BNN Weekly Report
This Week in the CBO, BMU, and GBRL
by Nat Wright-Kawolski
21 July 2023
SCA Defeats NCA, 6-5, in Tight All-Star Game
During the star-studded affair, the 2303 South Charles Association All-Stars defeated the North Charles Association All-Stars by a score of 6-5.
The fans in attendance at Finch Family Park certainly enjoyed the show, seeing the best that the game had to offer.
Chief among the stars was Barker Cocoa, who led the South Charles Association to victory, thanks in part to his grand slam off County Crossing's Gavin Eviritts in the 3rd inning. He added an RBI groundout in the 5th inning to account for five runs batted in.
"I will admit I was nervous out there. To share a field with such incredible players is always a humbling experience. But after the first couple pitches, you just have to ignore the talent out there and focus on your game," Cocoa commented as he accepted his award after the game.
Nordhagen Beach's CF Maxx Murtagh and the Bloodbugs' RF Babs Rooth had the best showings for the North Charles Association, accounting for all five runs scored. Murtagh was 2 for 2 with a two-run home run off Roxbury's Eugene Gym in the 4th inning. Rooth was 1 for 2 with a three-run bomb off Atom RP Danny Scorcher.
The Cats' 2B Rabbit Forest drove in the game's winning run in the 7th inning when he had an RBI walk with the bases loaded against the Bloodbugs' CL Jesse Bibeault.
RP Tennessee Tailor of Vault 81 was credited with the win. CL Doug Dee El of Jamaica Plain was credited with the save. Bibeault was the losing pitcher after walking three, including the game-winner. Finch Farm's Isaiah Swindler and Atom's Scruffy Taguchi each got the starting nod. All pitchers pitched exactly one full inning with Bibeault throwing the most pitches (31). The Rad Sox's Nuke Laloosh got out of his inning with just eight pitches thrown in a 1-2-3 set.
Cocoa had a great All-Star weekend, finishing as the runner-up in the Home Run Challenge to Nordhagen Beach's Jonathan Angelou before earning the All-Star Game MVP award.
Cocoa has played in 532 games with a .331 lifetime batting average (6th all-time). Among his 551 hits are 97 doubles, 5 triples, and 115 home runs. He also has scored 427 runs (9th) and driven in 327 runs. He is currently the CBO career leader in OBP (.498), OPS (1.10), and walks (528); he is also currently the 2303 season leader in all three categories, as well as SLG (.728), WAR (6.7), OPS+ (244), WPA (5.95), and wOBA (.533).
Teams now get a two-day rest before intra-league action resumes on Friday, July 24. Some key weekend matchups include Concord (41-36) at Abernathy (38-39), Starlight (39-38) at Fort Hagen (44-33), Goodneighbor (44-33) at Atom (46-31), and Roxbury (52-25) at FHE (45-32).