Bend it Like MBC!

What a great weekend.  The MBC 16’s stormed (literally) into Bend Oregon on Friday and proceeded to kick behinds and take names; the only sad news is that I have since lost my list.

Sadly, and to some disappointment, we soon discovered that not all of our weekend opponents were worthy adversaries.  They were good quality teams, but for some reason unknown to us, two younger teams decided that entering an older tournament might be good for them.  Someone gave them some bad advice.  It was not just our size to their size that made such a difference, but the real problem for them was team speed.  Their outfielders could not cover the ground needed for our gap shots and their infielders were not used to playing a game where every batter ran like Ichiro.

Coach Cougan was proud that his talk to the MBC players of showing respect and dignity to an opponent throughout the game was well heeded.  Against both of the younger opponents Coach Cougan was complimented by the class and spirit that MBC showed to their younger opponents.

MBC scored 94 runs in the tournament on torrid hitting.  MBC banged out 17 doubles 4 triples and 3 home runs.  MBC raced out to big leads early in each game.

Day ONE

In game one MBC saw its big lead disappear, but rallied for more runs and found the relief pitching needed to hold off Sho-Time to record their first victory.  This game was a warning of what happens when you let teams hang around, but as will be seen later it was not taken to heart at this point.

Game two was a blow-out with the highlights being Nick Reeve’s throwing a perfect game and Quinn Burcham launching a massive three run homer.

Day Two

Game three was an early morning (8:00 am) contest in which again MBC broke out with a big lead against a pretty good opponent.  Sitting idly on their lead (again) MBC saw this team come back within one run going into the seventh, and of course MBC was the visitor.  It was not pretty in the seventh as the Mongoose scored two runs to win without a hit. (and they only showed bunt once, but I guess that was enough Kryptonite to weaken the MBC defense, see past year’s woes and more woes about other teams bunting on us).

You never really want to play a team just after they lose a game they should have won, but the poor Salem Shamrock really had no other choice.  MBC took out an awful lot of frustration on the poor Shamrock team and launched ball after ball into outfield and made quick work of the Shamrocks

The shock of losing did nothing to dampen the spirits of the club.  The planned team dinner was great.  It was good for us all to get together, eat some wonderful food and enjoy each others company.  It did wonders to recover from the disappointment of losing earlier in the day.  Upon learning that we still made the final four AND that our first opponent in the Championship round would be the Mongoose sent everyone home with great anticipation for morning revenge.

Day Three

The Mongoose had NO chance against a resolved MBC bunch.  MBC jumped out with a two run first and the Mongoose did not like the look of Andrew Helean from the get go.  Andrew pounded the strike zone and limited the Mongoose to just three runs as MBC pounded their three pitchers for eighteen runs.  Revenge was sweet.

MBC basically turned in a repeat performance for the Championship game.  A fresh Robbie Dunbar Jr.* ate up the Bears and his team (with big help from his own bat) again blasted out eighteen runs.  This marked Coach Cougan’s first Championship in his eight years of coaching MBC baseball (and might finally shut up the critics who say he cannot win the big one)

The tournament drove home the point of just how valuable MBC's mid winter signing of Robbie Dunbar Jr.* was to the team. (*please remember that adding the Jr. to his name is contractually necessary).  Robbie hit .600 with two doubles and a triple and threw a complete game shut-out in the final game.  The current depth of our pitching staff was a wonderful luxury.  The ability to roll out a fresh strong starter after all teams had played five games was instrumental in capturing the tournament title.

Adam (Wee Man) Hinthorne went off big time in this tournament.  Adam hit .588 with three doubles and a triple and drove in 10 runs.  In addition he made his second mound appearance in as many years and brought home his second victory, this one a complete game.

Nick Safka hit .500 for the tourney with a big double.  He also pitched well in his only pitching appearance.  Nick was a valuable ally in assisting Coach Cougan sorting out the “Mechanical Pencil Caper” (MPC) as well, more on this later.

The mighty Quinn Burcham batted .462, and hit a massive home run and three doubles (but only got to second on one of them)  He also made a fine relief appearance in game one.

Stuart Fairchild continued his consistent (and powerful) ways.  Stuart hit .467 with just one double, but TWO home runs.  Stuart’s first home run left the yard so fast that Coach Cougan could hear it go by!

Tai Huff hit a strong .455 with a booming double.  Aside from being a top suspect (he was later cleared) in the MPC, Tai is fast becoming a favorite teammate.

Dylan (the blur) Vchulek (.429) made a strong case to remain at lead-off for the remainder of the season.  His disruptive speed, in front of the bats this team has, made an incredible impact in each game.  MBC was lucky enough to loose EVERY coin flip prior to each game to garner Visitor status.  The other teams were just playing into our hands as Dylan immediately shook up each pitcher and put the other team on edge thinking they had to make every play as fast as they could, thus forcing many errors throughout the game. Dylan also made a fantastic backhand play at second base early in the semi-final game to record the third out and save a run.

After the shock of our loss to the Mongoose, Coach Cougan received an even bigger shock and bigger loss.  His yellow mechanical pencil that he uses to record line-ups and keep track of things in general during the game was missing!  As any good detective could tell you, the suspect HAD to be someone who had access to the dugout during the game.  This made the rest of the coaching staff, and all the players’ suspects. Smeagle was dismissed because we were pretty sure he did not know what a pencil was due to his reliance on crayons in his kindergarten class.

Coach Cougan quickly cleared the coaching staff.  Their integrity and credibility are above question they promptly answered that, no they had not taken it.  

All players were told they were suspects early Monday morning.  They were told they would be questioned, and they were told that they had all better have a pretty good alibi for the 4^th inning of yesterday’s first game.

Most suspects were cleared.  Nick Safka did admit to liking mechanical pencils, using them and that his favorite color was yellow.

David Becker refused to give any direct answers without his lawyer present, which moved him up the short list.  Nick Salle reminded me that he was warming up in the bullpen with me during the disappearance. Jack Murphy denied being in Bend on Sunday and had five alibi witnesses that saw him in Mag Town during our 4^th inning.

Nick Reeves was evasive, his upper lip was sweating and he would not directly answer questions but I did notice he was twitching his head in Keenan’s direction. Kennan Heller broke down early in his questioning and confessed to be the culprit.  Oddly he could not explain how he did it, why he did it or even what the pencil looked like.  The authorities started to think that he may be just a serial confessor, but someone had to go down for it and it might as well be Keenan. 

Prior to calling the Bend Police on the way out of town, Coach Cougan found the pencil deep in his baseball bag as he was changing into his travel clothes.  This, luckily, kept the incident out of the papers and saved Keenan from doing prison time on Bend Oregon.

Luck Runs Out, MBC Gets First Taste of Defeat

MBC tasted defeat for the first time, and they did not like it.  A close hard fought game between two early season undefeated's and MBC lost 4-2.

Pitching was good from both dugouts.  Quinn Burcham threw four innings walking only one and spreading five hits. He was followed by Nick Salle who pitched three innings yielding just three hits.  For the first time this year, errors were the key as Quinn gave up one unearned run and Nick allowed three to score, but just one run was earned.  The gloves let us down and kept us on the field just a batter of two too long tonight.

The Vipers took and early 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the fourth.  MBC bounced back quickly to take the lead.  The Viper pitcher had his way the first time through the line-up, but with a second look MBC quickly struck for two runs.

Nick Reeves started the fourth with a nice line drive single. He was followed with back to back booming doubles by Adam Hinthorne and Quinn Burcham.  At this point the Viper pitcher regained his poise and pitched out of the inning and pitched out of the game.  MBC offered no rallys beyond the fourth.

Another Wild Walk Off Against the Zips

Friday night saw the MBC team once again battling a low count roster.  MBC started the game with ten players on the line-up card and nine players on the bench.  Luckily #10 (who is #99) arrived just in time to bat.

Stuart Fairchild pitched a brilliant complete game striking out five, walking no Zips.  His worthy opponent was also a fierce competitor and pretty much limited the MBC bats to zip against him.  The hard throwing Zip's pitcher struck out 12 MBC hitters and as a team we mustered just two hits against him.

But striking out that many MBC hitters takes a lot of pitches and the fire-baller with the Harpo Marx hairdo could not last past six innings.

In the sixth MBC plated a run to make it 3-1 thus setting us up for another wild finish.

David Becker and Andrew Helean both worked a walks and Dylan Vchulek hit a towering double to right center to score David and put runners on second and third.  Quin Burcham then singled to tie the game and put Dylan on third setting up Keenan "Bonecrusher" Heller in the role of tonight's hero.  Keenan had already singled sharply off the starter and the crowd felt good about his chances.  With a drawn in infield and a very sick Nick Reeves on deck Keenan came through with a high bouncer to short.  Speedy Dylan (who goes from standing still to full speed as good as anyone I've coached) took off and was in safe in a cloud of dust.

Speaking of History

After last nights brush with history, combined with let me just call it a slight waning of respect from certain areas of my life; I find it high time to remind one and all about one of my signature accomplishments that certain people (and they know who they are) sometimes take for granted or even try to downplay.

Yes indeed, I am reminding one and all that I did indeed invent the Taco Salad.

Attached is proof positive, and as I tell the certain area of my life over and over again

Read it and believe it.

History Repeats, MBC Walk Off Win Against Cannons

Last year, in our third game, on a Wednesday, in front of an injured Jamie Moyer, against the Cannons, MBC orchestrated a 9-8 walk off win against the Cannons.

This year, in our third game, on a Wednesday, while a recovered Jamie Moyer pitched VICTORIOUSLY, against the Cannons, MBC orchestrated a 3-2 walk off win against the Cannons.

What a game.

It was a pitchers dual for four innings.  Andrew Helean and his worthy opponent had each given up just one hit through four innings.  In the fifth Andrew gave up two seeing eye doubles (if there is such a thing, but on the first double Robbie Dunbar almost made a fabulous catch, missing by inches; and on the second double we all held our breath as a speedy Nick Danger* raced across the outfield, dove, and we did not know he did not get it until the dust settled). A final hit scored the Cannons second run and put MBC in come back mode.

And what a come back.  In the sixth with two outs, Stuart Fairchild singled sharply.  With a two-two count on Quinn Burcham, Stuart took off for second and moved to third on the catcher's overthrow.  The rattled pitcher then walked Quinn.  Robbie (Mr. Extra-Base-Hit) Dunbar then doubled into the right center gap to score Stuart, but that was all MBC would get.

In the seventh Keenan Heller worked a one out walk.  Adam Hinthorne hit a high bouncer to second, and after Keenan danced in front of the second baseman you could almost hear Dave Niehaus'es call of "My oh my, everybody is safe".  Nick Danger* then blasted a screaming (opposite field) line drive down the left field line to score Keenan from second and a speedy Adam all the way from first.

Andrew Helean threw five strong innings, striking out six and walking only one.  Nick Sarrassota* followed him with two innings of one hit ball and four strikeouts.

 * Both Nicks mentioned in the above story, and an additional Jack Soulpatch (who other than playing adequately at shortstop did not really do anything worth writing about in this story, but may someday) are currently in the Witness Protection Program and use of their real names could put the three players in jeopardy.

MBC Rolls Over Another Titan Team

For the second day in a row MBC faced a team named the Titans and once again came out victorious.  MBC received great pitching and threw up two big innings to put the game away.

Stuart Fairchild was outstanding in his five innings of work.  Stuart struck out seven, walked no Titans and gave up just two hits and one unearned run.  Nick Reeves closed the game out with no hits and struck out two batters.

Offensively Adam Hintorne (two hits) started the ball rolling with a big double.  After an infield hit by Nick Reeves and a passed ball, Stuart Fairchild drove them both home with one of his two hits.

Michell Smith (playing for his old team to help fill the roster) started the crazy third inning with one of his two hits. An error by their shortstop was followed by consecutive hits by Nick Reeves, Dylan Vchulek and the ever steady Stuart Fairchild.  A Robby Dunbar double ended the scoring and MBC went up 7-0 and eventually won 7-1.

15's Lead the Way in Home Opener

The MBC 16's opened their season against the FCA Titans short rostered players and had to call up three players from the 15 year old team.  What a great idea.  The 15's lead the way in both hitting and pitching to secure a victory for the home team.  From our 15's we received a 5-6 night with 4 RBI and five innings of solid pitching.

Robbie Dunbar Jr. started on the mound and was unhittable in his two innings.  Partly due to his velocity but mostly due to his location.  Robbie walked five, and struck out four in his two innings of no hit ball.

To dial in strikes, Coach Cougan resorted to Duncan McCombs who threw five outstanding innings giving up two measly hits, walking none and striking out six Titans.  Duncan breezed through his five innings with solid defense and offensive support.

Quinn Burcham got the ball rolling by hitting a smash the the third baseman could not handle.  After the shortstop botched Robbie Dunbar Jr.'s smash, both scored on Tai Huff's single.  Duncan McCombs then hit a clutch two out single to score Tai, gaining the lead just before coming on to pitch; thus game over.

MBC played add on in the fifth when Trent Schulte lead off with the first of his two hits.  Robbie then hit a massive triple and scored on Tai's second hit of the night.

In the sixth, Duncan scorched his third hit of the night to lead things off.  After a single by Adam Hintorne and a beaning of Nick Reeves, Trent singled again to score two.  After a beaning of Stuart Fairchild, a walk to the mighty Robbie Dunbar Jr. plated the last run of the night.

MBC displayed heretofore rare flashes of leather on the night.  David Becker made a dandy backhand grab of a hot smash early in the game and Tai Huff, playing second base for the first time made two outstanding diving plays.

All in all, the team (including its new additions) looked and played great in the home opener.

Opening Night

Due to contractual obligations with the network Friday's game will be an 8:00 start.  Please get there early for the pregame festivities.

This will be a tough opener.  MBC starts the season with three stars on the bench; Keenan Heller - hangnail; Tino Peleti - skin rash and Everyday Russell Madche - bad hair cut.  Keenan expects his personal manicurist to cure the hangnail by early next week, but Tino's skin rash and Russell's bad hair could linger late into the season.

Four other highly touted players will most likely be unavailable for the early season as they play for their respective countries in the World Cup Tournament.  Stuart Fairchild may be unavailable for some time as his team Sierra Pedalgo looks to go deep into the tournament.  Two of our three Nicks; Salle and Safka along with Jack Murphy are trying their best to keep O'Man in the tournament.

To replace these players on the rosters MBC has made one permanent roster move adding Andrew Helean as a full time member of the team.  Andrew has played for the Wellsley School of Special Needs with Adam Hinthorne and David Becker.  In addition, for tonight's game three young upcoming stars from Bill Olson's Travelling Carnival will make an appearance, Trent Shulte, Duncan McCombs and Blake Swanson.

On Saturday Spencer Hogger and Mitchell Smith have opted to come out of retirement to play one last game, and perhaps will be sweet talked into more.