochester
RHP Loren “Not A Chick” Stromain (2-1, 1.33 ERA) vs. RHP John Goodfellow
(2-1, 1.73 ERA)
- Tellshing @ Old Cranshire
LHP Jay Koger (2-1, 5.33) vs. RHP Bleeder Gilbreath (1-2, 1.73 ERA)
- Ellore @ Fieldton
LHP Pistol Fields (2-1, 1.00 ERA) vs. RHP Mind Games Ellington (1-2, 2.77 ERA)
- BEER LEAGUE GAME OF THE WEEK
PUBLIC ACCESS CHANNEL 14 AT 7:05 PM
Green City @ Rushcannon
RHP Pedro Moya (2-1, 2,33 ERA) vs. RHP Slugger Puente (1-1, 3.15 ERA) OR, pending Slugger’s elbow strain, LHP Pedro Montes will make his debut.