Lions show up for baseball game, track meet breaks out!

Caption Contest! My entry: "I don't care about the streak, this rally thong is killing me."
to enter your caption: comment to this post, or email dan.everest@me.com

10-4 sounds like a solid win, but this one was anything but easy. St. Cecilia came to play and gave the Lions all they could handle Saturday at McCoppin.

How good were they? Over 6 defensive innings, they gave up 3 hits, rendering the Lion offensive juggernaut fairly toothless. Their 5 walks were also reasonable, for a total of walks plus hits of 8, or 1.33 per inning (WHIP this is called - and now you're on your way to being a stats geek!). This is a pretty reasonable number, and combined with the fact their pitchers struck Lions batters out 9 times means the Lions should have expected to score only one or two runs at best.

So how did the Lions win? St. Cecilia's spotty fielding meant the Lions got 9 guys on base via errors. This plus the other 8 means we had 17 base runners. And emphasis must be placed on the word "runners"! What the Lions did on the base paths this game was more akin to grand larceny than base stealing. We're talking 12 Stolen Bases! And this is not counting guys advancing to the next base because a catcher dropped a ball. Heck, there were 2 double steals! The Lions were running so much they were winded, and we're talking baseball here, not some track meet! So with all that running, one would expect some guys would eventually make it home, and that's what happened - a lot (heck, Stephen E. even stole home, which is a rarity in baseball!).

We're gonna run...

...and run...

and run some more...

Lesson for Lions opponents:  If you let us on base, we're going to run like crazy. We are fast, and have aggressive Coaches who seem to derive great pleasure and entertainment from sending guys. You really don't want us on your base paths.

What else? Oh... we're shaking the rust off too, and trying new things, such as:

Nick S - pitched for the first time since 6th grade, striking out 3 and giving up a hit in two innings of solid work.
Andrew F - took a game off from pitching and played 4 innings of shortstop including a couple of brilliant plays
John K - took over Catcher from John C (sore arm) for innings 3-6, and played brilliantly, including taking a collision at the plate for an out, and throwing to Andrew to put out a runner trying to steal second.

Joe - Focus!

This team also got what they needed this game. A defensive workout. They had to deal with their opponent's own base runners; there were hits and walks, and balls put in play. Outs to be made, errors to be avoided. And while mistakes were made, progress was clear.

Coachie

Coach E.

 

This team is coming together, and their coaches are pleased.

PS - to see all of Jack's fabulous pics... go here