[Westheim]

Raccoons (22-15) @ Canadiens (16-20) – May 19-22, 2064

The big, dumb Elks were scoring the fewest runs in the CL, a paltry 3.2 markers per game. That was nothing a rather average rotation and a leaky pen could help with and they had already racked up a -40 run differential. The Raccoons should probably pounce on that, and do better than last year in the season series, when it ended up split nine games a side.

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (5-1, 2.96 ERA) vs. Carlos Torres (2-3, 5.79 ERA)
Chance Fox (2-3, 4.85 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (3-3, 4.54 ERA)
Jarod Morris (2-0, 1.45 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (2-3, 2.80 ERA)
Angel Alba (2-3, 3.63 ERA) vs. Carson Miller (3-4, 3.24 ERA)

Fitzgibbon was the left-hander in this group.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF E. Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Elling
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – RF B. Campbell – LF Whetstine – 1B J. Campos – CF Atkins – SS Sowell – C A. Maldonado – 3B Spalding – P C. Torres

Torres struck out the first two Raccoons batters, but conceded a first-inning run after all after Starr doubled and Monck singled him home, both with liners to left. The Elks then got a double from Alex Castillo and a single from Brent Campbell to get to the corners with nobody out. Campbell was caught stealing, Elling nicked Chet Whetstine with a 1-2 pitch, and then Jose Campos hit into a 1-6-3 double play anyway. That was certainly ONE way to not score any runs. Both Maldonados – Elmer for Portland and Alex for Elk City – then hit a solo homer in the second inning, which was certainly a noteworthy occurrence; and Starr and Monck did that double-single for a run again in the third inning to go up 3-1. More singles by Burkart and Elmer Maldonado then loaded the bases with one out, but Vic Morales bungled the chance by hitting into a double play. More things occurred twice in this game; another duplication occurred in the bottom 5th when the Elks again had runners on the corners after Torres doubled (…) and Campbell singled, but again Campbell was caught stealing. This time a K to Whetstine ended the inning.

The Raccoons then broke up the score in the sixth; Morales hit a leadoff single but Aoki made a poor out and he only reached second base on Elling’s bunt before Corral walked. Kozak hit an RBI single to center, Starr singled softly to left, and with the bases loaded Monck struck a 2-run double to center. Mike Perez replaced Torres and got Burkart out on a liner to Campbell to keep the score at 6-1, but the Elks then slapped Elling around for four singles and two runs in the bottom of the same inning, preventing him from getting any further in the game. The Raccoons then pieced innings together with Carrillo, Hall, and Dover before McGinley saved the game in the ninth inning after a leadoff walk to Steven Spalding. Rich Monck had a single in the eighth inning to extend himself to 5-for-5 on the day, but the offense didn’t bring him back around for a chance at a sixth hit, the last Critter to bat being Randy Tallent in the #1 spot in the top of the ninth. 6-3 Raccoons. Starr 3-5, 2 2B; Monck 5-5, 2B, 4 RBI; Maldonado 2-5, HR, RBI; Morales 3-4, 2B;

Game 2
POR: SS Novelo – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – C Arellano – RF Tallent – CF M. Campos – P Fox
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – C Varner – RF B. Campbell – 1B J. Campos – CF Atkins – SS Sowell – LF Lozada – 3B Spalding – P Fitzgibbon

Monck struck out in the first inning and that was the signal for a dismal game through five innings, with the Raccoons amounting to two hits against Fitzgibbon and no runs, while Chance Fox was taken deep by Jose Campos in the second inning (Marco Campos did not respond in kind) and was generally putrid and behind in most counts, walking a bunch of Elks and conceding another run in the third inning. Down 2-0, the Raccoons had leadoff singles by Novelo and Kozak in the top 6th before Monck struck out again. Morales’ single loaded the bases for Starr, who popped out, and Arellano, who grounded out to second. Tallent and Campos were then leaked on base by Fitzgibbon to begin the seventh. Fox bunted the two runners into scoring position – the tying runs, too! – and now the Coons came through with a Novelo single to left-center and a Kozak single to left that Roberto Lozada overran for an extra base for the new runners, but the old runners one by one scored on the singles anyway, and now Monck was back in the box with runners on second and third and one out. Just wasn’t his day, though, and he grounded out to first base, keeping the runners pinned. Starr’s groundout left the go-ahead runs stranded. Fox got one more out in the bottom 7th before offering a fifth walk in the game to Steve Varner and being yanked. Kurihara got an out before being met the lefty PH Whetstine and McDaniel would take care of that one to end the inning.

The Raccoons then took advantage of another Lozada error to take the lead in the eighth. Ex-Coon Ryan Sullivan was pitching and put Starr on base with a leadoff walk. Arellano grounded out to move him to second and Elmer Maldonado batted for Tallent against the righty, singling to make it corners for the Coons. Marco Campos batted for himself for some reason with his .170 clip, and flew out to Lozada in left. Starr went for home, Lozada’s throw was into the shrubbery somewhere, and the run scored easily, with Maldonado up to second, where he was left by a pinch-hitting Jose Corral flying out to right. Dover then put a pair on base in the bottom 8th before escaping with a K to Kenny Graves. McGinley 1-2-3’ed the Elks’ 1-2-3 in the bottom 9th to grab the W. 3-2 Furballs! Novelo 2-4, BB, RBI; Kozak 3-5, RBI; Maldonado (PH) 1-1;

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – CF E. Maldonado – C Burkart – SS Aoki – P Morris
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – C A. Maldonado – LF Whetstine – 1B J. Campos – CF Atkins – SS Sowell – RF Lozada – 3B Spalding – P Nielsen

The Critters had a quick start on Wednesday as Corral singled, Kozak tripled, and Starr singled again for a brisk 2-0 lead before the 4-5-6 batters all made outs. The Elks responded in the second inning with a double by Rick Atkins, a game-tying homer for Lozada, a Spalding single, a bunt by Nielsen, and a go-ahead RBI single for Alex Castillo to take a 3-2 lead themselves, though. Morris had to stalk around another leadoff double in the third inning, then got the lead back when the Critters rallied in the fourth with leadoff singles for Burkart and Aoki, who he bunted into scoring position before they scored one by one on a Corral single to right and a Kozak double to center, 4-3. Starr’s grounder added another run, but Monck flew out to Whetstine to end the inning. Morris, however, still couldn’t keep his **** together and was bombed for a 3-run homer by Alex Castillo in the same inning after already fooling Spalding and PH Brent Campbell on base. After another near-homer that chased Elmer Maldonado to the fence off the other Maldonado’s bat, Morris was yanked. John Nesbitt struck out Whetstine to get out of the inning, but was then exploded for one run in the fifth and three more runs in the sixth inning by the damn Elks, who suddenly found their sticks and were not susceptible to anybody’s previous silly charm. The Raccoons had a chance for a late rally came in the seventh with leadoff his for Monck and Morales, but Maldonado jammed into a double play and nobody scored in the inning. Rich Monck’s ninth-inning homer off Raffy de la Cruz was then both bitter and late. 10-7 Canadiens. Corral 3-5, RBI; Kozak 4-4, BB, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Monck 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Morales 3-5; Burkart 2-4;

Man, the glitter is coming off Jarod Morris *real* fast, huh…!?

For now the Raccoons made two roster moves and sent John Nesbitt (0-0, 10.38 ERA) and Marco Campos (.170, 0 HR, 5 RBI) to AAA. It would not get better though, because their replacements were 28-year-old Paul Barton and the just recently departed Rafael Valencia.

Valencia was right away penned into the lineup for a start on Thursday as Jack Kozak was a tad sore and given a day off since we still had another seven games to play before some respite – except that it poured it down on Thursday and the series finale was postponed. The Raccoons won a day off after 23 consecutive games. Kozak was the only Raccoon to play in all games this year (but had not started all of them).

Raccoons (24-16) vs. Bayhawks (17-24) – May 23-25, 2064

Uncharacteristically refreshed, the Raccoons would host a 3-game weekend set against the Bayhawks on the way eastwards. San Francisco was sixth in runs scored, but bottoms in runs allowed, with a -40 run differential and over 5.1 runs per game allowed. Ridiculously, by ERA they had the worst rotation and the best bullpen in the CL. With Mark Jacobs, Jon Mendosa, Steve Watson, and foremost Armando Montoya they had a pile of significant injuries as well. The Coons had taken the last two season series, 5-4 in 2063.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (2-3, 3.63 ERA) vs. Paul Egley (1-1, 5.91 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (5-3, 2.68 ERA) vs. Joe Chalmers (3-4, 4.88 ERA)
Josh Elling (6-1, 3.13 ERA) vs. Trevor Justesen (0-6, 6.85 ERA)

Only right-handers; their only southpaw starter was Jacobs and he had a bad back.

Game 4
SFB: C L. Marquez – 1B Seidman – 3B Anker – LF Navarre – CF Laws – SS D. Cox – RF Echols – 2B Barre – P Egley
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – CF E. Maldonado – C Burkart – SS Novelo – P Alba

An error by Dustin Cox and a pair of 2-out singles by Monck and Morales helped the Raccoons to score an early unearned run in the first inning on Friday, and Alba did his best to keep the team ahead in the early innings, allowing just one base hit to the Baybirds. Bottom 3rd, and with Corral on first and nobody out, Kozak narrowly missed a homer to right, hitting a double off the top of the wall to put a pair in scoring position. Egley walked Starr to set up a deadly three on, nobody out trap. Monck rolled a shy RBI single, but Morales whiffed, Maldonado hit a sac fly, and Burkart grounded out, keeping the Raccoons to two runs (better than nothing!) and a 3-0 lead.

The Bayhawks answered with three on and nobody out of their own with leadoff singles for Grant Anker and Nate Navarre in the fourth and then a walk drawn by Scott Laws in a full count. Cox’ sac fly got them on the board, but Jonathan Echols’ shallow fly and Tristan Barre’s pop on the infield kept the remaining runners on base. Alba then struck out three in the fifth inning, but also allowed singles to Lorenzo Marquez and old Crusaders catcher Mike Seidman to create intermittent drama. Laws was then nicked on base to begin the sixth, but didn’t make it off first base before three outs were made.

The Coons then tacked on in the bottom 6th with Burkart and Novelo reaching base with one out. Alba swung, but flew out, and instead Corral got a run home with a 2-out single. Of course he would have brought in two if Novelo woulda been in scoring pos- … but that was spilled milk now. Kozak hit another fly to deep right, but this was caught on the warning track by Echols, ending the inning. The Coons left another pair on base in the seventh, while a Navarre single and Laws getting plunked *again* put two on base for the Bayhawks in the eighth. Alba survived a Cox fly to deep left that was caught by Valencia (who had earlier batted for Maldonado) for the second out, then was lifted for McDaniel against the left-handed Echols, who still singled home a run, 4-2. Barre then grounded out to Morales to end the inning. Three infield grounders off McGinley ended the game in the ninth, although Seidman did hit another 2-out single with a blooper over the head of Monck. 4-2 Coons. Corral 2-3, BB, RBI; Monck 3-4, RBI; Alba 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (3-3);

Game 2
SFB: RF Paez – C Eaton – 3B Anker – LF Navarre – CF Laws – 1B Seidman – SS D. Cox – 2B Barre – P Chalmers
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – CF Maldonado – C Arellano – SS Novelo – P Riddle

Luck was a factor on Saturday, because the Bayhawks whizzed five hits past Riddle’s fuzzy ears in the first three innings, but never managed to score a run with them, as they left one runner on base in the first and pairs in the next two innings. The Raccoons instead got a pair of 2-run homers by Morales in the second and Starr in the third inning (Monck and Corral being the collaterals on base, respectively), and then Riddle hit a sac fly himself with Arellano doubling, advancing on Novelo’s grounder, and coming home on the pitcher’s fly to centerfield in the bottom 4th for a 5-0 lead. Everything was going a bit too smooth, so Monck then hit into a double play the inning after. Navarre was on base for San Fran in the sixth, but caught stealing; he was the only Baybirds runner in the middle innings.

Jason Posey was pitching for San Francisco in the bottom 6th and gave up leadoff doubles to Morales (down the leftfield line) and Maldonado (off the fence), extending the Critters’ lead to 6-0. Maldonado then had to stand around for a while as Arellano popped out, Novelo walked, and Riddle struck out. Corral drove him in with a 2-out single. Roberto Mendez replaced Posey, but gave up another run on a Kozak single before Joel Starr absolutely BARRELLED a ball outta here. 430 feet to dead center and still flying!!

Up 11-0, the Raccoons used the chance and mothballed Kozak, Starr, and Monck after six innings for some extra recuperation after the long string of games. Riddle went into the eighth before stalling with two outs and Todd Eaton and Grant Anker reaching base. Barton was double-switched into the game with Valencia, and got Navarre to fly out to right to a sliding Jose Corral. He then put the first two batters in the ninth on base himself, but got a double play from the 39-year-old Seidman and Cox grounded out to Aoki at second base. 11-0 Furballs!! Kozak 2-4, RBI; Starr 3-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Monck 2-3, BB; Morales 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Riddle 7.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K, W (6-3) and 1-2, RBI;

This rout and a Boston loss to the Aces tied those two teams for first place in the North on Saturday night – virtually, since we had played two fewer games.

Grant Anker (.307, 3 HR, 22 RBI) then ended up on the DL on Sunday and the Baybirds were very mum about the reasons for it, but he was seen at the team hotel with a cast on his right hand and Slappy found a big new dent in a locker in the visitors’ clubhouse, so I was connecting the dots at my leisure here. This pretty much buried the Bayhawks’ season.

Game 3
SFB: CF Laws – 1B Seidman – RF Paez – LF Navarre – 3B Echols – SS D. Cox – C L. Marquez – 2B Barre – P Justesen
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – C Burkart – CF Oley – SS Aoki – P Elling

The Coons had two walks in the first inning, but also a Starr-crossed double play and didn’t score, but then got Burkart (forced out by Todd Oley) and Aoki on base in the bottom 2nd. Elling bunted them over and Corral came through with a single past a diving Barre for the game’s first two runs. Kozak flew out, and in the third Starr and Monck opened with singles to left, but Morales hit into a fielder’s choice and Burkart rumbled into a double play, 6-4-3, altogether. While the Bayhawks had no shortage of runners again in the early innings against Elling, they frittered three hits and a walk before getting buzzed again in the bottom 4th. Aoki got on base with a single and gained another 90 feet when the ball rolled under Juan Paez’ glove for an error. Elling then promptly singled him home from second base, and Corral went yard two pitches later for a 5-0 lead. Kozak then missed on another long fly.

Justesen was gone after five innings, while Elling lumbered on with a shutout, though not without issues. However, it was the Coons that kept scoring, like in the sixth, when Corral singled home Oley with two outs. Kozak then lined out hard to Echols. Elling then looked for a bit like he’d finish the shutout before he lost both Paez to a single and Navarre to a walk in full counts with two outs in the eighth inning. Echols made a meek out then, but now he was almost at 100 pitches. He did bat for himself and made the last out in the bottom 8th, though. Dustin Cox grounded out to begin the ninth, and Lorenzo Marquez lined out softly to Aoki. The shutout was completed with Barre’s grounder to Ao- … oooh-aaah, he threw it away. Game continues. Todd Eaton pinch-hit, singled, and Laws singled home the unearned run, and only then did Elling get the last out from Seidman… 6-1 Raccoons. Corral 4-4, HR, 5 RBI; Burkart 2-4; Elling 9.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, W (7-1) and 1-3, RBI;

Naughty Aoki! Very naughty!

In other news

May 19 – NAS 1B Kris DiPrimio (.322, 8 HR, 34 RBI) has two hits, including a grand slam, and drives in six runs in the Blue Sox’ 14-2 rout of the Miners.
May 20 – Dallas CF Tyler Wharton (.416, 14 HR, 47 RBI) wallops three home runs, including a grand slam, and drives in seven runs in an 8-5 win against the Warriors. It is the Stars’ first 3-homer game since Tylor Cecil went yard three times against Sacramento in 2049.
May 20 – Boston SP Jayden Craddock (4-2, 2.97 ERA) is going to miss three months with rotator cuff inflammation.
May 21 – The Rebs send INF Javier Ochoa (.260, 0 HR, 6 RBI) to the Scorpions for two prospects.
May 23 – The last-place Crusaders axe their manager David Montero just 39 games into the new season. Montero managed them for six seasons and change, with a championship in ’60.
May 23 – The Indians fire off a 10-run rally in the eighth inning to beat the Knights, 13-9.

FL Player of the Week: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.426, 14 HR, 52 RBI), beasting it at .636 (14-22) with 3 HR, 13 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR INF Rich Monck (.374, 6 HR, 28 RBI), slapping .600 (15-25) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Good week! 5-1 with a rainout and a silly blown shutout on Sunday. But we brushed the Baybirds aside and beat the Canadiens well enough. We’re now on a hilarious 14-2 run!

Rich Monck might not be near the top of the leaderboard in homers right now (but hit one at least this week), but he’s currently tops of the CL batting race! He leads Nick Nye of Boston by 11 points, and also has a 12-game hitting streak – besides consecutive Player of the Week honors!

The postponed game in Elk City will be made up in a double header on August 7 squat in the middle of a string of 16 games without a day off, but we’ll cry over that when we get there…

Oklahoma and Atlanta road trip coming up next week, followed by a home week against the Falcons and Crusaders.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons have not had a batting champ in over 30 years.

Alberto “Berto” Ramos batted .315 and narrowly held off Atlanta’s Adam Avakian in 2033 to win the CL batting title, 31 years ago already.

Other fuzzy winners:

2017 – “Cookie” Carmona (.344)
1995 – David Brewer (.359)
1989 – Tetsu Osanai (.355)
1988 – Tetsu Osanai (.350)
1986 – Tetsu Osanai (.346)

Both Big Tetsu and David Brewer won at least one batting title with the damn Elks before repeating the feat with the Critters. Osanai won one, Brewer two.