The Cubs lost on Friday afternoon to the Bux-Mont Cubs 6-2. The pitcher who beat us was a side arm slinger with great control. He put the pretty much where he wanted all day with an unorthodox delivery, and kept us off balance for 9 innings. We were able to muster 2 runs on 9 hits, but could not string together our hits and the Bux-Mont pitcher didn't allow a single walk. Carlos Llera and Bobby Davis had two hits each and Dave Mitchell had another booming RBI double. The winners got all 6 of their runs off of starter Ted Martin. Chris Dunn came on in relief and shut them down for his 5 innings of work, allowing just 3 hits and no walks. It was a disappointing finish for the Cubbies, but spirits were lifted by a gathering of teammates and friends at Sheppards, in Clearwater Beach. There was no lack of effort by this group of players from the CDMSBL, and there were some really notable performances: Randy Craft led the offense with a .524 average and was, as always, the leader on defense, leaving opposing players talking to themselves as they were headed back to the dugout after he had taken away a hit with his spectacular play at shortstop. Dave Mitchell again led the way in slugging with 3 extra base hits and 6 RBI's, while compiling a .435 average. This average should have been much higher, as Dave also led the way in line drives hit right at defenders! Dave also provided solid catching, which is always a valuable commodity here in the hot Florida sun! Ron Massaroni was a huge part of the offense and defense as he logged a .438 average, and 6 RBI's. Meanwhile Ron played second and third base. This guy can play any position on the field, and was a huge part of the success that we did have down here with some really clutch hitting. Carlos Llera and Chris Dunn both hit .353 for the week. Chris threw 11 innings for the Cubs, allowing just one run, and Carlos provided the lion's share of the catching and played a great center field when he wasn't back stopping the pitching staff. Mike Girard hit .435 for the week and led the team with 16 innings pitched, in an effort to set up the marquise pitchers to be ready for a deep playoff run. Bobby Davis made a big splash here in Florida with a very loud .333 average and team leading 7 RBI's. Jon Martin hit a solid .295, while organizing the pitching staff, and providing solid, dependable pitching every time he was on the hill ( a start in game 2, and a relief appearance in game 5). Shawn Maney hit .273 while leading off for the Cubs, scoring 7 runs in 6 games. He fought the Florida sun in right field valiantly all week (not an easy task). Ralph Caputo was solid as a rock on defense all week, including the play of the week in the final inning of the stadium game. Mike Labanowski was also a stalwart on defense playing both middle infield positions without making an error. Jim McQuade hit a solid .353 while holding down the fort in left field and organizing the entire trip for us. We can't say thanks enough to Jim for all that he did to make this an enjoyable experience for us!!! Thanks Skipper!
