TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL: Challengers Celebrate Arrival of Newest Club Member with Victory

With the birth of Timothy Jan Gordon (aka Big Time Timmy Jim) having occurred less than 24 hours before the first pitch of Game 1 between the Challengers and the Sissach Frogs, there were some that thought that his father would be out of the lineup. Nonsense, I say! Kids these days need to learn about responsibility from an early age, and in my mind, nothing says responsibility like making sure your name is in that starting lineup regardless of whether a kid was just extracted from your wife. And if you have to temporarily change your nickname from A-God to A-Dad), well, we all have to make sacrifices for our kids.

The last time the Challengers and Frogs met, the C's swept both games on the road. This time, the only thing that prevented the Challengers from pulling off another sweep was Mother Nature - Game 2 was postponed due to rain.

In the top of the first, Papa Gordon let it be known that the Frogs would be better off hitting the ball somewhere other than center, as he helped pitcher Nick Lehmann retire the lead-off batter with a sliding catch, the first of 5 putouts the new dad would record on the day. In the bottom of the inning, the Challengers got things going with a 2-out rally: Renzo Falcone doubled, Carlos Nepomuceno was hit by a pitch, and Oliver Bernet reached on an error to load the bases. Gordon and Lehmann drew consecutive walks, and then Michel Romang drove in Bernet with an RBI single (despite loud protestations from the bench, third-base coach Werner Zingg wisely held Gordon at third. No sense running into an out with such a wild pitcher on the mound). Zingg's caution paid off, as Ryan Koley drew a full-count walk, forcing in Gordon and making it 4-0 Challengers. That was it for the Frogs' starting pitcher, who was only able to go two-thirds of an inning. The Sissach reliever managed to avoid any further damage, but the C's were off to a good start.

The Frogs got one back in the top of the 2nd on a bloop double to right, a stolen base and a sacrifice fly, but the Challengers extended their lead in the bottom half: After Daiki Sato and Falcone both reached on errors, a Sac-Fly by Nepomuceno and a single by Bernet made it 6-1. Among the inning's highlights was Bernet's steal of second, which caused wide-spread confusion, not least on the part of Gordon, who was batting at the time and had not seen a steal sign given, and coach Rob Sedin, who had not actually given the steal sign. Nonetheless, Bernet appeared to believe that he had been given the steal sign, and that was apparently sufficient for him to go. Whatever, it worked - albeit with some help from a questionable call at second.

The Frogs threatened in the top of the third, putting a runner in scoring position with two outs. Sissach's 3 hitter laced a low liner to center that looked like trouble, but Gordon made a sliding back-handed grab to keep the Frogs off the board.

In the bottom of the inning, the C's blew the game open, with a 6-run outburst. Kurt Kovac hit a 2-run double to deep center to drive in Romang and Koley, and Sato followed with a single and steal to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. After Falcone fouled out, Bernet also hit a high pop-fly towards the pitcher, yelling curses in Spanish as he ran towards first. The obscenities must've helped, because the pitcher flubbed the play, once against loading the bases for Gordon. A four-pitch walk forced in Sato, and led to this exchange:

Me (in reference to embarrassing strikeout in previous at-bat): “Hey Rob...the only time they can get me out is when I swing!
Rob: “Yeah true...maybe you should just leave the bat in the dugout?”
Me (thinking): “You might be on to something there.”

With the bases still loaded, Lehmann grounded back to the pitcher, who threw home to force out Nepomuceno. However, the catcher's return throw to first for the attempted double play went wildly offline, allowing Lehmann to reach safely and both Bernet and Gordon to score.

Holding a 12-1 lead at the start of the 4th inning, Sedin figured he could afford to save Lehmann from a bit of wear and tear by going to the bullpen. With that in mind, Lehmann was sent to right and Wascar Garcia headed to the hill. At first the plan seemed to work: Garcia K'ed the first batter with a sick curve followed by a blistering heater. After that, however, things didn't work out quite so well: Four straight walks and a HBP later, 2 runs were in, the bases were loaded, and Lehmann was back on the mound. After an RBI groundout and a throwing error, the score was 12-5, and I was already thinking about the various adjectives I would use to describe Sedin's decision to switch pitchers so early. The Frogs managed one more run before Lehmann could get the third out, and with the score 12-6, it was once again a relatively competitive game.

Before his team took their turn at bat in the bottom of the 4th, Sedin called the Challengers together in front of the dugout: Ok guys, that inning was my fault. But we put up 6 runs before, and we can easily put up 6 runs again. As someone who comes from a profession where bosses NEVER take responsibility for decisions that didn't work out, I have to say I was impressed -more stunned really, but still impressed. Thus inspired, the C's tacked on 2 more runs to draw a bit of the sting out of the top half of the 4th. Kovac hit a booming one-out triple, and scored on a single by Sato. After Sato was caught stealing, Falcone continued his hot-streak at the plate with a single and then moved to third on an errant pick-off attempt. Nepomuceno's single brought Falcone around from third, before Carlos was caught stealing second to end the inning.

The score remained 14-6 through the 5th, but the Frogs threatened in the top of the 6th: With one out, Kovac committed an error at short. Following a steal of second, the Frogs proceeded to go double, triple, single, single against Lehmann to cut the lead to 5, and 14-9. The Frogs caught a break when, on a ball hit to third, Falcone had the ball knocked out of his glove while attempting to tag the runner. With the bases loaded, and butt cheeks beginning to clench tightly across the Challengers' defense, Lehmann stepped up with a big time strike out before getting the next batter to fly out to center (no sliding this time) to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 6th, the Challengers added two insurance runs but could've had a lot more. After Kovac lined out sharply to center, Sato, Falcone and Nepomuceno all reached base on a walk and two singles. I was particularly pleased to see this one-out rally, as I wanted one more chance at a hit that I could tell my new son about (in my previous at-bat, the Frogs' baby-hating left-fielder somehow managed to snare my lined shot to left. Prick.). Now RBIs are RBIs, and I'll take them as I can get them, but it'd be nice to get one via an actual hit as opposed to cashing in on the incompetent pitching of one's opponent. With heroic visions dancing in my head, Sato decided to interject himself into my private drama: Apparently having picked up the sign from Nepomuceno - who was standing on second base and, you know ISN'T THE GUY ON THE TEAM WHO GIVES SIGNS!!! - that a suicide squeeze had been called, Sato broke for home, and was promptly nailed after a short rally (Falcone and Nepomuceno were able to advance). Now batting with two outs, Bernet tapped a ground ball to short, as I slammed my bat to the ground in disgust...but wait! A fielding error allowed Bernet to reach safely and Falcone to score, thus keeping the dream alive. Two pitches later, Nepomuceno scampered home on a wild pitch, and it was 16-9. Naturally, I took advantage of this gift opportunity by mightily...grounding out to the pitcher - and a pitcher who threw about as hard as my grandmother, no less. Damn it all.

The Frogs tacked on 2 runs in the top of the 7th to draw within 5, but that was as close as they would get. Left-fielder Romang made a key sliding grab with one out and runners on second and third to help preserve the lead, adding that great play to his 2-hit day. After Lehmann got the next batter to ground back to the mound, that was all she wrote (Lehmann opted to run the ball all the way to first himself...better safe than sorry I guess). The second game was rained out, but I like our chances for the season sweep if it gets rescheduled.