July was a good month for Annandale:
Annandale @ Battery Point: The pitching mound was a revolving door as the Atom Smashers took two of three from Battery Point. The first game featured a slugfest won by the visitors 13-10. Annandale scored three in the eighth to tie the game and three in the ninth to seal the win. George Vukovich (.333/.381/.456) went 2-5 with 2 RBI to lead the attack. The Knuckleheads took game three on the back of Chris Speier (.285/.391/.492), who went 4-2 with two homers to lead Battery Point to a 6-5 victory.
Annandale @ Palolo: There was not much puppy love around as Annandale took two of three from the Puppies. Max Scherzer (10-4, 4.37 ERA) pitched a gutsy game in the first match, leading Annandale to a 6-5 victory. The third game saw the Puppies fight back, winning 5-4 despite only garnering five hits. Bartolo Colon (6-5, 5.25 ERA) pitched a fine start for Palolo and Steve Howe (4-4, 23 SV, 2.09 ERA) shut the door on Annandale for the save.
Annandale @ Asheboro: The Road Dogs played host to Annandale and took two of three from the visiting Atom Smashers. The second game of the series was a seesaw battle that saw Asheboro score a dramatic walk-off 5-4 victory thanks to a clutch home run in the bottom of the ninth by Kal Daniels (.267/.362/.476). Jim Hughes (5-5, 7 SV, 5.93 ERA) blew the save but got the win. Way to go Jim! Annandale picked up the third game in the series on a pitching gem by Max Scherzer, who continued recovering from a rocky first half of the season by picking up his 11th win..
Palolo @ Annandale: Who let the dogs out? Nobody! Annandale returned to friendly ground and swept Palolo in a three-game series.Fred Newman (9-4, 3.01 ERA) and Pedro Borbon (3-4, 2 SV, 2.61 ERA) combined to throw a shutout in game three of the series as Annandale drubbed the Puppies, 9-0.
Cooper @ Annandale: The Gutter Cats came to town, but the home team played a poor host and took two of three. Cooper won the first game 3-2 as Chien-Ming Wang (7-8, 5.71 ERA) pitched a great game; Charlie Kerfield picked up his 26th save. The Atom Smashers took game two 2-1 as Juan Marichal (9-3, 3.48 ERA) used his high leg kick and dazzling movement to bedazzle the Gutter Cats. That's right, they were bedazzled. Marichal allowed only six hits and one walk over six innings.
Our August schedule:
Annandale @ Waffletown 3x
Waffletown @ Annandale 4x
Annandale @ Cooper 3x
Shasta @ Annandale 3x
Annandale @ Asheboro 3x
OMGPuppies update: Rico Carty is hitting .370/.462/.519 in 18 games.
