With his pants half on over his sliding shorts, a panicked Matt Veto feverishly pounded the number keys on his cell phone. Another hopeful opening day at Saukie was going by the wayside.
However, with luck on the side of the VLB the majority, if not all, of the members made their way to Moline High School's sophomore diamond in decent time.
"Nothing can be easy," Veto said. "It seems like we're opening up at a new field every year."
Despite the early panic, the day proved more fruitful than anticipated. A league-record 26 people, five for their first time played in a pair of seven-inning contests.
Veto captained the home-team Meteors to a 16-14 victory over Jon Escajeda's Eskimos kicking off play in the Saukie Division and the new Baseball Furies and coach Bob Zerull pulled off a come-from-behind win over Jeff Kilgard's SNK Crushers in the Black Hawk Division.
In game one, it took a while to drudge up defensive skills. The Meteors and Eskimos combined for 24 runs in two innings before learning how to play again. Only seven runs were scored the rest of the way.
The Eskimos threatened a 14-11 Meteor lead in the top of the sixth.
With two runs in and only one out, Josh Francque dropped in a looping liner in front of right fielder Ian Leatherman. Hustling to the ball, Leatherman picked and chucked to first baseman John Robbins. The ball was in time to beat a dismayed Josh Francque and dismayed he should be.
Meanwhile, VLB rookie Amos Whiting tore to the plate, but a good throw from Robbins to catcher Bob Zerull cut down the tying run and completed an unprecedented 9-3-2 double play.
"Woopow!" Leatherman said. "See? It doesn't matter where I play."
Leatherman went on to be the first strikeout victim of the year to which he exclaimed "Siyoot!"
The Eskimos managed to tie the game at 14 in the top of the six, but Veto's crew responded with three in the bottom of the inning to seal the first victory of the year.
"It was an outstanding display of mediocrity," Veto said.
Eskimo John Kelley had six RBI in his first game, but picked up a loss. Zerull pounded two screaming infield hits and a double to plate five runs.
The battle of the newcomer captains highlighted game two. Coach Zerull is expected to be the early favorite as the common first pick now heads up the Baseball Furies. Coach Kilgard might have been better off calling the World Powers or American Dreams. Instead, he is stuck with the less-than talented SNK Crushers.
Despite the team name, Kilgard's crew kept the Furies on their heels sending meatball tosser Mitch Heckenkamp to the hill. Zerull countered with Heckenkamp's arch poker rival Brett Carlson.
In the top of the fourth, the Crushers had a 4-3 lead, and Kilgard made the surprising move of becoming the first to use the new intentional walk rule on Zerull with a runner on first and one out.
The move did not pay off as the Furies scored twice in the inning for a 5-4 advantage.
Scoring was at a premium through five innings. Tied at five, the Crushers put on the pressure in the bottom of the sixth. With the bases full, Ryan Barton shouted "There it is!" as he muscled up for the first homer and the first grand slam of the year. They added one more for a 10-5 lead.
With the bottom of the order due up for the Furies, the chance of a comeback looked bleak. However, Kilgard came in to close and was a welcomed sight to the Furies--sorta like Roberto Novoa must be for National League hitters.
Carlson quickly made the first out. Joe Escajeda kept things alive with a hit and Josh Kallman reached on an error. Chris Polton, Francque and Veto kept the merry-go-round whirling long enough for Zerull to break free from the shackles of what could be considered a hitting slump for the superstar. Zerull's three-run shot onto the softball diamond gave the Furies a one-run lead. With a total of eight runs in the inning, Zerull's crew completed the comeback.
Kallman also hit his first home-run of the year. Josh Smith was 3-5 for the Furies and Kelley, Jon Escajeda and Barton went a combined 9-12 for the Crushers with 9 RBI.
However, with luck on the side of the VLB the majority, if not all, of the members made their way to Moline High School's sophomore diamond in decent time.
"Nothing can be easy," Veto said. "It seems like we're opening up at a new field every year."
Despite the early panic, the day proved more fruitful than anticipated. A league-record 26 people, five for their first time played in a pair of seven-inning contests.
Veto captained the home-team Meteors to a 16-14 victory over Jon Escajeda's Eskimos kicking off play in the Saukie Division and the new Baseball Furies and coach Bob Zerull pulled off a come-from-behind win over Jeff Kilgard's SNK Crushers in the Black Hawk Division.
In game one, it took a while to drudge up defensive skills. The Meteors and Eskimos combined for 24 runs in two innings before learning how to play again. Only seven runs were scored the rest of the way.
The Eskimos threatened a 14-11 Meteor lead in the top of the sixth.
With two runs in and only one out, Josh Francque dropped in a looping liner in front of right fielder Ian Leatherman. Hustling to the ball, Leatherman picked and chucked to first baseman John Robbins. The ball was in time to beat a dismayed Josh Francque and dismayed he should be.
Meanwhile, VLB rookie Amos Whiting tore to the plate, but a good throw from Robbins to catcher Bob Zerull cut down the tying run and completed an unprecedented 9-3-2 double play.
"Woopow!" Leatherman said. "See? It doesn't matter where I play."
Leatherman went on to be the first strikeout victim of the year to which he exclaimed "Siyoot!"
The Eskimos managed to tie the game at 14 in the top of the six, but Veto's crew responded with three in the bottom of the inning to seal the first victory of the year.
"It was an outstanding display of mediocrity," Veto said.
Eskimo John Kelley had six RBI in his first game, but picked up a loss. Zerull pounded two screaming infield hits and a double to plate five runs.
The battle of the newcomer captains highlighted game two. Coach Zerull is expected to be the early favorite as the common first pick now heads up the Baseball Furies. Coach Kilgard might have been better off calling the World Powers or American Dreams. Instead, he is stuck with the less-than talented SNK Crushers.
Despite the team name, Kilgard's crew kept the Furies on their heels sending meatball tosser Mitch Heckenkamp to the hill. Zerull countered with Heckenkamp's arch poker rival Brett Carlson.
In the top of the fourth, the Crushers had a 4-3 lead, and Kilgard made the surprising move of becoming the first to use the new intentional walk rule on Zerull with a runner on first and one out.
The move did not pay off as the Furies scored twice in the inning for a 5-4 advantage.
Scoring was at a premium through five innings. Tied at five, the Crushers put on the pressure in the bottom of the sixth. With the bases full, Ryan Barton shouted "There it is!" as he muscled up for the first homer and the first grand slam of the year. They added one more for a 10-5 lead.
With the bottom of the order due up for the Furies, the chance of a comeback looked bleak. However, Kilgard came in to close and was a welcomed sight to the Furies--sorta like Roberto Novoa must be for National League hitters.
Carlson quickly made the first out. Joe Escajeda kept things alive with a hit and Josh Kallman reached on an error. Chris Polton, Francque and Veto kept the merry-go-round whirling long enough for Zerull to break free from the shackles of what could be considered a hitting slump for the superstar. Zerull's three-run shot onto the softball diamond gave the Furies a one-run lead. With a total of eight runs in the inning, Zerull's crew completed the comeback.
Kallman also hit his first home-run of the year. Josh Smith was 3-5 for the Furies and Kelley, Jon Escajeda and Barton went a combined 9-12 for the Crushers with 9 RBI.
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