The weather here was beautiful this weekend, so my wife and I made the trip up to Beloit to take in a game on Sunday. Keeping an eye on the Snappers this season (via Seth and JeffA), it seemed like they were having a tough go of it so far, perhaps our presence could inspire a victory?
Beloit Snappers 9 - Peoria Chiefs 6
Success! Upon returning home to see the Twins were victimized by another walk-off HR, it was obvious we had made the right decision. Dan Osterbrock got the start for the Snappers, and promptly gave up a 2-run HR in the first. Not an auspicious start, but Angel Morales upped the ante with a 3-run HR of his own in the bottom half of the first.
Angel Morales connects on a 3-run HR
Osterbrock and Morales were the stories of this game, Osterbrock ran out of gas in the sixth, but essentially cruised through the first 5 innings. After the fifth I commented on the efficiency of the Snappers pitcher, so if that was enough to jinx him, I apologize.
Dan Osterbrock delivers
Fortunately, the Peoria starter struggled mightily, not making it out of the third inning. By the time he left the game, only one Beloit player in the lineup had yet to reach base and the Snappers had a 7-2 lead.
The ump was calling the high strike, but come on...
James Beresford knocked out three singles (all ground balls through the infield: to tell you the truth the Peoria shortstop had a really tough day - not sure if he was being poorly positioned by the coaches or what, but everything was just out of his reach). I mentioned Morales, who got hits in his first three at-bats and scored 2 runs.
James Beresford
Steve Blevins came in to put out the fire in the sixth, and after the inherited runner scored, he got out of it to leave the Snappers ahead 7-6. At this point I was a bit worried that I had signed up to witness another bullpen implosion, but Blevins was solid over the next two innings (no hits, one walk - the only free pass issued by Beloit pitching) and Danny Rondon pitched a 1-2-3 ninth with 2 strikeouts to earn the save.
Danny Rondon tosses to first
This might have been the ideal baseball game. The Snappers jumped ahead early, and other than one half inning, never looked like they were going to give up the lead. A nice solid win for Beloit, hopefully that starts something of a roll for them.
Click on the pics for the larger images. Assist on the photography to Mrs. Mak.
When you said larger, you meant LARGER!
Good write up, Mak, thanks!
No kidding. I can practically order off the "on deck"'s menu from the fourth picture.
The ump was calling the high strike, but come on...
Hee hee.
Nice work by you and the missus, Big Mak.
Excellent report. Thanks!
Hi, I just wanted to say how much we enjoyed your photos from the game, especially the one of James B (as we are his parents!). Those large images are something else, they really put you in the crowd and give us a great idea of what to expect when we visit Beloit in July. Cheers, Ian & Chris B.
Thanks for stopping through and signing up, IanB. We hope you'll be back, and good luck to James.
Thanks for the note, IanB. That's really cool that you guys stopped by and enjoyed the photos. I hope you get to see some good games on your visit (Beloit is a long way from Australia)
That's putting the "W" into the WGOM! It's great to have you here. If you ever have any insights to share, or if you just want to sound like the rest of us, please feel free to comment any time.
Thank you for the photos, it is a long way away here in Australia, any news on what the playing conditions look like make it so much easier to appreciate the atmoshere in USA minor games. Go James (Beresford) you make an old coach very proud