TWO EXPLOSIVE WEEKENDS, ONE UNDER THE BLOOD MOON ECLIPSE
The weather was perfect for the opening two weeks of the fifth 2022 Field of Dreamers season! In celebration of the fifth season, Jim from Logo Magik, our jersey supplier, added some touches and flourishes to our jerseys including gold numbers on the back, team names, and a 2022 commemorative logo on the front.
In the opening game of Week 1, both the Credit River Cosmonauts and the Don River Goin’ Goin’ Dons! hoped to defy gravity. While in the evening matchup, the Garrison Creek Gamma Rays hoped to shoot lazers all over the field as the Humber River squad searched for their true identity!
In Week 2, the Credit River Cosmonauts welcomed the defending champion Moulin Rouge River Riff Raff to the international space station we call SkyDome to bring them into the 2022 season, while the evening matchup pitted the Don River Goin’ Goin’ Dons! against the green goblin Garrison Creek Gamma Rays!
If you wanna know the results…
READ MORE TO FIND OUT!
WEEK 1 – GAME 1 – CREDIT RIVER COSMONAUTS @ DON RIVER GOIN’ GOIN’ DONS!
As the Field of Dreamers got set to begin their first full season since 2019, the deep blues and purples of the Credit and Don River teams graced the field of play in unison. The opening ceremonies re-centered the players on the values, principles, and relationships that were central to the league and then – the hearty roar of “Let’s Make Baseball!” announced to all who would listen that it was time to reach new heights! And what a perfect matchup to achieve this goal than the Cosmonauts vs. the Goin’ Goin’ Dons!, two teams constructed with the soul purpose of interstellar travel!
The first game of the season did not disappoint, with excellent commentary by Garrison Creek legends Andy Smith & LJ Robinson and the lovely play-by-play by the Rouge River fashionista Fianna Dirks! The game was filled with exciting hits and great running and by the bottom of the 4th inning with the Cosmonauts trying to keep ahead in the space race with a 15-14 lead, Krysta Williams stepped up to the plate with runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs.
Krysta, making her triumphant return to a dreamers lineup after since 2019, focused in and then shot a hot beam that was definitely goin’ goin’ don! Splitting the outfielders, Krysta raced around the bases with a game winning triple!! Oh the places we’ll go!
In the first week’s matchup, Don River celebrated a come from behind last at-bat victory!
Final Score: Credit River 15 Don River 16
WEEK 1 – GAME 2 – GARRISON CREEK GAMMA RAYS @ HUMBER RIVER TBAs
The evening matchup pitted a team that was at the precipice of the electromagnetic spectrum, the Garrison Creek Gamma Rays, against a team that was certainly familiar with the uncertainty principle (the logo of Field of Dreamer’s predecessor team, the Uncertainty!).
The play-by-play and walk up songs were provided by Jenny Chan and Craig Fortier from Credit River – and the teams got off to an exhilarating start. Trading back and forth runs thanks to some long balls from Kirsten Dick and Andy Smith – and excellent play by Humber River – the teams tangled back and forth until once again the game came to a crescendo. Two outs, with Garrison Creek leading Humber by a score of 14-13 in the bottom of the final inning.
With a runner on base, up stepped the hard hitting Terrance Luscombe, motivated by a new “SPORTS” walk up song! And Terrance delivered a BIG BLOW with a game winning home run that saw the Gamma Rays cut short, ironically, by a lazer!
Final Score: Garrison Creek 14 Humber River 15
WEEK 2 – GAME 1 – MOULIN ROUGE RIVER RIFF RAFF @ CREDIT RIVER COSMONAUTS
In the opening game for the defending champion Moulin Rouge River Riff Raff(winners of 3 out of 4 league titles!) we were treated to a defensive masterpiece. Both the Cosmonauts and Riff Raff absolutely sucked up balls with the force of a collapsing white dwarf star before it becomes a black hole!
Unable to break through the atmosphere, Rouge and Credit traded 0s and 1s until late in the game when finally the defending champs broke the score open with a five run 5th inning thanks to some excellent hits by Leah Silverman, rookie Claudia Vergara, and “papa” Stu Schussler! The game going into the final at bat stood at 8-3. The scrappy cosmonauts would not give up. Armed with some duct tape, bobbins, and a couple oxygen tanks, they tried to plug up the leaks and then take the lead. Jenni and Jenny started the final inning off with laced singles and then Annelies Cooper plunked a ball into the gap to score 1. It was 8-4. Then Craig Fortier hit a ball sharply that resulted in a fielder’s choice, but another run scoring. It was 8-5. Lead off hitter, Jill Aoki plunked a single and then rookie Kat Kleine’s hit brought in two more runs and it was 8-7 before the rally ended.
Final Score: Rouge River 8 Credit River 7
WEEK 2 – GAME 2 – GARRISON CREEK GAMMA RAYS @ DON RIVER GOIN’ GOIN’ DONS!
The evening matchup, the full blood moon eclipse game, saw the Gamma Rays try to benefit from the alignment of the cosmos while the GGDs were looking to just hit dingers and have a good time. Both teams did what they came out to do with a combined 41 runs scored in one of the highest scoring games in Field of Dreamers history!
A back and forth of hits, Garrison and Don seemed to be stretching the limits of possibilities of consecutive mercy 5 run innings bouncing back and forth with homers from Andy Smith, Kirsten Dick, Phill Morgan, and Gita Madan! Birthday Dreamer, TG Wong’s 4/5 night filled the stands with glee and MJ Rwigema’s pitching helped to provide a fantastic offensive burst.
By the fifth inning the score was tied 15-15 and the Gamma Rays successfully went up 19-15 on hits by Yassi, Yasmeen, Victoria, Ruthie, and Nat! But a big blast off the bat of Kirsten Dick sent the GCGR into the bottom of the 5th holding a 20-15 lead. But Don River never stops goin’ goin and they did their best Buck Martinez impressions willing themselves to “get up ball, get up!” and plunked hit after hit until the score was 20-20. But the home runs weren’t going to land forever thanks to some last minute defensive gems from the Gamma Rays to come away with the victory.
Final Score: Garrison Creek 20 Don River 20
See the game box scores here
See player stats here
See league standings here
MILESTONES
Credit River
Craig Fortier – becomes 1st player in league history to reach 400 career hits (403)!
Annelies Cooper – becomes 21st player in league history to reach 70 career RBIs!
Sebastien Higgins – see firsts below!
Jenni Klonteig – ranks T-76th in career doubles with 2!
Devin Clancy – becomes 6th player in league history to reach 300 career at-bats (301)!
Robyn Letson – ranks 21st on the all-time list with 121 career hits!
Jenny Chan – ties Ryan Hayes for 1st place on the all time list with 198 career singles!
Rhiannon Cobb – becomes 103rd player in league history to reach 10 runs scored!
Rachele Clemente– becomes 28th player in league history to reach 100 career hits (103)!
Jill Aoki – becomes 38th player in league history to score 40 career runs!
Kat Kleine – see firsts below!
Don River
Phill Morgan – currently ranks 7th on the all-time list with 14 career home runs!
Laura Shepherd – currently tied for 46th on the all-time list with 6 career doubles!
TG Wong – currently tied for 71st on the all-time list with 17 career runs scored!
Tamara Daley- currently tied for 26th on the all-time list with 3 career triples!
MJ Rwigema – currently tied for 110th on the all-time list with 14 career hits!
Michelle Kidd- becomes 75th player in league history to reach 30 career hits!
Laura “Pony” Windhorst – see firsts below!
Gita Madan – currently tied for 24th on the all-time list with 2 career home runs!
Krysta Williams – becomes the 61st player in league history to hit a triple!
Kaela Sanborn-Hum – see firsts below!
Jenn Ma – becomes 113th player in league history to reach 25 career at-bats!
Humber River
Terrance Luscombe – becomes 7th player in league history to reach 120 career RBIs!
Nicole Bond- becomes 86th player in league history to reach 40 career at-bats!
Tyler Watts – see firsts below!
Sarah Weinberger – becomes 52nd player in league history to reach 40 career singles (41)!
Brittany Beaton – becomes 107th player in league history to reach 28 career at-bats!
Logan Bodera – see firsts below!
Syl Aucoin – see firsts below!
Rouge River
Fianna Dirks – currently tied for 22nd on the all-time list with 4 career triples!
Stuart Schussler – becomes the 11th player in league history to reach 30 career doubles (31)!
Oskar Eliashevsky – becomes 60th player in league history to reach 74 career at-bats!
Leah Silverman – becomes 82nd player in league history to reach 27 career hits!
Claudia Calabro – becomes 144th player in league history to reach 13 career at-bats!
Shannon Dunham – becomes 134th player in league history to reach 10 career hits!
Molly Fremes – becomes 109th player in league history to reach 15 career hits!
Claudia Vergara – see firsts below!
Ted Steenburgh – see firsts below!
Garrison Creek
Rachel Small – becomes 59th player in league history to hit a triple!
Andy Smith – currently tied for 9th on the all-time list with 11 career home runs!
Victoria Barnett – becomes 33rd player in league history to reach 80 career hits (81)!
Nat Saavedra – ranks 27th on the all-time list with 108 career hits!
Kirsten Dick – currently tied for 24th on the all-time list with 2 career home runs!
LJ Robinson – becomes 7th player in league history to reach 200 career hits (201)!
Yasmeen Peer – becomes 139th player in league history to reach 14 career at-bats!
Lainie Basman – currently tied for 17th on the all-time list with 129 career hits!
Gab Laurence – see firsts below!
Soren D’Alimonte – see firsts below!
Ruthie Titus – see firsts below!
Chris Yates – see firsts below!
Yassi Aghazadeh – see firsts below!
SUBS
Joseph Bautista – currently tied for 17th on the all-time list with 23 career doubles!
FIRSTS
Field of Dreamers has now welcomed 207 players to the plate over the course of our history – the following players represent our newest additions:
Sebastien Higgins, Kat Kleine (Credit River)
Laura Windhorst, Kaela Sanborn-Hum (Don River)
Syl Aucoin, Logan Bodera, Tyler Watts (Humber River)
Ted Steenburgh, Claudia Vergara (Rouge River)
Ruthie Titus, Soren D’Alimonte, Gab Laurence, Chris Yates (Garrison Creek)