[Westheim]

Raccoons (0-0) @ Indians (0-0) – April 5-7, 2010

After nine years of futility and going .500 against them at best, the Raccoons beat the Indians the last two years over the course of the season, with a 12-6 record in 2009. We would certainly like a quick start.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (0-0) vs. Curtis Tobitt (0-0)
Jong-hoo Umberger (0-0) vs. Bob King (0-0)
Javier Cruz (0-0) vs. Tom Weise (0-0)

This looks like an all right-handed slate for the opening series, and maybe also for the weekend series in San Francisco, so we get an early look at what our lineup will do to left-handers.

Game 1
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – C Bowen – LF Pruitt – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – P Brown
IND: 1B Tsung – 2B Barrón – C Paraz – LF Graham – RF Pacheco – CF Cavazos – SS R. Miller – 3B C. Aguilar – P Tobitt

After Castro and Merritt struck out, Ron Alston had the Coons’ first single of the season, with the Indians getting to Brownie quicker when Mun-wah Tsung singled. Brown’s first K was Jose Paraz, and altogether neither team scored early. That includes Jon Merritt getting stranded after a 1-out triple into the right center alley in the third inning.

At first, Curtis Tobitt looked much better. His stuff was biting, the Raccoons dropped like windfall, and he struck out seven in four innings, while Brownie had only four whiffs and a hit batter on his ledger. But in the top 5th, somehow Tobitt came unglued completely. Nick Brown hit a 1-out double, Castro grounded out, and then Jon Merritt, Ron Alston, Adrian Quebell, and Craig Bowen ALL hit RBI doubles! Four runs scored on five doubles, and the Raccoons were in some pretty amazing business. Things continued to go wrong for Tobitt in the sixth, and some of that had to do with Mun-wah Tsung’s porous glove. Yoshi Nomura led off the inning (after Pruitt had whiffed to end the fifth) with a double that bounced right through Tsung, and when an unnerved Tobitt walked Howell, Brown’s bunt was misfielded into a hometown-scoring-infield-single. While Castro whiffed, Jon Merritt had a pretty solid first day in the office, with his second triple of the day clearing the bases for a 7-0 advantage. While that signaled the end of the shift for Tobitt – and Leonardo Sosa allowed Merritt to score to give him eight runs allowed, all earned – the Indians continued to showcase scary defense. Juan Barrón dropped Bowen’s pop in the same inning (to no effect, though), but the ex-Coon made a throwing error in the seventh that had Alston safe at first base rather than the third out in a bases-loaded situation, granting the Coons their ninth run of the day.

Brownie wasn’t without fail, though and only lasted six and a third when he had his control slip away in the sixth and seventh. A walk to Ryan Miller put him at almost 110 pitches and it was time to make a switch. Reese and Beltran weren’t touched by the Indians through eight, but Pat Slayton’s debut in the ninth inning cost the shutout, although a bad throw from Rob Howell to Nomura also cost some. However, the Indians’ rally was limited to one run that was barely noticed in the box score. 9-1 Brownies!! Merritt 3-5, BB, 2 3B, 2B, 4 RBI; Alston 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Nomura 2-5, 2B; Brown 6.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, W (1-0) and 3-4, 2B; Beltran 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

A few notes. Rob Howell was the only Coons starter not to log a hit in this game, and when all games were over, Nick Brown led the Continental League with a .750 clip. So, with the win and no earned runs allowed, he technically led three triple crown categories.

Game 2
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – C Bowen – LF Pruitt – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – P Umberger
IND: 1B Tsung – 2B Barrón – LF Graham – C Paraz – CF Cavazos – RF Pacheco – SS R. Miller – 3B C. Aguilar – P King

There were a few firsts for the Coons’ 2010 season in the middle game of the set. First, they made their first out at home, when Merritt tagged from third on Quebell’s lineout to Roberto Pacheco, but was thrown out to end the first inning. In the bottom 2nd, Umberger put the first two men on base before Bob King bunted into a 1-5-3 double play, which you won’t see every day. The bottom 3rd then saw the Coons trail for the first time, and again this had to do with Umberger throwing down the middle for easy contact. Tsung singled to center, Castro overran it for an error, Barrón singled, and when Dave Graham also singled, the first run was in, but it was all the Indians got when Jose Paraz grounded out, Ramiro Cavazos whiffed, and Roberto Pacheco also grounded out to Quebell.

While the Furballs had runners, but hit into an alarming number of double plays, Umberger would allow five of six leadoff batters he faced on base, all except Cavazos in the bottom 6th, an inning he didn’t finish because we also got our first rain delay of the season, 72 minutes in that bottom 6th, with the Indians still up 1-0. While the Indians’ lives can only be assumed to be getting much better when Mun-wah Tsung pulled something legging out an infield single in the seventh inning, the Raccoons couldn’t get the bats up against the Indians’ pen (including Marcos Bruno in the eighth inning). We faced our former farmhand Salvadaro Soure in the ninth inning, with Quebell leading off. He singled cleanly to right, with Pat White getting into his first game as a Raccoon, pinch-running as the tying run. He was out on a steal attempt, Bowen struck out, and while Pruitt walked, Nomura flew out to left. 1-0 Indians. Alston 2-4, 2B; Quebell 2-4;

(snout twitches in disgust) Oh well, you can’t win them all. I guess.

Game 3
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – C Bowen – LF Pruitt – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – P Cruz
IND: 1B Tsung – CF Cavazos – LF Graham – C Paraz – RF Luxton – 3B C. Aguilar – 2B J. Lopez – SS R. Miller – P Weise

Tsung was going to play through a mild hip strain, reached on an infield single, then was caught stealing. Also, more rain (in the bottom 2nd) and more Castro errors (also in the bottom 2nd), but again no runs early on, but in the third Castro couldn’t get to a Jose Paraz fly on the track, which fell in for an RBI double, as the Indians took a 1-0 lead in the third, which they this time expanded on early. More horrendous defense was involved, as Javier Cruz himself made the throwing error that put Jose Lopez on base in the first place. Ryan Miller then doubled him in, 2-0 in the fourth, and the Coons weren’t getting to Tom Weise – at all.

But the Indians got to Cruz in the most stupid way yet again in the bottom 6th. Nobody on base and two outs, Cruz managed to fabricate something big by allowing a single to Weise, walking Tsung, and drilling Cavazos. Donald Sims came in, but allowed a 2-run single to Dave Graham that buried the Raccoons for good. They did have a chance in the seventh inning with runners on the corners and one out, but a Pruitt fly to right and Nomura bouncing out to first took care of that, and another in the eighth, when Jon Merritt singled in a pair, but nobody could be bothered to hit a homer and tie the game. 4-2 Indians. Castro 3-3;

… and we’re in last place! And no home runs. And already under four runs scored a game.

Raccoons (1-2) @ Bayhawks (1-2) – April 9-11, 2010

We had won the season series against the Bayhawks every year since 2003, except for 2005, and had won at least six from them the last three years. They had started out mostly getting suffocated by the Thunder and both teams sported an unsightly .333 percentage.

Projected matchups:
Colin Baldwin (0-0) vs. Rodrigo Moreno (0-0)
Nick Brown (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Felipe Ramirez (0-0)
Jong-hoo Umberger (0-1, 1.59 ERA) vs. Reynaldo Rendon (1-0, 4.50 ERA)

That’s three right-handers again, so we get another chance to see whether we can get those left-handed bats to swing properly.

Game 1
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – LF Alston – 1B Quebell – RF Ayers – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – C Owens – P Baldwin
SFB: SS R. Garza – 1B Heffer – CF D. Cameron – LF Black – 3B D. Lopez – RF D. Richardson – 2B McCullough – C Diéguez – P R. Moreno

Well, the bats got going early out west. Merritt got on with a single, advanced on a wild pitch and was scored by a Quebell double. Keith Ayers wasn’t out at home, but rather singled to score Quebell for an early 2-0 advantage, and Alston and Quebell also drove in single runs each in the second inning against Rodrigo Moreno, a 27-year old swingman. It didn’t take long for the Raccoons to dig themselves a hole, however. Baldwin had been perfect through two innings, but Brandon McCullough led off the bottom 3rd with a single, and the next two plays resulted in errors by Howell and Merritt, loading the bases with no outs. Ramón Garza singled between the two defensive offenders, plating two, Heffer flew out to Ayers, but Don Cameron grounded out to Nomura to score the third run. Baldwin walked Luke Black, and then David Lopez hit a liner past Ron Alston, easily tying the game. Black was sent around third base, but was thrown out at home to end the inning. Four runs, all unearned…

The Critters continued to do stupid things. Castro was on with a leadoff single in the fifth, the hit-and-run was on, but he never really stopped while Jon Merritt lined out right to Ramón Garza and got doubled off first. Bottom 6th, Baldwin drilled Don Cameron to get started before Duke Smack made a bid to rejuvenate his good nickname with his first dinger of the season, putting the Raccoons 6-4 behind. They also didn’t make a lot of moves to come back from that while Baldwin was still pitching (not that much longer…). Ray Kelley got the remaining outs through eight, before we faced Valentim Innocentes in the ninth, with Castro leading off, but Quebell was no longer in the #4 hole, having been double-switched out. It didn’t really matter all that much: Innocentes struck out the side. 6-4 Bayhawks. Castro 2-5; Quebell 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Nomura 2-3, BB; Kelley 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Four games, six errors. We actually out-hit them 10-5 in this one…

Game 2
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – C Bowen – LF Pruitt – 2B Heathershaw – SS Howell – P Brown
SFB: SS R. Garza – 2B B. Hernandez – CF D. Cameron – LF Black – 3B D. Lopez – RF D. Richardson – 1B Heffer – C Diéguez – P F. Ramirez

Ramirez, 25, made his major league debut in this middle game, and found himself in trouble early on. After Castro made the first out, Merritt and Quebell walked, sandwiching an Alston single, to load the bases. On Bowen, the count ran full as well, and another pitch in the dirt shoved in the first run for the Coons before Pruitt and Heathershaw struck out. There would be more walks, to Howell leading off in the second and Alston also leading off in the third, but the Raccoons didn’t do anything with them. Brownie struck out four the first time through the order against only a single allowed to Ramón Garza at the start of his outing.

Through four, both teams had but a single hit and the Coons remained up 1-0. Alston doubled with one out in the top 5th and when Ramirez walked Quebell that was his sixth and final walk of the day, for said day ended with his replacement by right-hander Damon Barnett. Craig Bowen hit Barnett’s first pitch into an inning-ending double play. With their offense coughing, the Coons got an undeserved chance in the sixth. Heathershaw was on first when Brownie batted with two outs, grounded to second, and Bartolo Hernandez (who was weird to look at out of a Loggers uni) threw that ball past Dave Heffer. Castro came up with runners in scoring position, and grounded out to Heffer. An infield hit by Garza and a bloop single to right by Hernandez gave the Bayhawks runners on the corners in the bottom 6th, but that was with two outs and Don Cameron got sniffed out by Brown. The Coons left two on in the top 7th, and in the bottom 8th, Heffer reached on a first-pitch single to start the frame. Brown removed Fernando Diéguez and Alfredo Ortíz, but Heffer moved to third base. That brought up Garza again, the pitching coach asked Brown about the weather, Brown said it was fine, then got a good play turned by Heathershaw (who had all three out balls come his way in the inning) to end the inning. The Coons stranded Merritt on third base in the ninth, which had Angel Casas make his first appearance without a cushion. Hernandez hit an 0-2 pitch for a single to left, but Cameron struck out. In a strange move, lefty Freddie Jones(!) batted for Luke Black and hit into a game-ending double play. 1-0 Brownies! Merritt 2-4, BB; Alston 2-4, BB, 2B; Brown 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K, W (2-0) and 1-3;

Not that Angel is the last guy to get into a game. Kenichi Watanabe and Law Rockburn are still unused, and at least Watanabe won’t be used at all this week, unless the rubber game goes 18 innings…

Game 3
POR: LF Castro – 2B Nomura – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – C Bowen – 3B R. Martinez – CF White – SS Howell – P Umberger
SFB: 2B R. Garza – 1B Heffer – LF D. Cameron – RF D. Richardson – CF Black – SS McCullough – 3B B. Hernandez – C Diéguez – P Rendon

Reynaldo Rendon had walked five and whiffed one in his Opening Day assignment, but got through the first inning without an eventually fatal bases-loaded walk, or even any walk. Alston singled, that was it. While the Raccoons then rapped him for three runs on four hits, starting with a Bowen single and then Martinez and White grounding hard past either corner infielder for a pair of doubles, White plating two. In the bottom of the inning, the Bayhawks paid Umberger right back, with an RBI double by Luke Black with nobody out, and Black would also be scored to get the Birds back to 3-2. The Coons came right back in the third. Alston singled, Quebell doubled, and Bowen singled to score Alston, and they’d score two in total in the inning. Rendon was getting whacked, but managed to hit a leadoff double off Jong-hoo in the bottom 3rd. Ramón Garza lined to Yoshi’s right, and he made a lunging grab and managed to scramble to second base ahead of Rendon to double him off.

Rendon was gone before too long, for he kept allowing hard contact, and plenty of it. Vaughn Higgins replaced him before the fourth inning was out, and an Alston walk and extra-base hits by Bowen and Martinez ramped our lead to 7-2. That should have been plenty of room for Umberger to go deep in this game, but he didn’t. The Bayhawks got a run off him in the fifth, and in the seventh he was knocked out on a McCullough single and a Hernandez RBI double with one out. An awkward throw by Alston even put Hernandez at third base in a 7-4 game and it was time to get a new horse. Rockburn came in as we hoped for a K on Diéguez, but the catcher grounded out to Martinez far away from his usual spot that the runner scored and it was a rather uncertain 7-5 again.

Both teams were in crumbling mode however, as we had Castro on third base with two outs in the eighth. The Birds had Nathan Harrison walk Quebell intentionally, but he then fell to a grounder up the middle by Bowen, who scored a run for the third time in the game and got us back to 8-5. Rockburn retired Garza and Heffer in the eighth before Sims got the left-handed bats of Cameron and Richardson to digest. One hit, one walk, one Black at the plate and panic setting in. Angel Casas was brought out for a 4-out save, and banished the most immediate scare back to where it came from when he struck out Black. Harrison was still in the game in the ninth and drilled Howell after sitting down Pat White initially. Jon Merritt had entered with Sims in a double switch earlier and was batting ninth, and hit his third triple of the season to the rightfield corner, plating Howell, 9-5, and then scored on Tomas Castro’s groundout. Angel Casas didn’t leave the Baybirds any hope as he struck out two more in the bottom of the inning. 10-5 Raccoons. Alston 2-3, 2 BB; Quebell 2-5, 2 2B; Bowen 4-5, 3 RBI; Martinez 3-4, 3 2B, 2 RBI; White 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Merritt 1-1, 3B, RBI; Rockburn 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Casas 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, SV (2);

In other news

April 5 – The 20-game hitting streak that Dallas’ Hector Garcia (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI) had carried over from 2009 ends on Opening Day in the Stars’ 6-3 defeat at the hands of the Gold Sox.
April 7 – WAS INF Adriano Lulli (0.00, 0 HR, 0 RBI) goes to the DL for six weeks with a bone spur in his elbow.
April 8 – L.A.’s SP Ricky Mendoza (1-0, 0.00 ERA) spins a 3-hit shutout in a 3-0 win against the Wolves.
April 11 – The Stars beat the Capitals, 7-5, with 1B/3B Dennis Berman (.318, 0 HR, 2 RBI) helping his team with a single off Washington’s Chris York in the fifth inning, starting a rally. It is the 34-year old Berman’s 2,000th career base hit. Batting .277 with 201 HR and 947 RBI as well as 112 SB (although his stealing days are over), Berman has appeared in 156 or more games in five straight seasons, and 131 or more games in 11 straight seasons. Most of his career was spent with the Cyclones.

Complaints and stuff

No home runs, six errors, and a million double plays hit into. How they came up 3-3 is a mystery.

NO HOME RUNS!!

It’s probably too early for panic, but last place stinks, and outside of Nick Brown nobody had an awesome week. Okay, Alston, Quebell, Angel, Merritt all had good weeks. Merritt has three triples already, which sounds like more than Daniel Sharp had his entire career.

Not trying to throw dirt on Sharpie, though. Just sayin’.

We better get our act together because we’ll already face the Crusaders next weekend.

Usually I play two weeks to start the season, because a single week’s results can easily lead to depression, but I got home too late and I need sleep lest I’ll go zzzz in the middle of a game…