It was an intermittently rainy day, for the first time in a loooong time, when the first place Sand Crabs visited the second place Rangers in the 45+ division of MSBL of Southern Wisconsin.  The venue? EMLL.  The wind?  Blowing out.  Foreshadowing?  Why yes, how literarily knowledgeable of you!

Randy Gaber got the start for the Crabs, Jeff Kunkle for the Rangers. Battery mates were Tim McInernay and Dale Doebert, respectively. The Sand Crabs went down silently in the first, but the Rangers did not.  Kunkle led off and smashed a double to the left field fence.  He was followed by Chris Gustaf who deposited a pitch beyond the second fence, just right of centerfield to put the Rangers up 2-zip. In the second, the Crabs got 3, but the Rangers got 4, highlighted by a Doebert double, to go up 6-3. The Crabs scratched another across in the third, when Troy Galston doubled and was able to score on a single by Tom Scalissi.  Then, the rains came, and delayed the action for about 10 minutes, making the game seem like it took about 6 hours.  When the skies cleared, the Rangers were retired, having scored 2 more on a Pete Olsen single and some less than stellar Crabs D.

Reliever Mike Wallace entered in the 4th and kept the Rangers quiet until the bottom of 7.  Jason Witt relieved Kunkle in the 6th with one out, as the Crabs managed to load the bases.  They had chipped 3 runs across when Scalissi stepped up with 3 men on, and deposited a Witt pitch onto the bike path in left center, and earned his second consecutive SPOG. 12-8 Crabs.  The Rangers went peacefully in their half of the 6th.

In the top of 7, SPOG 2, a.k.a. Mazomanian Menace Brian Buol restored his love for the game by yanking one out to right center, and two more runs were plated on a ground-out by Mike Kauffman, and a solid single by the Mazomanian Marvel, Dewey Walz. 15-8 Crabs.  In their half of the 7th, the Rangers got two off Wally in the 7th when Bill Nolan and Kunkle singled, stole a coupla bags and advanced on an error, and scored on a Mark Tyler single. 15-10 Crabs.

Would this see-saw battle ever end?  It would. With the clock ticking in the bottom of the 8th, the conclusion came down to a Wally versus Willie Wilde war. Wally willed Willie to whiff, and this marathon came to close.

Thirsty, the Sand Crabs reminisced at Slice’s with some chocolate milk.  Its good for you, ya know.

Orioles forfeit

It was a hot and hazy, lazy Sunday in the late afternoon when the 4-0 visiting Sand Crabs squared off against the 0-4 Orioles in a Father’s Day party at the parched patch known as EMLL Stadium.  A capacity crowd of families and friends came out for a fantastic feel-good fiesta.  On the bump for the Crabs was Randy Gaber, and for the Orange Birds, Steve Waugh.

Gaber went 5, Waugh went 4, relieved by Mike Wallace for 4 and Phil James for 5, respectively. The Orioles were held to 7 hits, the Crabs held to 13, but the Crustaceans reached base on 10 miscues by the Birds, while the O’s were only able to take advantage of 3 gaffs by the Crabs.

Rookie phenom Tom Scalissi led the Crabs at the dish with a 3 for 4 performance, including a 3 run ding-dong to left, and a 2 run ground rule double to center. Chris McGill, Steve Hill, Gaber, and Mike Kauffman had a couple hits each.  Kauffman showed his WTP while trying to wrestle the offensive SPOG from Scalissi, but the slight breeze in from RF said nay, nay.  The defensive SPOG went to pitchers Gaber and Wallace for keeping quiet the potent avian lineup.

For the Orioles, SS Gabe Park collected 3 hits and a stolen base.

The Crabs went straight home, except for those who didn’t.  Both teams are back in action next Sunday, when the Orioles face the Crawfords at noon, and the Crabs battle the 4-1 Rangers at 3 PM.  Its sure to be a great day of baseball at EMLL.  Come on out, tickets are still available at Ticketmaster, StubHub, and Goodwill.  Next week is Kurt Bevacqua bobblehead day.  Each fan in attendance who brings a Kurt Bevacqua bobblehead will be given free admission.