MIDSUMMER BALL
As the season reaches the peak of summer and we begin the race towards fall, the Dreamers performed their weekly ballet under the lights of Trinity Bellwood’s SkyDome. It was the 30th week of games in the league’s history and the cool summer night invoked the nostalgia of baseball. But there was no day dreaming on this night as games had to be played! Could the Rouge River Blush look themselves in the mirror and know they were ready for the ball? Or could the Don River Valley Cats roar to become Thunder Cats? Would the Humber River Humdingers continue to ride the soundwaves to victory? Or would the Credit River Comrades close down the night singing Solidarity Forever?
If you wanna know the results…
You’ll have to keep reading to find out!
DON RIVER VALLEY CATS vs. ROUGE RIVER BLUSH
When the early game started at the SkyDome on Sunday, both teams were ready to make a splash. Don River had a delicious spread of snacks in their dugout that must have been mixed with catnip, because they came out swinging. Rouge River was looking perfectly contoured and blended as they hit the runway, strutting their stuff. But, they soon realized it wasn’t a runway, it was a catwalk! The Don River crew pranced their way around the bases, racking up an early lead, but the Blush put up a serious fight. Sam Banihashemi made a brilliant snag at first base and Lainie Basman became the next top model of how to play shortstop. Jenny Chan left home for three world tours, spurred along by TH Vega’s three on fleek hits.
The Valley Cats demurred with a purr, then let out a hiss. Andrew Norton leapt back and forth, notching three outs in one inning and Richard Peters stalked across the outfield, making plays. The two of them flexed their claws, and cranked impressive home runs.
The chips were down for Rouge, but they dug deep — into their purse. A rousing motivational speech carried across the park, spurring Terrence Luscombe and Craig Fortier onto roaring home runs. And the Blush’s newest player, Joseph Bautista, proved to be just the shade they needed, playing defense and offense with ease.
The Blush fought back with a four-run final inning, but the Valley Cats took the game with a 21-11 final score. No doubt Rouge will come back next week with glossy lips and glossy hair, ready to make a statement (Andrew Stokes, Don River).
CREDIT RIVER COMRADES vs. HUMBER RIVER HUMDINGERS
The field was alive with the sound of music as the Humber River Humdingers took their mojo on tour. And yet under the fluorescent lights, the Comrades were posting notices on every billboard that there would be a music curfew for the evening. And so began a back and forth affair, layered with symphonies and melodies, there were a lot of dingers to match all of the HUM….Led by Devin Clancy’s 4 hits and powered by key notes off the bats of Rachel Small, Ryan Hayes, and sub David Ravensbegen, the Humdingers were dropping rays of golden sun and playing defence that required a long long way to run! But in their spirit of sharing baseball, the Comrades were at the vanguard from the onset of the game scoring on some key intelligence from Yogi Acharya, Darren Puscas, and Tanis Franco. There were moments of sheer confusion as the two teams looked to be playing very different tunes…but for the 2nd time of the season, the mighty Comrades were lulled to sleep as the Humdingers just kept singing, “so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen adieu….to you and you…and you and you and you….” (Humber River 16 – Credit River 12).
See the game box scores here
See player stats here
See league standings here
See all-time career statistics file (updated for August 1 2018) here
MILESTONES
Credit River
Tanis Franco – becomes 73rd player in league history to reach 25 career at-bats (26)!
Navjeet Sidhu – becomes 16th player in league history to reach 90 career hits (91)!
Gita Madan – becomes 30th player in league history to reach 60 career hits (61)!
Yogi Acharya – see oddities below!
Rachele Gottardi – becomes the 40th player in league history to reach 45 career hits!
Peter Demakos – becomes 24th player in league history to reach 75 career hits!
Robyn Letson – becomes 24th player in league history to reach 40 career runs batted in!
LJ Robinson – currently ranks 4th on the all-time list with 142 career hits!
Johann Juarez – currently ranks 3rd on the all-time list with 44 caree doubles!
Darren Puscas – see oddities below!
Don River
Caren Weisbart – becomes the 77th player in league history to reach 20 career at-bats!
Suzanne Narain – see oddities below!
Kate Uffelman – see oddities below!
Janine Caster – currently ranks 26th all time with 54 career hits!
Katie German – becomes 21st player in league history to reach 55 career singles!
Andrew Stokes – becomes 12th player in league history to reach 20 career doubles!
Stuart Schussler – becomes 26th player in league history to reach 65 career hits!
Richard Peters – see oddities below!
Andrew Norton – see oddities below!
Niloofar Golkar – see oddities below!
Amanda Saunders – becomes 100th player in league history to reach 5 career hits!
Humber River
Meghan Wright – currently tied for 66th all time with 19 career hits!
Alex Brant – becomes 24th player in league history to score at least 40 career runs (41)!
Ryan Hayes – currently ranks 2nd all time with 17 career triples!
Natalia Saavedra – currently ranks 31st all time with 57 career hits!
Jo Jefferson – currently tied for 9th all time with 83 career singles!
Annelies Cooper – currently tied for 14th all time with 54 career runs scored!
Devin Clancy – becomes the 9th player in league history to reach 115 career hits!
Rachel Small – see oddities below!
Colin Hastings – becomes 17th player in league history to reach 60 career singles!
Rouge River
Sam Banihashemi – becomes the 99th player in league history to reach 5 career hits!
Jenny Chan – becomes 3rd player in league history to reach 125 career singles (126)!
Noah Adams – becomes the 40th player in league history to reach 25 career runs scored!
Merle Davis Matthews – currently ranks 10th on the all-time list with 167 career at-bats!
TH Vega – becomes the 55th player in league history to reach 60 career at-bats!
Andy Smith – becomes 20th player in league history to reach 45 career runs batted in (46)!
Lainie Basman – becomes 19th player in league history to reach 80 career hits (81)!
Terrance Luscombe – currently tied for 9th place on the all time list with 7 career home runs!
Craig Fortier – see oddities below!
Joseph Bautista – becomes the 62nd player in league history to reach 40 career at-bats!
SUBS
David Ravensbergen – becomes 91st player in league history to reach 6 career hits!
ODDITIES
DOUBLE CENTURY
Rachel Small became only the 6th player in league history to reach the 200 at-bat plateau joining Craig Fortier, Ryan Hayes, Johann Juarez, LJ Robinson, and Jenny Chan in that exclusive club! While, Craig Fortier becomes the 1st player in league history to score 200 career runs!
CENTURY 21
Teams Yogi Acharya (101) and Darren Puscas (100) both achieve their 100th career hit in the same game becoming the 12th and 13th players respectively to do so.
MIRROR GAMES
Suzanne Narain has played two games for the Don River Valley Cats and has posted the exact same line: 2 hits in 3 at bats with 2 singles and a run scored!
FIFTY IS NIFTY
Teammates Kate Uffelman (51) and Niloofar Golkar (50) both achieve their 50th career hit in the same game becoming the 38th and 39th players respectively to do so!
LUCKY 7s POWER BALL 9s
Teammates Richard Peters and Andrew Norton hit their 9th career home runs in the same game tying them both for 7th on the all-time list!