Dateline: Fox Mill 1
On a perfect late Spring evening, the Indians went on the road against the up and coming Cubs. They started slow, but they’ve been playing good baseball the last few games. Brendan led off with a walk and then stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Charles hit a long fly to left and Brendan tagged at third and scored for the first run. Charles started on the mound for the Indians and he gave up a leadoff single and the next batter hit a long fly to center but Will tracked it down for out one. After a couple of misplays, three runs had scored. Bryon made a nice play at short as he fired to first and Connor made a great catch for out two. On a wild pitch the Cubs tried to score, but Christian alertly flipped to Charles who applied a tag for out three. After one it was Cubs 3 Indians 1.
Bryon walked to lead off the second and he moved to second base on a ground out by Connor. Christian walked and moved to second. With runners on second and third and two out, Pedro came up with a huge single to score Bryon. On a wild pitch, the Cubs just got Christian at the plate as he tried to score. Charles threw heat and struck out the first Cubs batter. The next batter singled and the next batter hit a blooper to center where Bryon scooped it up and flipped to Brendan in time for out two. A couple runs scored on some misplays and Charles settled down to strike out the last batter. After two it was Cubs 5 Indians 2.
These Indians never quit. They rallied on two leadoff walks to Nicholas and Nikhil who scored on some wild pitches. Charles and Christian T. walked and Charles scored on some wild pitches. Will came up with a one out single to score Christian T. and the Indians offense was stopped when four runs had been scored. Suddenly the tribe had a one run lead. Brendan came on in the bottom of the third. He threw a lot of strikes but some misplays in the field and some good Cubs hits resulted in four runs for the Cubs. After three it was Cubs 9 Indians 6.
In the top of the fourth, the Indians went down quietly. In the bottom of the fourth the leadoff man walked, the next batter hit a shot to center, but after one bounce Nikhil alertly flipped to Bryon at second in time to beat the runner for out one. Nikhil came on and looked sharp as he induced two groundouts back the mound. When the dust had cleared two runs had scored and the Cubs were up 11-6.
The Indians battled back again as Pedro and Nicholas were hit by pitches to put runners on at first and second. A wild pitch moved them to third and second. On another wild pitch, Pedro raced down the line and fell. The Cubs had him in a pickle, but the throw to third was wild as Pedro scored on the special “fall-and-act-like-you-are-doomed-play” just put in by the coaching staff. Nicholas moved to third and scored on a wild pitch. Nikhil walked and went to second on a wild pitch. Brendan singled, Charles walked and Christian T. walked. With Will at the plate, a wild pitch scored Brendan for the fourth run. It was now a one run game again at 11-10. In the bottom of the fifth, Will had some control problems and hit the first two batters. Two weak singles and a bloop double scored four runs. Cubs bats were quiet in the sixth and the game ended Cubs 15 Indians 10.
Coach Grossman said, “Well, this was the first game that our defense hurt us. We had a long layoff since our last game, the field was a little wet, the SOL tests were this week, the Sun was bright, and who knows what other excuses we can find for this one. Our defense is a lot better than we played today, but that happens in baseball. I think we’ll rebound just fine as we’ve got a practice tomorrow to help put this one behind us and we’ll be set for the Cardinals on Saturday. I am still pleased with how this team never gives up.”
Coach Goldstein said, “Nikhil looked good in his first appearance and our catchers did a great job of blocking balls and getting one runner out at the plate.”
