[Westheim]

Game 1 pitted our new acquisition Jorge Romero against the Titan’s new ace Sean Critch. It became the expected pitcher’s duel, as both gave up only one run in seven innings plus change. It took 13 innings to find a winner, and that winner were the Raccoons, when Ed Sullivan sent a sharp liner to center that CF Will Wilson misplayed, allowing Darryl Maloney to score from 2nd base and the Raccoons won 2-1. Ben Jenkins went three innings on just 24 pitches. We were above .500 for the first time since being 2-1 after winning the first series against the Crusaders in ’77. Who led the CL North on this April 4, 1978? The Raccoons and Loggers, tied at 1-0, the two worst CL teams in 1977.

Game 2 sent Powell in, but he didn’t have to try too hard to get a W. The Raccoons raped Augustinho Tibo for seven runs in the first, storming to a 12-2 win. Bill Baker and Tony Lopez made their first appearances, both scoreless. Raccoons shot out of the gate again in the last game and led 8-2 after six, before the pen started to crumble awfully. Hatfield had already been used in the eighth to get Vazquez out of a jam, Baker couldn’t close it at 8-5 and Wally Gaston saved it finally to win 8-7.

Thus, we swept the Titans to start the season. Could it start any better? We’d go up against the Aces next, who were also good out of the gate, 3-1.

For the third game in a row, the Raccoons scored multiple runs in the first inning, and for the second time during that stretch through a homer by Wyatt Johnston. We made it 3-0 on a suicide squeeze in the second, before Brandon Patterson actually stole home in the top 3rd – it certainly was a game of special plays. Ned Ray was shelled for four more in quick succession and pulled. Ben Jenkins held the Aces down and the Raccoons turned it around to 6-5 again by the sixth. Jenkins again went three innings, this time on 25 pitches, and again scoreless. Wright and Hatfield kept the Aces down to hold and save the 6-5 win, putting the Raccoons at a fascinating 4-0 record! And Jenkins, who was in there as mop-up / long man, now was actually at 2-0 and leading the CL in wins.

The Raccoons kept rolling. Homers by Johnston and Maloney in the second inning got game 2 righted early and the Raccoons won 5-2. Jorge Romero and Tony Lopez struck out the side in consecutive innings. Christopher Powell went the distance in the series-ending 3-1 win that followed.

And the Raccoons were a stunning 6-0 with the best record in baseball, the only team undefeated. Wyatt Johnston led the league in home runs, and trailed only the Knights’ Armando Delgado in RBI. Was this still my team? The team that had lost a billion games in 1977?

Falcons starter Kent Doyle started off by walking four in the first inning in game 1 against the Raccoons, pushing in two runs. That cost the Falcons. They launched two shots off Berrios, who led 3-2 when leaving after seven, but Tony Lopez blew the lead. The game went to extra innings, where Vazquez (so far with a 40.50 ERA) held down the Falcons until Johan Dolder tripled with two outs in the bottom 11th. Kieran Lawson singled through the hole on the right side to score Dolder and the Raccoons walked off, 4-3, going to a 7-0 record.

It ended right there, as the Raccoons lost the next game 4-2 to the Falcons. The team was out-hit and Ray struggled with control again in his second start. Jose Flores was 4-5, batting in both Raccoons runs. Freddy Lopez was the match winner in the rubber game, bolting a 2-run homer in the bottom 8th, pinch hitting for Wally Gaston, to get the Raccoons ahead again to win 4-3.

First home stint over, and we had an 8-1 record. I don’t know what to say but KEEP IT ROLLING!! We shared the best record in baseball with the Cyclones, and led the Continental League in defense (3.1 RA per game) and were second in scoring with 5.1 runs per game. We went on our first road trip now for New York and Indianapolis.

Starting the series against the Crusaders, the Raccoons position players did not bat in a single run in game 1 – yet we still won 3-2. Christopher Powell had an RBI single and the other runs scored on two wild pitches by Tom Cox. Game 2 was a 4-2 loss. This time the Crusaders scored a run on a wild pitch by Berrios. Tony Lopez lost the game in the bottom 7th with two hits and a hit batter. Game 3 was a wild ride, as the Raccoons allowed five unearned runs over six innings. Pedro Sánz tied the game with a 3-run bomb in the top 7th. Hatfield came in in the bottom 9th to save a 6-5 lead and got two outs, but then served a 2-run homer to Hector Atilano, which lost the game 7-6 and broke a streak of seven converted save opportunities for Hatfield, dating back to last September.

This brought us into Indianapolis. We still led the division at 9-3, while the Indians were 8-5, and with little offense again. They were 11th in runs scored after the first two weeks, but that was nothing I hadn’t seen so far. You had to keep them from scoring to win.

Unfortunately, Jorge Romero allowed four runs to score in the second inning. A solo homer by Greg Swift had gotten the Raccoons ahead at first. In the bottom 5th, Romero struggled again. Jose Zavala tried to score on a flyball to short center. Dolder caught in and fired it in, as Zavala crashed violently into Maloney at the home plate. Maloney held on to the ball, Zavala was out, and to add insult to injury, he had hurt his elbow in the collision and had to be taken out of the game. The Indians won 4-1, as the Raccoons were unable to mount more offense. This was followed by a 5-3 loss in game 2. Powell took the loss and was removed in the fifth inning with a sore thumb. Raccoons were fanned nine times.

In came Juan Berrios in game 3. He had a shutout going, but ran into trouble in the ninth and could make it through. Hatfield got the final two outs with bases loaded with two K’s on full counts.

Something is strange about the standings at the moment. Oh, yeah. The Raccoons led the CL North. (faints) Next week: home games against the Knights and Thunder, then a road trip to Boston to end April. The road trip will continue into May against the Canadiens before interleague play will come upon us for the first time against the Warriors and Capitals.

In other news:
April 5 – Johnny Bates of the Condors has hit in 20 straight games, dating back to 1977.
April 6 – The Aces chill Bates at 20 games, as they defeat the Condors 6-4.
April 11 – Hunter “Lucky” Frazier lucks out: the starter of the Tijuana Condors suffers from radial nerve compression, ending his season. He had been 19-13 in 1977.
April 18 – RF Juan Medine of the Rebels is out for two weeks with a sore elbow. He’s hitting .381 so far and had 16 homers in 1977.