Cobras, Vandals, Bandits all 'scoop' up wins
Opening weekend is in the books for the VLB and it featured a Saturday single in a bitter wind and a Sunday double dip with a double dump.
The VLB opener was played at the Black Hawks diamond and featured the classic King Cobras versus Meteors match-up. Coach Lance McCafferty picked up a 27-19 win on a cold, windy day.
In Sunday's double header, Kiel Engstrom's Vandals pick up their first win of the season over the Meteors 9-5. The Vandals led the whole way.
Then there's rookie captain Jon Escajeda and his trusty pal "Wrigley" the Siberian Huskie. The Eskimos mascot couldn't provide enough luck toward a win over the River Bandits, but he did manage to take an unprecedented pair of dumps in the dugout. The River Bandits won the game 13-10.
RECAP
A mystery pick paid dividends for McCafferty's King Cobras. Alfredo Tovar, playing in his first VLB game, has all the fixings of a "One Game Wonder" award winner if he quits right now.
Tovar went 4 for 7, racking up a pair of doubles, a seventh inning home-run and eight RBI. The Meteors led 19-15 after 6 1/2 innings. The bottom of the seventh was the final straw. Ten runs came around for the King Cobras. Jeff Darras, fresh off his rehab for a dislocated right shoulder, also homered into someone's backyard in right field.
Things were looking up to start the game for Matt Veto and the Meteors. Josh Paul hit his first home-run of his career and finished the game with a 5 for 8 performance including 5 RBI. Bobby Carter slammed two home-runs and racked up 6 RBI. But McCafferty helped himself with a 5 for 6 day, scoring every time he was on base. Darras slammed the door from the mound disallowing a single run over 3 innings.
After the game, Scott Ellefritz brought up a possible post game trip to Fazoli's with amazing attendance. Five VLBers jumped at Ellefritz's "Anybody want to go to Fazoli's" genius sales pitch. Ellefritz ordered the chicken parmesan saying "It's absolutely the most delicious thing on the menu." The players ate several breadsticks and Jeff Kilgard enjoyed his pasta during the first of many weird occurrences on opening weekend.
Game one of the Sunday double header ended in a low scoring, defensively solid 9-5 Vandals win. Craig Fyfe was 4 for 7 for the Vandals, doubling three times and scoring 3 runs.
In game two, the River Bandits scored all their runs after the 3rd inning. The final was 13-10. Escajeda's Eskimos looked for a moment that they picked up a big mistake as Brett Carlson was overlooked in the pregame selection. Carlson had 3 RBI and a home-run. However, Jesus Apodaca tore up the base paths in the lead off role for the River Bandits going 5 for 6 with three doubles and 4 RBI. Kiel Engstrom followed up Jesus with a 4 for 7 performance and 4 RBI. Steve Roberts hit a line drive home-run over the Saukie wall in left. Ryan Holtmann also had an impressive performance after 2 1/2 years of absence as he went 4 for 6 with 3 key runs scored on the day.
As far as the line on Wrigley, 2 dumps, 2 pees, 10 times tangled in his leash, 1 time stepped in own poo, no earned runs.
Opening weekend is in the books for the VLB and it featured a Saturday single in a bitter wind and a Sunday double dip with a double dump.
The VLB opener was played at the Black Hawks diamond and featured the classic King Cobras versus Meteors match-up. Coach Lance McCafferty picked up a 27-19 win on a cold, windy day.
In Sunday's double header, Kiel Engstrom's Vandals pick up their first win of the season over the Meteors 9-5. The Vandals led the whole way.
Then there's rookie captain Jon Escajeda and his trusty pal "Wrigley" the Siberian Huskie. The Eskimos mascot couldn't provide enough luck toward a win over the River Bandits, but he did manage to take an unprecedented pair of dumps in the dugout. The River Bandits won the game 13-10.
RECAP
A mystery pick paid dividends for McCafferty's King Cobras. Alfredo Tovar, playing in his first VLB game, has all the fixings of a "One Game Wonder" award winner if he quits right now.
Tovar went 4 for 7, racking up a pair of doubles, a seventh inning home-run and eight RBI. The Meteors led 19-15 after 6 1/2 innings. The bottom of the seventh was the final straw. Ten runs came around for the King Cobras. Jeff Darras, fresh off his rehab for a dislocated right shoulder, also homered into someone's backyard in right field.
Things were looking up to start the game for Matt Veto and the Meteors. Josh Paul hit his first home-run of his career and finished the game with a 5 for 8 performance including 5 RBI. Bobby Carter slammed two home-runs and racked up 6 RBI. But McCafferty helped himself with a 5 for 6 day, scoring every time he was on base. Darras slammed the door from the mound disallowing a single run over 3 innings.
After the game, Scott Ellefritz brought up a possible post game trip to Fazoli's with amazing attendance. Five VLBers jumped at Ellefritz's "Anybody want to go to Fazoli's" genius sales pitch. Ellefritz ordered the chicken parmesan saying "It's absolutely the most delicious thing on the menu." The players ate several breadsticks and Jeff Kilgard enjoyed his pasta during the first of many weird occurrences on opening weekend.
Game one of the Sunday double header ended in a low scoring, defensively solid 9-5 Vandals win. Craig Fyfe was 4 for 7 for the Vandals, doubling three times and scoring 3 runs.
In game two, the River Bandits scored all their runs after the 3rd inning. The final was 13-10. Escajeda's Eskimos looked for a moment that they picked up a big mistake as Brett Carlson was overlooked in the pregame selection. Carlson had 3 RBI and a home-run. However, Jesus Apodaca tore up the base paths in the lead off role for the River Bandits going 5 for 6 with three doubles and 4 RBI. Kiel Engstrom followed up Jesus with a 4 for 7 performance and 4 RBI. Steve Roberts hit a line drive home-run over the Saukie wall in left. Ryan Holtmann also had an impressive performance after 2 1/2 years of absence as he went 4 for 6 with 3 key runs scored on the day.
As far as the line on Wrigley, 2 dumps, 2 pees, 10 times tangled in his leash, 1 time stepped in own poo, no earned runs.