Dateline: Ring Road
On a cloudy but pleasant early September afternoon, the Brewers played the White Sox. It was Coach Grossmans first game after signing with the single-A Brewers. When asked during the pre-game warmups what he thought of his young team he said, “Well my hat is off to the entire Brewers organization. They have gotten us some very young talent and I see nothing but positive things out of our team. They play well together, they want to learn and we may surprise some teams this fall. This is a new level for me so we’ll all be learning together.”
Arvind led off the top of the first for the Brewers with an infield hit to short. Elizabeth hit a hard shot back to the mound and was just out at first. Ian followed with as solid infield hit to third. Isaac followed with a ground out to the mound that put runners on 3rd and 2nd and Arvind scored. Marcus hit the ball nicely but was just out as the pitcher made a nice play and fired to first. In the bottom of the first, Arvind grabbed a hard smash and touched first for out one. Another out came in the inning as Matthew scooped up a grounder to the mound and fired to Arvind at first to get the runner by a step. In just one inning of play the Brewers already had TWO OUTS.
In the second, the Brewers bats came alive. Matthew hit a long single to short. Mert made great contact off the machine and beat out an infield hit. Michael was safe on an infield hit to load the bases. Mitchell hit a hard shot to the outfield to score Matthew. Olivia followed with a nice grounder off the machine to score Mert. Trenton followed with a solid ground ball to third that he beat out for a hit to score Michael. Arvind ended the offensive barrage with a ground ball back to the mound and the Brewers were halted solely by the four run limit.
In the bottom of the second, the defense looked sharp again. Mitchell scooped up a hard shot to first and touched the bag for out one. On another play, a runner was safe at 2nd but overran the bag and Arvind alertly tagged the runner for another out. After two the Brewers had FOUR OUTS.
In the top of the third Elizabeth beat out an infield hit to the shortstop. Ian followed with a solid single. Isaac grounded out back to the mound but the runners advanced to third and second. Jacob grounded into a fielders choice at third where Ian was just tagged out just a step before he got to third but happily for Brewers fans Elizabeth scored. Michael grounded out to end in the inning. In the bottom of the third, the Brewers added another key out when the batter hit a dribbler in front of the plate. Mitchell sprung out from behind the plate, set his feet, and threw a bouncer to Ian who made a great play for the out. FIVE OUTS.
In the top of the fourth, the Brewers offense continued to show its potential. Marcus started off with some good contact but grounded out to first. Mert hit the ball off the machine again but the third baseman made a a great play and got him at first. With two outs, Mitchell smashed a long shot to center. Olivia singled. Trenton singled to load the bases. Arvind singled to left to score Mitchell and Olivia. Elizabeth singled to load the bases. Ian singled to score Trenton. Isaac hit a hard shot back to the mound, but he was just out at first to end the inning. In the bottom of the fourth, the Brewers got yet another out as Jacob alertly scooped up a ground ball and fired to Elizabeth at first for a clean out. SIX OUTS.
The game ended and the Brewers happily ate their snacks. Coach Grossman was fairly short with this reporter as he wanted to begin preparations for the Brewers two game stretch on the big field immediately. “I was very proud of our team today. We had a lot of kids hitting off the machine and I think we’ll see our timing improve as the season progresses. In the field we made some good plays and I think we’ll get a lot more than six outs next game. I’m looking forward to two games in a row on the big field.” Coach Goldstein said “I really liked how our catchers looked today. They were stopping the ball and I was very impressed with all of their tenacity. The whole team was starting to hit the ball and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone hit one off the machine.”
