[Jacksono69]

To start the year we will have 3 games against the Baltimore River Bats and then another 3 game series against the Houston Priests.


Hamilton Silver Sox (0-0) VS Baltimore River Bats (0-0)

I believe that these games are completely winnable with good pitching and some run support, but that could be said for any game. Let's just see what happens. A good first week and month could determine what our aims are for this season.

Game 1: R. Leyva (0-0, 0.00) vs. T. Clark (0-0, 0.00)
Our first game in franchise history goes pretty swimmingly with Leyva going 7 innings strong, only allowing 4 hits and 2 earned runs. After the 7th inning,
Henderson and Stafford came in and kept the game alive for the Sox and McDaniel responded, tieing the game at 2 in the bottom of the 8th with a solo home run. It would be McDaniel again in the bottom of the 13th, hitting a walk-off home run to give the Sox their first ever win, 3-2 in 13.

Final Score: 3-2 (13) Victory W- L.Stafford (1-0) L- P.Brooks (0-1)

Game 2: M. Richardson (0-0, 0.00) vs. J.Alba (0-0, 0.00)
The team had another very good outing today led by Malcolm Richardson's 8 K's in 7 innings and another monster game from Richard McDaniel, who backed up his 2 HR 2RBI game yesterday with a 1 HR 3RBI day today. Wayne Minthorn had an overlooked 3-5 day in Game 1 with 2 doubles but made himself known today with an HR and 2 RBI day. To end the day Ryan Henderson went 2 innings with 3 K's and 2 BB's to end Baltimore's hopes.

Final Score: 6-3 Victory W- M.Richardson (1-0) L-J.Alba (0-1) SV- R.Henderson (1)

Game 3: S.Boyce (0-0, 0.00) vs. A.Baldwin (0-0, 0.00)
Both pitchers got rocked early and often with both being pulled by the 4th inning, with Boyce giving up 9 ER in 4 and Baldwin giving up 6 ER in 3. A comeback was in order and the offense delivered with a 2 run 7th to give us a lead we would not relinquish for the rest of the game. Our bullpen again leaned on our heavy hitters to get the job done, with Stafford making another appearance along with McPhun and Thomas. Tony Klein had a good day with 3 RBIs and a Homerun. Minthorn and McDaniel also contributed RBI's to continue their white-hot starts to the season.

Final Score: 10-9 Victory W- L.Thomas (1-0) L- T.Walker (0-1) SV- L.Stafford (1)


Hamilton Silver Sox (3-0) VS Houston Priests (1-2)


Houston has an anemic offense who can't seem to do anything and has no players on that side of the ball rated 4.5 stars or above by our scout but has a very good pitching staff, led by 26 years old SP Dave Hughson (5.0,5.0). I think we can sweep this team if we keep their offense on the same trend they started the season on and find a way to hit against their pitching.

Game 1: B.Blake (0-0, 0.00) VS J.Schmitt (0-0, 0.00)
A terrible performance, I don't know to rip into this team or put it off as beginning of the season jitters or overconfidence. Schmitt 5-hit shutout us and our pitching got rocked for 8 runs. Terrible game, nothing much else to be said.

Final Score: 8-0 Loss W- J.Scmitt (1-0) L- B.Blake (0-1)


Game 2: R.Leyva (0-0, 2.57) VS D.Hughson (1-0, 1.29)
The projected ace battle was exactly that, but Hughson, probably the better pitcher, prevailed in a 1-0 shutout pitcher's duel. Hughson 1 hit shutout us for our second outing putting up a goose egg in a row. Again, don't know to be mad at us underperforming or be forgiving because we got beat by a dominant pitcher. Leyva was good today, going 7.1 and only giving up 4 hits, but those 4 hits ended up costing us this one.

Final Score: 1-0 Loss W-D.Hughson (2-0) L- R.Leyva (0-1)



Game 3: M.Richardson (1-0, 3.86) VS J.Anderson (0-0, 0.00)
My faith in the team has been restored with a dominant 6-1 win. Richardson had a complete game, only allowing the one run and 5 hits, Dave Green had a home run and 3 RBI, Minthorn had 2 RBI, and McDaniel also had an RBI. A great game to end this week and the first 2 series of the year and our history.


Final Score: 6-1 Victory W- M.Richardson (2-0) L-J.Anderson (0-1)




Other News

April 3rd- Ed Jones of the Philadelphia Sabercats 4 hit complete game shut out Charlotte, striking out 2.
April 6th- Isaac Hopper went 5-5 for the Milwaukee Hurons against the Jacksonville Sunbirds, hitting 4 singles, a double, and driving in 2 runs.
April 8th- Dave Hughson pitched a complete game shutout of the Hamilton Silver Sox, only allowing 1 hit.
April 8th- The Baltimore River Bats have traded 27 years old Rickey Sweeney and 22-year-old 2B William Milligan to the Dallas Ignition in exchange for 26-year-old LHP Kevin Rice.
April 10th- The players taking home the player of the week honors for their respective leagues are 34-year-old 2B Johnathan Wagner of the Vancouver Falcons, who hit .438 with 2 HR and 6 RBI in 7 games, of the Metro League,
and 25-year-old RF Alejandro Perez of the San Francisco Reign of the Henry League, who hit .419 with 1 HR and 12 RBI in 7 games.

Reflections
This week was a very good week with good showings for our stars but showed our clear lack of depth at the bottom of the rotation. The shutouts weren't fun to witness, but the team showed very good offensive prowess in the other games and I'm excited to see how the team develops over the course of the season. The star of the week for us has to be Richard McDaniel, who put together 3 HR and 7 RBI in 6 games. We are ranked a deserved 4th in the power rankings to end the week.