At the first CDMSBL game at the West Albany Babe Ruth field, the Bluejays defeated the Highlanders by a score of 5-2. Andy Sheen went the distance for the Jays, giving up 6 hits and no walks. Donny Dunham started on the hill for the Highlanders and pitched thru the fifth inning. Kevin Jackson held the Jays scoreless in relief. The Highlanders scored one in the top of the first inning on hits by Stroud and Dunham, followed by 2 Jay errors. The Jays answered in the bottom of the first with a double by Brian Maiello and a 2-run homer by Vangelder. The Jays scored 3 more in the bottom of the third inning on a lead-off homer by Mike Maiello followed by a single by Brian Maiello, a walk to Loffredo and a 2-run single by Vangelder. The Highlanders scored the final run of the game in the fifth inning on a single by Ceniwan (sorry if the spelling is off)and an RBI double by Jackson. Hitting highlights for the Highlanders included 2 singles by Dickinson and an RBI double by Jackson. For the Jays - Brian Maiello had 3 singles; Vangelder had a home run and a single with 2 RBI's; Mike Maiello had a home run; and Mark Mitchell had a double and a single with an RBI. The Jays record improves to 5-2 with the win.
Yes Jim maybe I can. I was graciously allowed to play a few innings at third for the Highlanders. The President of the league Paul Z commented that he didn't feel the dirt was right, so he's going to work on it. Donny D said that the mound gave him 10 miles an hour more on his fastball. And Kevin Jackson said he was able to run faster off the mound. The outfield looked ok but the outfielders were commenting on the distance.
I believe this is really going to be fun playing there and that short fence is going to scare pitchers and make hitters feel like they have a chance to go yard.
Also there were many kids watching and many Dads inquiring about how they can join. It was truly a positive experience and the Highlanders and Blue Jays were very professional and projected a great image of our league.
Did you say DD added 10 mph to his fastball? I didn't know mounds did that!!! So DD, what were you clocked at? My speed?
Hey, the right teams were on the field for Game 1. Good guys, representative of what CDMSBL is about. Great that kids and dads were there and asking questions. Getting our story out in an area that wide can only provide positive images for us. Word of mouth will get us even more publicity, possibly more fields, more teams.
I hope everyone understands the importance of this connection. Remember what the CD stands for in CDMSBL. Great job Joe.
