A Special K

August 8, 2007

KG Sox 3 - Tides 2

In a pitchers duel, the Kelly Greensox put the Tides away in seven, 3-2. The rains came around three o'clock, and they were torrential. The field took on water and it didn't look like this game had a prayer of getting played. The two teams were eager to do battle, so the field was cleared and the game got underway at its regular start time. Joel Sanphy was back as the ace of the Tides staff, and pitched a gem. The Kelly Greensox sent there big righty fireballer Pat O'Leary to the minors for a two game stint for violating his contract by going on vacation (honeymoon) for the playoffs. Instead it was Christos "Staki" Turner who hurled for the Sox, and pitched extremely well under such dire circumstances. The muddy field and wet balls made for a rough night for the hitters on both sides, and pitching was the name of this game. Sanphy's knuckler was working magnificently, and baffled the Sox batters, who only mustered four or five hits on the day. Sanphy notched three strikeouts on the day, including Turner looking, and Dan O'Connor and Jay Cronin on whiffs. Not to be outdone, Turner struck out three of his own, including Vladislov "Vlad" Aleksanyan, who, with two strikes stepped into the box and began to wave his bat. Turner, a quick worker on the mound, quickly hurled a split seamer at the young Armenian-American. The pitch grazed his bat, and he was called out for the K. The young Tides ballclub did what they had to do to keep this one close, including a web-gem dive-and-slide catch by Max Casper in center field.

This gave them a chance in the bottom of the seventh.

With a man on second, Anthony Alessi came to bat lefty, much to the chagrin of his team, representing the tying run. He took the second offering deep into right on what looked to be a sure home-run. Matt "The Mad-Hatter" Hatfield scampered after the ball, which was slowed in the wet grass, and heaved the ball into the infield. Anthony took a big turn around third, and was gunned down trying to retreat back to the bag to end the game.

Also of Note: In yesterday's blog, representing Friday's game, Johnny White did not get the start for the Tides. It was Joel Sanphy. The blog has been edited to reflect this change.

And: The playoffs will start on Monday, August 13, regardless of make-ups. Rain outs will have to be made up at the Babe-Ruth field, or this weekend.