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Well...it seems that the team plays better without the help of either Mark cheering them on or Sam providing the management skills. This week both were absent and Bill took the reigns for the day. And, as usual, Bill's leadership provides the team with a decisive win over this powerhouse of a team. Congrats Bill! The pictures are courtesy of Bill and Ashley as indicated in the credits. Thanks to both of them for supporting me in this area. Game scoresheets will be available after Sam's had a look at them. Here is Bill's game report...
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The Turkeys usually struggle against the hard-hitting Homers, but Thursday night they scored a two-run victory with solid defense and strong hitting. The Homers looked worried at the start of the game to see so many young players ("Where did all the old guys go?"). The formerly mild Turkeys pounded out 19 hits and 14 runs in just six innings, and held on in the top of the seventh to just stifle the Homers' comeback, with a final score of 14 - 12.
Kaiann came out for this game and joined four other women and eight men in the powerful line-up. With Sam on his way to Sequoia National Park for a camping weekend, Bill was left in charge and he struggled to keep the defensive line-up card filled in for each inning. But the defense was working well, with Matt (four outfield put-outs) and Phil (two put-outs and four assists) making some great plays, while Debbie and Hannah each had five put-outs at first base. Tim (two assists) and Russ (three assists and one put-out at catcher) handled the pitching very well, and Jose contributed two put-outs and two assists. We played five innings with three women on the infield, and they did an excellent job.
On offense, every Turkey had at least one hit, and Phil, Debbie, Gerardo, Russ, Matt, and Bill each had two hits. Russ blasted a three-run homer in the fifth inning that helped give us some breathing room. Hannah, Phil, Debbie, Gerardo, and Matt each scored two runs. We took a seven-run lead into the seventh inning, which then lasted well past 7:30 as the Homers rallied to make it a close game. Richard started his team off with a solo home run, and after six more singles and an error, five runs had scored and the Homers had the bases loaded with two out. We breathed a sigh of relief when Phil gathered in a pop fly from the leadoff hitter to finish off the rally.
Eight of us (and one friend) then met at Round Table for the post-game pizza, beer, and conversation. Matt and Phil were declared Turkeys of the Week for their strong offensive and defensive play. This was our last game of the season at the Rose Bowl fields, and we'll resume play after the Fourth of July on the field at Hahamongna Park. Hahamongna, of course, means "great view of the mountains while you beat ball with stick" in the language of the local Native American tribes.
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Sam adds the following addendum regarding this victory...
This was truly a momentous game in the history of the Wild Turkeys. Our victory tonight ended a 13-game losing streak to the Homers, covering 13 years from 1993 through 2005. Way to go, team!
The records of the Turkeys vs Homers rivalry (as obtained from the Homers web site) show:
Aug 21 1991: Homers 6, Wild Turkeys 15
Jul 19 1993: Homers 16, Wild Turkeys 13
Jul 13 1994: Homers 14, Wild Turkeys 12
Jul 19 1995: Wild Turkeys 9, Homers 26
Jun 13 1996: Homers 12, Wild Turkeys 11
Jul 28 1997: Wild Turkeys 3, Homers 22
Apr 22 1998: Homers 21, Wild Turkeys 11
Apr 28 1999: Wild Turkeys 8, Homers 22
Jul 05 2000: Wild Turkeys 14, Homers 19
Jul 17 2001: Wild-IR Turkeys 4, Homers 26
Jul 02 2002: Homers 23, Wild Turkeys 5
Jul 08 2003: Wild Turkeys 17, Homers 22
Jun 02 2004: Wild Turkeys 16, Homers 22
Jun 08 2005: Wild Turkeys 10, Homers 16
Jun 29 2006: Homers 12, Wild Turkeys 14
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