Saukie Field. Where it all began in 1998. The place eye popping records were set never to be broken. Home to Josh Lawhorn's six homers in one game. The place where Bob Zerull blasted 30 homeruns. Where Ashley Engstrom set the record for RBI in a game (18). And the stage where 69 cumulative runs were scored between the Meteors and Heart Breakers.
Veto League Baseball tries to make a return to their "home" field once a season, after the Junior Rocks conclude their season but before the outfield fence is removed for football season. That day for 2025 came on the heels of the 4th of July. And there were no shortage of fireworks set off by VLB players on July 5th. Combined with the return to the Quad Cities of VLB Commissioner Matt Veto made for a wild Saturday.
The first game featured another great turnout (a theme to 2025) with 24 total players to include three debuts (1,003 in history) and six players who hadn't yet played in 2025. Matt Veto made his return to the diamond and brought along older brother Jim Veto along with a plethora of fans. Game one featured the Bombers and Dilly Diggs. The game was back-and-forth with 2024 MVP Noah Harrison leading the way, coming a double short of the cycle and driving in five of the Diggs' 11 RBIs.
The heel of the game wasn't on either team, but the Rock Island Parks & Rec, who failed to trim any of the trees overhanging the left field porch. In the fifth inning, veteran Nick Swanson lined a shot to left. The ball caromed off the left field fence, but there was a debate if the ball would have been a homerun had it not been for the greenery knocking it down. The left fielder, Nick's own son, Austen, said he wasn't sure if the ball was over the fence because, "The leaves were in my face." The ruling was a double for Swanson, who would get stranded on third base that inning. This run would be detrimental as the Dilly Diggs took the game 11-10 over the Bombers. The Dilly Diggs are now riding an 8-game winning streak. Josh Paul played groundskeeper for an inning, breaking off a number of these pesky branches in an attempt to keep this was happening again.
Game two was when the fireworks started blasting. And right off the get go, as the visiting Katanas (Kyle Kent) plated five in the top half, assisted by an Anthony Sandoval homerun off the left field foul pole. However, the home team Heavy Hitters (Mason Overmire) more than batted around in the order in the bottom half of the first to score 12 runs. The Hitters would actually bat around in the first three innings and had a 25-13 lead after just three frames. The Katanas fought back in the 4th, scoring nine runs and batting around in the order themselves. However, Noah Harrison was too much power for the Katanas as he had the first four homerun game in over 10 years. The Katanas had a walk-off homer winner by Mason Overmire to secure a mercy rule shortened 10-run forfeit victory 32-22 in five innings.
Fireworks for the second game were provided by Noah Harrison's perfect 6-for-6 with 11 RBIs, still seven short of Ashley Engstrom's whopping 18 RBI record set in 2002 (including five homeruns). Harrison had six extra base hits with four homeruns and two doubles. Overmire and Andrew Schubert each had five runs scored. The losing team was lead by Sandoval's first two homeruns of the season and seven RBI.
Eight total homeruns were crushed, including Branden Bollman's first. The game had a total of 20 extra base hits in the five innings. The 54 total runs is the most in recent memory.
Veto League Baseball tries to make a return to their "home" field once a season, after the Junior Rocks conclude their season but before the outfield fence is removed for football season. That day for 2025 came on the heels of the 4th of July. And there were no shortage of fireworks set off by VLB players on July 5th. Combined with the return to the Quad Cities of VLB Commissioner Matt Veto made for a wild Saturday.
The first game featured another great turnout (a theme to 2025) with 24 total players to include three debuts (1,003 in history) and six players who hadn't yet played in 2025. Matt Veto made his return to the diamond and brought along older brother Jim Veto along with a plethora of fans. Game one featured the Bombers and Dilly Diggs. The game was back-and-forth with 2024 MVP Noah Harrison leading the way, coming a double short of the cycle and driving in five of the Diggs' 11 RBIs.
The heel of the game wasn't on either team, but the Rock Island Parks & Rec, who failed to trim any of the trees overhanging the left field porch. In the fifth inning, veteran Nick Swanson lined a shot to left. The ball caromed off the left field fence, but there was a debate if the ball would have been a homerun had it not been for the greenery knocking it down. The left fielder, Nick's own son, Austen, said he wasn't sure if the ball was over the fence because, "The leaves were in my face." The ruling was a double for Swanson, who would get stranded on third base that inning. This run would be detrimental as the Dilly Diggs took the game 11-10 over the Bombers. The Dilly Diggs are now riding an 8-game winning streak. Josh Paul played groundskeeper for an inning, breaking off a number of these pesky branches in an attempt to keep this was happening again.
Game two was when the fireworks started blasting. And right off the get go, as the visiting Katanas (Kyle Kent) plated five in the top half, assisted by an Anthony Sandoval homerun off the left field foul pole. However, the home team Heavy Hitters (Mason Overmire) more than batted around in the order in the bottom half of the first to score 12 runs. The Hitters would actually bat around in the first three innings and had a 25-13 lead after just three frames. The Katanas fought back in the 4th, scoring nine runs and batting around in the order themselves. However, Noah Harrison was too much power for the Katanas as he had the first four homerun game in over 10 years. The Katanas had a walk-off homer winner by Mason Overmire to secure a mercy rule shortened 10-run forfeit victory 32-22 in five innings.
Fireworks for the second game were provided by Noah Harrison's perfect 6-for-6 with 11 RBIs, still seven short of Ashley Engstrom's whopping 18 RBI record set in 2002 (including five homeruns). Harrison had six extra base hits with four homeruns and two doubles. Overmire and Andrew Schubert each had five runs scored. The losing team was lead by Sandoval's first two homeruns of the season and seven RBI.
Eight total homeruns were crushed, including Branden Bollman's first. The game had a total of 20 extra base hits in the five innings. The 54 total runs is the most in recent memory.
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