[Westheim]

Raccoons (12-12) @ Loggers (14-10) – May 1-3, 2028

The situation had eroded badly enough that the Raccoons found themselves behind the Loggers at the start of May, which was always provoking a feeling of foreboding. If you can't beat the Loggers… well… doom. Milwaukee had started reasonably well, but the writing was on the wall for them as well. They had as many runs scored as they had conceded, both right around the league average of 4.1 per game. Things could obviously still go either way for them, but c'mon, it was the Loggers. Things usually went downhill for them early and fast. Probably not this week, though. The Loggers had not won a season series from the Raccoons since *2013*, and had won eight times against Portland in 2027.

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (3-2, 2.81 ERA) vs. Morgan Shepherd (2-2, 4.78 ERA)
Rin Nomura (1-3, 3.77 ERA) vs. Alex Contreras (2-1, 1.93 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (2-1, 4.60 ERA) vs. Danny Soto (3-2, 3.71 ERA)

These were all right-handers. Contreras and Soto had both pitched in a double-header on Friday, so they could also arrive the other way round, but why would you shift back the better guy?

Game 1
POR: LF Millan – CF Mora – 3B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – SS Stalker – RF Gomez – 2B Spencer – C Leal – P Roberts
MIL: 3B V. Diaz – CF Hollingsworth – 1B Cambra – RF W. Trevino – C J. Young – SS Ferrer – LF Rueda – 2B Becker – P Shepherd

Morgan Shepherd not only rung up six Critters in the first three innings, but was also the only Logger with a base hit their first time through the order, a 2-out single up the middle in the bottom 3rd. He swiftly scored on a long double by Vinny Diaz before Steve Hollingsworth (.366, 3 HR, 8 RBI in April…) flew out to Abel Mora. Up until then, Mark Roberts had whiffed three Loggers, all in the second inning. The Coons got their first hit in the fourth, Hereford singling to right after Abel Mora had drawn a leadoff walk against Shepherd. Two on, no outs cried for something stupid, but Manny Ferrer's only play on Harenberg's grounder was to first, yet after that Tim Stalker grounded back to the mound on a 3-1 pitch. Two down, Rafael Gomez walked in a full count to load the bases for Spencer, who hit a dying quail to shallow center to flip the score after all, bringing in two runs. Leal then even legged out an infield grounder to reload the bases, but Roberts got rung up to end the inning, then blew the lead right away. Singles by Firmino Cambra and Ferrer sandwiched a clumsy walk to Jim Young, and that was enough to get a run across. Roberts also lost Alexis Rueda, but with the bags full, Jeff Becker hit a grounder into an inning-ending double play, keeping it at 2-2 through four innings.

Roberts would end up with a no-decision, but not without blowing another lead. Rich Hereford, the ABL RBI leader, brought in Omar Millan with a (wild pitch aided) sac fly in the fifth inning, but Roberts again stumbled over the middle of the order in the sixth and Jim Young tied the game with an RBI single. Roberts did not return after the sixth inning, but the Coons kept the game tied when Kearney whiffed Cambra to strand McLin's runners on the corners in the seventh, and Ricky Ohl blazed away a few Loggers in the eighth. Rafael Gomez, much beleaguered, then opened the ninth with a ripped double to left against southpaw Alex Gutierrez – a splendid situation that absolutely demanded them to score the go-ahead run, even more so when Gutierrez uncorked a wild pitch to move Gomez to third. There, he would be stranded. Despite walks to Leal and Millan, Spencer and Danny Morales made absolutely ****ty outs, and Tovias struck out batting for Abel Mora. Never mind that the Loggers also stranded the winning run at third base, which arrived there with one out against Billy Brotman, who allowed a 1-out single to PH Jason Parten, then run for by Jason Rauser, walked Andrew Cooper, then threw a wild pitch. Diaz struck out in a full count, and then PH Tyler Canody grounded out to Brotman, of all people. The Raccoons' RBI leaders then worked to break the tie in the 10th. Hereford coaxed a leadoff walk from southpaw Travis Feider, moved up as Harenberg went to 0-for-5 with a grounder, then was sent for home on Tim Stalker's single to right. Willie Trevino injured himself on a throw he got nothing on, and Rich Hereford scored safely in sad circumstances. Although the Coons loaded the bases when Gomez was walked intentionally and Armando Leal was nicked, they failed to score again, instead leaving Josh Boles to his own devices. Boles got two grounders from Cambra and Francisco Colmanarez, Trevino's replacement, then walked a pair, then was screamed at by the pitching coach, and THEN struck out Alexis Rueda to end the game… 4-3 Coons. Hereford 1-2, 2 BB, RBI;

Game 2
POR: RF Millan – CF Mora – 3B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – C Tovias – SS Stalker – LF Morales – 2B Spencer – P Nomura
MIL: 3B V. Diaz – CF Hollingsworth – 1B Cambra – RF Rueda – C J. Young – SS Ferrer – LF Schorsch – 2B Becker – P D. Soto

The second inning saw the Critters hit six singles of varying softness; Tovias and Stalker started with clean singles to left before Morales and Spencer made outs. Rin Nomura singled up the middle with Jeff Becker diving and touching the ball in such a way that he knocked it away into left center, allowing the Critters to send home Tovias for the first run of the game. Millan loaded them up with an infield single, Mora plated one run with a single that fell between Hollingsworth and Rueda as they shooed another off, and then Hereford plated two more runs with a hard single to left-center. The string, of course, ended with Harenberg, batting .236 with no homers, nor a clue, but at least Nomura had a 4-0 cushion. That could only mean one thing – disaster was to strike soon!

Nothing terrible happened immediately, though. It was still 4-0 after four, with the top 5th seeing Stalker kill a situation with one out and Hereford and Tovias on the corners when he hit into a 6-4-3 double play. In the bottom of the inning, the Coons could have used a double play, but wouldn't get it when Nomura loaded them up with two singles and a walk. Soto himself hit a sac fly to Abel Mora, but at least Diaz struck out to keep the score at 4-1. The Coons would not get another run off Soto, but did score on Philip Rogers in the ninth inning when Tovias singled home Abel Mora, who had led off with a single before Hereford had drawn a walk and Harenberg – inept or outrageously unlucky? – had lined out to Jason Rauser at short. Booker then batted for Stalker, but ended the inning with a double play grounder. Thus the Coons had a 4-run lead, and Nomura was back for the ninth inning after doing away with the Loggers in 90 pitches over eight innings, yielding just five base hits. Hollingsworth popped out to left before Cambra singled. Well, that could happen – Cambra just happened to the opposing team, nothing you could do about it. Another left-handed bat was up in Rueda, who grounded out to first, and then another one in Jim Young, who ended the game with a grounder to short. 5-1 Raccoons! Hereford 2-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Tovias 3-5, RBI; Stalker 2-4; Nomura 9.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (2-3) and 1-2, 2 BB, RBI;

At the conclusion of the Tuesday games, all teams in the CL North except for the last-place Indians were only one game apart from the division-leading 15-12 Titans to the fifth-place, 14-13 Crusaders.

The Raccoons would however not get a chance to reach for the top on Wednesday, with steady rain in Milwaukee washing out the conclusion of the series and giving the Raccoons back-to-back off days in the middle of the week.

The damn Elks emerged division leaders with a 3-1 win over the Titans on Wednesday night, but roles reversed on Thursday when the Elks blew a 10-5 lead in the ninth inning, and the Titans were back in the lead on Friday morning.

Raccoons (14-12) @ Stars (11-17) – May 5-7, 2028

The Stars kept feeding at the bottom of the pond where they had been regulated to more or less ever since the Hugo Mendoza trade (which didn't exactly turn the Raccoons into perennial winners, either). They were already six games out in the FL West, sat in the bottom three in terms of runs scored, and were merely mediocre in terms of runs allowed, a weird mix for any team that played in a shoe box like theirs. Stunningly, they were LAST in home runs in the Federal League. Their entire team had amounted to as many homers as Rich Hereford at this point. These teams had most recently met two years ago, when the Stars swept the Critters in three games.

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (1-0, 0.75 ERA) vs. Chris Brooks (1-3, 5.23 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (2-1, 4.60 ERA) vs. Eric Davidson (2-3, 2.95 ERA)
Mark Roberts (3-2, 3.08 ERA) vs. Brian Simmons (0-3, 5.68 ERA)

The grizzled veteran Brian Simmons, 37, figured to be the only southpaw opposition for this week. Portland would skip the confusing mess that was George James entirely and switched Rico and Yusneldan so as to not have all three southpaws going one after another down the road.

Game 1
POR: LF Millan – CF Mora – 3B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – C Tovias – RF Gomez – SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – P Gutierrez
DAL: 3B B. Rojas – 2B Hendricks – SS S. Green – CF Botzet – 1B Figueroa – RF Collins – C Wool – LF O'Rourke – P Brooks

The Coons scratched out single runs in the second inning (Spencer sac fly) and third (Harenberg RBI double), but already lost a run in the third when Abel Mora got caught stealing before Harenberg ultimately drove in Rich Hereford, and then Rico gave it all away again in the bottom 3rd against the bottom of the order. Josh Wool singled, Dave O'Rourke walked, and then he got outs from Brooks (bunt) and Bob Rojas (K), but still surrendered a 2-out, 2-run single to Eric Hendricks. Back to square one, the Coons started the top 4th with a string of hits; Rafael Gomez doubled up the leftfield line, then came around on the pair of singles chipped in by Stalker and Spencer. A double steal gone awry took away another base runner before both Rico Gutierrez and Omar Millan flew out to 2027 FL Rookie of the Year Aaron Botzet in centerfield…

Brooks opened the fifth with walks to Mora and Hereford, and for now we would try to not run into another CS here. In this park, and even against a Stars team that didn't score a damn lot, it was not wise to throw away runners like that, especially with Kevin Harenberg up, who had hit a home run in recent memory, though not in this season in 95 attempts. Then a wild pitch advanced the runners anyway, and Harenberg? Grounded out to Hendricks to up the score to 4-2, but strikeouts then stranded Hereford at third base. Worse yet, Harenberg struck out with the bases loaded to end the sixth inning… Gutierrez, Mora, and Hereford had all singled for the good cause. Harenberg, batting .229/.269/.261, had none of it. Bottom 6th – more horrors! Hendricks grounded to Spencer, fumble, error. Sam Green grounded to Stalker. Fumble. Error. Botzet hit a soft fly to center, Mora misread it and it dropped for an RBI single, and then Jesus Figueroa's grounder to third… Fumble. Error. Not only Rico Gutierrez gleamed angrily at the infielders surrounding him like hired assassins. And I was realistic about it, this game was always going to end up in the drain anyway… but didn't. Ryan Collins popped out, and Josh Wool hit into a 4-6-3 double play, keeping the Coons ahead at a 4-3 rate. However, there was discontent in the flock. When Jarod Spencer patted Rico on the back as the team vacated the field, Gutierrez knocked off the second baseman's paw and growled at him…

The game went on with Tony Dominguez picking off Rafael Gomez at first base in the seventh, before finally some bloke hit a ball outta here. It was even one in a brown shirt – Abel Mora conquered southpaw Michael Frank for a 2-piece in the eighth, collecting Omar Millan and his 1-out walk for a 6-3 lead! Frank also surrendered the maiden hit of German Sanchez, a pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth inning that plated Rafael Gomez for an extra run, on day 14 of Sanchez' major-league career. Sanchez also started the game-ending double play on Josh Wool in the bottom of the ninth, which was pitched in scoreless fashion by Jonathan Fleischer. 7-3 Furballs! Mora 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Gomez 3-4, BB, 2B; Stalker 3-5; Spencer 2-3, 2 RBI; Sanchez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Leal (PH) 1-1; Gutierrez 8.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (2-0) and 1-4;

We sniffed first place again with this win, moving into a virtual tie with the Elks atop the standings. Rafael Gomez meanwhile sniffed above-.200 air for the first time since the opening week of the season.

Game 2
POR: LF Millan – RF Booker – CF Mora – 3B Hereford – C Tovias – 1B Gomez – SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – P Delgadillo
DAL: 3B B. Rojas – 2B Hendricks – CF Botzet – SS S. Green – C Harry – 1B Figueroa – RF Collins – LF J. Thompson – P Davidson

Delgadillo fooled nobody and was torn to shreds in due time. John Thompson hit a 2-piece in the second, collecting Ryan Collins and his 2-out walk. Three hits plated another run in the third, and in the fourth they just kept beating a corpse, a hit, a walk, another hit for their fourth run, and then Hendricks' 1-out, 2-run double to center. That was the end, with Kearney coming in to wipe up after him. The Coons in four innings had produced an Omar Millan double to right at the start of the game, then three sorry flies to Botzet, and then had only seen Jaden Booker reach base in the third, and also Jaden Booker getting picked off that base by Davidson. The team got on the board in the fifth when Spencer scored Gomez after the latter's leadoff double, singling up the middle, but that only cut the gap to 6-1 and they didn't seem likely to make things interesting again. No, it would only get worse and worse from here. Dan McLin offered two scoreless innings, but in the eighth the Raccoons got wrecked for another four runs between Fleischer and Surginer, neither of which could get a batter sat down in an 0-2 count. Davidson pitched a complete-game 6-hitter in a soul-crunching rout. 10-1 Stars. Millan 2-4, 2B; McLin 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

(covers eyes with both hands and moans)

Game 3
POR: RF Booker – SS Stalker – C Leal – 3B Hereford – LF Morales – 1B Gomez – 2B Spencer – CF Magallanes – P Roberts
DAL: 3B B. Rojas – 2B Hendricks – SS S. Green – CF Botzet – 1B Figueroa – RF Collins – C Wool – LF J. Thompson – P Simmons

While the plainly dumb Raccoons struck out five times the first time through the order against a pitcher that would not usually get through three without scattering a couple, Mark Roberts became unglued in the most stupid fashion as well in the bottom 3rd, issuing a 4-pitch walk to the opposing pitcher that would of course blossom into a 3-run inning. Rojas hit into a fielder's choice, then stole second base before scoring on Eric Hendricks' 2-out single. Sam Green then whacked a homer to left and the Stars were off to the races, 3-0.

Or so we thought. Roberts somehow got through the middle innings despite scattering runners left and right. The Stars stranded three in the fifth, two in the sixth, and in a perfect world the Raccoons would have pulled even by now, but … (sigh). Rafael Gomez hit a solo homer in the fifth inning, but when the Coons also put Magallanes and Roberts on the corners with two outs, Booker struck out. In the sixth, Morales singled home Stalker, but then Gomez struck out with the tying run aboard. Roberts got stuck in the seventh and was dug out by Ricky Ohl, securing a pop out from PH Chris Hollar in the #5 hole, so he was bound to go from 3-0 to 3-3 (just like the team as a whole had gone from 11-3 to 12-12 to more and more heartbreak) unless the Critters could somehow pick the tying run from their unkempt fur in the eighth, for which they'd cart up the top of their order against the resilient Simmons, who had entered the game with 14 walks in 38 innings, but had not spilled a single free pass. Booker grounded out, and while Stalker ran a 3-1 count, he then hit the ball high to left. Mind the short fences though – that thing kept moving, moving, and was outta here! Tied ballgame – and definitely not a home run in Portland! Simmons secured two more outs in the inning, Ohl got three in the bottom 8th, and neither starting pitcher figured into the decision in this rubber contest. The ninth saw no offense at all and the Coons found themselves in extra innings once more. Not that this inspired the Raccoons to get the bats out. Much the contrary, Justin Osterloh and Michael Frank shut them down hard in the 10th and 11th. Speaking of Frank… he had to bat in the bottom 11th against Jeff Kearney, who continued to suck with a leadoff walk to Josh Wool. Evan Wilcher's grounder advanced the runner, and then Frank, a left-handed batter also, singled off the lefty specialist on the mound to move the winning run to third base. When Bob Rojas grounded near the mound with one out, Rich Hereford did what he could, but his throw was too late to beat Wool, who walked off the Stars. 4-3 Stars. Stalker 2-5, HR, RBI; Gomez 2-5, HR, RBI; Spencer 2-5; Ohl 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K; Brotman 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

In other news

May 2 – SFW 1B/SS Edgar Gonzalez (.277, 5 HR, 13 RBI) slugs three home runs and drives in all the runs in the Warriors' 5-2 win over the Scorpions. This is the 52nd time an ABL batter hits three or more home runs in a game, and the third time it is done by a Warrior after Raúl Bovane (2009) and still active Jamie Wilson (2014).
May 3 – IND SP Chris Sinkhorn (4-2, 2.44 ERA) carries a no-hitter against the Crusaders into the ninth inning before NYC 1B Jay Elder (.255, 2 HR, 10 RBI) breaks up the bid with a 1-out double. IND CL Myles Mood (0-0, 0.73 ERA, 9 SV) then replaces Sinkhorn to secure the 4-0 Indians victory.
May 3 – While NAS SP Pat Staley (3-1, 3.21 ERA) shuts out the Cyclones hitters on just three base knocks, Cincinnati pitching gets crushed as well in an 18-0 Nashville rout. NAS LF/RF Ruben Orozco (.303, 2 HR, 14 RBI) chips in four base hits, two homers, and 5 RBI.
May 3 – DAL SP Antonio Rodriguez (3-2, 3.68 ERA) shuts out the Gold Sox on two hits in a 2-0 game.
May 3 – The Bayhawks acquire SP Guillermo Regalado (3-2, 2.55 ERA) from the Titans for 1B Bob Lloyd (no ML stats in 2018) and a prospect.
May 3 – The Canadiens are going to be without OF Tony Coca (.255, 6 HR, 20 RBI) for the next six weeks. The 27-year-old outfielder has suffered an elbow sprain.
May 4 – In his first game with the Titans, 1B Bob Lloyd (.333, 1 HR, 4 RBI) hits a walkoff grand slam in a 12-10 victory over the Canadiens, capping a 7-run ninth-inning rally by Boston.
May 5 – WAS RF/LF/1B Tsuneyoshi Tachibana (.227, 1 HR, 15 RBI) might miss the rest of the year with a broken knee cap.
May 5 – BOS OF Willie Vega (.310, 2 HR, 12 RBI) might be gone for two months with a sprained ankle.
May 6 – DEN RF/LF Denny Chavira (.257, 4 HR, 18 RBI) will be out for a month with a strained biceps.

Complaints and stuff

The Loggers lead the North, which remains a sign of things being somewhat upside down (also note the 4-way tie in the South and the Rebels managing to trail by 15 1/2 games at this point). We could have had a virtual 4-way tie in our division on Sunday night if the third game in Milwaukee had been played and the Critters had actually won it. The washed out game will be made up in a double header on July 3; that is in the middle of the usual long string of games with no off days before the All Star Game. Yay, lucky us!

Don't make me explain the Regalado deal. I can't.

Ten days from now the Raccoons have to make a decision on Kyle Anderson and his rehab assignment. In three starts in St. Pete, the 29-year-old righty has been rocked for a 6.00 ERA. He can't strike out anybody, and he walks plenty.

And I don't even want to get started on Kevin Harenberg, who came over from the Wolves in the 2026 season, hit .326 with 14 homers down the stretch to lift the Critters into the playoffs, then batted .281 with 18 homers last year, and currently sits on a .222 clip with not a single bomb this season. This might be the most spectacular case of great hitters going to Portland to die we have seen in a while.

Fun Fact: The Richmond Rebels are 2-10 in their last four interleague meetings with the Raccoons.

That is remarkably close to their current record in the FL East. It will be tempting to see what sort of riot they will make of the Critters when they hit Portland starting on Tuesday.