[Westheim]

Because I have the day off on account of accumulated overtime, here you go: two full weeks to start the new season!

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(sniff-sniffs with his pokey black nose) Ah! The smell of buttered popcorn on a cold and moist, windy evening. Must be Opening Day in Portland!

Raccoons (0-0) vs. Loggers (0-0) – April 4-6, 2061

The Loggers had finished fifth in the North last year and had not been able to do all that much to improve their team in the meantime, but had managed to bring in a new Opening Day starter in Bob Ruggiero, who had gone 3-8 with a 3.73 ERA with Cincy last year. On the other paw, at the bottom of their rotation they had struggling reliever Sansao Tyson penciled in, which told you a lot about how much you could expect from them this year. The Raccoons had gone out and beaten them, 14-4, over the course of last season.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (0-0) vs. Bob Ruggiero (0-0)
Bobby Herrera (0-0) vs. Ernesto Culver (0-0)
Nick Robinson (0-0) vs. Roger Pritchard (0-0)

First southpaw coming up in the third game of this series.

Game 1
MIL: CF S. Franks – LF Garmon – 1B D. Robles – SS F. Carrera – 2B Lange – C M. Chavez – RF Milian – 3B D. Miller – P Ruggiero
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Nye – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – C Perez – 3B N. Fox – P Riddle

Scott Franks singled and Corey Garmon worked a full-count walk to begin the season, but the middle of the order then made three outs in a row against Tyler Riddle, who got Dave Robles to ground into a force at third base, well played by Nick Fox in his first chance as a Critter, then popped out boy wonder Fidel Carrera and whiffed Ralph Lange. Carrera was the 2060 Rookie of the Year in the CL despite three separate injuries limiting him to 98 games, but in those he had still managed to hit 17 homers and drive in 66 *Loggers* as a 21-year-old. The first Critter to reach base this year was Lonzo with a first-inning single, but nothing came of that either. Riddle would put Loggers on base with more leadoff singles in the second and third innings, with Franks being the culprit again in the latter frame. Garmon singled, Robles singled to drive in Franks from third base, and then the boy wonder unloaded a 3-run homer. Ex-Coon Marcos Chavez added a solo piece two batters later, and the Loggers held a pronounced 5-0 lead. Riddle wobbled out of the inning on his own, but was replaced with J.J. Sensabaugh for garbage duty in the fourth inning, which looked innocent enough at the time until the NWSN broadcast noted that not only was Riddle not in the dugout, but the head trainer Luis Silva wasn’t either.

Ruggiero would not be able to claim a win. He walked five Coons in 3.1 innings, giving up a run in the bottom 3rd after a leadoff walk to Joey Christopher, another walk to Joel Starr, and a wild pitch and Nick Nye’s groundout gave the Raccoons a run. After walking Angel Perez in the bottom 4th, Ruggiero came up with a limp and was also collected by his team’s trainer. Girolamo Pizzichini replaced him in a lengthy break, then struck out Fox for the second out. Sensabaugh hit a fly to left that Garmon dropped for a two-base error, after which Pizzichini balked Perez home from third base, 5-2. Christopher grounded out, leaving the unearned long reliever at third base. And that was only the fourth inning.

Landmines kept going off; Ralph Lange disappeared after five innings with forearm stiffness, being replaced with Dylan Campbell, a 23-year-old Rule 5er that made his ABL debut in this capacity. Ricky Pippin, *another* Rule 5 pick, made his ABL debut in the sixth inning, allowed a single to Brass and got an out from Perez, then ALSO left with the trainer for a shoulder injury. WHAT THE **** WAS GOING ON???

In between all the appearances the ambulance made, the Loggers got a run off Sensabaugh in three innings of work, while the Raccoons got their first stolen base of the year from Lonzo in the bottom 7th, when he reached on an error by Danny Miller, stole second, and was left to rot right there. Bravo, LaBat, and Lane would put the last three innings together in scoreless fashion, but the Raccoons weren’t exactly setting the Loggers’ pen on fire either until the bottom 9th rolled around and righty Randy Birnbaum (German for a pear tree) gave up a couple of pears, a leadoff single to Fox, then a 1-out RBI triple to Christopher. Lonzo’s sac fly was not immediately helpful, and Starr’s grounder to short ended a messy game. 6-4 Loggers. Brassfield 2-3, BB;

The Loggers made three errors, lost three players to injury, and somehow we couldn’t get in front of them. Oh-oh.

Luis, I will only take good news! – (Luis Silva walks out again)

Game 2
MIL: CF S. Franks – LF Garmon – SS F. Carrera – 1B D. Robles – C M. Reed – RF Milian – 2B Dy. Campbell – 3B D. Miller – P E. Culver
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Nye – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – C Perez – 3B N. Fox – P B. Herrera

It was near freezing on Tuesday night and the Critters tried to keep warm with some baserunning. Lonzo singled off Culver in the bottom 1st, stole second base, and then saw Starr and Cas draw walks behind him before Brassfield pushed a 2-out, 2-strike pitch through the left side for a 2-run single. An error by Miller put Angel Perez on base, but Nick Fox flew out to Garmon in left to end the inning. Bobby Herrera allowed two singles and struck out four in a rather uneventful first run through the Loggers order, while the Raccoons would double their lead in the bottom 3rd when Nye got on base ahead of Caswell, and the centerfielder, who had struggled through a miserable, injury-riddle season last year, popped the Critters’ first home run in ’61 with a 2-piece to right-center. Bottom 4th, Christopher opened with a double to right-center, while Lonzo flew out to David Milian. Starr’s grounder to Dylan Campbell was thrown away for two bases and a run by the rookie, which was already the third Loggers error in the game and the sixth in 13 innings on the year for them.

Tipsy Bobby never tripped up in the game. In his first four innings he was mostly flashy with strikeouts, and one the Raccoons were up 5-0 he pitched more to contact with a pile of one- or two-pitch at-bats in the last couple of innings with which he gained length when he was at 89 pitches through six, and thus somehow managed to go two more innings on just 17 more offerings and while allowing a soft single to ex-Coon Harry Ramsay, who was then quickly doubled off. I like to claim that he planned it that way, but with these buggers you can never be sure. Perez hit a leadoff double off right-hander Larry Wilson in the bottom 8th. Ben Morris batted for Herrera after Fox’ groundout and put an RBI single into center to tack on to the lead. Morris was caught stealing before Wilson then loaded the bags with two outs and a walk to Christopher, a Lonzo single, and another walk to Starr, but Nye popped out to Dave Robles to leave them all stranded. Ruben Mendez got the last three outs in order. 6-0 Furballs. Lavorano 2-5; Caswell 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Brassfield 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Morris (PH) 1-1, RBI; B. Herrera 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, W (1-0);

Pretty fine “I’m here, I can still pitch” statement from Bobby Herrera.

Meanwhile in Elk City, Ben Seiter was lit up by the Elks and the Crusaders lost their opener, so we were now half a game ahead of them. Success!

Luis Silva, I said I will only take good news! – (gets slapped by Maud with a rolled-up newspaper) – FINE. Tell me. – (big black googly eyes water up)

On Wednesday the Raccoons then placed Tyler Riddle on the DL with a partial tear in his labrum, which we’d do our very best to glue back together, but he’d miss two months plus rehab at the very least…

Angel Alba would probably fill the hole in the rotation, but there was no need to bring him up right away, since he would not make a turn until next week. Thursday was off, and then we could send out the other four guys before getting him involved. He was thus scheduled for Tuesday next week, which was also the day of the AAA opener, so he was right on schedule with getting prepared. For now, Bryan Erickson was brought up as extra righty reliever.

Game 3
MIL: CF S. Franks – LF Garmon – 1B D. Robles – SS F. Carrera – 2B Dy. Campbell – C M. Chavez – RF Milian – 3B D. Miller – P R. Pritchard
POR: RF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 2B Nye – 1B Starr – LF Kozak – CF Caswell – C Fuller – 3B N. Fox – P Robinson

Twice in the first three innings the Loggers would have a pair in scoring position and two outs against Nick Robinson, who made his Coons debut, and then brought up the Rule 5 pick Campbell. The first time he struck out, but the second time he rushed a single past Joel Starr or a 2-0 Loggers lead. Robinson was all over the place; while he struck out six in three innings, he also offered two walks and ran a pile of long counts, leading to him being over 60 pitches after just those three frames. He also bunted into a double play, and after the fifth began with a Franks single and he got a comebacker from Corey Garmon, threw that away for a 2-base error for another pair of Loggers in scoring position, just now with nobody out. He walked Robles, popped out Carrera, but Campbell got another RBI with a fielder’s choice grounder to Nick Nye. Mendez then replaced Robinson, but gave up another run on a Chavez single, 4-0, before getting Milian out.

The Coons didn’t get to Pritchard until the sixth inning when he started to leak a couple of walks and Nye plated Brass with a sac fly to left-center, but Lonzo and Starr, who drew a 2-out walk, were left on base by Jack Kozak. Cas and Nick Fox made it to the corners in the seventh, but Brass left them on with a grounder to short, and instead ex-Coons Marcos Chavez (double) and Harry Ramsay (homer) lit up Reynaldo Bravo in the eighth inning for two more runs. Pritchard went seven innings of 4-hit ball, and John Norris kept the Critters at bay for the final two. 6-1 Loggers.

Raccoons (1-2) vs. Bayhawks (3-1) – April 8-10, 2061

The Bayhawks had won three of four games from the Condors to begin the season in first place in the South. They were in the top three in both runs scored and runs allowed, but it was certainly early. The Raccoons had gone 6-3 against them last year.

Projected matchups:
Justin DeRose (0-0) vs. Bill Grau (0-0)
Chance Fox (0-0) vs. Hector Montenegro (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Joe Chalmers (1-0, 3.00 ERA)

Southpaw to start the series, then two right-handers here.

Game 1
SFB: SS X. Reyes – CF Alade – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – 3B D. Sandoval – 1B D. Williams – RF A. Walker – C Cantu – P Grau
POR: RF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 2B Nye – C Perez – CF Caswell – 1B Kozak – LF Morris – 3B N. Fox – P DeRose

Kozak popped out after the Coons loaded the bases in the first inning, although this involved only a single by Perez and otherwise Nye reaching on a 2-out error and Caswell getting brushed by a pitch. San Francisco then took an earned 1-0 lead in the second inning with DeRose’s walk to Dan Sandoval, Dustin Williams’ double to right, and Aaron Walker’s sac fly. Jose Cantu grounded out to Nye to end that inning. Another miserably cold night only got darker and more miserable in the third inning, when Bill Grau led off with a double into the right-center gap and DeRose got waffled for another three hits before getting anybody out. Xavier Reyes singled, Jon Alade doubled, Grant Anker singled, and all in all three more runs scored in the inning.

The Raccoons hardly took place against Grau after their empty threat in the first inning, scattering only three more hits until the stretch and failing to get to third base even once. Grau pitched into the eighth before being lifted following a 2-out walk to Caswell, but reliever Travis Davis got Kozak to fly out rather easily. DeRose went seven (somehow) and then was competently followed by Lane and Ricky H., but the team was still down four into the bottom 9th until Ben Morris hit a surprise leadoff jack against right-hander Zach Johnson, who was immediately whisked for closer Ryan Dow then, who retired Christopher, Fowler, and Brass in order to end the game. 4-1 Bayhawks. Perez 3-4, 2B; Starr (PH) 1-1;

And that was last place with a 158-game string looming.

Game 2
SFB: SS X. Reyes – CF A. Walker – 2B A. Montoya – LF Anker – 1B D. Williams – RF Alade – 3B Sostre – C Redfern – P H. Montenegro
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Nye – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – C Perez – 3B Fowler – P C. Fox

Aaron Walker’s double and Grant Anker’s sharp 2-out single put the Bayhawks in front in the first inning against Foxie Brown, although the Raccoons made up the difference in a 4-hit, 1-run bottom 1st that saw Christopher single and steal second, before Lonzo singled him to third base and was himself caught stealing. Starr’s sac fly tied the game before Nye and Caswell singled and were left on by Brass’ groundout.

Jon Alade drew a leadoff walk from Fox in the second inning, but had an awkward tumble into second base on Bill Sostre’s grounder and hurt his elbow, leading to his removal from the game in favor of Bobby Grewe. Alade was later announced to have suffered an elbow sprain and would miss a month.

Chance Fox at one point struck out four in a row, but at others looked easily punchable, although the score remained 1-1 for a while longer, also because Fox struck out to strand Brassfield on third base in the fourth inning, which was not something I was normally mouthing off about much, except that he then right away allowed a leadoff single to the opposing pitcher, which made me gnash the old teeth. In this case, though, Aaron Walker would end the inning with a 6-4-3 double play to erase Montenegro’s leadoff single.

The Coons briefly took the lead on a Joey Christopher jack in the bottom 5th but Grant Anker pulled the score back even with a home run of his own in the next half-inning, getting everybody even at two. Another scoring opportunity for the hometown team beckoned in the bottom 6th, though, which Cas began with a single to center, and Brass followed with a double to left. This knocked out Montenegro, with left-hander Zane Fenlon replacing him with runners on second and third and nobody out. Angel Perez got the intentional walk to make it a three-on, nobody-out trap, except that Nick Fowler got a 2-run single over Armando Montoya’s glove and Portland went up 4-2. Which was as good as it got with Fox bunting into a force at third base, Christopher popping out, and Lonzo flying out to Grant Anker… That lead, too, immediately went bust. Fox got one more out from Keith Redfern to begin the seventh, then allowed a single to Jose Escalera. Mendez replaced Fox, and things escalerad with a Reyes single, a double steal, and Aaron Walker’s 2-run single to left-center before the inning fizzled out. The Coons couldn’t score in the bottom 7th despite two walks offered by Fenlon, and instead the Bayhawks took a 5-4 lead on a pinch-hit homer by Dan Sandoval off Elijah LaBat in the eighth, and Escalera sprung another jack off Bryan Erickson in the ninth. That inning continued with a Reyes single, stolen base, and throwing error by Perez, and Aaron Walker getting a sac fly in for an unearned run. Bottom 9th, Ryan Dow allowed leadoff singles to Lonzo and Starr, which put the tying run in the box. Nye grounded out to advance the runners, which was not helpful in itself, and Cas popped out to short, which was not helpful at all. Brass’ grounder to short ended the game. 7-4 Bayhawks. Christopher 2-5, HR, RBI; Lavorano 2-5; Starr 2-3, BB, RBI; Caswell 2-3, 2 BB;

(sigh)

Game 3
SFB: SS X. Reyes – RF Escalera – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – 3B D. Sandoval – 1B D. Williams – C Cantu – CF A. Walker – P Chalmers
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – CF Caswell – 2B Fowler – C Fuller – 3B N. Fox – P B. Herrera

Lonzo got his annual homer in with a solo shot in the first inning, although Starr walked and Brass doubled after that and Cas at least got another run home with a groundout for a 2-0 lead. The Bayhawks pulled a run back with singles by Sandoval and Cantu in the second inning, and Escalera and Anker erased the rest of the Coons’ lead with a pair of 2-out doubles up either line in the third inning. It was 3-2 Bayhawks by the fourth as Sandoval and Cantu went to the corners on a walk and a hit, and then Aaron Walker’s sac fly to center pushed them ahead.

Bottom 4th, Brassfield singled, which was the first Coons hit since the opening inning. Cas was not helpful, and Fowler’s groundout only moved him to second base, but here Tim Fuller had his first knock as a Critter, a game-tying RBI double to left. The inning ended with an intentional walk and Tipsy Bobby popping out. And the Coons’ starter just kept getting crowded; Anker and Montoya hit 2-out singles in the fifth to create another tight spot before Sandoval generously popped out on the infield to keep them from scoring yet again.

The grind never stopped with Herrera and he was lifted from the 3-3 game in the seventh inning after giving up a 1-out double to Xavier Reyes. Ricky H. replaced Bobby H., allowed a scratch single to Escalera to put runners on the corners, but then struck out both Anker and Montoya to keep the game tied at the stretch. Instead, Redfern and Dustin Williams spanked Mike Lane for leadoff doubles in the eighth to take a 4-3 lead for San Fran, but then left that extra runner in scoring position, while Lonzo hit a leadoff single against Travis Davis to begin the bottom 8th, then was doubled up by Starr… The Bayhawks then drove in another knife in the ninth inning when the Raccoons took the bubble wrap off Matt Walters, who was looking kinda bored, but gave up a leadoff single to Reyes and a 2-run homer to Anker to seamlessly joined in with the general sucking going on. 6-3 Bayhawks. Lavorano 3-4, HR, RBI; Brassfield 2-4, 2B;

What an opening homestand…

Raccoons (1-5) @ Falcons (2-4) – April 11-13, 2061

It was onto the road for a 7-game trip now, starting with three games in Charlotte, where the Falcons had the eighth-most runs scored and fourth-most runs allowed in the CL. They managed to be bottoms in both home runs *and* stolen bases, but the Raccoons had the league-worst OBP and had the second-worst starters’ ERA, while the Falcons were bottoms in bullpen ERA. Lots of room for improvement! This team, too, had been beaten at a 6-3 rate by the Raccoons last year.

Projected matchups:
Nick Robinson (0-1, 5.79 ERA) vs. Phil Baker (1-0, 1.13 ERA)
Angel Alba (0-0) vs. Cory Ellis (0-1, 6.75 ERA)
Justin DeRose (0-1, 5.14 ERA) vs. Andres Lopez (0-1, 4.50 ERA)

Lopez was the only southpaw in their rotation.

Alba was not on the roster to begin the series, but would replace Erickson after the Monday game. Alba had gone 12-9 with a 3.03 ERA in St. Pete last year, and 2-2 with a 5.32 ERA and too many walks with the Critters in a mid-season rotation filler spell of four games. The 24-year-old righty had looked improved when compared to that in training camp already.

Game 1
POR: RF Christopher – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – SS Nye – CF Caswell – C Perez – 3B Fowler – 2B Bean – P Robinson
CHA: CF M. Estrada – 1B Valcarcel – RF D. Ceballos – C L. Miranda – 2B Yoshikawa – 3B D. Espinosa – LF Bumpus – SS Leitch – P P. Baker

Robinson gave up straight singles to Mario Estrada, Jesus Valcarcel, and Danny Ceballos, swiftly followed by Luis Miranda’s bases-clearing double to plunge the team into another substantial deficit without even logging an out. In all, he allowed five hits in the first inning, and I began to look through the trade agreement with the Gold Sox for a very specific no-backsies clause. After that horrendous first inning, he only lasted four more, but at least did not allow any more runs. The Raccoons looked sufficiently buried, though, getting only two hits off Phil Baker in five innings. Joey Christopher even further reduced the offensive threat by getting caught stealing in the third inning, and after reaching on an error in the sixth, getting caught stealing there again.

When Joel Starr led off the seventh inning with a double to center, it was already the single-most impressive offensive display delivered by the team dressed in browns on this Monday, and – lo! – he was even driven in by Angel Perez with a 2-out single to get an ACTUAL run on the board! Fowler singled, too, but Jon Bean grounded out and that was the inning. Morris pinch-hit for Erickson and grounded out to begin the eighth, but Christopher singled his way on with one out before Trent Brassfield unloaded a 418-footer to left, which somehow tied the ballgame, but Starr and Nye grounded out to end the inning before they could accidentally take a lead. Mike Lane got around two Falcons singles in the bottom 8th, but Braden McCarver pinch-hit and hit a leadoff single off Bravo in the bottom 9th. Mario Estrada’s grounder to 2060 Gold Glover Nick Fox was taken for a force out at second base, keeping the winning run out of scoring position, although that point was soon moot after Jesus Valcarcel’s scratch single and a walk issued to Luis Miranda with two outs. In between Danny Ceballos, batting .500 at the beginning of play this Monday, had grounded out to advance the runners. Thus it was two outs and the bags full for Bravo against Takuro Yoshikawa, who lobbed a high fastball for the first pitch to center. Noah Caswell came on, I braced for extra innings, but Caswell dropped the ball and the Falcons gigglingly walked off on the error. 4-3 Falcons. Fowler 2-3; Kozak (PH) 1-1; Erickson 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Bryan Erickson (0-0, 3.00 ERA) was rewarded with a trip to St. Petersburg for the AAA opener while as intended Angel Alba joined the team to take the start on Tuesday.

Brassfield got the day off on Tuesday after Nye on Sunday and Lonzo on Monday. Joel Starr and Noah Caswell were penciled in for a rest day against the southpaw on Wednesday.

Game 2
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Nye – CF Caswell – C Perez – LF Morris – 3B N. Fox – P Alba
CHA: SS Snyder – 1B Valcarcel – LF D. Ceballos – 2B Yoshikawa – 3B D. Espinosa – CF M. Estrada – C McCarver – RF Tomko – P C. Ellis

Alba got a 2-0 lead before taking the hill thanks to Joel Starr’s first home run of the season, which came after Ellis walked both Christopher and Lonzo, and the former was thrown out at third base on a double steal because we were desperate for runs. Alba got Brendan Snyder to fly out before the bags filled up in the bottom 1st with a walk to Valcarcel, a Ceballos single, and Yoshikawa’s grounder being fumbled by Lonzo. Danny Espinosa hit a sac fly to center for the only Falcons run as Mario Estrada flew out to left to leave two runners stranded. Doubles by Morris and Alba (!) tacked on a run for a 3-1 Coons lead in the second inning, but the Falcons saw Alba’s stuff well and kept whacking away at him until they tied the game in the bottom 3rd with four hits by Snyder (leadoff single), Ceballos (single), Yoshikawa (RBI double), and Estrada (RBI single).

The fourth began with quick outs by Fox and Alba before Christopher singled with two outs. Lonzo then got a hanging breaking ball on a tee and bashed it *444* feet for his second homer of the year, a new 5-3 lead, and the home run lead on the foundering ballclub…!! LOOOOON-ZOOOOO!!!

That was the end for Ellis although Alba threatened to not go far behind, just unable to fool the Falcons with anything he had to offer. Ben Morris’ second homer of the year off Alberto Rivera made it 6-3 in the fifth, but Alba was almost lifted in the fifth after a 2-out double, then again in the sixth after Chris Tomko’s 1-out single, but when the Falcons sent soft-hitting Alan Leitch to bat in the pitcher’s spot, Alba faced the right-hander and got a 5-4-3 double play out of him, albeit sharply hit, to complete six messy innings.

The bullpens then did a pretty decent job for a couple of innings before the Coons flooded the bases in the ninth with Nye, Perez, and Morris all reaching against left-hander Matt Malone. When Tim Fuller batted for Nick Fox, the Falcons brought right-hander Manny Gutierrez, the game’s #2 prospect. Fuller put an RBI single through the left side, though, before Kozak struck out. Christopher clipped a 2-out, 2-run single to right, and Lonzo grounded out for his only retirement in the game. The Coons then tried their luck in the bottom 9th with J.J. Sensabaugh, who hadn’t pitched since long relief duty on Opening Day and was quickly bombed for a 3-run homer by Snyder, after which Matt Walters took over and finished out the game, but still didn’t get a save because he came in with only two outs to collect. 9-6 Raccoons. Christopher 2-4, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Lavorano 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Morris 2-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Fuller (PH) 1-1, RBI;

A win!!

Game 3
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – LF Brassfield – C Perez – 2B Nye – 1B Kozak – CF Morris – 3B N. Fox – P DeRose
CHA: SS Snyder – 1B Valcarcel – LF D. Ceballos – C L. Miranda – 2B Yoshikawa – 3B D. Espinosa – CF M. Estrada – RF Tomko – P An. Lopez

After DeRose fell behind 1-0 on errors by Nick Fox and Angel Perez and pretty much nothing else in the first inning, the Raccoons began to claw their way back into the game in the top 3rd with Fox, who had so far not done much good with the stick, doubling to center and scoring on DeRose’s 1-out single up the middle. That tied the game; Christopher struck out, but Lonzo got hold of *another* baseball and bashed that one 441 feet for his THIRD homer of the season…!! That was 3-1 Coons, and let’s just say, an unknown crazy person dancing and singing and jumping around the promenade at the Falcons’ ballpark.

The middle innings were comparatively uneventful with no runs scored and not a lot of base runners either. The Raccoons would get Angel Perez on base to begin the seventh inning then, and while Matt Malone came in specifically for Ben Morris with two outs and Perez still on first base, he still gave up an RBI double to extend the Coons’ lead to 4-1. Fox flew out to center to end the inning, while a Morris error then put Danny Espinosa on base to begin the bottom 7th. DeRose struggled against the bottom of the order, then gave up a 2-out RBI single to PH Braden McCarver and was lifted for Ricky H. to face the left-handed Snyder as the tying run. He lost him on straight balls, but then had Valcarcel pop out to Lonzo instead which also ended the inning. Ceballos then reached against Herrera to begin the bottom 8th, legging out an infield single to Nick Fowler at third base. Ruben Mendez replaced Herrera, got three weak outs, and that ended the inning just as well.

Matt Walters then had his first actual save opportunity, nine games into the season, in the bottom 9th, trying to hold a 4-2 lead, but the pesky Falcons opened the inning with a pair of singles by Estrada and Tomko and immediately were on the corners. Adam Bumpus’ sac fly shortened the score to 4-3, and Alan Leitch reached on an error by Fowler, the FOURTH Coons error in the game. Valcarcel’s grounder to short was well handled by Lonzo, though, and a 6-4-3 double play ended the game and gave the Raccoons their first series victory of the season. 4-3 Coons. Starr (PH) 1-1; DeRose 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (1-1);

Lonzo was fifth in the CL in slugging at this point. =)

That’s what you get when you mess with our best hitter!! Look, he’s tied for the CL lead in homers! He was in fact in the top 3 in home runs *and* stolen bases…!!

(giggles madly)

Raccoons (3-6) @ Indians (5-3) – April 14-17, 2061

The Indians were second in the North in the early going, just half a game behind the … Elks? Okay, it was very early. They had the fewest runs scored (Coons: second-fewest) and the second-fewest runs allowed, with a -3 run differential (Coons: -7). The funny bit was actually about the Coons’ stats at this point as we had the worst batting average and OBP, but the most homers in the league. Last year we had won this season series as well, 11-7.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (0-0, 4.26 ERA) vs. Melvin Guerra (1-0, 2.57 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (1-0, 1.88 ERA) vs. Zach Stewart (1-0, 1.38 ERA)
Nick Robinson (0-1, 5.59 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (1-0, 4.22 ERA)
Angel Alba (1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (0-0, 5.40 ERA)

The Indians had no fewer than FOUR left-handed starting pitchers. The only exception was Guerra, so all the left-handed sticks that never got a turn otherwise were crammed into the lineup on Thursday for the opener against him. The only right-handed batters in the lineup were Tim Fuller, because we had no left-handed hitting catcher, and the white-hot Lonzo.

Game 1
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – CF Caswell – LF B. Morris – 3B Fowler – C Fuller – 2B Bean – P C. Fox
IND: CF S. Thompson – 1B R. Alvarez – C Al. Gomez – SS Kilday – 2B Ewers – LF O. Ramos – RF Abel – 3B Gaxiola – P M. Guerra

Guerra offered three walks and yielded a stolen base to Lonzo, who had forced out Christopher, but didn’t allow a run in the first inning, with Fowler flying out to center to leave the bases loaded. The Raccoons still didn’t have a base hit, but two more in scoring position with one out in the top 2nd, as Jon Bean walked and then Fox’ bunt was thrown away by Guerra for two bases. Grounders by Christopher and Lonzo brought nobody across home plate before the inning ended. Starr led off the third with a single, and Caswell hit another soft single right after that. Morris’ grounder to Kevin Ewers was taken to second base for a force out, but Nick Fowler dropped a single into shallow left. That would bring in Starr, and because the ball hopped over Orlando Ramos’ glove, the Coons gained an extra base on that error and had runners on second and third and one out again. This time Tim Fuller hit an RBI single before strikeouts to Bean and Fox ended the inning for a busy Guerra. Fuller got another RBI single with two outs in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 3-0. That time he drove in Morris, who had drawn a walk from Guerra – what a novel concept – and had stolen his first bag of the year.

Since it was still a shutout on the Indians’ side there was reason to suspect that Foxie Brown was having a good day, and he indeed had one, allowing three soft singles and whiffing four through five innings for allowing no runs – and then it started to rain and we had a 45-minute rain delay, which was going to shortcut his outing. He still batted for himself in the top 6th when play resumed, but struck out against Jarod Morris. But Joe-Chris drew a walk and stole second, and while Lonzo grounded out, Starr also walked. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, but Caswell popped out to Steve Thompson in shallow center. Fox then faced three more batters in the bottom 6th, allowing a leadoff single to Willie Sanchez in the #9 hole before getting two more outs from Thompson and Ricardo Alvarez. Mike Lane then replaced him for the right-handed Alex Gomez, but gave up an RBI single anyway before Matt Kilday popped out to Cas in shallow center. Kevin Ewers and Chris Lovins then moved to the corners against Lane with a pair of hits to begin the bottom 7th. Kevin Abel’s sac fly narrowed the score to 3-2, and the rest of the lead was squandered by LaBat, who walked Robby Gaxiola and gave up a tying single to Sanchez. Steve Thompson’s sac fly gave Indy a 4-3 lead then before Alvarez struck out…

The eighth was uneventful while Lonzo led off the ninth against lefty closer Cody Kleidon. He broke up his 0-for-4 on the day with a leadoff single, putting the tying run on base, but stealing was out of the question against Kleidon, who was watching him with the eyes of a hawk, at least until Starr doubled to left and the tying and go-ahead runs reached scoring position. Kleidon then got Caswell to 0-2, but hung one and that baseball was never seen again, being blasted out of the park for a 3-run homer! Kleidon was gone; right-hander Ben Akman then allowed singles to Morris and Fowler, and another RBI single to Tim Fuller, his third on the day! Bean and Nick Fox made meek outs after that, but in that spot the Raccoons sent the struggling Nick Nye, batting .097 going into the day, to bat for Joe-Chris, and he found another RBI single into leftfield! That was the end for Akman, as the Indians went to Kelly Whitney to get out of the inning, which he did with a fly to left from Lonzo. Ricky Herrera then sorted out the bottom 9th… but not without allowing a hit to Thompson and a 2-out homer to Ricardo Alvarez… 8-6 Raccoons. Nye (PH) 1-1, RBI; Starr 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Caswell 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Fowler 2-5, RBI; Fuller 3-5, 3 RBI; C. Fox 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K;

Winning streak!

And now let’s see how bad we can not hit a set of left-handers in a row…

Game 2
POR: RF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – C Perez – 2B Nye – LF Kozak – CF B. Morris – 3B Fowler – P B. Herrera
IND: 2B M. Weber – 1B Ewers – SS Kilday – C Al. Gomez – LF O. Ramos – CF S. Thompson – RF R. Alvarez – 3B Gaxiola – P Stewart

Tipsy Bobby scattered five runners between the first three innings, although that included an error by Nick Nye creating issues on the first ball the Indians put in play against Herrera. Jack Kozak was having a bit of day, ticking off the hard parts of the cycle by the fourth inning. He hit a triple in the second inning, in which the Raccoons managed to not score despite the triple, while in the fourth he came up after Nick Nye had landed a hit off Stewart, and then whacked a 2-run homer for the first runs of the ballgame. Morris reached base with a single right after that, then stole second base, and scored when Bobby Herrera dropped in a single with two outs and two strikes against his former partner as 1-2 punch atop the Coons’ rotation.

Robby Gaxiola hit a sac fly after Herrera walked Thompson and allowed a double to Alvarez in the bottom 4th, so the Indians were getting on the board right after the Critters and shortened the score to 3-1. Not only was their rotation 4/5 left-handed, but they were also bringing up seven left-handed batters against Herrera, and he wasn’t coping so well. This came to a head in the bottom 5th; Herrera faced five batters, retired none of them, and was yanked after giving up a score-flipping 3-run homer to Kilday and then two more hits to Alex Gomez and Orlando Ramos. LaBat replaced him, got out of the inning, but not without allowing another run to score.

Top 6th, Morris got nicked by Stewart with one out. Fowler advanced him with a groundout before Noah Caswell batted for LaBat and socked an RBI double. Unfortunately he also knocked his own knee out of alignment on a slide into second base, and had to limp off with Luis Silva, to be replaced by pinch-runner Jon Bean, who was the tying run, but was stranded when Brass flew out. After Sensabaugh got slapped for two more runs in the bottom 6th, Ben Akman then got the ball in the seventh. The Coons made two outs, but then Perez singled, Nye walked, and Kozak singled. The tying runs were on for Ben Morris, who got ahead 2-0 in the count and motivated Akman to come more over the plate, which turned out to be a mistake when Morris whacked the 2-0 pitch for 322 feet, wrapping it around the right foul pole over the 309’ sign. GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!

Travis Glovinsky, the right-hander the Indians had taken from us in the Rule 5 draft and not handed back (yet) then got the third out of the top 7th from Fowler. The 8-7 lead was then immediately blown by Sensabaugh, who gave up three walks and a hit in the bottom 7th when the Raccoons direly needed outs. Ruben Mendez and Nick Fox entered in a double switch, and Orlando Ramos grounded out to Lonzo to end the inning. It was now eight-all, and the Raccoons were running out of personnel. Mendez ached through the bottom 8th against a pile of left-handers, walking Alvarez and Gaxiola, but he also got two strikeouts, including on Mike Weber to end the inning, the game still tied. The Raccoons could not do anything against Kleidon in the ninth inning this time, while Mike Lane did not register an out in the bottom of the inning, allowing a leadoff double to Lovins, and then singles to Kilday and Gomez to lose the game. 9-8 Indians. Perez 3-5; Kozak 3-4, HR, 3B, 2 RBI; Morris 2-3, HR, 4 RBI; Caswell (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

While Kozak missed the cycle by the double, Kilday missed the cycle by the triple, going 5-for-6 with 4 RBI against the Coons.

There were roster moves after this game. Noah Caswell went on the DL with a knee sprain as his injury history grew longer. He would miss a month perhaps. Also, J.J. Sensabaugh (0-0, 12.60 ERA) was axed after just three outings as garbage man. Felix Ayala, going 3-for-10 to start the AAA season, and Brad Loveless, the former Nick Brown Memorial Pick, were brought up from the Alley Cats as replacement; them being a righty-hitting centerfielder and a left-handed reliever was partially motivated by who and what we were playing right now.

Game 3
POR: RF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – C Perez – 2B Nye – LF Kozak – CF Ayala – 3B N. Fox – P Robinson
IND: CF S. Thompson – 1B R. Alvarez – SS Kilday – 2B Ewers – RF Lovins – C Atencio – LF W. Sanchez – 3B Gaxiola – P DeWitt

The Coons began the Saturday game with two singles, but Starr’s double play grounder and a K on Perez quickly ended the inning without a score. Kevin Ewers meanwhile was the ONLY right-handed batter in the Indians’ lineup against Nick Robinson, who should now finally have a good game – and did! …sorta. Kinda. Well. The game was scoreless through five innings, because both teams couldn’t help themselves but roll a string of natural ones against the opposing left-handed starter, but Robinson finally found a banana peel to slip on and it was *the other left-handed starter*. DeWitt opened the bottom 6th with a single, was bunted to second by Thompson, and scored on a 2-out RBI single by Matt Kilday for the game’s first run. PH Orlando Ramos would double home Chris Lovins with another 2-out run the inning after, but the Raccoons and their *right-handed* lineup had yet to make any impression on DeWitt, who went seven innings of 3-hit ball before being inexplicably replaced by right-hander Juan Carrillo to begin the eighth inning. Christopher batted for Robinson to begin the inning and walked, then advanced on a wild pitch. Brass had two of the three hits against DeWitt, but grounded out. Lonzo had the third hit of the team so far, but was hit for with Ben Morris to gain *any* sort of leverage here. Morris’ single sure enough put the tying runs on the corners for Joel Starr, who hit a rocket to deep right, to the fence, Lovins back, jumping into the fence, and – he had the ball! …and obvious pain as he rolled around on the ground. Christopher scored on the sac fly, while Morris was shooed back to first base by Steve Thompson, who quickly arrived at the scene and took the ball out of Lovins’ glove. The Indians had to replace him with Alex Gomez – the catcher – but had already churned through their entire bench and didn’t have an outfielder available anymore. Perez whiffing rendered this a non-problem at least for *this* inning.

The Coons used Matt Walters in the bottom 8th, which didn’t work for him either and he gave up a homer to Steve Thompson to restore the two-run gap. The Raccoons went in order against Kelly Whitney in the ninth, and without bothering the shivering catcher in rightfield. 3-1 Indians. Brassfield 2-4, 2B; Morris (PH) 1-1; Robinson 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, L (0-2);

Game 4
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – LF Brassfield – C Perez – 2B Nye – 1B Kozak – CF Ayala – 3B Fowler – P Alba
IND: 2B M. Weber – 1B Ewers – SS Kilday – RF R. Alvarez – LF O. Ramos – CF S. Thompson – C Atencio – 3B M. Morales – P Fitzgibbon

Like his first time out, Alba got a multiple-run lead in the top 1st as Christopher led off with a double. Lonzo flew out, but Brass walked, and Perez and Nye hit a pair of RBI singles. Aggro baserunning on the Nye single allowed Kozak to bring in the third and final run of the inning with a groundout to second base. Ayala’s fly ended the inning, and then all the **** hit the fan at once. Alba nailed Weber with the first pitch he threw, and Brass dropped Ewers’ fly for an error. A wild pitch advanced the runners, and Kilday doubled home a pair on only the ninth pitch Alba threw, which was as good a time as any to go out and shake and yell some sense into the bloody rookie. But Alvarez legged out an infield hit, Ramos’ sac fly tied the game, and Steve Thompson cranked a 2-run homer to right. 5-3 Indians after one.

The Coons pulled a run back when Fowler hit a leadoff double in the second and scored on Lonzo’s 2-out single, but the Indians answered with two, getting Ewers on with a 2-out walk in the bottom 2nd. Kilday tripled home the runner, then scored on a wild pitch. The dire constitution of the bullpen was what kept Alba in the game at this point. While an off day beckoned on Monday, we were still extremely short on rested relievers unless we were wanting to bank on three innings from Brad Loveless. Alba even walked Ramos to begin the bottom 3rd, then whiffed Thompson and got a double play grounder from Atencio. Fitzgibbon was even yanked before him after four troubled and tedious innings against the Coons, after which Kevin Abel batted for him in the bottom 4th, but the very next batter, Weber, homered off Alba, and that was the end for the youngster and Loveless was inserted for garbage relief, although he would only log four outs before his spot came up in the sixth with Nye and Ayala on base against Jarrod Morris, and two outs. Joel Starr pinch-hit, grounded out, and everything was horrible.

Ricky Herrera gave up back-to-back doubles to Atencio and Miguel Morales, and thus another run in the sixth inning, before Lonzo took Kelly Whitney deep for a solo home run (!!??) in the seventh. I pinched myself three times in the furry cheek and the bulging tummy, but each time the run remained on the board when I opened my eyes again so it had to be true; Lonzo on four homers in 13 games was not a dream, right? The rest of the experience sure felt like a nightmare… Bravo and LaBat ended scoreless innings to get the day’s pitching done with at least, but the team never came close to scoring another run. 9-5 Indians. Lavorano 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Perez 2-4, RBI; Nye 3-4, RBI; Bean (PH) 1-1;

In other news

April 4 – The Falcons acquire UT Brendan Snyder, who hit .267 with one homer and 24 RBI in 2060, from the Buffaloes in exchange for a prospect.
April 5 – The Miners beat the Buffaloes, 4-1. All the runs score in the 10th inning.
April 6 – NYC SP Joel Luera (1-0, 0.00 ERA) throws a no-hitter in his first start of the season, facing the minimum 27 batters in a 2-0 win against the Canadiens. The only base runner for Vancouver is C Alex Maldonado (.200, 0 HR, 1 RBI), who is hit by a pitch and then doubled up by 2B/OF Rafael Roldan (.200, 0 HR, 0 RBI). This is the second career no-hitter for Luera, who previously no-hit the Indians in his final start of the regular season in 2058.
April 8 – TOP SS/3B Zach Suggs (.222, 0 HR, 1 RBI) would miss two weeks after suffering a mild shoulder strain in an on-base collision with another player.
April 8 – A walkoff home run by INF RF/LF/1B Chris Lovins (.222, 1 HR, 1 RBI) is the only score in the Indians’ 1-0 win against the Aces.
April 9 – PIT 3B Juan Ojeda (.400, 1 HR, 3 RBI) has a 5-for-5 day with a home run and three RBI in a 9-2 Miners win against the Wolves.

April 11 – PIT SP Cory Ritter (1-0, 0.00 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout with seven strikeouts in his second start for the Miners, beating the Warriors, 9-0.
April 12 – RIC SP Justin Martin (0-0, 3.00 ERA) could miss most of the season with a tear in his labrum.
April 14 – Scorpions C Nate Danis (.261, 1 HR, 5 RBI) will miss at least a month with a broken hand.
April 15 – OCT SP Ernesto Rios (1-1, 0.56 ERA) no-hits the Condors in a 2-0 win. Rios strikes out seven and walks two in the game. This is the second no-hitter of the season, and the first for a Thunder pitcher since Brian Frain no-hit the Falcons in 2038.
April 15 – 21-year-old Blue Sox sophomore OF/1B/3B Fernando Aracena (.413, 0 HR, 8 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak going after three hits, including a triple, in a 7-6 loss to the Capitals.
April 16 – The Capitals beat the Blue Sox 5-0 and suffocate the 20-game hitting streak of Fernando Aracena (.380, 0 HR, 8 RBI) right along with the rest of the team.

FL Player of the Week (1): SFW 1B Miguel Medina (.385, 3 HR, 10 RBI)
CL Player of the Week (1): OCT RF/LF Eric Whitlow (.542, 2 HR, 7 RBI)

FL Player of the Week (2): CIN RF/1B/LF John MacDonnell (.333, 2 HR, 8 RBI), hitting .393 (11-28) with 2 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week (2): IND INF Matt Kilday (.415, 1 HR, 9 RBI), hitting .455 (15-33) with 1 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Nobody in the league has more home runs than Lonzo!! Wheeeeeee!!!! – He was no competition for Player fo the Week though because he actually only hit 8-for-26 this week, it just happened to be that three of hits were dingers.

Okay, now that we have the good news out of the way… No team was worse during the first week of the season than the Critters, except for the pair of Sox teams in the Federal League, who posted a combined record of 0-13. As of the end of week two, only the Blue Sox have lost more games.

The Coons ranked bottoms in batting average and OBP, but all the Lonzo homers meant that we were sixth in slugging. Overall we had the eighth-most runs scored after a couple of 8-run efforts on the last weekend here. Our pitching staff was uniformly awful and beggared wholesale replacement. Somehow they had offered the fewest walks in the league, but instead they just kept getting bombed to Kingdom Come.

This could be a long, long year, although if the offense at least put something together we might be able to trade for prospects in the summer. Yaaaay.

Reliever Paul Barton signed up a couple of days into the season and was immediately assigned to AAA as planned. We could not bring him up after the Sensabaugh was put on waivers because he threw 57 pitches on the same day and wouldn’t have been useful for the rest of the weekend.

Two-week homestand looming, beginning on Tuesday, with the damn Elks, Aces, Thunder, and Loggers all scheduled to come to Portland and give us a good stomping.

Fun Fact: Joel Luera’s no-hitter on April 6 is the earliest in the year a no-hitter has occurred since Kodai Koga of the Knights no-hit the Aces on April 5, 2050.

Even earlier than that? Only two:

April 4, 2033 – SFW Pat Okrasinski vs. Wolves
April 3, 1996 – IND Dan George vs. Crusaders

Of these, the 33-year-old Okrasinski went down to a back injury in May of the same year and then would pitch for the Raccoons the following season on a rather cheap 1-year deal, going 13-9 with a 4.47 ERA in an otherwise not very impressive season for the Raccoons. Okrasinski held out until his age 40 season with two stints each for the Wolves and Miners, even though he was not a regular starter after the 2036 campaign. For his career he went 137-140 with a 3.90 ERA, one save, and 1,709 strikeouts in 2,482 innings across 499 games (336 starts).