[Westheim]

Raccoons (68-88) vs. Loggers (101-55) – September 26-28, 2067

The Loggers…! The Loggers…! The Loggers were probably gonna clinch the division on Monday, because they were still scoring just over SIX runs per game, and maybe, if the Coons pitched rancidly enough, then the 1,000 runs were still possible. They were 56 short with six games to go. The pitching was average, but they looked like they’d just slug their way to the title. They were surely already in possession of the season series, 10-5.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (9-15, 3.94 ERA) vs. Matt Crist (14-9, 4.17 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (11-12, 4.05 ERA) vs. Ryan Ward (4-3, 3.98 ERA)
Gabriel Rios (10-13, 4.04 ERA) vs. Tony Espinosa (13-4, 3.88 ERA)

Espinosa was likely to be the final left-handed starter the Raccoons would see this year, although there was the possibility to come against the Elks’ Jose Villegas (3-6, 5.13 ERA) on the weekend.

Game 1
MIL: 2B Goss – CF Merrill – RF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – SS F. Carrera – 3B Reber – LF Reder – C Guitreau – P Crist
POR: CF Wilson – 2B Gutierrez – RF Dowsey – 1B Starr – LF Early – C Flowe – SS Novelo – 3B Davis – P Gaytan

The Loggers sat on Gaytan’s face right from the start, with Jonathan Merrill singling to left and Carlos Dominguez knocking a homer for a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Gaytan struggled throughout this likely final outing of the year, especially with the all-lefty top five batters in that lineup, but also with the bottom of the order, which went down silently the first time he went through the lineup, but knocked a double with Kyle Reber and another 2-run homer off the stick of Tommy Guitreau in the fourth inning, extending their lead to 4-0, and Cesar Ramirez chimed in with a solo home run in the fifth, and another solo homer by Guitreau in the sixth inning. So the Loggers through six innings had four homers and a 6-0 lead, and the Raccoons had … a Novelo single. Evan Alvey, replacing Gaytan after five and two thirds, couldn’t contain the Loggers’ top half of the lineup either, giving up a double to Dominguez in the seventh, and the run on productive outs by Ramirez and Fidel Carrera, who got a sac fly.

A Dowsey double in the bottom 7th led nowhere, but Crist ran out of steam in the eighth and allowed a run on singles by PH Carlos Matas, Jacob Davis, and Jaden Wilson, and was then removed with five outs to go. Nick Walters immediately collected an inning-ending double play from Carlos Gutierrez then. Milian tripled batting for Dowsey to begin the bottom 9th against Walters, who then nicked Joel Starr, and allowed another run on Marquise Early’s groundout to Jose Ahumada at second base. Against the odds, the Raccoons would manage to get the Loggers closer into the game with more singles with two outs by Matas, who plated Starr, and Davis, at which point the game was in save range. Justin Aguilar batted for Arredondo and kept the line moving with a single to center, scoring Matas, except that Davis then gigglingly cut off his own parachute and ran into a stupid final out at third base. 7-4 Loggers. Milian (PH) 1-1, 3B; Matas 2-2, RBI; Davis 2-4; Aguilar (PH) 1-1, RBI;

The Loggers were just glad that it was over and they were able to clinch the CL North for the first time in *26* years.

Game 2
MIL: 2B Goss – CF Merrill – RF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – SS F. Carrera – 3B Reber – LF Alaniz – C Guitreau – P Ry. Ward
POR: CF Wilson – 2B Gutierrez – RF Dowsey – 1B Starr – LF Early – C Flowe – SS Novelo – 3B Colter – P Nakayama

Nakayama held up in the early innings despite Gutierrez dropping a pop fly behind him for an error and Guitreau thus getting to third base with one out in the third inning, but Nakayama got another pop from Merrill that was actually caught, and then Dominguez grounded out. The Raccoons had stranded Dowsey and Starr on a pair of 2-out walks in the first inning, then got Nakayama on with a leadoff single in the bottom 3rd. Gutierrez got hit and Dowsey walked with one out, filling the bases for Joel Starr, who was two shy of 20 homers, but didn’t get much to hit and had to contend himself with laying off the garbage to draw a full-count walk and force in the game’s first run. Early then poked into a 4-6-3 double play to kill the inning.

Nakayama was well until he wasn’t, which happened in the fifth inning. Mario Alaniz’ leadoff double and a walk issued to Guitreau put plenty on base, Ward bunted the runners onwards, and base knocks by Tim Goss and Merrill drove in three total runs for the Loggers to take another lead. The Raccoons would get six innings out of Nakayama on 107 pitches, and McMahan had a scoreless inning against the top of the order after that, but the offense was failing merrily along and wasted leadoff doubles by Dowsey in the sixth and Novelo in the seventh with nothing but pathetic outs after that and both runners being stranded at third base in their respective innings in a ******* 3-1 game.

Dowsey and Starr reached again in tandem in the bottom 8th against Nick Walters, who was then replaced by Angelo Ramirez with one out. David Milian batted for Early against the right-hander and drew another walk to fill the bags, and then Jake Flowe very reliably hit into a double play to again score ******* nobody. Yamauchi pitched the last two innings for Portland, holding the Loggers within reach, but Vincent Hernandez again turned them away in the ninth inning. 3-1 Loggers. Dowsey 2-2, 2 BB, 2B; Starr 0-1, 3 BB; Yamauchi 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

Game 3
MIL: 2B Goss – CF Merrill – RF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – SS F. Carrera – 3B Reber – LF Alaniz – C Guitreau – P T. Espinosa
POR: CF Tallent – 2B Bonner – 1B Starr – RF Milian – LF Early – C Aguilar – SS Novelo – 3B Gates – P Rios

Tim Goss opened the game with a triple over the head of Tallent in centerfield and scored on a Merrill sac fly before the Loggers filled the bags again – also on a Novelo error – but didn’t score once Alaniz grounded out to Ryan Bonner to end the inning. Tallent then led off the bottom 1st with a single, three straight of which loaded the bags for Milian, but he blundered into a run-scoring double play and Early struck out, so the game was tied at one after the first frame.

Rios was then exploded in the third inning, putting the last two of those lefty hitters, Ramirez and Carrera, on base, then got taken apart with an RBI single by Kyle Reber and a 3-run homer by Mario Alaniz. Guitreau then flew out to Milian, who hurt himself on the play and was replaced with Jamie Colter. Rios would soldier on for another three-and-a-third innings, giving up another run driven in by Merrill on the way, while the Raccoons weren’t doing anything anyway. Rios departed after a walk to Carrera in the seventh, after which Juan Soriano balked and walked the bases full with two outs and was yanked even with Espinosa going back into the batter’s box. Alvey came in with Wilson in a double switch and struck out Espinosa. The Coons’ pen ached through the rest of regulation with Alvey, Bridges, and Sean Thomas, while the offense was held to seven hits and one run by Espinosa, who went for 22 outs, and then Angelo Ramirez and Steve Slye at the end. 6-1 Loggers.

The last-place Coons would travel to Elk City without their GM and also without David Milian, who finished his season with an oblique strain.

Not that the services of Milian were strictly required to finish finishing last in the division…

Raccoons (68-91) @ Canadiens (83-76) – September 30-October 2, 2067

The Elks were trying to finish third ahead of the Crusaders and had the second-most runs scored AND second-most runs allowed for a -19 run differential in the Continental League. Their rotation and pen were both in the bottom three in ERA, as was their defense rating, but nothing could make these Coons score runs. NOTHING. The Elks were up 9-6 in the season series. Should the Raccoons get swept, they would even stay below their 2066 win total of 69 victories.

Projected matchups:
Cody Childress (0-2, 7.32 ERA) vs. Ray Rath (12-10, 3.64 ERA)
Nick Walla (10-10, 3.38 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (18-7, 3.45 ERA)
Ryan Musgrave (9-13, 4.58 ERA) vs. Justin Wittman (10-18, 5.65 ERA)

Villegas (3-6, 4.86 ERA) had pitched on Thursday, the Coons’ day off, so we would only get righty pitchers in this series.

I was not 100% certain yet whether we wouldn’t snap and give that final start to somebody else given the state of disarray that Musgrave was in. Gaytan and Nakayama could go on regular or longer rest on Sunday, and then there was the option to give Alvey the start on the way out the door, or more lunatic options around starting the corpse of Chance Fox, who would only get obliterated, or two-and-a-half-pitches right-handers Cameron Bridges and Jason Holzmeister, although only Bridges had reasonable stamina. Then again, reason had died along with joy about eight weeks and the current 15-42 string ago.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – 2B Gutierrez – RF Dowsey – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – C Flowe – LF Matas – 3B Arredondo – P Childress
VAN: 3B C. Castro – 2B Kilday – C Varner – LF Chenette – CF D. Moore – RF Atkins – 1B Whetstine – SS Barraza – P Rath

Maybe the least defensible option was giving a ball to Childress to begin with, as he was right away overturned for two runs in the bottom 1st, walking Matt Kilday and giving up singles to Steve Varner and Tyler Chenette, the latter of which Matas bungled defending in leftfield for an extra base, the first run, and probably the second run altogether, which scored on Dan Moore’s scratch single. The Elks continued to litter the bases with their droppings after that, but didn’t score in the second and third innings before the Raccoons’ 2-3-4 batters loaded the bases to begin the fourth inning; Gutierrez walked, and then Dowsey and Starr hit soft singles. Novelo’s sac fly to center and Flowe’s RBI single would tie the game, while another Matas single filled the bases again. Arredondo popped out, and the inning ended with Childress, who hit a 2-run double to left, but then saw Matas getting thrown out at the plate, trying to clear the bases, by Tyler Chenette, so the score was 4-2 in the middle of the fourth. Childress then celebrated by nicking Chad Whetstine leading off the Elks’ half of the fourth, but somehow escaped just punishment.

Top 5th, and Josh Meighan replaced Rath, then walked Wilson and nailed Gutierrez before giving up a 2-run double to Joel Starr. Novelo’s single put runners on the corners and Flowe’s sac fly ran the score to 7-2, and Robbie Lingard had to replace Meighan, loaded the bases, but then struck out Childress to get outta there. He would get through six innings, giving up a solo jack to Chenette in the fifth and departing after a leadoff walk to Rico Cordero in the #9 spot in the bottom 7th. The Coons were up 8-3, when Arredondo drove in a run with two outs and then ended the inning by being caught stealing. Chance Fox appeared, retired ******* nobody on two walks, two hits, and three runs across, and Childress’ first career win got exploded very neatly when Josh Carrington then kept ******* around and gave up a 2-out, 3-run homer to Whetstine in the inning, which put the Elks on top, 9-8…

Holzmeister allowed two singles and saw both runners (Kilday, Carlos Castro) get caught stealing in the bottom 8th, but Jon McGinley axed the Coons’ 3-4-5 in order in the ninth and that was another loss booked. 9-8 Canadiens. Dowsey 2-5; Starr 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Flowe 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Matas 3-4, 2B;

******* horrible.

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – 2B Gutierrez – LF Dowsey – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – C Flowe – RF Tallent – 3B Gates – P Walla
VAN: 3B C. Castro – 2B Kilday – RF Lozada – LF Chenette – 1B R. Cordero – CF D. Moore – C Orphanos – SS Barraza – P Nielsen

Walla needed three innings to pitch 200 on the year, and was denied by tweaking his ankle on a pitch to Nielsen that was hit for a sac fly and the game’s first run in the bottom 2nd. Walla only got five outs and allowed four singles, two of them flukes by Kilday and Lozada in the first inning, but Dan Moore and Roberto Barraza had more solid hits off him in the second to go to the corners. Sean Thomas was brought in as injury replacement for Walla, popped out Castro to end the inning, then struck out batting in the third inning before Jaden Wilson tied the game with a homer, at least taking Walla off a stupid hook, although Thomas willingly hung himself on there in the bottom 3rd when he gave up the first two of three straight singles that Lozada, Chenette, and Cordero hit off him and Yamauchi, the latter conceding the go-ahead run before Moore hit into an inning-ending double play.

Bridges got the ball for long relief in the fourth, which removed most of the more outlandish options for Closing Day from consideration. He gave up three hits and two runs right away in his first frame, but then put up a zero before Nielsen walked Gutierrez in the sixth and conceded that run on Dowsey and Novelo singles, but then got Flowe out to strand the tying runs. Nielsen continued into the seventh before allowing a pinch-hit double to Arredondo (batting for Bridges) and an RBI single to Wilson, narrowing the score to 4-3 with two outs. Paul Wolk entered, walked Gutierrez, but then struck out Dowsey. McMahan and Holzmeister then filled in the next two innings, keeping the score close, but the Raccoons didn’t land any punches against a parade of relievers in the eighth inning. Josh Meighan then was in for the ninth, which was led off by Matas, batting for Gary Gates against the right-hander, and getting hit on a 3-0 pitch. Colter batted for Holzmeister and singled, and then Wilson’s RBI double to left tied the game and put a pair in scoring position with nobody out. Meighan gave up a 2-run triple to Gutierrez and was exited after that. Brian Brillhart got a poor groundout from Dowsey, then nicked Starr. Novelo’s grounder was bungled for a run-scoring error, 7-4, by Castro. Flowe popped out for the second out before Justin Aguilar batted for Tallent and bashed his first homer of the season and probably his only Coons homer ever with a 3-run shot to left-center! That was the final knock in the game, as Matt Schmieder then 1-2-3’ed the damn Elks. 10-4 Coons. Wilson 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Gutierrez 1-2, 3 BB, 3B, 2 RBI; Flowe 3-5, 2B; Aguilar (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Arredondo (PH) 1-1, 2B; Colter (PH) 1-1;

Heyyy, we won another ballgame …!

I have forgotten how to react to wins.

Justin Wittman pitched in the eighth inning for the Elks on Saturday, so he was also out of the question to start the season finale, which instead went to Nate Freeman (8-13, 4.90 ERA), also a right-handed pitcher.

Game 3
POR: CF Matas – 2B Gutierrez – LF Dowsey – 1B Starr – C Flowe – RF Colter – SS Arredondo – 3B Davis – P Musgrave
VAN: CF D. Moore – 2B Kilday – RF Lozada – C Varner – 1B R. Cordero – 3B K. Graves – LF Atkins – SS Barraza – P N. Freeman

With a grim weather forecast, teams were on a timer on Sunday, and Musgrave wasn’t particularly sharp and gave up liners, including two for a Barraza double and Moore’s RBI single in the bottom 3rd that marked the first marker on the scoreboard. Musgrave hit Steve Varner, who was doubled off by Cordero, in the fourth, then allowed 2-out singles to Barraza and Freeman in the fifth inning before striking out Moore.

Rain started to fall right at the start of the sixth inning, with the Coons on one miserable base hit through five innings, but Musgrave, Matas, and Gutierrez poked straight 1-out singles to tie the ballgame. Yes! That’s what we want – a 2-hour rain delay!! A rain delay was indeed called right after that, but lasted under half an hour, after which Dowsey singled to give Portland a 2-1 lead. Starr grounded out, but Flowe then knocked a 2-out, 2-run double and scored on a Colter single to run up the score. Brillhart replaced Freeman and got Arredondo to ground out, ending the inning.

Musgrave pitched into the bottom 7th, giving up a homer to Rico Cordero and allowing more screamers to Atkins and Whetstine for another run that reduced the lead to 5-3. He was yanked for Josh C, who **** on the box score with a four-pitch walk to Dan Moore and then a game-tying triple into the rightfield corner by Kilday, who was stranded in the 5-5 game when Lozada hacked out.

Wittman was pitching in the eighth again, but allowed a single to Dowsey, a walk to Starr, and an RBI single to Colter for a new 6-5 lead before Arredondo lined out to Rick Atkins to leave runners on the corners. The Elks also left Cordero and Kenny Graves on the corners against Josh C and Alvey in that inning, Barraza whiffing against the southpaw to end the inning. The Elks then sent McGinley into the ninth and the Coons finally stuffed him some after two years of utterly failing against him, as Davis singled and Bonner pinch-hit and walked before Gutierrez shot a 2-run double over Moore in centerfield to extend the lead to 8-5. Paul Wolk would then get the remaining outs, and Jesse Dover got a 3-run lead to give him a chance to end the season on something other than explosions. Castro and Moore made outs before Kilday hit a 2-out single, but Lozada grounded out to Gutierrez, and that was the ballgame and the season. 8-5 Coons. Gutierrez 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Dowsey 2-5, RBI; Colter 2-4, 2 RBI;

In other news

September 28 – The Falcons’ SP Edgar Mauricio (11-13, 3.12 ERA) throws a 1-hit shutout for a 1-0 win against the Thunder, who only get a sixth-inning single from OF/2B Scott Franks (.270, 0 HR, 23 RBI) in this game.
October 2 – PIT SP Adam Molloy (12-8, 4.00 ERA) and three relievers pitch a combined 1-hitter against the Blue Sox for a 1-0 win. NAS INF Tony Gaines (.288, 7 HR, 83 RBI) hits a single for all the Sox offense, and they fall half a game behind the Rebels with this result and have to helplessly watch the Rebs play an after-Closing Day Monday makeup game against the last-place Buffaloes for the division.
October 3 – The Buffos refuse to lie down and beat the Rebels, 5-1, with SP Antonio Santelices (11-11, 3.90 ERA) bringing a 3-hitter into the ninth inning before leaving the game with an abdominal strain. This sets up a tie-breaker on *Tuesday*.
October 4 – The Rebels overcome an early deficit to beat the Blue Sox, 4-3, and clinch the division a couple days late. RIC SP Bobby Marceau (15-8, 3.54 ERA) pitches eight innings for only one earned run and the W.

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL OF/1B Victor David Morales (.330, 12 HR, 35 RBI), hitting .396 with 7 HR, 22 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: IND CF/LF/1B/3B Matt Martin (.265, 15 HR, 66 RBI), hitting .402 with 7 HR, 21 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: CIN SP Blake Anderson (10-8, 3.40 ERA), going 5-0 in six starts, with a 1.69 ERA, 27 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: OCT CL Erik Swain (2-5, 1.69 ERA, 44 SV), being 1-1 with a 0.63 ERA, 12 SV, 23 K in 15 games
FL Rookie of the Month: LAP LF/RF John Miller (.305, 7 HR, 42 RBI), batting .347 with 1 HR, 10 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: LVA RF/LF Alfredo Rosado (.308, 11 HR, 49 RBI), hitting .333 with 2 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Rich Monck came up one damn homer short of at least sharing in a home run crown, as the CL leaders topped out at 28. (sour look)

The final tally for our spectacular fall from the lofty heights of 53-49 turned out to be 17-43 over the last 60 games, which is two months and small change of .283 ball.

Nobody won a triple crown this year, which with Jason Brenize and those Stars pitchers around has become something worth noting. DeWitt of Indy ended up in last place, but led the CL soundly in strikeouts, and the Dallas pack – of course “Crabman” Walker was dismembered by injuries this year – didn’t claim ANY category in the FL.

If anybody else’s gotta celebrate on our field, at least let it be the Loggers. Obviously the Loggers are the team we dislike the least in the division.

Also nods to the Rebs for their late-late clincher and their first playoffs since 2049.

For the Coons, who won 70 games this year, and 70 games on average over the last three years, we’re just glad it’s over.

Fun Fact: For all the pain involved, the Raccoons only get a #6 pick for the next draft.

Rats.