KISS ME
And so it was that on this late July evening, when a cool breeze made it feel as though a romantic comedy awaited all spectators, the Dreamers took the Field in front of a vast group of fans that included partners, friends, family, and Craig’s famous heckling dads! Would the Comrades be sixpence none the richer? Or would the Blush wear those shoes while you wear that dress? Would the Humdingers strike up the band and make the fireflies dance silvermoon’s sparkling or would the Valley Cats lead us out on the moonlit floor? No matter who would win we were assured that all the teams would swing swing swing the spinning step beside the green green grass! But if you wanna know the results…
You’ll have to keep reading to find out!
HUMBER RIVER HUMDINGERS vs. DON RIVER VALLEY CATS
What is a symphony without a full orchestra? What is a cat without its herd?
The Humber River Humdingers and the Don River Valley Cats set out to answer these questions when they squared off at Trinity Bellwoods. Both teams were down a few players and so called out for subs, and oh how the subs responded. The Cats soon had a full set of claws, and took to the field ready to maintain their winning streak with help from Joseph Bautista, Lauren Kozicki, and Karl Gardner. Big hits by Janine Caster, an amazing pop fly catch by Kate Uffelman at third base, and panther-like plays by Andrew Stokes at shortstop had the Valley Cats twitching their tails. But, their prowling didn’t last long.
The Humdingers began as notes, became a chord, then swelled into a perfect harmony as they deployed their six (six!) high note subs. A home run by Ryan Hayes, stalwart defense by Jo Jefferson and Rachel Small, and full-cycle hitting by Colin Hastings (a Single, Double, Triple, and Home Run!) made the Valley Cats put their tails between their legs. The Cats did their best, but Humber’s defence was as impenetrable as a wall of sound, landing them a decisive win, 13-4. (Andrew Stokes, Don River).
ROUGE RIVER BLUSH vs. CREDIT RIVER COMRADES
There was an order sent from the central committee following the Comrades first loss of the season: losses shall not be tolerated by the Party. Word had gotten around that the Comrades themselves felt happy to share in wins with the rest of the league and central command wanted to put a clamp on it. So with brave faces Credit River took the field looking to keep morale high and ration their hits. But it would not be easy, because the Blush came dressed to impress. In haute fashion and with sleek skills the Blush were led on the field by the departing Sarah Weinberger who was picking Comrade hits out of the air like they were high quality make up brushes at a pop up boutique in SoHo! Darren Puscas learned the hard way – he hit the ball to first base — Sarah’s glove — he hit the ball to left field — Sarah’s glove. It was almost like the Blush were the ones interested in putting up walls.
Do you know how many shades red lipstick comes in? Perhaps you do not, but the Comrades became well aware when Andy Smith blazed a Siren Red rocket out to Centre Field or when Lainie Basman pounded a Hollywood Red into the clay of the field or even when Merle Davis Matthews flared a Goodbye Kiss bouncer off the third base bag, the Blush kept the runs coming. But deep in the distance the consistent and droning songs of workers struggles were being heard as the Comrades led by Gita Madan’s 4 hits including a ringing double to Centrefield pounded in run after run after run. By the end of the day, there was no need for makeup as the Blush were red in their cheeks with exhaustion diving/flopping/flinging their way to a close but just not enough defeat at the hands of the mighty Comrades, final score 17-15.
See the game box scores here
See player stats here
See league standings here
MILESTONES
Credit River
Darren Puscas – currently ranks 7th on the all time list with 89 career runs batted in!
Peter Demakos – currently ranks 24th on the all time list with 72 career hits!
Rachele Gottardi – currently tied for 42nd on all time list with 41 career hits!
LJ Robinson – becomes 10th player in league history to reach 60 career runs batted in!
Yogi Acharya – becomes 13th player in league history to reach 75 career singles!
Tanis Franco -becomes 77th player in league history to reach 20 career at bats (22)!
Karl Gardner – see oddities below!
Gita Madan – becomes 35th player in league history to reach 5 career doubles!
Nav Sidhu -see oddities below!
Johann Juarez -currently ranks 3rd on the all time list with 43 career doubles!
Don River
Niloofar Golkar – becomes 38th player in league history to reach 25 career runs scored!
Kate Uffelman – becomes 38th player in league history to reach 80 career at-bats (81)!
Richard Peters – see oddities below!
Laura Pin – currently ranks 45th in league history with 41 career hits!
Andrew Stokes – currently ranks tied for 24th in league history with 105 career at-bats!
Caren Weisbart – becomes 82n player in league history to reach 15 career at-bats (16)!
Shelagh Pizey-Allen – becomes 49th player in league history to score at least 20 runs!
Janine Caster – becomes 36th player in league history to reach the 50 hit plateau! (51)
Humber River
Meghan Wright – becomes 71st player in league history to reach 25 career at-bats!
Ryan Hayes – currently tied for 5th on all time list with 18 career home runs!
Rachel Small – currently tied for 8th on all time list with 72 career runs scored!
Colin Hastings – see oddities below!
Karen Campell – becomes 36th player in league history to reach 25 career runs batted in!
Jo Jefferson – see oddities below!
Jessica Duarte – currently ranks 42nd on the all-time list with 72 career at-bats!
Rouge River
Jenny Chan – becomes 5th player in league history to reach 225 career at-bats (226)!
Sarah Weinberger – becomes 75th player in league history with at least 12 career hits!
Andy Smith – currently leads all qualified players with a career .860 batting average!
Terrance Luscombe – currently ranks 9th in league history with 27 career doubles!
Umar Saeed – becomes 54th player in league history to reach 60 career at-bats!
Craig Fortier – see oddities below!
Merle Davis Matthews – see oddities below!
Sam Banihashemi– becomes 94th player in league history to reach 3 career runs scored!
Lanie Basman– becomes 26th player in league history to reach 25 career runs scored!
Rocio Velasquez Guzman – becomes 20th player in league history to reach 120 career at-bats!
Joseph Bautista – becomes 62nd player in league history to reach 25 career hits!
SUBS
Lauren Kozicki – becomes 96th player in league history to reach 5 career hits!
Andrew Hastings – becomes 84th player in league history to hit a double – and becomes the league leading 7th player in league history to go by the name “Andrew” or “Andy”
Susannah Mulvale – becomes 95th player in league history to reach 5 career hits!
Lisa Wong – becomes 105th player in league history to reach 6 career at-bats!
Kaleigh McGregor-Bales – becomes 128th player in league history to record at least 1 career hit!
ODDITIES
Twins!
Colin Hastings (42) and Karl Gardner (40) become the 4th and 5th players in league history to reach the 40 double plateau! Colin’s 42nd career double helped to complete the cycle (a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game).
80s Party
Nav Sidhu (81), Jo Jefferson (80) and Merle Davis Matthews (80) all reach the 80 career single plateau on the same day – becoming the 9th, 10th, and 11th players respectively to do so!
10 Bands
Richard Peters (102) becomes the 28th player in league history to reach 100 career at-bats!
51 for 51
Craig Fortier becomes 1st player in league history to reach the 50 career home run plateau hitting #50 as a sub for Humber and #51 with Rouge! 51 Home Runs matches Craig’s jersey #51