Don't have the scorebook in front of me, but I can tell you that a doubleheader of action in the 56-division ended with a thrilling 11-10 night game victory over the DC Express tonight. Jerry Solomon reared back to strike out the final batter of the game with the tying run on the third and the go-ahead run on first to put Team Albany in the win column.
Earlier in the afternoon, the New Jersey Reds beat us 11-4 in a game started by Solomon, who went five innings, and was relieved for the final three innings by windmill pitcher Wayne Nicholson. Dean Little was one of the lone bright spots offensively with four hits, as Albany had trouble coming up with timely hits.
Clearwater native Tim McGivern showed up for Game 2 to give us a major spark. He made a diving catch in left field in the first inning and in his first at bat he put us up 1-0 with a perfectly placed suicide squeeze bunt to score Ralph Caputo from third. A couple of game-changers were made by catcher Jim Wing, Little at shortstop and Caputo at third. With runners on second and third and nobody out in the fifth, DC Express had a rally snuffed out when Wing fired a strike to Little to pick the runner off second -- a crucial backbreadker. Then with two outs and the bases loaded, Little ranged far in the hole to backhand the ball and make the only play he could -- to third base. His one-hop throw would have handcuffed most third basemen, but Caputo cooly scooped it up for the force to end the inning. In the sixth, when DC loading the bases again with one out, Little started a 6-4-3 double play and we dodged another bullet. Jerry Hawkins, who turns 71 next week, continued to defy the aging process with solid play at second base,and Scott Ross came up with big hits in the nightcap after a sliding catch in center in the opener. Bob Yakatan came up with a clutch bases loaded single to drive in a pair of runs late in the game, and Little added two more hits in the win to finish with six on the day.
There was little time to celebrate when the game ended at 8:30 p.m., as there were hot tubs to hit, beers to be cracked open and advil -- the drug of choice -- to be popped in preparation for yet another grueling doubleheader tomorrow. We take on the All-Star Baseball Academy at 10:00 a.m., followed by Southern Maryland at 1:30 p.m. with hopes of surviving another day of this beautiful game being played by grown-up kids.
-- Edited by adtimbrown on Tuesday 10th of November 2015 11:03:32 PM
