All Up In The Bunt Topples Gangsters, 5-3

Mimi Gill strikes fear into the heart of Keith Morehart.

by Keith Morehart, Chubby Gangsters
photos by Mary Katherine Evans, Free Ballin'

The CG's came into this matchup pretty confident. Not only had AUTB not scored a run in their first two games, but the CG's were coming off a 2-game win streak.

The Gangster's went quietly in the 1st with a 3-up/3-down at-bat. Nothing worth noting, other than their new star charger, David Tortolini was injured legging out a bunt to 1st. He had to be carted off the field and with a thumbs-up from the player as he was heading into the tunnel, the fans stood and gave a round of applause. Okay, that didn't really happen, but he pulled his groin muscle, and from a former goalie, I can tell you not only does it hurt like the dickens (yep, I really just said that), but it is a type of injury that really has no comfort level to speak of for a while. Regardless, he was not able to play the rest of the game.

AUTB's first inning was equally as frustrating for the Gangster's. Keith Morehart was still trying to solve his problem of getting his pitches over the plate (would someone pull him already?!?). Between some well placed bunts, fast base runners, 2 walks, and some defensive communication errors, the Home team scored 4 runs. If they were scoreless going into this game, it certainly wasn't obvious.

"I make some ugly faces when pitching." - Josh Joyner 

Chubby's looked to redeem themselves during the top half of the 2nd inning. The inning started off strong with 2 well placed bunts by Geoff Morehart and Nick Anderson that allowed them to reach base safely. Liz Ricker gets up to kick and continued to repeat the All-Star snubbing performance the world is used to. She affectively moves the runners into scoring position while reaching base safely (How does she keep doing that?!?). Eric Hecker gets up to kick and with a boot line drives a ball into Left Center to put the Chubby's on the board. Kristen Mechling arrives to the plate with specific instructions on where to place the bunt. And what does she do? Excatly what she's supposed to and scores another run. The jugernaut that is the middle of the CG's lineup was able to put 3 runs on the board to bring them within a run.

The rest of the game was a defensive battle. Specifically, Greg Woodland make some great throws from 1st to 3rd to keep runners from advancing, Geoff Morehart was on point catching behind the plate, and Nick Anderson, who was asked to play charger on short notice due to the injury during the 1st inning, played smart and kept control on the entire left side of the infield. The Bunter's were able to squeak in 1 more run, but not for lack of pitching by Buster Patterson. He looked good in his Raptor debut, and reassured everyone that even though his veins were still half-filled with tequilla, he was there to lead his Gangster's back to the prominence they deserve in WAKA Kickball.

Ryan Schmid slides into third safely as Buster Patterson corrals a loose ball.

Alas, Chubby's were not able to add on the few runs they needed to pull out the win. Their winning streak had to end at 2 this week. Luckily this is only Week 2, and we have plenty of Gambling Lines to spoil for the rest of the season.

On an injury report sidenote, David Tortolini was asked this morning how he was doing after his horrific injury, and he responded: "My groinal region was killing me all last night, but is feeling slightly better today. I'll be doing everything I can to try and play this weekend. I'd put me on the injury report as "doubtful" though." While it doesn't look good for the Gangster's starting Charger... you best believe they still have some tricks up their sleeves!

Eric Hecker on third base.