Crown Got by the Sandy Plains Blues

Showing the rust of his four month layoff, Will had a rough night against a tough Sandy Plains team Tuesday night. Crown lost the game 7-4.

He still contributed at the plate, on the mound, and in the field…

…striking out three batters in two innings.

…for the night, 59% of his pitches were strikes.

…accounting for half his team’s runs on offense.

…adding 2 assists and a double play in his 2 innings playing shortstop.

As the starting pitcher, Will allowed the first three batters to reach base, then retired the side without allowing a run.

In the second Will wasn’t as lucky. He walked the leadoff batter, then struck out the next two. The next batter lined a one-hopper to right. When the batter stumbled out of the box, the rightfielder quickly prepared to throw the batter out at first. He couldn’t make the throw, because the second-baseman blocked they way. This allowed the runner to score from second.

Playing shortstop in the 4th inning, Will threw out the leadoff hitter at first. After two walks and a single loaded the bases, Will scooped up a grounder to his left and quickly tossed to second, starting an inning-ending double play.

The tough Sandy Plains pitcher took a no-hitter into the 5th inning, before Nathan stroked a single to right. With runners on the corners, Will smashed a hard grounder that the pitcher snared. The pitcher wheeled and fired to second to force the runner. Trying for a double play, the shortstop threw to first, but Will was safe. The runner scored from third on the play. Will then stole second, and scored on a single.

Crown fell to 1-1 for the fall. Besides Will’s rust, they have several kinks to work out…

…on a two-out popup, both baserunners stood still and watched the play.

…another batter thought his Baltimore chop was a popup caught by the pitcher, and didn’t run to first.

…after striking out looking, a Crown batter was reprimanded by the umpire for throwing his bat.

…an outfielder let a high pop fall in front of him.

When Will (18) couldn’t find his grey baseball pants, he resorted to wearing the pair I had recently bought for his 12 year old brother. Will was a sight in the short, tight pants.

Michael, the younger brother of Will’s former teammate Ritchie, played shortstop for Sandy Plains. Before the game I had a nice chat with his fun-loving grandfather Ed. This spring Michael played for the Pope varsity, as a freshman.

With four 6 pm games running long, there was a huge traffic jam when the eight 8 pm teams arrived at Harrison Park. The game started 30 minutes late. I got to hang with Lynn and Lucy, Bill V, and Mike, Justin, and Erin Shetler. Jordan was doing the college thing.

Crown is playing in the competitive Sandy Plains Fall League. Saturday they play Will’s former teammates on Coach Tamucci’s team: Ryan T, Ryan G, Tyler, Kyle, and Parker. Had Will waited, he could’ve played with them as well.