Two teams battling for the regular season title and the number one seed in the playoffs faced off at Watervliet High School Thursday night. The 7-0 Cubs took on the 5-1 Damn Yankees, and both teams went with their aces. Chris Dunn and Lex Herrlett faced off in an important showdown as the season nears the halfway point.
The Yankees got on the board right away, with 2 runs in the top of the first inning. Lex led off with a well placed single. Courtesy runner, Chad Bouman, stole second. Dunn looked like he would strand the runner in scoring position when he struck out the Yankees' 2 and 3 hitters, but Dave Smitherman had other ideas, as he drilled a RBI single to left. Doug Edick brought Smitherman around with a double for a 2-0 lead.
The Cubs got one run back in the second inning. Ron Lochner reached on an error, and Chris Dunn singled him to second. Jim Bonaparte hit, what looked like a clean single to right, but Dunn got a poor read on the play and hesitated long enough for Doug Edick to throw him out at second. Lochner advanced to third on the play. With two outs, Andy Hoyle sharply single to plate the Cubs' first run of the game.
The Yankees plated their third run in the top of the 3rd inning. Chad Bouman reached on an error and Joe Carreccia, Jack Griffin, and Smitherman had consecutive singles. With the score at 3-1 and the bases still loaded with just one out, the Yanks had the Cubs on the ropes. That is when Chris Dunn turned up the heat on his fastball and struck out the Yanks' 5 and 6 hitters. Clutch pitching, when the Cubs needed it the most! Still the Yankees owned a 3-1 lead, heading into the bottom of the 3rd inning.
A one out walk to Ron Massaroni, and a triple by Dan Hernandez pulled the Cubs to within one run. Lex then got the Cubs' leadoff hitter to ground out to the mound, keeping the tying run at 3rd. Jerry Rosen delivered that run with two outs and the game was suddenly tied at 3. The Cubs were not done. Mike Girard, Mike Reutter, and Ron Lochner followed with singles, bringing the score to 5-3. Dunn followed with a double over the left fielder's head and the scored ballooned to 7-3. The rally was very sudden, and the game turned on this inning.
The Cubs added an insurance run in the 4th on a Jim Bonaparte walk; a single by Alex Marin; and Jim McQuade's first career triple. With the score at 8-3, Chris Dunn settled in and allowed only one base runner over the last 4 innings (a two out single by Jim Griffin in the 4th). He retired the last 10 batters in order. Chris got the complete game win, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits and 0 walks, while striking out a season high 6 Yankee batters.
The Cubs moved to 8-0, with the hard fought win, and have a 2 game lead in first place, with 9 games left in the regular season. The Damn Yankees drop to 5-2 with the loss, and are 0-2 versus the top two teams in the standings. However, there is lots of baseball still to be played, including a rematch between these two teams on Wednesday night next week, at New Scotland. The Yankees will be looking for revenge, and the Cubs will be looking to cement their hold on first place in the standings. It should be a great game!
Before the game both teams came together and presented Alex Marin with his plaque for being named the first recipient of the Tom Bradley Award for Courage. This award honors Tom's life and his inspiring time in our league while battling cancer. Alex is very deserving of this award as he has overcome his injuries from a horrific accident to not only return to our League, but also to return and continue to play at a high level. It was a great way to kick off our game! Also "Ha Ha! not my first triple!
