This game is a mess in more ways than one
Let me tell you a story about Don Smith and his Illowa APBA League team, the Molly Putts Marauders. Don and his Marauders came to the cabin by the lake to play my Twin City Thunderchickens while I visited my mom last weekend (I’m glad Mom didn’t witness the thrashing that Don gave me. She wouldn’t think it would be a nice thing).
Overall, the Marauders won 6 games to my 3. Looking back, I’m surprised I won three. The ninth-game win by the Thunderchickens preserved our .500 record. But that’s not what I came here to talk about.
I’m here to write about Game Eight. In Game Eight, I was part of something, that has never happened to me nor probably never will. The Thunderchicken pitching gave up over thirty runs in one game.
Let’s face it Junior Guerra (CYW) wasn’t on his game. He lasted into the third inning, giving up six hits and five walks. Overall, the damage was done and the Marauders already had a 8-1 lead with a runner on second a no outs.
Well, Tyler Anderson (DY) was like putting gasoline on the fire. The Marauders had a third inning like I had never seen. They were one batter away from batting around the order TWICE. Four batters hit safely twice in that inning and Rhys Hoskins hit two homers. Thirteen Marauders reached based in a row.
By that time, the pitching coach was in a “you got yourself in trouble, you get yourself out of it” mood. Anderson eventually did after Don’s Marauders trotted 17 batters to the plate that inning. Anderson’s line was not too pleasant after that day. In five innings, he let up seventeen hits and sixteen runs, all earned.
By the end of the day, after Jeremy Hellickson (DZ) gave up five more runs in two innings, Don’s Marauders won by the score of 31-2. Thunderchicken pitching gave up six Molly homers. Don as a general rule, does not use the duck call in one-on-one play. That’s probably a good thing… it would have gotten the attention of the waterfowl from the lake.
Marauder Highlights
Rhys Hoskins: 2 HR, 4 runs, 4 rbis
Zack Cozart: 3 runs, 2 for 3, HR
Freddie Freeman: 3 for 3, 3 runs,
Alex Bregman: 4 for 6, 4 runs, 4 rbis, HR
To his credit, Don took out most of his guys in favor of second-stringers after the third inning.
The Thunderchicken pitching line
| Game 8 | G | GS | CG | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | W | L | Sv | Sho |
| Guerra | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Anderson | 1 | 5 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 3 | 3 | ||||||
| Hellickson | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
Congratulations Don on a game that I will not soon forget. As always, great to see you. Win or lose, it is great to play you!
Have fun doing your stats!
Hi Tom,
As someone who has been roughed up twice for 15 plus runs against Don I feel your pain.
Signed,
Tom Koehler Des Plaines Dragons
haha. Junior Guerra’s ERA is 9.08 and Tyler Anderson’s is 7.68. Come over and join the crowd, Tom.
Innings like the Thunderchickens experienced happen so infrequently! These kinds of outlier performances are working sharing. Thanks for passing it along. What’s Tyler Anderson’s ERA after all the carnage?