| Extra innings needed for mens team to extend win streak to 6 |
 It was a back and forth battle all night between the 2nd and 3rd place teams in the B3 South division last night between Nunyall and the Just a Bit Outside Softball Club's mens team. In the end, though, a couple clutch hits by a couple of club veterans in extra innings that pushed JABO over the top in an exciting 14 - 13 win at Bleeker Stadium.
The game itself couldn't have had a worse start for the club, giving up 6 runs immediately in the first inning to Nunyall (12 - 4). The team fought back by putting up 2 in the bottom half of the inning, and then clamped down the defense and rallied behind the pitching of Danny Benitez to keep Nunyall at 6 runs before coming back in the bottom of the 4th to tie the game at 6.
Then the game got interesting, as the teams started trading runs back and forth. After 5 innings, the game was tied at 7. Nunyall would score 2 more in the top half of the 6th to make it 9 - 7, but the club put up a 3 spot in the bottom half of the inning to make it 10 - 9. However, they were unable to hold the tight one-run lead, giving up 2 in the top half to give Nunyall the 11 - 10 lead.
JABO didn't give up, though, as Ryan Franco led off the inning with a single, the fourth of five times he'd reach base on the night. Dan McKittrick followed it up with his own single. The club almost got a huge break when Matt Relyea hit a foul ball down the right field line. It had appeared that the right fielder caught the ball, and the runners had managed to advance two bases - with Franco scoring and McKittrick on third - when the right fielder had trouble recovering after the catch. Unfortunately, the umpire ruled the fielder dropped the ball and it was just a foul ball. Relyea would end up hitting a fly ball out to left field, advancing the runners. Steve Kawczak, replacing the injured Art Wise, came up and chopped a ball towards the hole at short, managing to beat out the throw and scoring Franco to tie the game. The club couldn't capitalize, though, leaving the game tied at 11.
In the top half of the 8th, Nunyall came right back out and put up 2 more runs, taking a 13 - 11 lead into the bottom half of the inning. Frank Carr led off the bottom half of the inning with a single, and Danny Hughes did the same. Jon Noonan looked to advance the runners, but his fly ball to right was too shallow to do so. "Spaghetti" Jimmy Morocco managed to move the runners over, however it was at the expense of himself, as he grounded out to first. With the game on the line, the captain, Chris Furman came to the plate, having done nothing all night offensively, and stroked a ground-rule double down the third base line off an in-play goal post, scoring both runs to tie the game. And on the very next pitch, Franco blooped a single to right field, scoring Furman from second to end the game in a very dramatic fashion.
We talked with an out-of-breath Furman after the game. "This is probably the most exciting game I've played in. It was back and forth all night long with both teams playing extremely hard and extremely well. I'm just glad we were able to come out on top in the end," he said.
When asked about his game-tying hit, he laughed and said, "Before that at-bat, I couldn't hit water from a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean. So what do I do? I hit a 2-foot wide goal post. I guess sometimes it's better to be lucky than good!"
The club ended the regular season 13 - 3, which is good enough for second place in the Mens B3 South division. Riding a 6-game win streak, the team now waits to see who they will play in the first round of the playoffs starting next week. |
 chrisfurman on August 17 2010 10:33:22 ·
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| Furman's 2-hitter extends men's win streak to 5 |
Heading into Friday night's game against Polar Juggernauts, the Just a Bit Outside Softball Club's mens team had been on quite a streak, winning their last 4 games and playing just about as good as any other team in the league. The dominance displayed on Friday night, though, was completely unexpected, as pitcher Chris Furman allowed only 2 hits over 5 innings, and the offense lit up the scoreboard early and often as the team cruised to a 13 - 0, 5 inning win to increase their record to 12 - 3.
The story of the game, as much as he doesn't want it to be, has to be with the performance of Furman on the mound. He was able to keep the offense of the Juggernauts off-balance all night, only allowing 2 hits: a single past the diving glove of shortstop Ryan Franco with one out in the first, and a single up the middle with 2 outs in the fifth. In between the two hits, he retired 13 in a row, including a strikeout in the second.
"It was just a great performance all around," said Furman after the game. "I was able to put most of my pitches where I wanted them and just kept them off balance. Our defense made some great plays, though, to keep them from getting either on base or another shot to get on base."
The defense Furman talks about did come up big. Spot starting at catcher, "Spaghetti" Jimmy Morocco made two nice catches behind the plate on short pop-ups without much time to react. Danny Benitez, playing third, made a running catch, managing to stay just in foul territory to make the play. And Dan McKittrick made a sliding catch in left-center field that, had he missed it, probably rolls by him for at least a triple.
The offense hit well in the game, too. Back to back triples by McKittrick and Matt Relyea put the team up early, but it wasn't until the 4th when the runs started pouring in. Timely hitting throughout the lineup allowed 10 batters to appear in the 4th and the 5th, putting up 5 runs each game. Relyea ended up 3-3 tonight, just a home run away from the cycle. Furman, Franco, McKittrick and Benitez each had 2 hits as well.
The club's final regular-season game is on Monday night, August 16 against Nunyall (12-3) at Bleeker Stadium. Game time is 7:30pm |
chrisfurman on August 16 2010 10:54:02
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| Mens team extends winning streak to 4 in wild, rain-shortened game |
Before last night's Just a Bit Outside Softball Club's mens softball game, the atmosphere of confusion and chaos had already started. With rain coming down 15 minutes before the scheduled start time, nobody was sure if the game was going to even get going. But the game did go on, and with both teams struggling through the conditions, the team managed to take the game in the last inning, coming out with an 8 - 7 victory over Home Sweet Home.
Even with a reduced lineup, JABO (11 - 3) was able to pull through another rough start. Home Sweet Home managed to put up 2 runs right away in the first and another 5 in the second on some tough defensive miscues that might have let the team escape with only giving up 1 or 2 runs.
But the club hung tough and battled all throughout. They took advantage of the defensive mistakes their opponents were making as well, helping them stay in the game, such as the first play at bat for Chris Furman where, on any other night would have been a routine popup, turned into a triple and a run after Kenny Shaw's single.
After the second inning, though, the JABO defense finally got it together, and behind Furman's pitching, nobody from Home Sweet Home got past second base the rest of the game.
"Tonight's game was just an absolute mess, you know..." said manager Chris Furman. "But tonight shows how good of a team we can be. In tough conditions, we managed to find a way to win, and that's what good teams do. I'm proud of the way the team played tonight."
The team's next game - hopefully in better weather conditions - will be on Friday night, August 13 vs The Polar Juggernauts (8 - 5) at Bleeker Stadium. Game time is 6:00pm. |
chrisfurman on August 10 2010 10:06:28
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| After rough 1st, team settles to win 3rd straight |
The Just a Bit Outside Softball Club's mens team was able to pick up their third win in a row by defeating Mutorcs last Friday 21 - 9 in a mercy-shortened 6 innings, but it didn't come without a huge scare in the first inning.
Playing on a surface that was reminiscent of a basketball court, the defense made numerous fielding miscues, allowing the Mutorcs to take an early 7 - 0 lead after the top half of the first. However, to the team's credit, they were able to turn around and force their opponents to make those same fielding mistakes -- and then some -- as they put up 8 runs in the bottom half of the first, and never looked back.
"The field surface was awful tonight," said team manager Chris Furman. "It was like playing on concrete that hadn't been smoothed out yet. Nothing took the hop you were expecting it to take. Fortunately, we battled tough, took advantage of the surface when we were hitting and managed to get out of this game tonight with another win."
While the defense started shaky, once they got past the first inning, they only allowed 2 more runs in the game -- both in the 3rd inning -- and came up with some incredible plays in the field.
Offensively, the team continued to fire on all cylinders. Both Art Wise and rookie Matt Relyea, the two men battling it out for the team batting title, had 4 hits in the game. Wise was a home run away from the cycle (no fear, though, we don't think he's fast enough for a home run). Furman and rookie Dan McKittrick each collected 3 hits, including an inside-the-park home run down the left field line. 4 others on the team had 2 hits each.
The mens team (10 - 3) next plays on Monday, August 9 against Home Sweet Home (4 - 7) at Field of Dreams. Game time is 9:00pm. |
chrisfurman on August 09 2010 14:29:20
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| Offense fires on all cylinders as mens team wins second straight |
With only a few games to go in the regular season, the Just a Bit Outside Softball Club's mens B3 team wanted to come out and make a statement against a team they felt they should easily handle. The team certainly did that last night, as they batted around the order in the first inning, putting up 8 runs and cruised to an 18 - 3 mercy-shortened game against Vicarious Visions.
The first two batters didn't start off well, as Ryan Franco grounded out to short, and Chris Furman only made it on by way of a throwing error on the pitcher. But with him on, he and the next seven batters all scored before the next out, led by a 2-run triple from Spaghetti Jimmy and RBI doubles from Danny Hughes and Jon Noonan to put the team up quickly 8 - 0.
Vicarious Visions battled, though, putting 3 up in the bottom of the first, which was good for them (because of the runs) but also bad for them, since it seemed to wake JABO up on the defensive end, not allowing another Visions player to cross the plate the remainder of the game.
Offensively, the team was led by AJ Haynes, who went 3 for 3 with a walk and his team-leading 3rd home run of the season in the 5th. Dan McKittrick also blasted a 2-run home run in the game just one inning earlier.
Danny Benitez picked up his 7th win of the season for the club, pitching 3 effective innings. Furman came in the game in relief of Benitez in the 4th and pitched two quick innings, limiting the opposing club to 2 walks and a single.
The club's next game is on Friday, August 6 versus the Mutorcs (6 - 7) at Ridge Park Field #2 (the softball field). Game time is 6:00pm |
chrisfurman on July 30 2010 09:58:33
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