Saints Teams Put on Clinic

Two GSL teams met at Snowden Field Tuesday night and proceeded to treat their fans to an absolute baseball clinic as The James Gang squeaked past the Hubermen in a 6-4 nail-biter that featured a combined 15 putouts in the field and only 9 strikeouts at the plate.

After losing four of five scrimmages to their intra-school rivals, Overstreet's Saints were not exactly brimming with confidence when Huber's Saints arrived at the park with an unblemished 4-0 league record -- unquestionably the class of the East Shelby Church Recreation Association.

Avery led off the game with a scorcher to center, which was followed by Grant's grounder with eyes through second. Jack grounded out to the pitcher as Whit fielded it cleanly and fired a strike to Owen at first. But JD cashed in with a two-run single to right and it looked like it could be a long night for the Home Nine. Will topped one to Whit, who tossed it to Owen for the second out. Charles stroked one to left for an RBI single and Joseph hit a dribbler to Whit for the third 1-3 putout of the inning. Good defense held the Hubermen to three runs on four hits in the inning.

Nino led off the bottom of the first with a shot to right that you could hang clothes on, and Owen followed up with a bleeder that scooted by the second sacker, putting runners on first and third on Nino's heads-up baserunning. Whit hit a weak cue shot to first for the unassisted putout, but Nino scored. After Zach grounded out to first, red-hot Sonny squared one up and sent it flying over the left fielder's head for a stand-up, RBI triple. Wendell ended the inning with a liner to second.

On the wrong end of a 3-2 score, the Anchormen needed a stop in the bottom of the second and they got some help from the Hubermen. Tyler and Baker whiffed and Louis grounded out to the pitcher for the fourth 1-3 putout of the game.

Harris led off the bottom of the second with a hard-hit infield single to shortstop. Berent moved him over to second on a ground-out to first and Brian drove him home with a single to center -- senior circuit small ball at its finest. Eubank and Khalid whiffed to end the inning with the score knotted at 3.

As is often the case in well-played baseball games, one inning was the difference -- in Tuesday's tilt, it was the third.

With Huber sending his big bats up to the plate in a 3-3 tie, the James Gang needed a shut-down inning. Avery lined a single to left and Grant moved him to second with a single to center. Jack whiffed for the first out and JD popped one to short. A miscommunication between Whit and Brian resulted in a dropped ball, but Whit alertly picked it up and tagged Avery as he ran for third for the second out. With runners on first and second in a tie game, Will drilled one to third that Brian snagged and made the unassisted putout at third to shut the Hubermen down again.

With a huge defensive stand under their belt, the Anchormen picked up their sticks with malice. Nino led off the bottom of the third with a sharp grounder to the pitcher that was then thrown over the first baseman's head. Trying to take the extra base on the overthrow, Nino was caught by the equally speedy Avery. Runners advance at their own risk on overthrows at first, and the Saints have been running like a toddler's nose so far in ESCRA. But the Hubermen don't give up bases easily -- as the Saints discovered on this play. Owen then grounded out to the pitcher and it looked like the Saints were going to go down quietly.

But Whit mowed the grass with a hard grounder to short that was smothered by Jack, who recovered nicely and made the throw to first just a nanosecond too late. After legging out the infield single, Whit moved from first to third on Zach's single to center. And man-of-the-hour Sonny stepped to the plate, cashing in yet again with a RBI single to left. Wendell snuck one by the shortstop, scoring Zach, and Harris legged out a soft grounder to the pitcher to score Sonny. Berent hit a fielder's choice to third that resulted in an unassisted putout. But the Saints put up a 3 spot and took a 6-3 lead going into the top of the fourth.

After Charles struck out to lead off the top of the fourth, Joseph grounded a ball to second that Sonny fielded cleanly and threw to first. But the Speed Merchant beat it out for an infield single. Tyler K'd for the second out, and then the wheels fell off the defense for first time all night when Baker hit a slow roller to second that went right through Sonny's legs and into right field. Eubank fielded the ball, but instead of throwing the ball to second, he air-mailed it over the first baseman's head. Joseph scored on the errors and Baker moved to second. Louis K'd to end the inning. Disaster averted -- barely.

In an attempt to get 5 innings in, the Home Saints batted in the bottom of the fourth despite holding a 6-4 lead. The Hubermen set them down in order with Brian grounding out to short, Eubank grounding out to the pitcher and Khalid striking out.

While both Saints teams were eager to keep locking halos -- and with the top of both orders due up in the fifth, it would have certainly been a fantastic finish -- time had run out on arguably the best played baseball game of the ESCRA season.

The Hubermen made 9 putouts. The James Gang made 6 putouts. There were 9 strikouts in the game -- 6 by the Hubermen and 3 by the James Gang. The two teams have averaged better than 13 runs a game so far this season, so the 6-4 game is a testament to how skilled these two teams are.

And maybe they will meet one more time when it counts: June 6.