In an unexpected twist to the 2008 Kyle Hunlock Season, all three teams have pulled level at 2-2. Only a scant run differential separates the first-place Black Widows (+4) from last-place Blue Dogs (-3).
This second day of intense qualifiers ended in precisely the same result as week one: each team split and no team was able to break away with two wins on the day. Moreover, the wins and losses came in the same match-ups!
The Red Roosters fell early to the Black Widows who put up crooked numbers in the 1st, 3rd and 4th. Only a single run here and there kept the Roosters in the game, but dominant performances from Widows pitchers Nic Goetz and Aspi Dimitrov showed no mercy and allowed no earned runs. Carlos Casal went 2-2 with 2 runs and 2 RBI for the Widows… and only Rooster pitcher Stuart Boast looked able to contend with the other Widows batters, delivering two perfect innings with 3 strikeouts.
In Game Two the Roosters bounced back to snag one from the Blue Dogs, who sent manager Tim Elkins to the mound in his career pitching debut. Elkins threw consistent strikes, but the Rooster bats came alive and they connected for 10 runs on 11 hits overall. Rooster starter Mark Hoffman kept the Dogs at bay with 4 strikeouts and some wicked breaking balls. Dan Kerry, Andy Cornish, Stuart Boast and rookie Jack Moon had two hits apiece for the Red team. Blue Dog rookie Jamie Munn went 2-3 with a triple and an RBI.
The Dogs then returned to the diamond after a short rest and bested the Widows in the day’s final five-inning showdown. This topsy-turvy nail-biter was close to the finish… and despite the Dogs’ Series-high 8 errors, they held on tight and denied a last-inning Widows’ rally. Tim Elkins and Darrin Ward had two hits each for the Dogs… and Widow Carlos Casal finished the day perfect going 4-4 with the 4 runs and 3 RBI in the two games.
Now that all qualifying play has been completed, Herts Baseball members are turning to October 5th and the Hunlock Series Championship Game. Rumours and front office sources suggest the Commissioner is in consultation with the team managers and – due to the shockingly split results of the last two weeks – might take measures to reformat the Championship event. Stay tuned to the Newswire for developments.
GAME ONE
| Herts Black Widows at Herts Red Roosters | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H | E |
| Herts Black Widows | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 3 |
| Herts Red Roosters | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Herts Black Widows 9, Herts Red Roosters 3 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herts Black Widows | Herts Red Roosters | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Luis Goncalves ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Hunter Devine 2b | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Barnes cf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Nick Russell cf-lf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Aspi Dimitrov 2b-p | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Andy Cornish ss-c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Carlos Casal 3b-2b | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Jason Greenberg c-ss | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Marty Cullen 1b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Dan Kerry p-3b-cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Lee Manning c | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Peter Kikel 3b-p | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kal Dimitrov lf-rf | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Humberto Goncalves 1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Goetz p-3b | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Andrew Slater rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marco Lanni rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ilya Dimitrov lf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (b2) Mark Houchin lf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | (t5) Stuart Boast p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM TOTALS | 25 | 9 | 9 | 7 | TEAM TOTALS | 23 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| E: Carlos Casal(2), Marty Cullen, Jason Greenberg, Dan Kerry, Peter Kikel, Stuart Boast. LOB: Herts Red Roosters 4, Herts Black Widows 6. 2B: Marty Cullen, Andy Cornish. SB: Carlos Casal(2), Aspi Dimitrov(2), Luis Goncalves(2), Nick Goetz, Nick Russell(2), Stuart Boast, Jason Greenberg, Hunter Devine. CS: Luis Goncalves, Marty Cullen, Peter Kikel. |
| Herts Black Widows | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Nick Goetz W | 3.00 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Aspi Dimitrov | 3.00 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Herts Red Roosters | ||||||
| Dan Kerry L | 3.00 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Stuart Boast | 2.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Peter Kikel | 1.00 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
HBP: by Dan Kerry (Chris Barnes). . . . , by Aspi Dimitrov (Stuart Boast). , by
Stuart Boast (Carlos Casal). WP: Aspi Dimitrov, Peter Kikel. PB: Lee Manning, Jason
Greenberg(2). T: 2:00. A: 0.
GAME TWO
| Herts Red Roosters at Herts Blue Dogs | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H | E |
| Herts Red Roosters | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 11 | 2 |
| Herts Blue Dogs | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
| Herts Red Roosters 10, Herts Blue Dogs 5 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herts Red Roosters | Herts Blue Dogs | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Hunter Devine 2b | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Rodney Naghar ss | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nick Russell lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Dave Hamilton lf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Andy Cornish ss | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | Darrin Ward 3b-p | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Jason Greenberg c-3b-rf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Dave Westfallen c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan Kerry cf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | Paul Auchterlounie cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Peter Kikel 3b-c | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | (b3) Greg Bochan cf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stuart Boast 1b | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Tim Elkins p | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (b5) Humberto Goncalves p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (t3) Reagan Wood p-3b | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jack Moon rf | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | John Oliver 2b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (t5) Andrew Slater rf-3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jamie Munn rf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Mark Hoffman p-1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Steve Nippress 1b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (b3) Paul Hawes 1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| TEAM TOTALS | 24 | 10 | 11 | 6 | TEAM TOTALS | 22 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
| E: Andy Cornish, Jason Greenberg, Rodney Naghar, Darrin Ward, Steve Nippress. DP: Herts Red Roosters 1, Herts Blue Dogs 1. LOB: Herts Red Roosters 3, Herts Blue Dogs 7. 2B: Peter Kikel, Jack Moon, Rodney Naghar. 3B: Jamie Munn. SB: Andy Cornish(2), Hunter Devine, Dan Kerry, Rodney Naghar(2), Paul Auchterlounie, John Oliver, Jamie Munn, Reagan Wood, Paul Hawes. CS: Nick Russell. |
| Herts Red Roosters | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Mark Hoffman W | 4.00 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Humberto Goncalves | 1.00 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Stuart Boast | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Herts Blue Dogs | ||||||
| Tim Elkins L | 2.33 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Reagan Wood | 1.67 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Darrin Ward | 0.67 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
HBP: by Mark Hoffman (John Oliver). . , by Reagan Wood (Andy Cornish). . . WP: Mark
Hoffman(2), Reagan Wood(4), Tim Elkins(3). PB: Dave Westfallen. T: 2:00. A: 0.
GAME THREE
| Herts Blue Dogs at Herts Black Widows | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E |
| Herts Blue Dogs | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 8 |
| Herts Black Widows | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 4 |
| Herts Blue Dogs 9, Herts Black Widows 8 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herts Blue Dogs | Herts Black Widows | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Rodney Naghar 2b-1b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Luis Goncalves ss | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (t4) Dave Westfallen 2b-3b | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Chris Barnes cf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Darrin Ward p-ss | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Aspi Dimitrov 2b-p | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Paul Auchterlounie c | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Carlos Casal 3b-2b | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Reagan Wood ss-3b-2b | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Mark Houchin lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Greg Bochan cf-p | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Lee Manning c | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Elkins lf | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Nick Goetz p-3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| John Oliver 3b-1b-p | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Marty Cullen 1b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Paul Hawes 1b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ebow Halm-Quashie rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (t3) Steve Nippress 1b-cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (b4) Kal Dimitrov rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Hamilton rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| (t4) Jamie Munn rf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| TEAM TOTALS | 23 | 9 | 7 | 3 | TEAM TOTALS | 23 | 8 | 5 | 4 |
| E: Paul Auchterlounie(4), Darrin Ward, Rodney Naghar, John Oliver, Tim Elkins, Luis Goncalves, Lee Manning, Marty Cullen, Ebow Halm-Quashie. LOB: Herts Blue Dogs 4, Herts Black Widows 7. 2B: Greg Bochan, Jamie Munn, Mark Houchin. SB: Greg Bochan, Rodney Naghar, Tim Elkins, Darrin Ward, Lee Manning, Marty Cullen, Aspi Dimitrov, Kal Dimitrov. |
| Herts Blue Dogs | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Darrin Ward W | 3.00 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Greg Bochan | 1.33 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| John Oliver | 0.67 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Herts Black Widows | ||||||
| Nick Goetz L | 3.00 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Aspi Dimitrov | 2.00 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
WP: Darrin Ward. PB: Paul Auchterlounie(2), Lee Manning(2). T: 2:00. A: 0.