THE JUNE 17th SWEATY HOT MESS…
Under a hot night sky where the humidity felt like a giant leaning on the shoulders of each and every player on the diamond, the Dreamers played a couple spirited affairs with each team short-handed! The Rouge River Blush squared off against the Don River Valley Cats for a rematch of the early season blowout. Maybe the Blush were born with it and provided the kiss of the death once again to the urban felines! Or maybe the Valley Cats went on the prowl and broke the Blush’s heart! Meanwhile, the Credit River Comrades delegated a set of players to perform their duties against the Humber River Humdingers….Would the Humdingers be the first to name that tune against the Comrades or would the Credit River squad perform the radical solidarity necessary to block out the earworms thrown their way by Humber?
Well friends, you’ll have to read further to find out!
DON RIVER VALLEY CATS vs. ROUGE RIVER BLUSH
With the sun blazing in the sky, the Blush came to the field ready to strut their stuff, and the Valley Cats set out to prove they had nine lives. Both demonstrated their commitment to abolishing borders, taking on half a dozen subs between them, all of whom helped keep the dream alive. The Valley Cats came out hissing, and an acrobatic catch by feline Phillip Morgan and purrfect base hits by Katie German and Amina Mohamed, the super sub, gave the Cats an early lead. The Blush didn’t let themselves get red in the face though, with Terrence Luscombe landing Sephora big hits and Merle Davis Revloning in defense at second base. Despite some MAC-nificient plays by the Blush, the Valley Cats’ early lead held out. As the sun went down, the Cats showed their claws, (scratching) posting a resounding 17-3 victory (Andrew Stokes, Don River Valley Cats).
CREDIT RIVER COMRADES vs. HUMBER RIVER HUMDINGERS
This recap begins with a brief journey into the deep world of etymonline.com as we search for words to describe the flawless start to the Credit River season:
comrade (n.)
1590s, “one who shares the same room,” hence “a close companion,” from Middle French camarade (16c.), from Spanish camarada “chamber mate,” or Italian camerata “a partner,” from Latin camera “vaulted room,
chamber” (see camera). In Spanish, a collective noun referring to one’s company. In 17c., sometimes jocularly misspelled comrogue. Used from 1884 by socialists and communists as a prefix to a surname to avoid “Mister” and “Missus” other such titles. Related: Comradely; comradeship.
And thus, on a sweltering Sunday where sharing a room with one’s close companion feels extra sweaty, the Comrades jumped out to an early lead on the sing-song lovelies known as the Humdingers. Though the Humdingers fell behind early they refused to lose the rhythm and kept humming all night long. Despite the tempo set by the Chamber Mates, the Humdingers buzzed up and down pulling even with a beautiful 7 run inning and playing defence like they were stepping on the piano keys from the movie Big,with solid play up the middle by Annelies and Rachel, and textbook relays from the chorus line in the outfield. The game stayed close until the close companions opened the door in the west end battle and strengthened their bonds through the amazing hitting feats of Peter Demakos who led the game with a home run, 4 runs scored, and six runs batted in. The Credit River buddy-movie continues as they take a 21-16 win to the vaulted room (with field notes from Colin Hastings, Humber River Humdingers).
See the game box scores here
See player stats here
See league standings here
MILESTONES
Credit River
Gita Madan becomes the 31st player in league history to reach 50 career hits (up 1 spot!)
Peter Demakos becomes 15th player in league history to reach 5 career home runs (up 3 spots!)
Robyn Letson ranks 14th all time with 64 career singles (up 1 spot!)
Ness Dixon becomes 34th player in league history to reach 5 career doubles (up 8 spots!)
Johann Juarez becomes 3rd player in league history to reach 130 runs scored!
Darren Puscas becomes 7th player in league history to reach 80 career RBIs (81)!
Karl Gardner currently tied for 4th all time with 127 hits (up 2 spots!)
Don River
Katie German becomes 38th player in league history to reach 75 career at-bats (up 1 spot!)
Andrew Stokes becomes 28th player in league history to reach 90 career at-bats (up 1 spot!)
Stuart Schussler currently ranks 17th all time with 13 career doubles (up 2 spots!)
Phill Morgan – first official extra base hits with 2 doubles
Andrew Norton – becomes 29th player in league history to reach 50 career hits (52)!
Humber River
Robin Smilie – becomes 31st player in league history to reach 40 career singles (41)!
Alex Brant – ranks 32nd all time with 78 career at-bats (up 6 spots!)
Ryan Hayes becomes 1st player in league history to reach 140 career singles!
Jo Jefferson becomes 16th player in league history to reach 80 career hits!
Annelies Cooper currently ranks 7th all-time with 83 career singles!
Devin Clancy currently ranks 14th all-time with 17 career doubles!
Rachel Small becomes 4th player in league history to reach 11 career hits!
Colin Hastings becomes 7th player in league history to reach 120 career hits!
Rouge River
Sarah Weinberger currently tied for 78th all time with 14 career at-bats!
Noah Adams currently ranks 28th all time with 31 career runs batted in!
Merle Davis becomes 20th player all time to reach 70 career hits (71)!
TH Vega ranks 67th all time with 16 career hits!
Terrance Luscombe becomes 13th player in league history to reach 140 career at-bats!
SUBS
Joseph Bautista becomes one of only a handful of players to take an at-bat with the Insurgency, the Autonomous Baseball League, and the Field of Dreamers!
Luke Fox becomes the 95th player in league history to record 8 at-bats!
Viva Rae Davis Matthews becomes 87th player in league history to record 10 at-bats!
Amina Mohamed becomes the 65th player in league history to record at least 2 career doubles!
ODDITIES
AN ALMOST CYCLE
Phillip Morgan’s (DON RIVER) first game started with a single, double, triple, and then another single and despite this feat Phill’s first game did not get recorded in the books and so the rookie is still in search of a first extra base hit!
Strange But True
Through their first 77 at-bats Janine Caster (DON RIVER) and Karen Campbell (HUMBER RIVER) have been mirror images:
Janine Caster 77AB 46HITS 44SINGLES 2DOUBLES
Karen Campbell 77AB 46HITS 44SINGLES 2DOUBLES
At this point in their career, Alex Brant (HUMBER RIVER) and Robin Smillie (HUMBER RIVER) have posted nearly the exact same batting line:
Alex Brant 74AB 40HITS 39SINGLES 1DOUBLES
Robin Smillie 73AB 40HITS 38SINGLES 2DOUBLES