SMH logo by @20_range, WK logo by @low
Warsaw was our next destination for the Hares’ first divisional series. The Kings won the Europe division in 2052, and were runners up in 2043 and 2053.
Game 1
SP - Mototomi Motoyanagi
Motoyanagi’s first start of the season went promisingly, giving up only 1 run in six innings, a 363 foot home run to switch-hitter Chris Hamilton which sailed out at deep left-field. He was supported well by the Mountain Hares’ offence with Willie Perez smashing his second home-run of the season to left-field, earning Sheffield two runs at the bottom of the 1st, and another run on a sacrifice fly by Dam De - bringing in Jose Garay - gave Sheffield a 3-1 lead at the bottom of the second. Dam De continued to help the side with a solo home run at the bottom of the 5th, making it 4-1. Motoyanagi left to a standing ovation after the 6th inning, and Sheffield’s relivers held the fort well, giving up only one further run on a Qaraja bin Khair al Din double in the 9th inning, by which point a Kolya Saetgaliev sacrifice fly and a solo home run by Sergio Rutz, a 400 foot bomb to the treehouses behind centre field, had pretty much cemented the Hares’ first win of the season, 6-1.
Game 2
SP - Nestor Barrios
Nestor Barrios left the game for righty Jonothan Baca after the third inning, at which point the Hares had a 1-0 lead on an Adam Koehler solo home run in the 2nd, out of deep right-field. Abdul-Karim bin Jameel hit his first home run of the season in the third, a shot to deep left field. Bin Jameel’s stellar performance continued with a double to deep centre field, which Jeff McBurrows helped him turn into a run with his own double. The Kings clawed back some of Sheffield’s lead in the sixth with a three-run inning started by a Winstron Boostra home run bomb to left centre-field, and capped by four singles in a row, adding two runs and making the score 4-3 to the Hares. Jonathan Baca took the game home after that stumble, giving up no further runs as the Hares added three more in the eighth inning, with singles by Garay and Koehler, and a walk by Portman setting things up for a bin Jameel single to bring home two-runs, giving the Hares a solid win at 7-3.
Game 3
SP - Giobbe Marinello
Marinello struggled again giving up seven runs in five innings, incluidng a 439 foot bomb by Nermin Ljotic) in which the offence couldn’t get anything going. He was replaced by RHP Omari Peart in the 6th, and him and other bullpeners let up only one further run in the rest of the game, a Da-xia Huang home run to left-field. The offence could only make up 2, a Sergio Rutz run on a Chase Clem double in the 6th, and a home run by Burman catcher Min-Had Nien, his first of the year in the 7th. Final score: 8-2.
Quick thoughts
It’s still too early to look at any depth into the team’s stats, but this was a promising series win (and 2-4 sure looks better than 0-3), though Marinello’s struggles do have me somewhat concerned about our ace.
Next up, the Hares are at the Minsk Bison.