It was obvious that a bit of rust had settled in on the
Zeppelin players since last season as they took on Culture Recreation and
Tourism last night at Perkins Road Park.
LED struggled to stop the CRT batters early, putting the win just out of
reach by game’s end despite the rally of the LED bats. But the 2015 season opener showed promise of good
things to come.
A few players didn’t let a little rust stand in their
way. Jayson (J-MONEY) Newell (pronounced
Jiminy by some) and newcomer Ashley Falcon both turned in stellar performances
on the night. Jayson took turns at left
center and at shortstop, turning in seven outs from the two positions. He also tacked on two hits and added two RBIs
in the bottom of the third.
Ashley, a former LED student worker in Disaster Recovery and
Business Incentives and current Civil Service employee, went four for four at
the plate with two doubles in the number five batting spot. She added two RBIs when she sailed one over
the center fielder’s head and made him chase it nearly to the fence. And on defense she flashed her gun by
throwing in a ball from deep left field to third, stopping the CRT runners in
their tracks.
Eddie turned in another of his outstanding performances on
the mound, pitching all seven innings and putting a runner out at home with the
bases loaded (unassisted, because there was no LED catcher). He also threw four players out at first with
his trademark underhand throw.
The rust seemed not to impact offense as LED put up 24 hits,
all nine batters hit safely on the night, and the Zeppelins plated eight
runners. Ashley, Russell Richardson and
Matthew Wattigny all went four for four while Chelsea Harris went three for
five. Jayson, Eddie, Paige Ovens, David
Carter and newcomer Corey Dorsa all turned in two hits each – an excellent
offensive showing for the first game of the season.
Determined to make his mark on the game, Corey made a
spectacular slide at home in the bottom of the sixth after stretching extra
bases at every turn. He stretched his
single to second while Ashley was caught in a rundown between second and
third. He then stretched two more bags
to score from second on a single by Matthew, who stretched his own single to
second as Corey scored. Corey left only
about two pounds of skin at the plate, so if you see him today you might notice
a limp.
Not trying to make a mark on any player, Russell
inadvertently whizzed a throw in to third hitting CRT player Danny Belanger in
the middle of the back. Danny was fine,
just shaken up a bit, and he surely sports some string marks today as
evidence. Eventually he felt safe enough
to enter the game again and got to the plate, hitting one to Jayson at
shortstop. Jayson fired a bullet to
first just missing Danny’s head by inches.
Danny was out, and thankfully didn’t have to be a base runner again
before the game ended.
With all of the rust entirely obliterated, the Zeppelins
look poised to have a winning season moving forward. Playoff fever is already in the air. However, LED first has to face the mighty
Department of Children and Family Services team next Wednesday at Perkins Road
Park. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m.
Singles: Chelsea (3), Eddie (2), Paige (2), Russell
(4), Ashley (2), Jayson (2), Corey (2), Matthew (4), David (2).
Double: Ashley (2)
RBIs: Russell (1), Jayson (2), Ashley (2), Eddie
(1), Corey (1), Matthew (1)
Many thanks
to all who STEPPED UP TO THE PLATE for LED.
PLAYERS: Ashley Falcon (Civil Service), Chelsea Harris
(Communications & Marketing), Corey Dorsa (SEC), David Carter (BRAC Liaison),
Eddie James (Business Development), Jayson Newell (Business Development),
Matthew Wattigny (FastStart), Paige Ovens (Business Development), and Russell
Richardson (Business Development).
FANS: Brandon (Chelsea’s boyfriend) and their
faithful dog.
Lucy’s Top 7 Reasons for Making Errors:
- I was having my quiet time!
- I think there were toxic substances coming
from my glove, and they made me dizzy.
- When the sun reflects off the bright yellow
dandelions, I can't see the ball.
- I waited for the
ball to stop before I picked it up because it was having a good time, and I didn't want
to disturb it.
- No problem, I missed it, but the ground
caught it! Nice catch, ground! You're doing a good job!
- Watching your graceful movements on the
pitcher's mound lulled me to sleep!
- I'm too feminine for this game!
