The three H's visited upon us on Thursday and Saturday. Heat, humidity and hydration seem to be the staples in late July in upstate New York.
Thursday at New Scotland town park the Sox and the Whiz took the diamond. The last thing one wants is for their pitcher to get in a rundown before he has toed the rubber. Well this is what happened to Joe Sarubbi, the scheduled starter for the Sox, in the first inning. Jim Torre, starting for the Whiz, had a situation with Sox on first and third and no one out. He faked to third then to first and came back with a throw to third snagging Sarubbi into a pickle. After many exchanges between many players Sarubbi was tagged out. There were so many tosses it was impossible to fit all the position numbers in the small scorebook square. Meanwhile, the Sox catcher Mark Meyers, was going back and forth between second and third like a yoyo. Just what a manager wants-his battery running around like maniacs in the first inning. Meyers ultimately scored but Torre was out of the inning giving up only one run after two were on with no outs. Torre pitched a solid four innings before tiring from the heat and humidity. Behind the solid pitching of Sarubbi, 8 K's, 5 hits tand 0 runs, the Sox banged out 14 hits to match their run total. Leading the hit parade were Meyers and Koster with 3 hits apiece and Deane Fish with two. Four Sox, Reuter, Meyers, Koster and Johnson (with a booming triple down the rightfield line), chipped in with 2 rbi each. For the Whiz, Pierce and Klopfer each had 2 hits, as did Whiz manager Jim Porter, only his two were HB. Hope you have healed Jim and Joe is truly sorry for his two errant pitches. Don Dennis had the Whiz's other hit. I must mention a great attempt by Klopfer on an over the shoulder try that just ticked off his glove. I never thought he would even get close to the ball. Great hustle. The Whiz are a great bunch of guys and I feel will be a dangerous team when it comes to playoffs.
Saturday morning rain is blanketing the Capital District, but Kinderhook has slipped out from under the covers to host the Black Sox and Vets at Ichabod Crane High School. The humidity hangs heavy as the day begins to heat up. Two veteran pitchers, Burriesci for the Sox, and Kervan for the Vets, get set to duel. All game long the humidity, making the ball slippery, was causing control problems for both pitchers. The Sox scored twice in the top of the first and the Vets answered with one in their half. Both pitchers got through the second without allowing any runs. In the third the Sox scored one but the Vets came back to score twice and tie the game after three. Both pitchers shut down the opponents in the fourth. Leading off the fifth Musella worked a walk, and how often does that forebode a run. Well, with that walk and three hits the Sox plated two. Burriesci breezed through a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth giving him and his teammates a little breathing room. Kervan, after pitching a fine five innings, was replaced on the mound. It was to the liking of the Black Sox as they erupted for 11 runs to put the game away. The Sox hit, run and rbi fest was lead by Reuter(3 hits, 3 rbi), Noto(2 hits, 3 rbi), Musella( 3 runs, 2 hits), Meyers( 2 across the board), Gary Fish( 2 runs, 1 rbi) and Burriesci(2 runs, 1 rbi). Dave DeMaria got the Vets only 2 hits and scored twice, with Yogi Milos scoring the other run, and doing a yeoman's job behind the plate for the Vets. Dave pulled a hamstring in the third but gutted out the rest of the game. His final time at bat, unable to use his leg to push off with, he smoked the ball, but it was right at the Sox second baseman Koster, who made the play, as he did with all his chances today. Burriesci, struggling with the heat and humidity, managed to strike out the side in the sixth, with 2 walks and 1HB in between. The Vets, with Tony at the helm, didn't have all their troops today, but they can be tough come playoff time. Carry on fellas, and good luck the rest of the way.
A note on the field. Just a superb field and if your team has a chance to play on it don't let it pass. Mike Kravitz you did a fantastic job on the design and construction of this field. And to think it is a high school field is tremendous. I'm sure the Ichabod Crane nine and the citizens of the school district must be very proud of their "diamond."
Nice write-up on the games and congratulations on the wins by the Sox. You put together quite a team!! Thanks for the compliments on the Ichabod Crane field. I'm glad you like it and that we're getting a chance to use it. Kevin Jackson did a great job in obtaining the School District's permission to play some ball on ithe field.
