Today in the CBO
News and Notes - Reports from around the Commonwealth
by Nat Wright-Kowalski
16 July 2296 - Koester Runs Hit String to 20 Straight Games
Sean Koester has been ripping hits every day for a while now, and nobody seems able to stop him. The Salem shortstop picked up 1 more today against the County Crossing Bloodbugs and now has a 20-game hitting streak. The Witch Hats won the game 6-5.
"Definitely somebody's going to stop me at some point," he said later, chuckling. "I'll enjoy it for the time being."
Sean Koester flied out in the 1st, hit an RBI double in the 3rd, grounded out in the 5th, flied out in the 7th and grounded out in the 9th.
This season Koester has banged out 83 hits in 214 at-bats for a .388 average with 4 home runs. He is getting on base at a .431 pace and his totals also include 21 RBIs and 45 runs scored.
16 July 2296 - Party Boys Deal Assaultrons 7-3 Defeat
The East Boston Prep Assaultrons and Nordhagen Beach Party Boys were greeted by a ho-hum crowd that realized these two teams may just be playing for the caps.
The Nordhagen Beach Party Boys relied on the hitting of center fielder Tomas Jones to stop the East Boston Prep Assaultrons, 7-3. For the game, Jones went 4 for 5 with 2 doubles, 2 singles, and a walk. He scored 2 times. The Party Boys go to 18-28 with the win.
Who knows how it might've ended, had it not been for Dustin Mart? The Nordhagen Beach first baseman had a 2-run single in the top of the first inning to put the Party Boys on top, 2-0. For the game, Mart had 1 double and 1 single in 6 at-bats.
Julian Shed (3-3) pitched eight innings to earn the win. Angel Waterdrink (5-6) suffered the loss.
"We cashed in when we had the chance," said Nordhagen Beach player-coach Dan Neofotistos.
16 July 2296 - Mirelurks End Oldsink's Streak
John Oldsink of the Goodneighbor Hancocks came up empty at the plate today and went hitless in 4 at-bats for the first time in 20 games. Making matters even worse for the starting pitcher, Goodneighbor dropped the game to the Warwick Mirelurks 2-1.
"It was not a good day today," Oldsink told the press in postgame comments. "We lost the game and the streak is over."
This season Oldsink has gone 8-6 with an ERA of 5.40, posting 69 strikeouts in 100 innings.
16 July 2296 - Shaw HS Eliminated
This story will repeat for 15 other of the 24 CBO teams, but the Shaw HS Knuckle Punchers of the Railroad League are the first team in the CBO to be officially eliminated from the playoffs.
The Knuckle Punchers (11-35) lost 5-4 to the Vault 81 Dwellers. Despite the loss today, Egret (26-20) now has a 15-game lead for the final wildcard spot over Shaw HS with 14 to play. Oberland (32-14) is in first place in the RL.
In the Minutemen League, the Jamaica Plain Treasures will probably be eliminated also. At 14-32, they currently trail second-place Atom (26-20) by 12 games. Any combination of two wins by the Cats or two losses by the Treasures would eliminate them from the playoffs for 2296. For the Treasures, that would be forever since new owner Kasumi Nakano is expected to change the team name.
17 July 2296 - Party Boys Take CBO's Longest Game
The Nordhagen Beach Party Boys grabbed a win, 12-9, in 16 innings over the East Boston Prep Assaultrons at Easy Town Field. The game is currently the longest game in CBO history.
Nordhagen Beach left fielder Michael Fogcrawler went 4 for 5 with a double, 3 singles, and 4 walks, while scoring 2 times. The win has Nordhagen Beach at 19-28.
Nordhagen Beach used the timely hitting of Dustin Mart to seize the win. The first baseman stroked a run-scoring single in the top of the 16th inning to put the Party Boys on top, 7-6. It was his only hit in 7 at-bats, but it was a game-changer.
"It was one of those games where both teams were swinging the bat well," Mart said.
17 July 2296 - Big Day for Squirrel: Swats 5 Hits
Dan Squirrel was a tough out and went 5-for-7 in a fine hitting display today, but the Nordhagen Beach Party Boys managed to overcome his performance and top the East Boston Prep Assaultrons, 12-9.
"I got my pitches and I connected," Squirrel said. "They all found the right holes on the diamond. Some days you hit shots and they're right at somebody, and some days they fall in. And some days you lose, no matter how well you play."
On this occasion, Squirrel played well enough to get his name in the record books. Dan Squirrel doubled in the 1st, hit an RBI double in the 2nd, singled in the 5th, walked in the 7th, grounded out in the 8th, singled in the 11th, grounded out in the 13th and singled in the 16th.
In 47 games this season Squirrel is batting .416 with 87 hits and 6 home runs. He has scored 43 runs and driven in 41.
17 July 2296 - Bloodbugs End Koester's Streak
Sean Koester's 20-game hitting streak has now come and gone. It was snapped today as the Salem Witch Hats suffered a 4-1 setback against the County Crossing Bloodbugs.
Koester went without a hit in 4 trips to the plate. He was visibly upset during a postgame press conference, but it appeared that the streak had little to do with it.
"The hitting streak was one of those things where it was fun while it lasted, but I'm not going to lose any sleep about it tonight," he said. "On the other hand, I am going to lose sleep about dropping this game today."
Koester is presently hitting at a .381 pace with 4 home runs and 21 RBIs. He has played in 47 games and scored 45 times.
17 July 2296 - Tiller Rips Sunshine Tidings for 5 Hits
It was a sensational day at the plate for Jim Tiller as he led the charge to a 9-4 win over the Chemists. The Fort Hagen first baseman was pure misery for the Sunshine Tidings pitching staff. He left them shell-shocked with 5 hits in 5 at-bats in an explosive display of hitting.
"Tiller put the ball into play and he really hit it hard," said Devon Museum, player-coach for the Chemists, after the game. "When you do that, you've got a good chance to do some damage. And that's what happened. I feel like we threw some good pitches, but he just put some good swings on the ball."
Jim Tiller hit an RBI single in the 1st, singled in the 3rd, singled in the 5th, singled in the 6th and singled in the 8th.
For the season Tiller is hitting .348, batted in 45 runs with 2 home runs and 37 runs scored.
17 July 2296 - Udder Gets 5-0 Shutout
Matt Udder was impressive at Graygarden Park today in the Oberland T-51s' 5-0 shutout victory over the Diamond City Swatters. The Oberland pitcher mystified the Swatters in a strong performance, giving up 3 hits and totaling 1 walk and 7 strikeouts.
"Matt had them chasing a lot of pitches and talking to themselves," Oberland player-coach Jonathan Abern said. "It was something special to watch."
So far this year Udder has compiled a 11-4 record with a 4.44 ERA.
18 July 2296 - Nordhagen Beach Completes Sweep
East Boston Prep got a terrific performance from left fielder Jarrett Metalbox, but it wasn't enough to beat the Nordhagen Beach Party Boys. Nordhagen Beach won the Easy Town Field contest, 8-6, winning all three games in the series.
Metalbox was 4 for 4 with 4 singles and was hit by a pitch, while scoring 2 times for the losing team. The winning pitcher was Casey Diehl. He tossed 99 pitches over 5 innings, allowing 6 runs on 9 hits. Nordhagen Beach has 3 straight wins, East Boston Prep 3 straight losses.
A key at-bat in the game came in the top of the sixth inning when the Party Boys sent teenager Brian Masterson to the plate against Assaultrons hurler Smoker Caliman. With runners on 1st and 3rd and a whole stadium watching, the kid controlled his nerves and delivered huge, hitting a double off a 2-2 changeup to score 2.
"Getting a lot of baserunners and getting some timely hits, it's a good combination," said Masterson.
18 July 2296 - Razor-Sharp Oldsink Blanks Warwick
It wasn't easy but John Oldsink made it look that way.
Oldsink silenced the Warwick Mirelurks, 9-0, in a Goodneighbor Hancocks triumph at The Homestead today. Despite the appearance of dominance, Oldsink said later that he felt like he was struggling all game. He gave up no walks and 2 hits.
"It didn't feel quite right today, but I made the decision to bear down and work through it," he said. "I made a few mistakes but it goes to show what you can do with grit and not much else."
Looking at his season stats, Oldsink has won 9 and lost 6, collecting 71 strikeouts and 29 walks in 109 innings with a 4.95 ERA.
18 July 2296 - Swatters End Perez's Streak
It just wasn't B.J. Perez's day.
The Oberland T-51s took the 9-8 win today over the Diamond City Swatters, but the Swatters mound staff did what nobody else could -- they stopped the 24-game hitting streak of T-51s center fielder B.J. Perez.
"We might have focused a bit too much on stopping Perez," Diamond City owner Moe Cronin commented afterward. "He had a nice hitting streak going, but the T-51s have other hitters and they did their job today."
On the year Perez is hitting .453 with 97 hits, 6 home runs, 43 RBIs, .512 OBP and has scored 57 runs.