The good came in game one of our double header. The day started with two goals: win at least one game and two if possible and save your playoff pitching if at all possible.
Albany gave the game 1 ball to Dean Little, who went 5 strong innings, giving up just 1 run on 2 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 3. The only run came on a perfectly executed suicide squeeze by the Vermont Red Sox.
Meanwhile Team Albany scored 1 in the first, another 1 in the third, and 7 in the 4th. Dave Mitchell got the first RBI of the day, with a two out double. The third inning rally came with one out, when Mike Girard and Mitchell singled, and Ron Lochner followed with a RBI single. The good guys used 4 walks and 2 errors by the Red Sox in their rally in the 4th. Mitchell was again right in the middle of the rally with a 2 RBI triple, and Lochner collected his second RBI single on the day.
The hot Albany bats continued to ring out hits in the 5th. With two outs and the bases loaded, Mike Girard hit a long double to left center, plating two runs. Mitchell and Lochner again followed with RBI hits. Team Albany plated 4 runs, in the inning, and left the 5th inning with a 13-1 lead. Albany would use this opportunity to get Dean Little out of the game. Ralph Caputo came on in the 6th and retire the Sox in order. Center fielder Scott Ross finished the game by pitching the last 3 innings and allowed only 2 unearned runs in the bottom of the 9th.
Team Albany got 3 more runs along the way (RBI's by Ron Massaroni, Caputo, and Girard) making the final score 16-3.
Life was good!
In game two, the Albany boys faced a tough team in the Dallas Rangers (27 guys on their roster and a fully sponsored team). Albany sent Wayne Newcomb to the mound and that did not go well. Wayne gave up 6 hits and two walks, while only managing to get two outs. Ralph Caputo came on and gave up 2 hits before getting the 3rd out. With a couple of errors sprinkled in, the Rangers left the top of the first inning having plated 11 runs! OUCH!
Dave Mitchell drove in a run in the bottom of the first, to cut the lead to 11-1. Mike Girard collected a RBI single in the third inning, driving in Scott Ross, but the Rangers bats were not done. They plated 1 more in the third and 3 more in the fourth.
With the score 15-2 after 4 innings, Team Albany used non-pitchers, to finish the game, and it got ugly! The Rangers scored 2 in the 6th; 5 in the 7th; and 4 in the 8th to put their final run total at 26! The good guys were only able to muster 3 more runs (a Girard RBI single in the 5th; a RBI groundout by Caputo in the 6th; and a Caputo RBI single in the 8th) to make the final score 26-5.
Entering the final Round Robin game of the tournament Tuesday afternoon, at Maryvale Stadium, Team Albany stands at 3-2. The only way to guarantee a playoff berth is to win the game. We will face the Central Indiana Dodgers in this one and will need all hands on deck to secure that playoff spot.
Wish us luck.