Cleveland Scrappers Scrape and hand Renegades worst loss in franchise history
Have a memory like a goldfish. That would be the cry after this game
The Renegades were able to sleep in awaiting the winner of the Houston Hurricane and Cleveland Scrapper game. Cleveland won that contest 8-4. The Scrappers had wins over the Strong (5-2). The Braille Bandits (6-1), the Sirens (6-0) and Houston and Losses to the Edge(13-2), Chicago (6-3) and Bayou City (21-2).
Boston was trying to shake off the rust from the previous day and the discrepancy of the pitcher’s mound. It was a sluggish start to the day for sure. Nathan Weigand would be pitching for Cleveland. Initially as the year started, he was not on the roster. This season, he pitched for the Scrappers and his father was not on the roster. These two teams played a lot in the Renegades early years. In fact, they played every year from 2003-2012 but had only played once since then in 2017. The Gades owned seven game winning streak.
For Boston, Ron Cochran would have five of the six hitters in the lineup as Connolly was just facing Cantan. Connolly would be calling the right side and Grillo calling the left side.
First inning
Jeff Dell would lead off the game with a pop fly to the left short position. Dias came in on it and on a bounce it hit his left hand and Dias recovered to make the play. Stanley Griffin was next and hit a dribbler to the 40 foot arc. Guy charged it and then jumped to his left and missed it and then had to jump back to the other side to try and find it. It may have been speaker down and the Scrappers were on the board. Steve Miller was next. In pregame prep for this game Weissman saw video of Miller actually swinging and missing and throwing the bat into the field. This would be something to watch for. He hit a grounder to the left side and he took a bad line to third base. Dias dove to his left and the ball died near his feet. That bad line gave Dias plenty of time to recover to make the out. Christian Keely was next batting from the left side and he hit a laser into right field. The ball was hit between Cantan and Kimball. Kimball took a few steps to the line in the wrong direction. Cantan just stood there. Confusion on the Renegades defense for sure as Keely put the Scrappers up by two. Antonio Dobyne was next. He hit a line drive down the third base line. Cantan needed to take an angle on the ball and didn’t. The first bounce was in front of him and the second bounce was by him as he hit the ground before the ball bounced for the second time. Kimball was tracking it and not getting to the spot and it was an easy run for Cleveland. Tony Guy would end the inning with a strike out. Cleveland plated three runs to start the game.
Christian Thaxton would be the leadoff hitter in this game and hit a fly ball to the left side. Stanley Griffin was there and made the play on Thaxton one step before he got to first base. McCormick was next and after hitting a laser foul into left field would hit a dribbler down the third base line. Griffin had to run to his left and picked it up a split second before McCormick hit third base. It was a very close play and the call was accurate. Shawn Devenish was next and on the second pitch hit it up the middle and Griffin had a 1-2-3 inning. This at bat would make Devenish the 7th Renegade to reach 400 at bats in their career.
Second inning
Jeff Dell would lead off again in the second inning. He hit a line drive into right field at McCormick. Mac slid to his left and the ball kicked off him. Mac could not corral it in time as Dell just beat him to the first base bag. Stanley Griffin would strike out. Steve Miller would then hit a check swing hit to the right side. The ball went down the line and rolled foul just after the bag. McCormick gave chase and was able to pick it up in time. Keely was next as the Renegades went into a big shift for him. Keely hit a hard grounder to right field. Cantan slid to his left but was one step short of making the stop. McCormick was waiting to back him up and made the play falling foreword and reaching forward to make the play in the 3rd layer.
The Renegades would go to the bench and Tyler Mireault would come in and hit for Chris Kimball. He hit hard foul balls to both lines on the first three pitches and then struck out. Cantan came into the game to hit with Peter Connolly on the mound. After taking the first pitch, he hit a hard line drive that hit Stanley Griffin and bounced away from him. Griffin had time to recover to make the out. Rob Dias would get to the 6th pitch and hit it up the middle on a bounce. Griffin hit the ground early and it got by him. Jeff Dell was there in the second layer to make the stop and the Renegades went down 1-2-3 for the second straight inning. A sluggish start to this game with two innings of donuts.
Third inning
Antonio Dobyne would lead off out of the 5 spot in the lineup. He had a great swing and hit it hard on the ground right to Rob Dias, who dropped and made a great play as the ball hit him in the mid-section. Tony Guy was next and hit a line drive to the right side. Zuccarello raced over and it was past him but McCormick was there to make a clean stop. Jeff Dell struck out to end the inning. Cleveland led 4-0
The Renegades needed to wake up. Christian Thaxton would lead off for Boston. He would see 4 pitches and swing and miss on all of them for the first out. McCormick was next and on the 5th pitch, hit a dribbler to Stanley Griffin that just crossed the forty foot arc. The base was very late in going off and McCormick called for late base and got another chance. The result was a foul ball and then a swing and miss and another strike out. Devenish was next and on the second pitch drilled a shot into right center field. That sent the Cleveland defenders running backwards so we could read their numbers on the back of their shirts and Devenish was safe sliding into third base. That broke a streak of 8 straight hitters making outs. Tyler Mireault fouled off a few pitches and then hit a bouncer up the middle that got past Griffin toward Dell. Dell struggled to find it and then he booted it with his hands and Tyler was safe at third base. Shayne Cantan was next and drilled a line drive up the middle into the third layer of the defense and Cantan scored running to first base. On the 5th pitch, Rob Dias hit a grounder down the third base line. Griffin was playing more up the middle and had a lot way to go on that. Keely also came up from the third base position as they arrived at the ball around the same time. Dias beat them to the bag on a bang bang play as Griffin did not have it off the ground in time. This would be a milestone run for Dias as it was his 200th run of his career. He is just the 4th player to ever reach 200 runs in his career joining McCormick, Larry Haile and Thaxton. Speaking of Thaxton, he would step up and hit a no doubter bomb into left field on the first pitch for the 5th straight Renegades run. McCormick would have another marathon at bat and on the 6th pitch hit a grounder to the left side. Griffin dropped and the ball slowly rolled by his feet. Keely came racing in from the 2nd layer crawling on his knees. Keeley lifted it just before McCormick hit the bag. The Renegades had their first lead of the game 5-4.
Fourth inning
Stanley Griffin would lead off the inning for Cleveland. He would hit a grounder to the right side. Guy laid out to his right and the ball hit him in the shins. Guy recovered to make the stop. Steve Miller then hit a grounder up the middle. Zuccarello and Dias converged and Devenish came up while McCormick raced over to back up Devenish. Shawn came out of it with the ball and the out. Christian Keely then hit a line drive sending his pitcher, Weigand to the ground. Devenish dove and missed and Mireault dove and over shot it as the game was tied at five. Antonio Debye was next and hit a high fly ball to center field. The ball bounced near Shawn and he hit the ground and made a big play on the third hop. A huge play by Shawn Devenish with a difficulty level of a 10! Heading to the bottom of the fourth the game was tied at five.
Shawn Devenish entered the batter’s box and hit the first pitch down the line right to Keely. Devenish kept running but Keely could not get the ball off the ground and Shawn was safe to take the lead. Mireault was next and also hit the first pitch on a line up the middle. Tyler scored running to first base. After two pitches and two runs, Cantan came to the plate. This would be the longest at bat of the week. Cantan would get 9 pitches, (1 take 7 fouls and a miss) and strike out. Rob Dias then hit the second pitch off Cochran to the right side in the air. The ball landed with spin and the designated fielder, Kevin Burton dropped early and did not account for the spin as Dias beat him to first base. Thaxton was next and on the third pitch, hit a fly ball to the left side that landed short. Griffin was there and lifted it in time to nail Thaxton for the second out. McCormick then hit a fly ball into left field. Antonio Dobyne was there in the third layer and bobbled the ball and the umpire called McCormick out on a bang bang play. Boston led 8-5 after four innings.
Fifth inning
Leading off the inning was Wilbert Turner, a pinch hitter. The 70 year old Turner hit a bouncer to the right side that Guy lined up and it bounced off his chest and made the stop. Jeff Dell was next and hit a line drive to right field. McCormick moved to his right and dove and made a very nice play to stop Dell. Stanley Griffin came to the plate with two runs on the game. He hit a lazy line drive to the left. Dias dropped to his left side and the ball bounced over him. He called for help as Shayne Cantan and Devenish were there to help. Shawn lost it under his body for a split second and that was enough to get Griffin to first base. Steve Miller would strike out for the first time in the game and end the inning. After four and a half the Renegades led 8-6
Shawn Devenish would lead off the fifth with a line drive into left field. Dobyne was on it and struggled to lift it but Devenish missed third base giving Cleveland the out. Tyler Mireault then lifted a fly ball to the left side. Christian Keely made a nice play on the speedy Mireault for the second out. The call was contested and the call stood as an out. Shayne Cantan was next. After taking his customary first pitch, he swung and missed four times for the strike out, his second in a row. A huge 1-2-3 inning for Cleveland.
Sixth inning
With a two run lead, Luis Rodriguez would sub in for Tyler Mireault on defense in the rover spot. Cleveland would have their 4-5-6 hitters up in the sixth inning. Christian Keely was 2-4 in this game. He hit a hard grounder to the right side. Zuccarello ran to it and let it go. Cantan was behind him and it rolled right into his chest for the out. Dobyne was next and he was 1-3 in this game. He hit a pop fly to the middle of the field that Dias an Zuccarello converged on. Dias picked it clean for the second out of the inning. That brought up Wilbert Turner for his second at bat. Weigand took him down the right field line. Zuccarello chased backwards and McCormick had a long way to run. He slid and bumped into Guy. By the time he recovered, Turner touched first base. Turner ran a 7 second base at 70 years old, Kudo’s to him!!! Cleveland would erupt with energy. Dell then hit a pop fly up the middle of the field that got over Dias. Devenish came in on it, dropped to his knees and it took him two attempts to lift it and Dell was safe at third. These were not easy outs as Cleveland had tied it up. Griffin was next and he hit a weak pop up that was near the 55 foot mark. Dias had to charge it toward the line. Dias came in and slid on his knees and it got under him. Sitting on the beepball, he had a hard time hearing it and by the time he lifted it, Griffin scored his third run. Tony Guy re-entered the game, hitting for Steve Miller. Guy hit a weak grounder to the right side that got under Guy Zuccarello. McCormick over ran it and scrambled back to get it but he was slow to lift it and Cleveland had a two run lead. Keely would end the inning with a strike out. Cleveland did the damage they needed, scoring four runs with two outs on the Renegades, one of the worst innings on defense the Renegades had all week. Only Bayou City had scored this many runs in an innings during the week.
Boston would be down 2 and would have the 6-1-2 hitters up. Rob Dias was 2-3 in this game and would lead off. Dias would hit the first pitch to the left side. Christian Keely would make the stop right before Dias would hit first base. Christian Thaxton then came to the dish. He swung and missed on the first pitch. On the second pitch, Cleveland called time in the middle of the pitch which messed up Thaxton and he did not swing. Boston argued that the defense can’t talk in the cadence. The argument went nowhere and the umpire awarded a take to Thaxton. Thaxton would hit a line drive to right field. Tony Guy took one step to his right, dropped to his knees and picked the ball clean for a great play on a laser. McCormick was the last hope. On the first pitch, he hit a pop fly to the left side and he would score to pull the game to a 10-9 deficit. Shawn Devenish was next. Looking to tie this game, Shawn swung and missed at the first two pitches and then hit a grounder off the bottom of his bat to the left side. Griffin was going to gobble this up for his 6th stop of the game and the win. Devenish would go over the base hard and would stay on the ground. He was in clear pain and after this play, the team’s medical squad would shut him down for the rest of the week with a rib injury. Insult to injury to the Renegades for sure.
Wrap up
This win would eliminate the Renegades from winning the title and would send them into the 9-12 bracket. This would eventually give them their worst finish since 2013. Cleveland played a great game. This was no gimme game. This was no collapse from the Renegades. Cleveland played great defense, hit the ball hard and had timely hitting. They played with emotion and passion. They wanted it more than Boston did. A missed base, three innings where they played zero runs and a defense that allows 4 runs to score with two outs when three of the 4 runs were inside 100 feet. Boston could not close them out. This would be the worst loss in Renegade history and end a dream season in which Boston had hopes of contention.
The player of the game for the Renegades would be Rob Dias who scored two runs and had 4 stops on defense and scored his 200th run of his career. Stanley Griffin would be the player of the game for Cleveland with 6 stops and three runs. Tony Guy would make his only world series put out in this game off the bat of Thaxton. Tony Guy would also score his only run of the world series in that sixth inning. Cleveland would stay on the field to take on New Jersey as the Renegades had to move across the complex to play the Austin Blackhawks in the 9-12 placement bracket.
After the game, the team had to huddle as emotions were running high. Weissman told the team that they needed to learn from it, let it go and have the memory of a goldfish, a quote from Ted Lasso. There were still games to be played!
Renegades act like a goldfish and beat Austin
Shayne and Joe Mac each plated 3 runs and had two stops on defense while Guy Zuccarello led the team with 4 stops on defense
The Renegades had a rough loss earlier in the day losing 10-9 to the Cleveland Scrappers. There was a lot of emotion on the team at this point knowing the dreams of competing for a title were over. The best the team could do was 9th place. It was arguably the toughest loss in team history. The team huddled before leaving the field in the Cleveland game and had a talk about that game. Weissman told the team they needed to have a short memory, like a goldfish. We had to put that game behind us and move on. Austin was in the same place as the Renegades as they lost to the NJ Titans 6-5., Both teams lost a one run game. The winner of this game would be secured a top ten finish. Austin finished outside the top ten in 2023 and Boston had not finished outside the top ten since 2007.
Ron Cochran and Peter would both be prepared to pitch in this game. Bryan Grillo and Peter Connolly would be the callers for this match. Austin would win the coin toss and elect to be the home team. The Renegades were 6-5 lifetime against Austin riding a huge one game win streak after defeating Austin in the 2023 WS 17-5 in a game cut short by a time limit after four innings.
First inning
Christian Thaxton would lead off for Boston and with two strikes would hit a shot into left center field past everyone. The base did not go off and Thaxton took a few steps to third and stopped cold saying nothing. Weissman made a huge mistake and said “run” and Thaxton was safe. However, it is illegal for anyone to say anything and that run would be taken off the board and the play would be done over because the base was so late. Thaxton would eventually hit a hard grounder up the middle. Ed Manning stopped him in the second layer for the first out. McCormick would hit the first pitch to the left side. Dariuhs Sterling would need to slide over to make the play for Austin. Tyler Mireault was next and hit a first pitch line drive up the middle to put Boston on the board. Cantan would come up next hitting off Connolly and he would foul three balls off before striking out. Boston led 1-0.
Elana Regan would sub into the game to play third base for Rob Thayer. Molly Fleming would be on the mound for Austin. Dariuhs Sterling would lead off with a strike out. Hector Lara was next as he moved over to the Blackhawks when San Antonio folded in the off season. He hit a ball about 48 feet down the third base line. Dias shuffled to his right before charging it as the call may have frozen him. Lara would score with ease on that mistake. Davion Perez then hit a bouncing grounder up the middle as Molly fell to the ground. Dias ran to the middle and it died between him and Shayne Cantan who got the start at Midfield (Devenish was ruled out for the rest of the week after the injury in the Cleveland game). Shayne did a nice job to line it up but he did not attack it and Perez gave Austin a lead. Drew Bernet and Jesus Conception would strike out to end the inning. Austin led 2-1.
Second Inning
Joe Yee would sub in for Elana Regan and lead off the second with his cousin, Peter Connolly coming back to the mound. With a 1-2 count. Yee hit a bouncing ball down the third base line. Sterling had to chase it and was able to lift it two steps before Yee hit third base. Rob Dias, hitting 6th would swing and miss twice and on the third pitch hit it hard to who else? Sterling. Thaxton would strike out to end the inning. A Renegade donut, something that haunted them in the Cleveland game. Austin led 2-1.
Ed Manning, the six hitter would lead off for Austin. With three strikes he hit a grounder a few steps to the right of Zuccarello. Guy took a few steps and dove and caught the ball between his legs for the out. Sterling then hit a fly ball to center field. Shayne lined it up quick and on a few hops it bounced into his chest for the second out of the inning. Lara would strike out to end the inning and neither team scored in the second inning.
Third inning
Rob Dias got the team energy going with a rendition of Piano Man from Billy Joel with the words changed for Ron Cochran as Austin was taking the field. McCormick stepped in to the box and after drilling a foul ball down the third base line, hit a shot into center field sending the Austin defenders running backwards and he hit the base before they even hit the ground to get the ball for a no doubter. Not a lot of these hits in this tournament on these thick grass fields. Tyler Mireault then fouled off the first pitch and hit a fly ball to the right side that got over Drew Bernet who had to give chase, landed on his stomach and with Tyler’s speed had no chance once he hit the ground and started swimming. Weissman yelled “it’s Tyler Mireault day”. Shayne Cantan then took his customary first pitch and hit a line drive up the middle. The ball went off a Blackhawk defender and ricocheted away from the defense as Cantan scored the third straight run for Boston. Joe Yee would then hit a pop up to the left side. Sterling held his ground and it landed just in front of him as he made his 4th stop of the game. Rob Dias would strike out next. This was his first strike out in the 2024 season in his 31st at bat. Thaxton was next and hit a hard grounder into left that got by the defense and he scored. McCormick then stayed hot and launched a first pitch into left center field on the fly for a run. That brought Tyler Mireault up on “Tyler Mireault day”. Tyler hit a grounder to the left side and was very slow out of the box before he took off. That slow start cost him a run and Austin was out of the inning with another Sterling stop. Boston scored five times and took a 6-2 lead.
Luis Rodriguez subbed into the game for Tyler Mireault and went to Rover. Davion Perez would start the third inning off in the same way Manning did in the previous inning – looking for Zuccarello! Peter Connolly got the call out loud and fast and Zuccarello was off to the race to the forty foot arc to pick up a short pop fly ball off the top of the bat. Drew Bernet hit a high fly ball to the left side. Joe Yee slid over, laid out and it bounced over him. Luis Rodriguez was in position and was low and got to the ground quickly and picked it up, but the ball was in the air too long. The only thing Lrod could have done better was attack it instead of letting it bounce to him. After Jesus Concepcion struck out for the second out, Ed Manning came to the plate. He hit a grounder to the right side and as he took off to third base, he slipped and fell. Zuccarello did not take an angle on the ball and it got by him, but McCormick was there to back him up for the out in the second layer. Boston led 6-3
Fourth inning
Superstition? This time the Renegades started the Piano Man song for Peter Connolly. Shayne Cantan led off and hit a shot into right field past everyone and score easily. Joe Yee was next and after fouling off the first two pitches would go down on strikes. Dias would then step up off Cochran and hit the first pitch on the fly down the third base line past a diving defender for a run. Thaxton was next and hit a bouncing grounder up the middle and started limping as soon as he got out of the box. In fact, he stopped running and then started again. It was initially unclear what happened as we thought he tripped on the bat. Later it would be revealed he rolled his ankle. Sterling was credited with the out and Thaxton would join Devenish on the shelf for the rest of the game. McCormick then stayed hot and blasted another shot into left field on the fly. Jesus Concepcion would make a nice play to stop McCormick. This would be Concepcion’s first ever World Series defensive stop, and it was a big one. Boston led 8-3.
Dariuhs Sterling would try to get things going for Austin as he led off the 4th inning and was the leading scorer for Austin on the week. He hit a line drive to the right side that quickly got past Zuccarello. McCormick took off to his right and Lrod also took a step to his right giving the impression the call may have been off by a zone. Mac over ran it and then had to jump back and he fell short. Lrod was tall and did not stay low and then threw his feet at it and was able to get it up, but not in time. If he was low and threw his head to the ball, he had a chance. Sterling was just too fast and it was well hit into the third layer. Hector Lara would strike out for the second time. Austin then went to the bench and off popped Austin legend, Mariano Reynoso. He would go down on strikes as well. Drew Bernet would then hit a bouncer up the middle. Zuccarello took a few steps to his right, dove and stopped the ball in the gut to end the inning. Boston led 8-4.
Fifth inning
Chris Kimball would enter the game to hit for Luis Rodriguez. Kimball hit the first pitch to the left side weakly and Kimball took off quickly to first base. A tough call for the umpire that was contested after the call was an out. After checking, the call stood. This at bat would be the 100th of Kimball’s short career making him the 22nd player to hit this plateau. Cantan was next as the pitchers changed. Cantan hit a short ball to the right side sending Drew Bernet chasing it forward. He dove on his stomach and came up short but was able to recover on a bang-bang play to nail Cantan. Joe Yee was next and he checked in with a first pitch grounder right back to Bernet. Bernet had to come in again, but this time to his right. The play was very similar to the previous play but Yee ran a better line and may have been a step quicker and scored. Rob Dias would strike out to end the inning. Boston led 9-4.
Steve Puryear would come off the bench to pinch hit for Concepcion. Puryear, a long time Blackhawk missed the 2023 series due to an injury he suffered on the field. Kimball would stay in the game for Boston and head to the rover spot on defense. Puryear hit a weak grounder right at Zuccarello. Guy dove for it and it rolled by his feet as McCormick gave chase but his route was off as he took off to his right before changing directions and coming back to the ball. That route took too long and Puryear scored. Ed Manning went back to the same spot off Molly Fleming. Zuccarello hit the ground and stopped it fast for the out and his fourth stop of the game. Sterling would strike out for the second time and the second out. Hector Lara then hit a grounder up the middle. Zuccarello and Dias converged but this was Cantan’s ball. Shayne dropped and waited for the ball to get to him. Lara missed third base and that allowed Cantan to make the play. Boston led 9-5.
Sixth inning
David Sanchez would enter the game hitting for the injured Thaxton. Connolly would head to the mound to pitch to him. He would hit the first pitch on the fly right at Sterling. Sterling hit the ground and the ball bounced into his body and rolled up on him. He was able to pick it long before Sanchez got to the base for the first out, a nice play in the field. McCormick hit a weak grounder to the left side and it was a race as McCormick sprinted to third and Sterling needed to come in on it. Mac hit the base as Sterling got his hands on it, but the ball was not off the ground and McCormick had his third run of the game. Kimball would strike out for the second out. Cantan would work the count to 1-3 and hit a line drive into the third level of the Austin defense. Shayne was awarded the run as the Austin defense did not have control of the ball. Joe Yee then hit the second pitch to the right side past Bernet and Yee would score his second run of the game. Rob Dias would end the inning with a weak bouncer up the middle that Bernet played very well charging the ball. Boston led 12-5.
Boston would go to the bench and make two subs re-entering Luis Rodriguez back to the rover spot for Kimball and also re-entering Elana Regan into the game for Joe Yee at third base. Mariano Reynoso led off the last inning with a strike out, his second of the game. Drew Bernet then lofted a fly ball to the right side. Zuccarello took two shuffles to his left and the second bounce deflected off his thighs and away from him toward the line. Guy was quick to chase it down but on a bang-bang play the call was safe. Steve Puryear then hit a grounder down the first bae line. Zuccarello slid over and just missed it and McCormick was quick to back him up and lifted it for the second out. Ed Manning then lined the second pitch into left field, past Dias. Elana Regan took two steps to her right, hit the ground and on the way to the ground, she pushed the ball away from her with her hands. She was able to recover and nab Manning on a bang bang play to end the game. Boston would win 12-6.
Wrap up
With the win, the Renegades now secured a top ten finish and sent Austin to the 11/12 game to face Oklahoma. Joe McCormick and Shayne Cantan would be the players of the game, each scoring three times and making two stops on defense. Guy Zuccarello would also chip in four stops of his own. Dariuhs Sterling would be the player of the game for Austin with one run and 8 stops on defense. The Renegades would help him win an all-star award as he finished second to Stanley Griffin on defense up front. Boston would be done for the day and would take on the Tyler Tigers on Friday for their final game of the World Series.