[jksander]

June 3, 2025: We’re opening the season with a trio of road games against the Trenton Thunder, and our first game of the year turned into a duel between our ace Cam Leiter and their ace Chase Shores, both of whom look to go high in this year’s draft. Trenton broke through in the bottom of the fourth with a homer by Damien Bravo, and Leiter pitched one out into the fifth before we went to the bullpen, with him at six strikeouts and 62 pitches. We went into the top of the sixth trailing by two runs, but we loaded the bases without an out, and with one out Todd Hudson hit a grand slam to rocket us into the lead 4-2! They got a run back in the bottom of the eighth off a homer by Keegan Knutson, so James Tallon came out to close in the ninth with just a one run lead. He ended it quickly with a pop-out, a ground-out and a strikeout as we held on to win 4-3. Grant Richardson got the win, pitching 1.2 innings with two hits, a walk and four strikeouts, and Tallon earned a save. Plenty of power pitching was seen, with Trenton notching 17 strikeouts against our 12. They out hit us 8-7, with Hudson’s grand salami and its requisite four RBIs was the tops for the game.

June 4, 2025: This one was a real pitching duel, with nobody scoring until Vince Fattore hit a solo homer out of left for us in the top of the fifth to go up 1-0! Both pitchers were on their A-game, but none moreso than ours, Matthew Hoskins, who didn’t even allow a baserunner until the bottom of the fifth when Keegan Knutson hit a single into center for the Thunder. We added on with a solo bomb out of right by leadoff hitter Trevor Cohen in the sixth, and Tyler Albright hit one to the same spot just minues later to make it a 3-0 lead. We had good power tonight, with Henry Godbout joining the homer parade in the top of the eighth, but they loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and still had a chance. We were able to get the final out, however, and shtu them out 4-0 with four pitchers sharing in the moment. Hoskins got the win, allowing two hits and a walk with five strikeouts in his 5.2 innings, throwing 68 pitches, and shortstop Alex Lodise, though he didn’t homer or score at all, got three hits to lead the team. He’s hitting .625 so far through two games.

June 5, 2025: We loaded the bases in the top of the sixth in what had become another duel between draft-ready pitchers. Alas, we didn’t get anyone to score, and went into the bottom of the inning locked in a 0-0 dogfight. But our pitcher, Evan Blanco, was literally perfect through six frames, a remarkably efficient performance, but with one out in the seventh his luck turned and Trenton got on the board with a solo homer by Andrew Schuldt ... 1-0, home team. That was their first ANYTHING of the evening! They went back to back, with Damien Bravo hitting one out of right moments later, but Blanco finished the inning sending us into the eighth trailing by a pair. It just wasn’t our night, and Trenton wound up winning 2-0, keeping us from the opening series sweep. Blanco pitched seven innings with two hits, four strikeouts and two earned runs, taking the loss but putting up a respectable 2.57 ERA. We outhit them 6-2, but stranded every single runner, including a pair who reached via walks. Lodise, our DH, had a rough night, getting one hit but striking out three times.