Dodgers

In a rematch with the Pirates, the Northridge & McGuiness Dodgers go down in the high seas behind Capn Blackjack Bob Kelly, his scurvy firstmate Bill Garvine, and his crew, 17-6. In a game that should have been one of the better match-ups of the week, the Dodgers uncharacteristically made 12 errors behind their pitchers and thusly contributed to their own demise. The Pirates took full advantage and made the Dodgers pay dearly for each of them. It also didn't hurt that they came into this game swinging their bats with highlights by Tomas smoking a triple to RC, Kelly getting on 5 times and scoring on 4 of those, Yee smoking a ball down the 3rd baseline for an RBI, McMahon going oppo down the line for an RBI before scoring himself. Defensively, Tomas threw a great game keeping the Dodgers off balance and off the boards for 3 innings before allowing 2 runs. The Dodgers in contrast struggled to get things going with the bats through 3 and when the ball was hit, the Pirates executed defensively. In the 4th, Chris Fenk got things going with a hard line drive up the middle and Jarod Carmon hit a double bringing in Fenk to get the Dodgers on the board. Kenny Swain had a sac hit to score Carmon. In the 5th, the Pirates made a pitching change and the Dodgers bats started to warm up with a leadoff single by Bo Banks, an oppo double by Buckley sending backs to 3rd. Kyle Leong was intentially walked to load the bases however, the Pirate pitcher walked Fenk to score Banks. Trevor Toy had a sac hit to score Buckley and the Dodgers were back into the fight with the score 4-7. In the 6th, the Dodgers ship took a shot at the waterline and started sinking and allowed 10 runs before getting their last at bats. Leading off in the bottom of the 6th, 10 yo Graeme Onuffer decided he was up to the task and sent a line drive single into CF. Then he stole 2nd and scored on a Bo Banks double to right center. Banks then stole 3rd and scored on when Buckly sac bunted. Kyle Leong then smoked a ball which looked like it was going to go into the outfield but the Pirate 2nd basemen pulled it down to end the game. The last game should now be a doosey to watch!

The Northridge & McGuiness Dodgers stopped a 5th inning rally by the Athletics to bring their record to 2-1. In the first inning Bo Banks battled off 6 pitches before getting his pitch which he sent over the left field fence and off the batting cages of the Major Field. In the 3rd, Johhny Kempel sent a shot into right center which brought in 2 runs and scored on a double by Chris Fenk. In the 4th, Kyle Leong sent a shot to left scoring Graeme Onuffer making the score 5-0 Dodgers. In the 5th, the Dodgers Byron Buckley sent a shot to right center bringing in Johnny Kempel and 10 year old Graeme Onuffer sent a ball up the middle scoring Buckley and Trevor Toy and the Dodgers were now up 8-0. In the bottom of the 5th with bases loaded, the Athletics David Elzig sent a fly ball to center field which bounced off the yellow safety edge and then over the fence for a grand slam and brought the score to 8-4. The A's scored 1 more time and the score was now 8-5 going into the 6th. The Dodgers knew that they needed to post more runs as it was evident that the A's were not going to just give up and go home in the bottom of the 6th inning. So Leong and Kempel both singled to get on base, and the Dodgers other 10 year old Kenny Swain sent an oppo shot into right scoring Leong. Toy then hit a sacrifice hit to score Kempel, and David Shahbazpour took an outside pitch and sent an oppo shot to right scoring Swain, and the Dodgers made the score 11-4. On the mound, Byron Buckley went 5 innings before maxing out on pitches and kept the A's off the board for 4 innings striking out 5 along the way. Bo Banks came in for relief in the 5th, to end the inning and in the 6th, kept the A's off the board and recorded his first save of the year and Buckley the win. Banks-HR; Leong-3/3 2B, 1RBI, 2 runs; Kempel-3/4 2B, 2RBI,3 runs; Fenk-1/3 2B,1RBI; Swain-2/2 1RBI, 1 run; Onuffer-1/1 2RBI, 1Run.

With a great day of sun and warm weather the Dodgers took the field against a tough Astros team led by Nathan Hildago on the mound. Hildago did a great job of keeping the Dodgers off-balance and the defense played solidly behind him and the Astros came up with an 8-3 victory. The Dodgers bats were there as we outhit the Astros, but were not consistent enough as we stranded 8 runners. However, even in defeat, the Dodgers learned many things about themselves and continue growing as a team and look forward to the next meeting with the Astros. Offensive highlights for the Dodgers were Johnny Kempel going 1-3, 1 run, 1BB, 1RBI. Kyle Leong went 3-3 with a 2B in the first inning that went to deep right center. Chris Fenk went 2-2 sending a lazer to right center with his first at bat and another line drive up the middle with his 2nd. On the mound we had Johnny Kempel who faced 8 batters and struck out 6. Trevor Toy made his debut and struck out 3 batter over 2 innings. In another debut, Antonio Manibusan came in to close the game and struck out 3 batters. All in all, the Dodgers pitching did a great job defensive errors were key and proved costly however. For the Astros, Nathan Hidalgo went the entire game and retired 7 Dodgers by strikeout. Leadoff hitter Cameron Look had a sac fly to start of the Astros in the 3rd, and Justin Dea had an RBI as well. Miguel Padilla 2 good hits in the game with a crucial hard line drive which could not be handled by the infield and resulted in run scoring.