Vested. One-handed. Unscoutable.
The winds of Week Five calmed, the field practically set itself up, and the park was ours. While many teams took the week off to observe Father's Day, four took the field on a Sunday that saw a little bit of everything: Record-breaking homeruns, total pitching dominance, and fantastic defense that has become a central theme of the 2019 season.
Bilabial Hitters (Ex)plosive in a Double Grand-Salami Double-Header
BOBBY VADNAIS, Bilabial Stops
Bilabial Stops 26 || ISO Pale 8 (F/4)
Ryan Moyes fortified the Bilabials lineup and looked like anything but a rookie in his league debut.
After both teams tallied a pair of runs in the 1st inning to knot the score at 2-2, they each blanked each other once during the 2nd and 3rd innings. The Stops tacked on four runs in the top of the 2nd, while ISO added a run on Ryan Torren's bomb in the bottom of the 3rd to trim the Bilabials' lead to 3 runs.
Then came the top of the 4th, where the Bilabials didn't stop scoring runs until they'd scored a score of them on a walk and 19 hits, 8 of them home runs. In this monster of an inning, every Stop hit at least one dinger, with Brown, Moyes, and Vadnais swatting a pair apiece.
The ISO Pale offense battled valiantly in the bottom half of the 4th, scoring 5 runs to narrow the Bilabial lead to 18 runs. However, their comeback turned out to be too little, too late. Stops starting pitcher Garrett Herfkins improved his record to 2-0, despite an ERA of 18.58.
Garrett Herfkins settled in on the mound to secure the win.
After the game, league home-run leader Usoff continued to deny repeated allegations of his abuse and\or enjoyment of athletic performance enhancing drugs, refusing to submit a blood or urine sample, despite repeated requests from several Seattle Wiffleball officials. Usoff would not be reached for comment.
Bilabial Stops 11 || ISO Pale 1 (F/5)
Stops starting pitcher Ed Brown set the tone for the rest of the game by striking out the side in the top of the 1st inning on 9 pitches, all of them called strikes.
While ISO Pale starting pitcher Scott MacGowan did manage to dampen the offensive output of the previously red-hot Stops a bit, the Pale's single run scored on a solo shot from Sunny McGowan to lead off the 2nd inning paled in comparison to the steady stream of runs posted by the Stops. Bilabials Usoff (10) and Brown (7) both added dingers to their league-leading totals.
Brown wound up striking out 2/3 of the batters he faced, surrendering only 1 hit (the previously mentioned homer) and 2 walks to improve his record to a league-best 5-0.
Washout shuts down Hang and Bang in a Family Outing
JEREMY SALVO, West Coast Washout
The Leggy Latin Lumberjack leapt loudly on home plate afer a lofty longball.
West Coast Washout 9 || Hang and Bang 0
Playing alongside his dad Marcos on Father’s Day, Max Melendez looked to stay hot on both sides of the ball, leading off and toeing the slab for the Washout. After scoring the opening run on a Conor Roberson sacrifice fly in the first, he took the mound and simply dominated. Hang and Bang fought valiantly, but couldn’t do much with a mix of pitches seemingly moving in every direction and dotting the edges of the zone. Melendez helped himself out in the second, hitting his first of two home runs to add to WCW's lead.
Conor Roberson opened the scoring once again, slid safely once again, and has the bloody leg to prove it.
In response, Hang and Bang flashed the palms, making a number of great catches, including the robbery a Jeremy Salvo home run. HAB’s Jonathan Mack hung in there and prevented any big innings by the Washout, working out of jam after jam and stranding 11 runners. Salvo would have his revenge in the sixth with a home run that could not be brought back to top off the Washout’s victory. Melendez went the distance, giving up just one hit to Greg Nyssen, while striking out 16 and walking 5.
West Coast Washout 4 || Hang and Bang 0 After losing home runs to spectacular defensive plays in consecutive weeks, Jeremy Salvo sheepishly returned from the weight room and homered in both games of Sunday's doubleheader.
Following a pair of gutsy pitching performances in game one, Jonathan Stevens and Dan Rish looked to follow suit in game two. After Rish pitched a scoreless first, the Washout picked up right where they left off, taking a 1-0 lead on a Conor Roberson single. Stevens pitched out of trouble, benefitting from a double play in which Max Melendez was thrown out trying to tag up on a shallow fly ball. After a 1-2-3 top of the second, Jeremy Salvo hit his second home run of the day to put WCW up 4-0, scoring both the elder and younger Melendezes.
Opposite field shading, four-point stances, and well-placed pitches were game two highlights for Hang and Bang.
From there, the offenses of both teams took the rest of the day off and pitchers reigned. Stevens found his stride and shut out the Washout in innings 3-5. Hang and Bang’s defense recorded out after out with heads-up play and athleticism. But WCW's Dan Rish was up to the task, racking up 13 strikeouts and walking only four in throwing a complete game shutout to pace secure the sweep with a 4-0 victory.
