It was the best of times for the Blue Thunder and the worst of times for the Vets, as two teams in the middle of the pack of the 45's squared off for a doubleheader on Sunday for what could best be described as a tale of two completely different ball games. Behind Pete Geannelis' sparkling complete game shutout on the mound, the Thunder won the first game 1-0 in a game that took less than 90 minutes to complete. Geannelis was also the offensive hero with a sacrifice fly to plate the game's only run in the first inning. Rick Koster had two of the three Vets hits, while Jon Atwell allowed just four hits in spinning a complete game masterpiece for the Vets.
In complete contrast, the second game was "the game that wouldn't end" as the Thunder escaped with a 17-11 victory that featured a combined 36 hits, 8 walks and too many errors as the blistering heat seemed to sap both teams of the sharp defensive play that prevailed in the first game. Steve Vangelder, who finished on the mound, was given the game ball -- not for catching a pop up to end the marathon, but for selecting the dugout at the start of the day that ended up being in the shade. Each team used four pitchers in Game 2, with Jon Martin and Jim Ansel teaming up to throw the first six innings before handing the ball over with a 12-4 lead. Martin left with a 3-2 lead after two innings and Ansel followed with four more solid innings in which he struck out five, including four frames in which he ended the inning with K's. Matt Kelly ripped a triple, double and single and drove in four runs to lead the offense. Koster completed a near perfect day at the plate for the Vets with four more hits in the second game to finish 6-for-7, and Dave Hartman added two hits and two RBI. Kudos to Brad Buchan, who not only secured the Chatham HS baseball field for the two games, but spent numerous hours getting the field in shape, and to Don Ball for firing up the grill for a post-game cookout.

-- Edited by adtimbrown on Monday 11th of July 2011 07:37:56 AM