The Black Widows are in pole position going into the final weekend of the 2013 Hunlock Series. They received a major boost prior to the second round of games when they picked Falcons shortstop, Xavier Gonzalez, from the Free Agents block.
Gonzalez played a key role as the team won 3 and drew 1 of their 4 games of the day. The Black Widows were already seen as having a superior roster with some outstanding players, and standing in first place it is difficult to see anyone challenging them, but with more free agents joining all the time, there can be no guarantees about who will be on top after the final weekend.
The other big mover in week 2 was the Red team. They won 3 out of their 4 games to move into second place. They displaced the Blue Dogs who move from first to fourth place after four defeats.
No one could have predicted such a turnaround for the Blue Dogs who have Ryan Bird in their squad. He blew away opponents in week 1, but this week he was involved in a dramatic pitchers’ duel with the Red Roosters’ ace pitcher, Liam Green. Both pitchers were in control and didn’t allow any runs until the bottom of the final inning. Lead-off batter for the Blue Dogs was Kimiyoshi Saionji, who is a difficult out regardless of whether he is facing a Single-A pitcher someone as accomplished as Ryan Bird. Left-handed batter Saionji connected well for a line drive to left field which put him on first base. A controversial balk call by the umpire moved him to second base. A passed ball followed and that allowed Saionji to move to third base but by that time there were 2 outs. Up stepped Liam Green and he managed to put the ball in play and beat out an infield ground ball to bring the winning run in.
The Green Gators have very quietly picked up enough wins to stay in touch with the leaders and are in a good position to cause an upset in the final week. They currently stand in third place with a .500 winning percentage, 4 wins and 4 losses.
White Lightning are still bottom of the league but they have given themselves a chance picking up a win against the Blue Dogs and tying with the Black Widows. The White Lightning team includes only players from the club’s U17 team and while playing the Hunlock Series they have one eye on the bigger prize of the 2014 National Baseball Championship. The whole team went through various tests before the start of the day, including a gruelling Beep Test, which was won by Nimrod Wynne.
Play of the Day: Black Widows executing a perfect rundown play to get two outs with runners on first and third base.
Game of the Day: Blue 0 Red 1
Controversy of the Day: Balk call on pitcher Ryan Bird which moved the winning run into scoring position and eventually came in to score.
Players of the Day: Xavier Gonzalez and Nimrod Wynne
Clutch Hit: Kimiyoshi Saionji and Liam Green’s hits versus Ryan Bird.
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