Thursday night, as the players were arriving at the Twin Town Baseball Complex in Troy, a steady mist turned to rain.
It wouldn't take long for the field to become too wet to play, and the advanced radar was showing that the rain would be around
for about 20 minutes. It did not look good. Then after just 4-5 minutes the rain suddenly stopped and the field was ready to go.

The game looked like it would be a pitcher's duel as Ed Powell (Giants) and Mike Girard (Cubs) got through the first 2 innings with just
one hitter reaching base. That was a one out double by Joe Krause in the second off of Girard. Girard again only allowed one base runner
in the top of the 3rd with a two out walk to Scott Bonano, but got the next hitter to pop out to short center field.

The Cubs used a lone single by Ron Massaroni along with 3 walks (PJ Martone, Sherwin So, and Carlos Espada), 1 hit batter (Jim McQuade)
and a couple of errors by the Giants to take a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the 3rd.

The Giants got a one out single by Justin Luciani and a two out RBI double by Andrew Pedone to cut the lead to 3-1, in the top of the 4th.
However, the Cubs answered that one run in the bottom half when Jerry Rosen crushed a one out single and got all of the way to 3rd on an
errant pick-off throw by Powell. Mike Girard delivered him home with a line drive single to right, and the lead was back to 3.

Giant reliever Steve Lounello and Girard put their opponents down in order in the 5th, and after Girard stranded a lead off walk at first, in the top of the 6th,
The Cubs got 4 runs in the bottom half to get some breathing room. Dan Hernandez was drilled in the ribs to lead off the inning. One out later,
Ron Lochner hit a screaming line drive for a single. Both runners moved into scoring position on a balk. Carlos Espada singled home Hernandez,
leaving runners on the corners with still one out. Espada stole second and Paul miles followed with a walk to load the bases. A groundout by Chris Dunn
to short plated Lochner, and the final two runs scored on a Rosen single.

With an 8-1 lead, Ron Massaroni took the mound for the Cubs to close it out. The Cubs had played error free ball to this point, but pitched in two a late errors
in the 7th to contribute to the Giants scoring 3 runs to make the final score 8-4. Justin Luciani, Brendan Hogan, and Rick Caruso contributed hits to this late rally.
Massaroni was in trouble through little fault of his own, with the tying run at the plate and the bases but got a clutch strike out to douse the fire.

Girard gave up just 3 hits and two walks, while striking out 2 in his 6 innings to get the win.

The Cubs sit atop the standings at 3-0, with the win, as the only undefeated team left. Next week they play the Americans on Tuesday and the Dodgers on Thursday,
with both games at Watervliet High School. If the rain stays away, the Cubs will be back on schedule with all make-ups having been played. Fingers are crossed.







-- Edited by mgirard11 on Friday 30th of May 2025 09:31:59 AM