RBI Steaks 13, Smurfs 3
With some old faces re-joining their roster, the Smurfs seemed like they would get back to their winning ways, as they jumped out to a 3-1 lead after one inning. From there, Reilly Brindle shut them down, while going 2-3 at the plate, boosting his league-leading average. Sam Heikell showed great control on the mound, but his balls tended to encounter RBI Steaks' bats before hitting the strike zone. The Steaks, who batted 9, had 17 hits in a four inning mercy-shortened affair.
RBI Steaks 8, Smurfs 0
Nick Winn's no-no, the league's first, went unnoticed (at least by the league's official bookkeeper, and seemingly both teams). Kyle Hayes and Jacob Pope were the only Smurfs to put the ball in play, and Randall Pope worked 3 walks. Aside from that, it was the Winn show. Winn kept his speed under control throughout, which had been an issue in previous weeks. Jack Sandstorm went 3-4, and team captain Jimmy Froio went 3-3 to pace the Steaks' offense.
Pitcher of the Week: Nick Winn
Pitcher of the Week is quite obviously a weekly award, with no memory of previous weeks influencing the outcome of the decision. That being said, Winn's no-hitter made this week's award a no-brainer, so it is interesting to see his evolution into an ace for the RBI Steaks. After giving up 7 in a loss to the Dinger Squad, and 9 to the Washout, Winn has thrown 3 consecutive shutouts. He has consistently walked very few hitters, but has allowed 4, 1, and 0 hits his last three trips to the hill.
Defensive Player of the Week: Elijah Ybarra
Ybarra came to the field as a spectator (he is the nephew of the Wiff Waff's Andrew Ybarra). Instead, he wound up playing as the fifth Chicken'n'Wiffler, and robbed his uncle of a home run in the process. Ybarra's best play was nullified in the 4th, as he fully extended to make a one-handed catch of a Kevin Saul ball which had already left the park. However, it was ruled that he was entirely out of play, making the home run stand, but taking nothing away from a fantastic play.
Offensive Player of the Week: Payton Lawson
Lawson was a home run machine in Week 9. Through no fault of his own, he didn't knock in very many runs, the home runs tended to come at the beginning of innings; two were solo shots. He saw to the Dinger Squad gaining the league lead in team homers hit, and also added two doubles for the series, finishing 7-11 with 15 total bases, with 6 runs scored and 7 runs batted in.
