Dateline: Hook Road 1
It was a wonderful spring afternoon as the Cards played an early 5:15 PM start in their season opener against the White Sox. The White Sox took advantage of some tough plays in the field to score four quick runs in the top of the first. In the bottom of the first Rei singled but with one out, Jamie popped out to the mound and the White Sox picked up a double play by just getting Rei as he was headed back to first.
Top of the second, Maxwell settled down from a tough first inning and struck out two and got one player to ground back to the mound where he tossed to Jaime at first. Bottom of the second and Matthew led off with a single. Maxwell grounded out but moved Matthew to third. Kyle reached on an infield single, two runners on and two outs but the Cards did not score.
After a strikeout and a groundout to the mound by Zack the Cards started their rally in the third. Michael singled and went to second on an overthrow. He stole third and scored on Mikhail’s RBI infield single. Bottom of the third, Matthew came on and struck out three batters quickly. After three it was 4-1 White Sox.
Top of the fourth and the Cards continued to chip away at the lead. Carter singled and Matthew singled. With two outs, Carter stole third and scored on an RBI single by John. Isaac singled to score Matthew. Bottom of the fourth and the leadoff man reached on an infield single. The next batter hit a shallow popup a couple of feet in front of the plate. Matthew dived and just missed it. He got up and fired to second where Isaac made the catch for out one. The next batter grounded back to the mound where Matthew threw to Carter for out two and the last batter popped up to short and Rei camped under it for a great catch for out three. After four it was a 4-3 thriller.
Top of the fifth and the Cardinals went down quietly. Jaime came on the fifth and made quick work of the White Sox with two strikeouts. The last batter hit a shot to center with a runner on first, but Matthew alertly got the ball and ran to second to beat the runner.
Top of the sixth. Last chance for the Cardinals, down by a run. Jamie led off with a single. Matthew singled. Jamie stole third. With one out, John singled to score Jaime. Tie game. Isaac then singled to score Matthew. With a one run lead, Jaime went to the mound in the bottom of the sixth. He struck out the first batter, the second batter popped up the mound and the third batter reached on an infield hit. Jaime settled down and struck out the last batter to end the game. Final Score: Cardinals 5 White Sox 4.
Coach Grossman said, “Our team showed a lot of heart in this one. No one ever got down despite the tough inning at the start of the game and I am very happy to see us starting to score some runs. We are looking better at the plate. We’ll keep the focus on hitting. The Cards face the undefeated Orioles on Saturday. A few tickets remain.”
