Dateline: FC-Green
On a perfect, early fall evening the O’s took the field. Coach Grossman was available only briefly before the game. He said, “I’m really looking forward to my first season back in RLL and it has been a long three years of no baseball in the fall.”
Krish went to the mound and was throwing strikes. After a walk and two singles that scored a run, he settled down and struck out two batters. Another walk and a single resulted in two more runs. He then struck out the next batter to end the inning. Bottom of the first and the O’s went to work. With one out, Sol singled to center and stole second. Frankie walked. Sol scored when Colin grounded out to first. Krish walked and Isaac came up with a RBI single to left to score Frankie. After one, it was Dodgers 3 O’s 2.
Top of the second and Frankie went to the mound. He had several two strike counts, but the ump called some tough pitches and the Dodgers hit their limit of 4 runs as the O’s made two outs in the field. The last play was a nice defensive job by Michael as he got the ball at second and tossed to Isaac at first. Bottom of the second and the O’s refused to go away. Joseph walked with one out. He moved to second and third on wild pitches and scored on a single to left by Scott. After two, it was Dodgers 7 O’s 3.
Top of the 3rd and Colin went to the mound. He walked the first batter. The runner moved to second and third on wild pitches and scored on a grounder that Joseph fielded nicely and tossed to Isaac at first. The next batter walked and the next batter hit a shot to left but Michael was right there for the catch. Colin then calmly struck out the last batter. Bottom of the third and the O’s kept chipping away. With one out Colin smashed a line single to right. Krish walked and moved to third on wild pitches. The Dodgers pitcher settled down and got the last two batter. Colin made quick work of the bottom of the order in the forth with three quick strike outs and only one walk. Unfortunately, the O’s went down in order after Michael grounded out to first and the next two batters struck out. After four it was Dodgers 7 O’s 4.
Top of the fifth and Scott led off with a walk. He advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. Sol hit a dribbler in front of the plate and the Dodgers threw it into right field to score Scott. Frankie then popped up to second but the ball dropped and the Dodgers just got the runner at first. Colin then hit a higher pop that was also dropped but the Dodgers got him at first by a step. Sol moved to third on the play. Krish then hit a nice ground ball to short and the shortstop made a good play and got him by a step to end the inning. Bottom of the fifth and Sol went to the mound and looked sharp. He strucked out the top two batters in the order. The Dodgers got two runners on but then Sol struck out the next batter. After five it was 7-5 Dodgers.
Michael came on to the mound in the sixth. The first batter walked. The next batter struck out but the runner moved to third on two wild pitches. The next batter walked. On the first pitch, the Dodgers tried the steal play with runners on at first and third. Franked fired down to second and just missed getting the runner, but sadly the runner on third scored. Michael settled down and got two more strike outs. Down by only three runs, the O’s came up to bat in the bottom of the sixth. The leadoff man struck out. Adam drew a walk. Michael walked and suddenly the O’s had the tying run at the plate. The Dodgers closer settled down and picked up two more strike outs to end the game. Final Score: Dodgers 8 O’s 5.
Coach Grossman was available after the game for only a short interview as he had to begin immediate preparations for Saturday’s contest. He said, “Well you hate to start off with a loss, but our guys played well. We really played well in the field, we didn’t miss any ground balls and we put seven balls in play. All of that throwing practice seems to have done some good. We’ll get our bats going and we should be fine. The Dodgers only put six balls in play so if we get rid of a few walks, we could easily have won this one. I really liked how we were able to use five pitchers and throw this many strikes. ” This reporter asked why Coach Grossman had Frankie throw down to second in the sixth inning which cost the team a run. He said, “Well you reporters are always full of questions. I thought we could trade a run for an out and it’d be a pretty good deal as I felt like we were going to score some runs in the bottom of the sixth. We almost had the runner. ” Tickets still remains for the O’s content this Saturday.
