Decatur Donnybrooks (0-0, .000) @ Lufkin Lickers (0-0, .000)
The Lickers aren’t exactly highly regarded by the TBL media pundits – most have them pegged as an 8th place finisher this season. Their pitching is the primary culprit, at least on paper, where they lack depth and don’t seem to have a lot of guys that can hang in this league night in and night out. They do have one of the best hitters in the league though – who may be the only reason for fans to show up – in John Kramp (25, 67, 1st overall pick in 2081). Kramp is known as a good teammate and avid golfer who has a lot of pop, good speed, and some legit range in the outfield. He has yet to reach a double-digit HR total in his 5 years of service… We’re hoping that meeting a club in flux, on their turf, will be a good enough way to start the 2087 campaign – don’t get me wrong, 3-days in Lufkin can be boring – I mean how many times can you eat fried green tomatoes at the Cotton Patch Cafe before you get tired of them anyway? The answer is… I don’t know – I get them every time we visit and have yet to want anything else on the menu. Except maybe their fried okra – it’s got something snappy. Nice waitstaff too.
1 of 54: Dan Crawford (0-0, 0.00) @ Ben Hunter (0-0, 0.00)
Win, 1-0… Kymani Jones hit a 2-out double with 1 on in the top of the 1st to drive in the only run scored in this one and Crawford pitches an 8 inning, 3 hit gem before handing the ball off to Mario Rivera who earns his first save of the 2087 season. Bill Davis & Jim McGill both went 0 for 3 with 3 K’s – these guys better tighten up, I don’t have the patience for lollygaggers – and we get a nice Mendoza-Hessler-Segobia DP to end Lufkin’s attempt at putting a little something together in the 7th. We’ll take it – sure, a 1-0 victory in the Season Opener isn’t the rock n’ roll way to start off a campaign, but it’s always nice to start things off on the right foot.
2 of 54: Andy Thatcher (0-0, 0.00) @ Jerry Garbie (0-0, 0.00)
Win, 1-0… Second verse, same as the first… another tightly contested 1-0 victory here… Thatcher shuts them out for 6, Jason White holds them off for 1.2, and Rivera gets his second save in as many tries – but, the offense stays stagnant. We’d get our only run in on a bases-loaded walk in the top of the 7th when C Jim McGill patiently draws one off of Garbie who fell off the proverbial control cliff in the frame. We didn’t exactly treat the Lufkin fans to a great baseball game in this one – but, we’re 2-0 on the season now… we’ll take it.
3 of 54: Carlos Guijarro (0-0, 0.00) @ Josh Mueller (0-0, 0.00)
Loss, 14-4… Well, after getting shut out in two straight, I think it is safe to say that the Lufkin Lickers wasn’t having it anymore – they destroyed us in this one and sent us home with our tails stuck firmly between our legs – Carlos, pulled in the 3rd, got absolutely crushed in this one – 7 earned over 2.1, and our bullpen didn’t fare much better. We hit two doubles, Kymani got his first homer and struck out 13 times as a team – that’s terrible. Lufkin was firing on all cylinders offensively – with every starter except their leadoff man, David Rose, getting at least one hit. John Kramp was the man of the match – he went 2 for 3 with 2 runs, 2 walks, and an RBI.
Welp, not exactly the ending we were looking for, but it’s always nice to get a series win to kick off a campaign. We’ll head home for the next 6 games, starting it off with a three-game set against the Nacogdoches Nibblers who’ll be traveling to Decatur from Denton where they lost two of three to the Denton Dilly’s.
