Dateline: Hook Road 1
On a warm Spring evening, the Red Sox took the field against the Phillies. Garrett went to the mound and was unhittable. He struck out the side while facing only four batters and the Red Sox came in quickly to bat. Jared led off with a walk, Garrett walked and Jared moved to second. He advanced to third and scored on successive wild pitches and the Red Sox fans rejoiced. They were soon to grumble about their coach when Coach Grossman sent Garrett home on a ball thrown back poorly to the pitcher. It wasn’t such a bright idea and Garrett was out by several feet. Several parents were heard to be wondering why Coach Grossman likes to coach third. After one it was 1-0 Sox. Garrett continued his dominating performance in the second with three more strikeouts — closing out his outstanding performance with six strikeouts in two innings of work. The Red Sox went down quietly in the bottom of the second and after two it was still a 1-0 pitching duel.
In the third Michael F. came in to pitch and he started off with two quick strikeouts. The Phillies then rallied and loaded the bases on a walk and two singles. A couple of runs scored on wild pitches, but to Michael’s credit, he settled down and struck out the next batter to end the inning. The Phillies had a close lead at 2-1. The Red Sox came storming back in the third. A leadoff walk to Jared, a series of walks scored Jared, Garrett, Michael and William. The Red Sox led after three 5-2.
In the fourth, Matt came to the mound and quickly walked two batters, he struck out the next two but the leadoff man advanced from second to third on a wild pitch. Now with two outs the Phillies tried a desperate ploy. They sent their runner from third as Matt was walking back to the mound. Matt noticed this and quickly chased down the runner — tagging him several feet away from the plate. In the bottom of the fourth Jared and Justin scored two more insurance runs on some walks and the Sox led 7-2 after 4.
Matt continued to shut down the Phillies in the fifth with three quick strikeouts. The Sox added more insurance runs on some more walks. William, Cory, TJ, and Kyle all scored. Time expired and the Red Sox had won their second game 11-2.
Coach Grossman again very pleased with the game and surprisingly, allowed a post game interview. He said “I am looking forward to our bats coming alive — we have had some hits, but we didn’t see too many strikes today. Our pitchers were fantastic. I’ll look forward to practice on Friday.” Coach Goldstein, back from his Florida retreat said “I’m glad to be back and the team is progressing very nicely. Our catchers made some nice plays behind the plate.”
