I almost didn’t make to the Illowa APBA League weekend last Friday. Between transportation issues and an anniversary on Sunday (our 29th!), it just didn’t seem like it was going to happen. But thanks to Rob Moore, I was able to ride along with him and Scott Fennessy from Chicago to Moline, Illinois where the weekend was being held. That just meant taking the bus to Chicago early Friday morning and back to Champaign early Sunday. Thanks to Rob and also to Scott who let me crash at his place on Saturday.
On Friday and Saturday though, eight Illowa members gathered at the Quality Inn Moline to play APBA. One more manager, John Brandeberry, made a virtual appearance via Skype. Illowa’s June weekend’s purpose is primarily to play our regular season games (no draft, no All-Star Game).
As for my Twin City Thunderchickens, we held our own. We split against Rob’s Highlanders 3-3, went 4-2 against Scott’s Des Plaines Dragons, won 4 of 6 against Keith Smith’s Kentucky Kernels and only took 2 from Brando’s Missoula Rattlesnakes. With one more six game series left for the month, we had an overall 13-11 record for the month.
I still need to complete my stats but I know Stephen Strasburg had two shutouts. Eric Hosmer continues to slam the ball with at least 4 or 5 more homers. The biggest reason for Twin City’s success is leadoff man Kris Bryant’s ability to get on with the walk.
Thanks to commissioner Mike Bunch for putting this all together! Our All-Star weekend will be coming up in September.
