[Westheim]

This update comes to you from the hospital, where I was recommended to admit myself to have some weird growth removed. RIGHT NOW. Well, it is removed now, and if the damn thing stopped oozing, I could probably go home...

Meanwhile, since I am obviously well enough to play games right now, you can deduce it is not all that bad. No need for excessive well-wishing. I think the Coons have bigger medical issues than me…..

The next few updates might be a bit shorter with lots of room for extra typos, but it is sorta hard to type with six things sticking outta your arm…

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Raccoons (40-27) vs. Crusaders (36-33) – June 19-21, 2028

The Raccoons held a 5-game lead over the Crusaders that mashed up for second place entering the new week. They ranked seventh in runs scored, fifth in runs allowed, and were 2-4 against Portland this season.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Anderson (4-1, 2.87 ERA) vs. Eddie Cannon (5-5, 3.05 ERA)
Mark Roberts (6-3, 3.06 ERA) vs. Jesse Wright (2-5, 5.48 ERA)
Rin Nomura (7-3, 2.47 ERA) vs. Carlos Marron (6-5, 3.50 ERA)

All right-handers. Meanwhile, the Raccoons would have Thursday off, so no arrangements had to be made to compensate for the Sunday double header.

Game 1
NYC: 1B Elder – 3B Schmit – CF Hatley – RF J. Richardson – LF I. Vega – 2B Jam. Wilson – C Asay – SS Cameron – P E. Cannon
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – CF Mora – 3B Hereford – LF Morales – C Tovias – 1B Harenberg – RF Booker – P K. Anderson

The Coons found four base hits but no runs in the first two innings. Stalker was caught stealing in the first; Harenberg and Booker both made unhelpful fly outs after Morales and Tovias hit singles to begin the second. It didn’t get much better in the following innings. Morales flew out to Ivan Vega with Stalker and Hereford in scoring position to end the third (although Rich Hereford had admittedly already only reached on a Jamie Wilson throwing error), and Stalker hit into a double play in the fifth. At least Kyle Anderson was the usual excellence for Raccoons starting pitching at this point, allowing one base hit through five innings, plus two walks. Jay Elder’s leadoff double into the leftfield corner to begin the sixth was the biggest New York threat yet, but they could not move him around amid three pops / shallow flies.

Bottom 6th, the scorelessness ceased be. Rich Hereford hit a long homer to right-center, and then Morales hit a long drive to left-center that didn’t quite make it 2-0, but made for a neat 1-out double regardless. Then Morales hobbled off the field with a bum knee, because Coons. Obviously. Millan replaced him while even the Druid could only shrug at this point. But for two minutes here, the Raccoons had figured out Eddie Cannon. Elias Tovias hit a sharp RBI double up the rightfield line, and then the Crusaders were scared even of Kevin Harenberg, batting all of .211, but getting four very, very wide ones to set up a double play for Jaden Booker, who struck out instead, but Anderson also only managed a slow roller and the inning ended at 2-0. Anderson would strike out Cannon to end the seventh, but that was after Jason Asay and Joe Cameron had hit two line drives for a double and an RBI single, cutting the gap in half, only for Abel Mora to triple it with a 2-run homer to dead center in the bottom of the inning. Anderson got stuck in the eighth, walking Andy Schmit in a full count with one down, but Jeff Kearney got a double play grounder from Nick Hatley to clean up behind his starter. Ricky Ohl got the ninth with Boles having tossed 32 pitches on Sunday, and retired the Crusaders … not exactly in order, but without conceding a run after a 1-out double by Vega. 4-1 Coons! Spencer 3-5; Mora 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Morales 2-3, 2B; Tovias 2-4, 2B, RBI; Anderson 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, W (5-1);

The Druid came back with decent news – Danny Morales had not suffered any structural damage on his double. We might want to sit him out for Tuesday, but he was ultimately no worse for wear.

Game 2
NYC: RF I. Vega – 1B Elder – 3B Schmit – C Asay – CF Hatley – SS J. Cameron – 2B B. Torres – LF Olszewski – P J. Wright
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – CF Mora – 3B Hereford – C Leal – 1B Harenberg – LF Millan – RF Rodriguez – P Roberts

Mark Roberts was rather awesome right out of the gate and would allow only a scant three hits through six innings, AND got early offense to boot with a 2-run homer by Hereford in the opening inning. Well, that was the offense, really, through five innings, but Spencer and Stalker went to the corners with nobody out in the bottom 6th against a rather toothless Jesse Wright. When Mora grounded out, it advanced only the trailing runner, and then Hereford got four wide ones to bring up the double play candidate Leal with three on and one out. The count ran full, Leal hit a drive into the left-center gap, then was bloody robbed by Drew Olszweski out there. It was still a sac fly and a 3-0 game, but that one looked like it would clear all runners on a double or more. Ah fear not, two on, two out, and Kevin Harenberg coming up. We could only be pleasantly surprised, like when he pushed a bouncer through Elder for a 2-run double. When had THAT last happened?? Anyway, it was now a 5-0 game. Roberts’s shutout seemed in danger in the eighth, and then not of the Crusaders’ doing. Tim Stalker threw away Joe Cameron’s grounder for two bases at the start of the inning, but Roberts maintained grip on a grounder to third, a pop, and finally a disemboweling K to PH Jamie Richardson. Roberts didn’t finish the shutout; Vega and Elder hit singles to begin the ninth, and while Roberts battled down Schmit for a strikeout, that was his 108th pitch and he signaled with a shake of the head that that was really all he had. The Coons went to Surginer, who got out of the game with a double play…. Against Hatley. Before that, Asay had singeld in a run on a 3-1 pitch. 5-1 Raccoons! Stalker 2-4; Hereford 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Harenberg 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Roberts 8.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (7-3);

The Raccoons are now 13-5 in June, coincidentally also the number, respectively, of players injured and deceased since the season began…

Game 3
NYC: RF I. Vega – 1B Elder – 3B Schmit – CF Hatley – SS J. Cameron – 2B Jam. Wilson – C R. Anderson – LF Olszewski – P Marron
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – CF Mora – 3B Hereford – LF Morales – C Tovias – 1B Harenberg – RF Millan – P Nomura

Portland again took the lead on a 2-run homer, but this time on Tim Stalker’s and in the third inning. Hereford had come up with Stalker and Mora on base in the first, but had hit into an inning-ending double play. While Nomura was pitching a 2-hti shutout against a Crusaders team that still wasn’t sure which bus had hit them and how hard, he was also the lead runner in the fifth inning, Stalker and Mora in tow, when Hereford came up with two outs. He hit the first pitch over the head of a sad-looking Andy Schmit for a 2-run single, a walk to Morales filled the bags again, and then Tovias dumped a blooper into shallow left for another run to score. Yet another runner, Hereford, was able to come home when Olszewski overran the ball for an error, running the tally to 6-0. And only now did Kevin Harenberg turn up to strike more fear into shaken New York hearts – he singled cleanly to left, and both Morales and Tovias scored on the play, 8-0.

Nomura needed 93 pitches through six, but with the healthy lead he was allowed to bat once more in the bottom of that inning. He walked, then got doubled up by Spencer, and then Tim Stalker hit a triple for his fourth hit of the game, now a double shy of the cycle. Mora hit that double for now, giving New York righty Isaiah Pooser (in his first game this year, and the second of his career) the earned run he deserved. Hereford gave him another one, doubling sternly off the rightfield fence, 10-0. A third Pooser run would score against lefty Chris Wickham in the same inning. The Coons’ own lefty, Nomura, was done after seven innings of not very economic 2-hit shutout ball, but that was a tall one to cry over. Stalker got a shot at the cycle in the bottom 7th, facing Wickham with Butch Gerster and Jarod Spencer on base and one out, but flew out to Vega in shallow right. Jonathan Fleischer maintained the shutout almost to the end, before falling to a 2-out RBI double by Joe Cameron in the ninth. Brotman replaced him, but allowed Cameron to score on a Jamie Wilson single. That was all to the Crusaders’ rally, though. They expired on Ryan Anderson’s pop. 11-2 Coons! Spencer 2-5; Stalker 4-5, HR, 3B, 2 RBI; Mora 3-5, 2B, RBI; Hereford 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Tovias 2-5, 3 RBI; Harenberg 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Gerster (PH) 1-1; Nomura 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (8-3) and 1-2, BB;

This sweep was valuable, knocking the Crusaders back to .500 and leaving only one pursuer over the .500 mark, the 38-34 Elks that were now six games behind. There is another 4-game set with them combing up by the end of the month… can’t ever have too much of a lead gobbled up with them…!

Raccoons (43-27) @ Falcons (31-42) – June 23-25, 2028

The Falcons were already almost 15 games out in the South and lingered in fifth place. Their offense was putrid, scoring them only 3.9 runs per game, second-worst in the league, while their pitching was easily ablaze, with the most runs surrendered in the Continental League, and just over five runs per game. But mind those lying on the ground and grabbing your ankles… the Falcons were 2-1 against the Raccoons this season.

Projected matchups:
George James (6-5, 4.03 ERA) vs. Joel O’Brien (0-2, 6.95 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (6-3, 2.50 ERA) vs. Chris Rountree (3-7, 4.45 ERA)
Kyle Anderson (5-1, 2.56 ERA) vs. Jesse Schiebout (3-5, 4.34 ERA)

Rountree would the be lone lefty on offer this week, but the Falcons had also been off on Thursday. Other than the Raccoons, who needed the day off to recover from a Sunday double header, the Falcons could make adjustments to their rotation.

Game 1
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – CF Mora – 3B Hereford – LF Morales – C Tovias – 1B Harenberg – RF Millan – P James
CHA: LF Banfi – SS S. Bowman – RF Kok – 1B Fowlkes – CF N. Nelson – 3B Rolland – C Carmichael – 2B Casillas – P O’Brien

Right out of the gate, George James either missed or hung them. The Falcons were keenly aware of this. Luigi Banfi and Barend Kok went to the corners on early hits. Pat Fowlkes hit an RBI single, and then Nate Nelson hit an escaper into the leftfield corner, where it stopped dead, for a 3-run, inside-the-park home run. His next time up, Nelson hit a “standard” home run that counted for two (lame) and that knocked out James in a 6-0 game with two outs in the bottom 3rd. Dan McLin came in, walked Jaylen Rolland and Jason Carmicahel, allowed a bases-stacking single to Tony Casillas, and then barely managed to get O’Brien to fly out to right. One o’ them games, huh?

Indeed. McLin shoveled the bases full in the fourth with nobody out, then got a pop from Pat Fowlkes before walking Nelson to force home the seventh Falcon run, and the sixth credited to Nelson. That was enough from McLin, and the Critters sent Surginer to clean up, please. Two more runs scored on a grounder and then Carmichael’s single, running the tally to 9-0. The Coons would have three on and nobody out in the fifth against O’Brien who finally remembered he was supposed to pitch like a guy with an ERA near seven. Harenberg singled, Millan walked, and Wilson Rodriguez, who had entered in a double switch with Surginer (exiting Danny Morales), landed a single for his first career base knock. What a time to do it…! All three runners would score; Spencer walked in a run, and then Stalker hit into a fielder’s choice and Mora for a sac fly in non-helpful ways to add runs. Butch Gerster hit for Surginer in the sixth and went yard, which was more helpful, but also a bit too late to make much of a difference in what was now a 9-4 drubbing. And that was before Brotman and Ohl got flogged for three more runs in the eighth inning… 12-4 Falcons. Gerster (PH) 1-2, HR, RBI; Harenberg 2-4;

Barend Kok had five base hits for Charlotte, only two less than all Coons managed to pool in this massacre.

Game 2
POR: 2B Stalker – SS Gerster – LF Morales – 3B Hereford – CF Mora – C Tovias – 1B Harenberg – RF Booker – P Gutierrez
CHA: LF Banfi – SS S. Bowman – 1B Fowlkes – CF N. Nelson – C Sigala – 3B Rolland – RF Salto – 2B Casillas – P Rountree

For a while Rico Gutierrez coped with a right-handed lineup by allowing exactly one double per inning, which held the Falcons off the scoreboard until a Nate Nelson homer in the fourth inning. This cut the Coons’ somewhat-unearned 2-0 lead from the top 1st in half. Hereford had singled in Gerster, the first of two consecutive walks, while a Tony Casillas grounder had plated Danny Morales, too. That would not be the only Hereford-supplied run against Rountree, who would allow a total of four of those in the game, and seven in total. Rich powered a 2-run double with two down in the fifth, that one up the rightfield line, then a 2-out RBI single to left in the sixth, the latter following a Butch Gerster double that already plated Harenberg and Stalker. The Coons led 7-1 in the middle of the sixth, and now even Rico should not be able to blow up against righties anymore. Before he allowed a run following Jairo Sigala’s leadoff double in the bottom 7th, he already drove one in for the Coons in their 2-spot in the top 7th. Rico lasted eight, and Kevin Surginer did not allow the Falcons to bring up more than their mandatory allotment in the ninth before ending the game. 9-2 Coons. Hereford 4-5, 2B, 4 RBI; Harenberg 3-5; Gutierrez 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (7-3) and 2-4, RBI;

Payback!

Game 3
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – CF Mora – 3B Hereford – LF Morales – 1B Harenberg – C Leal – RF Millan – P Anderson
CHA: 3B Rolland – SS S. Bowman – RF Kok – 1B Fowlkes – CF N. Nelson – C Sigala – LF Salto – 2B Casillas – P Schiebout

So who’d get the creaming in the rubber game? The Falcons were near scoring in the bottom 1st after a Sean Bowman double and Pat Fowlkes’ single, but Morales threw out Bowman at home to end the inning. Instead, Portland drew first blood with a long, long, long gone homer by Rich Hereford to lead off the second inning. The Coons then loaded them up without making an out, bringing up Omar Millan, who started a string of RBI appearances with a dying quail into shallow left-center to make it 2-0. Anderson hit a clothesline single to plate Harenberg, 3-0, and Spencer (groundout) and Stalker (sac fly) also brought in runs via productive outs before Abel Mora hit an RBI single to cash Anderson, 6-0. Hereford theng rounded out to the flogged Schiebout to end the inning. While Schiebout was not seen again, Mora and Hereford would land further 2-out RBIs in the fourth inning against Nate Ziemke. In between Anderson allowed single runs in the second and fourth innings for an 8-2 tally, but it could actually have been worse, the Falcons getting eight base hits off Anderson in four frames.

Anderson eventually lasted 6.1 innings worth of 10 hits, but no more runs. The Falcons couldn’t score against Kearney and Fleischer in the eighth, either, despite two runners to start the inning. Jaden Booker, entering in a double switch, threw out Barend Kok at home in this inning. 8-2 Coons. Mora 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Hereford 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Leal 1-2, 2 BB;

Where are these guys and why are they scoring runs so rapidly?

In other news

June 19 – SFB SP Alejandro “Ant“ Mendez (3-7, 4.18 ERA) no-hits the Falcons through seven innings before giving up three straight 1-out singles in the eighth. Reliever Alex Cordova can’t stem the tide and the Falcons scored four runs on four hits to win the game, 4-3, over the Bayhawks, who totaled 12 hits all game long.
June 22 – The Cyclones offload the contract of outfielder Adam Braun (.206, 6 HR, 35 RBI) and a prospect to the Condors for C Pat Sanford (.175, 2 HR, 8 RBI). Braun had signed a 7-yr, $23M contract with Cincy prior only to this season.
June 22 – In another deal, the Cyclones send C Tony Perez (.240, 3 HR, 19 RBI) to the Knights for SP Jim Shannon (8-3, 2.51 ERA). The Knights also receive a prospect in the agreement.
June 22 – The Canadiens send MR Ernesto Lozano (1-4, 4.59 ERA, 5 SV) to the Aces for 1B David Fisher (.326, 10 HR, 29 RBI) and a prospect.
June 22 – Capitals and Rebels share 12 scoreless innings before they both score in the 13th. Washington’s three runs in the top half hold up compared to Richmond’s single marker in the bottom half and leaves the Capitals with a 3-1 victory.
June 25 – PIT SP Ramiro Benavides (6-6, 3.87 ERA) should be lost for the season with a torn rotator cuff.

Complaints and stuff

Rich Hereford was CL Player of the Week with a torrid .476, 3 HR, 12 RBI performance. He leads the CL in the latter two categories. He also walked four times for a .560 OBP.

Huh, offense? Yeah, I heard it too! We even lead the power rankings now, which normally never happens. Maud, check for weird stellar constellations. Mena, check your tea leaves. The Critters scored *41* times this week in only six games to zoom to fifth in runs scored in the CL and to maintain their edge over the damn Elks, who are a handful of games back and will befall us with their vile stench before the next week is out. Woe Portland for having to endure them!

On the plus side, we might get Rafael Gomez back before the end of the week, too. No Ramos until after the All Star Game, though…

Our next victory will be #4,300 in the regular season all-time…

Fun Fact: This coming Monday will mark the 11th anniversary of Cookie Carmona churning out six base hits in an 18-6 drubbing of the Aces.

Ah. Cookie….. he currently has all of two base hits with the Cyclones in six games, all off the bench.