Written by Biko Skalla:
“It’s a great day to be alive,” belts a chorus of Nanners players at the back of the bus, as they have once again taken down the Bacon, this time 7-4.
If you could bet on these games, you would probably have to put $100 down on the Bananas just to win $10. It may have been even worse odds for you today, as Ryan, Sometimes You Just Gotta Hike the Pants up After the First, Kennedy, hadn’t given up a run in 14 innings tossed against Macon this summer. That would change in the 1st inning though, as an unearned run came in 2 batters into the game after a leadoff double, passed ball, and an RBI groundout.
The Nanners were revved up at the plate, but didn’t find much success in the 1st two innings. Besides a 1-out line-drive single to left from Nick, I Don’t Care if You Drive a Lambo, Clarno, in the 2nd, the guys started the game with 6 groundouts, one to 3rd and very impressively the other 5 to short.
The 3rd was a whole different story though, as Zane, I’m a Terrifying Force When I’m Spraying Liners From Each Side of the Plate, Denton, opened the frame with a line-drive single to left. Bill, The Voice of an Angel, Leroy, sprayed a liner to right to set up 1st and 3rd with nobody out. Back at the top of the order, Ty, I’m Introducing Myself When I’m Coming up to the Plate on Wednesday, Jackson, looped a flare into center to send home Zane and tie the game. Livan, If You’re On-Base I’m Bringing You Home, Reinoso, did the job as per usual, bouncing a grounder to second to bring in Bill for the Nanners first lead of night.
In the bottom half of the 3rd, the Bacon took the lead right back on an infield single and then a towering 2-run homer from Ryan, I Love Being on Hold, Archibold.
Ty opened the 5th with a single and then was replaced at 1st base by Eduardo, I Don’t Really Get Why it Matters How I Got On-Base, Malinowski, as he tapped a ball to short for a fielder’s choice. Livan then lined a single to right, sending Eddie to 3rd, setting up Bryson, I Mean I Don’t Hate This Fielder’s Choice Thing at All, Bloomer, who brought home Eduardo with a fielder’s choice groundout to 3rd. Clarno continued to shoot liners all over the field, this time with a double to left-center to bring in Bloomer to give the Bananas the lead back 4-3.
Kennedy finished another dominating night on the mound allowing 3 runs, only 2 of them earned, with 10 K’s in 5 innings. Ryan now owns 2nd place in the CPL in strikeouts with 53 on the summer, although he’s still 11 behind Joe, And I’ve Still Got One More Regular Season Start, Miller.
Jared, I Pitch at Banana Ball Speed in Baseball, Beck, did what he’s been doing all summer long. The 7-foot phenom threw 3 scoreless innings, while striking out 5 to bring his season total up to 33 in 23.1 innings thrown. He did have help from Bill, I’m Not About to Let the Big Guy Get a Bogus Earned Run, Knight and Eduardo in the 7th, as they combined powers to throw out Ashton, I Love Soy, Roy, at the plate. The play was finished off terrifically by Bill Leroy who had to go airborne to pull in the laser from Eduardo, and then slap the tag on Roy. With a little help from his friends as they kept the infield single recipient from scoring, Jared lowered his ERA to 1.15. Spooky stuff!
The guys got some much needed insurance in the top of the 8th, as with 2 outs Bill Knight, Zane, and Bill Leroy all singled, bringing Knight in to make it 5-3. Ty then reached on an error that brought home Zane, and Bill scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-3.
Cole, If You Can’t Take the Heat, Get Out the, Kitchen, came in for the 9th and had a rather wild ride. He barely skimmed the first hitter on a pitch that almost caught the inside corner, and then gave up a single to right to make it 1st and 3rd with no outs. He got a grounder to 3rd, and Zane made the heads up play to nail the runner going home for out number 1. Then he had an 8-pitch battle with Ashton Roy, which ended in a walk to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate. Cole got a grounder to short that scooted off Bryson’s glove allowing a run to come in, putting the tying run on 1st and bringing the winning run to the plate. Kitch then blew a huge 2-2 fastball by the beefy Le, Aww Gee, Basset, and got Ryan Archibald to fly out to Ty in center to end the game.
The offensive stars in the victory were:
Zane Denton: 3-4, 2 R
Nick Clarno: 3-5, 2B, RBI
Bill Leroy: 2-4, RBI, 2 R
Ty Jackson: 2-5, RBI
Another impressive offensive performance, as this time it was mostly the bottom of the order leading the charge to victory.
The win brought the Nanners to 33-7 on the summer, as they won 5 of the 6 games they played over the previous 6 days. They now have a 3.5 game lead over the Peninsula Pilots for the best record in the league, and therefore home field advantage throughout north he playoffs.
Only four games are left on the summer, with 3 in a row against Macon and the last one in Lexington County on July 31st, the day before the race for the Pettit Cup begins.
The guys with have a very well deserved couple days off, and get back on the horse again on Wednesday as they welcome the Bacon into Historic Grayson Stadium. Pregame will kickoff at 6:30 eastern and first pitch will be at 7! Enjoy the start of your week, as come Wednesday we’ll have at least 6 games straight starting up all over again!