Wallace would nearly put down the Crawford’s in order in the top of the first, except for a single by shortstop, retiree Andy Winn. In the bottom of the first the Sand Crabs imposed their will. They started with four consecutive singles, and then added a double and three more singles for good measure later in the frame to tally seven (7) runs.

In the top of the second, Grether took a free pass and was knocked in on a well-struck double the right center gap by Keith Murray. Murray was promptly picked off second base when Crabs shortstop Mike Schoonveld called and executed a nice play with Wallace. In the Crabs second, catcher Chris McGill singled, and was moved to second when Schoonveld reached on an error. Just off the bus from triple-A, newcomer Tom Scalissi walked, and Crabs corner infielder Brian Buol sacrificed him home with a prodigious fly to right. Schoonveld later scored when Troy Galston reached on an error.  9-1 Sand Crabs.   The Crabs grabbed another one in the bottom of three when left fielder and qualified bat-breaker Jason Himebauch singled and was sent home by a Dewey Walz sac fly to center, the deepest part of the ballpark.

The Crawford‘s got one back in the fourth when Winn walked. Then, Crawfords third baseman Mike Starshak had a little old hit that Steve Hill did not get to oooh.  Starshak ba-abeeee.  (Starshak baby!) On Starshak’s hit centerfielder Steve Hill appeared to be one of the “folks lining up outside just to get down”, and briefly forgot how to field. However, he made up for it by not lolligagging, and chased the terribly misplayed ball and threw it to someone who knew what they were doing. Galston then pivoted and fired to the plate to get Paul Meyer by 10 feet, and catcher McGill fired to first to get Starshak into a pickle-ickle-ickle as he had strolled off first a bit too far for his liking.  This ended up as one of the more unique double plays that went 8-4-2-3-4-3-B52’s.   The Crawfords would not score again for the rest of the game, but got a couple singles in the fifth, one in the seventh, and two more in the ninth. The Crabs went quietly in the fourth, fifth, and sixth, against relievers Fanta, Adas, and Murray, but were highlighted by rookie Bernie Albright getting hit by a pitch. It was the first time Bernie‘s been hit by a pitch in 27 years, which is probably some sort of record. Sand Crabs got two more in the bottom of the seventh on singles by Hill, Scalissi, and Galston. The Crabs ended by scraping up two runs in the bottom of the eighth on singles by McGill, Scalissi, and Dewey Walz, and rookie Rich Rydecki cracked a double to knock in one of those runs.

Wallace had an amazing day on the mound for the Crabs going seven strong innings, allowing 2 earned runs, seven hits,4 walks and four strikeouts for the W.  Relilever Troy pitched the last two, allowing no runs on two hits, no walks, and no strikeouts. At the dish, the Crabs were led by Chris “medium slugger“ McGill, who had a 4 for 4 performance, scoring three runs as well. Rookie Tom Scalisi played a strong first base in his Crabs debut, and went three for four with two RBIs, and last but not least, rookie Rich Rydecki had a two for four performance with one of our 2 doubles, the other was by Wally. The Crabs developmental pipeline has earned their keep with our Crabs additions this year.  Jason Himebauch had two hits and scored 2 runs as well, and Brian Buol played a tremendous first base, lots of people are talking about it, probably some of the best first base ever played.

Both teams are off next week.  Take care of your moms!