Week One: April 1st- 6th
We’d have taken a 3-3 week before the season started, in fact probably bitten your hand off for it. In the end there were so many close games during the week though it could have ended up any score really. The ragtag bunch of starters for us on the mound actually had a good week, it was the bullpen for a change that was rocky and couldn’t hold games. Scoring 13 runs twice in six games was pleasing, but several of the Aviators hitters need to step their game up. A .077/.074/.115 triple slash line by Jim Gouzzie is not acceptable at any level. Luis Maldonado’s 4 hits in 26 AB’s isn’t a great start either, but at least he has his first homer of 2043 on the board.
Games 1, 2 & 3 vs Boise Spuds
4/1 vs Boise W 12-9 (39,982)
4/2 vs Boise L 3-5 (F/10) (34,819)
4/3 vs Boise L 0-3 (36,305)
Having finished 2042 with a three-game set at home vs Boise, we open 2043 with the same. A festival of homers won us the first game in the series (see viewtopic.php?f=93&t=34423 ) but that was all the joy for the opening series. A Duane Whitley Jr 2-run shot and a wild pitch tied the second game at 3-3 in the sixth. Both team’s went to sleep then and it was left to a 2-run homer in the top of the 10th by Spuds to settle the game. Jorge Rincon went 2-4 from the lead-off spot, scoring once while Rule 5 pick Damon Tipping made a reasonable BBA debut, going seven innings, giving up nine hits & a walk but only three runs. H also struck out his first five BBA batters. Wichita were out of steam in the series’ final game, A 3-run shot by Boise off another Rule 5 pick, Chet Dickinson, in the top of the first was the sum total of runs in the game. The rest of the game the two teams mustered just eight hits (six to Aviators. The Wichita middle infield pairing of Hedde Aalbers & Clive Timberlake had four of the Aviators six hits. Dickinson went on to pitch six further innings, all scoreless, but the damage was done in that first innings.
Games 4, 5 & 6 @ Las Vegas Hustlers
4/4 @ Las Vegas W 2-1
4/5 @ Las Vegas W 13-10
4/6 @ Las Vegas L 1-2
The opening game of the series at Las Vegas was another tight affair. Juan Hernandez driving in the game’s first run in the top of the second innings. In a rare good outing Jose Montoya pitched into the seventh, just giving up four hits, two walks and the game-tying run in the sixth. The game remained at 1-1 until the final innings, then Ernesto Ramirez’s first ever BBA homer with two out sealed Aviators second win of 2043. The second game was a second offensive barrage of the season for Wichita, Aviators outhitting the home side 17-14. This time though there was only one homer per side, both teams got going early with a total of five first innings hits leading to Hustlers leading 4-2 after one. They were still ahead 5-4 after three innings, but then came the vital moments for Wichita. In the top of the fourth two walks, an error and three hits allowed Aviators to plate five runs and another clump of hits in the fifth got two more runs home and moved the score onto 11-5 for Wichita. Las Vegas never recovered from that and the win eventually went to Abe Colbert Jr, his 43rd career win for Wichita, nine ahead of Hirotada Miura, now plying his trade as a closer in Mumbai’s AAA side. Whitley, Jr went 3-4 with a walk, he scored four times (tying the Aviators regular season record for runs scored in a game) and drove two in. Tony Alomar gave up a hit, a walk and a run in his two IP, but still collected his second save of 2043. The final game of the week, we still have to face Las Vegas one more time tomorrow, was a real disappointment. A walk and two singles got Clive Timberlake home for the game’s opening score in the second innings and a truly impressive performance by Mauro Flores going eight innings allowing just three hits and a walk. New-boy Luis Miguel Flores was given the responsibility of seeing the game out, but he couldn’t do it. Two hit batters and a wild pitch gave Hustlers two runners in scoring positions. A single then got the tying run home and the runner from second was thrown out at the plate trying to walk the game off. He needn’t have worried though as another wild pitch, an intentional walk and a single did the job and Hustlers got the 2-1 win.
Regular Season Standings April 6th
2043 Record v Johnson League
| Frontier | HW | HL | AW | AL | Atlantic | HW | HL | AW | AL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boise | 1 | 2 | - | - | Atlantic City | - | - | - | - |
| Calgary | - | - | - | - | Brooklyn | - | - | - | - |
| Edmonton | - | - | - | - | Charlotte | - | - | - | - |
| Las Vegas | - | - | 2 | 1 | Charm City | - | - | - | - |
| Mexico City | - | - | - | - | Jacksonville | - | - | - | - |
| Phoenix | - | - | - | - | Montreal | - | - | - | - |
| San Antonio | - | - | - | - | New Orleans | - | - | - | - |
| Wichita | X | X | X | X | Rockville | - | - | - | - |
| TOTALS | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | TOTALS | 0 | 0 | 0 |