Game #1 Friday Night Lights and a Renegade 15-3 win!

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Long Island	1	1	0	0	1	0		3	13	3
Boston	1	0	6	0	8	x		15	11	5

Long Island	AB	R	K	PO		Boston	AB	R	K	PO
Puvogel	4	1	2	0		Zuccarello- RS/LS	5	1	1	0
Agnone	4	1	2	2		McCormick- 1B/RS	5	5	0	0
Erickson	4	1	2	1		Devenish – MF	3	2	1	1
Gilroy	2	0	2	0		– C. Kimball – R	2	1	1	0
– Barrera	1	0	1	0		Dias – LS	3	1	2	4
Hughes	3	0	1	0		– L. Rodriguez – 3B	2	2	0	0
Suarez	3	0	3	1		S. Cantan – R/MF	5	2	3	0
						Soto – DH	2	1	1	—
						– Thayer – DH	1	0	1	—
						– I Rodriguez – DH	2	0	1	—
						Crook – DF- 3b/1B	—	—	—	0
						– Hoyt – DF- 1b	—	—	—	0
Totals	21	3	13	4		Totals	30	15	11	5
Pitcher – Sciortino	11	2	4			Pitcher – Cochran	28	14	10
Pitcher- Schulman	10	1	9			Pitcher – Connolly	2	1	1
						Catcher- Weissman
						LS Caller-Grillo/Connolly
						RS Caller – Lenicheck/L/ Ward

Game Summary

Beep baseball was back.  More than 2 years after the Renegades walked off the field as the third best team in the world, they took the field again.  This time, it was the first ever night baseball game in the New England area on a perfect night for beep baseball.  After waiting about 45 minutes for a delay in getting the Long Island Bombers on the field, play would start with the lights on and the sun setting.  Most of the Bombers stepped out of the car and on to the field without any warm-ups. This game would be played on the Renegades practice field in Watertown, Mass.

The very first pitch from James Sciortino was lined up the middle by Matt Puvogel.  Rob Dias ranged up the middle and picked it up to make the first out of the 2021 Renegade season.  Pasquale Agnone then went opposite field to “Guy Zuccarello island”.  The ball was hit high and over Guy’s head and he could not chase it down in time.  Next, Edgar Erickson would hit a dribbler to the left side which Rob Dias would over run, but recover in time for the second out of the season.  Who needs warm-ups?

Guy Zuccarello would be called upon to lead off this game for the Renegades.  The thought process was he had some of the most consistent swings in practice and Weissman wanted the leadoff hitter to put the ball in play.  Guy did his job, sort of.  He hit a pop fly to the middle of the field and had a chance to score but he missed first base.  This bad base running would sadly become a theme for the Renegades.

Joe McCormick then lofted a bomb into left field and he slid by first base as well, but this time he finger tipped it and the run was awarded after an umpire discussion.  The base running would continue to be an issue.  Shawn Devenish would strike out for the first K of the 2021 campaign.  Dias would follow suit and after one inning, the game was tied at one a piece.

Long Island Bomber, legend Jim Hughes came out of retirement for this trip and would lead off the second.  He would start it off with a grounder up the middle.  Dias ranged to his left and lined it up but struggled to get the ball off the ground.  Hughes made it close but the out was made.  Alvin Suarez would then make his Bomber debut.  A resident of New York, he spent the 2021 World Series sitting on the bench for the Indy Edge.  His first time taking BP off the Bombers was this night with Weissman catching Sciortino while the Bombers found their way to the fields.  His debut would end in a whiff.  Puvogel then hit a slow grounder up the middle right at Shawn Devenish.  Shawn was late to the ground it and it went under him as the Bombers regained the lead.  Agnone then hit a line drive right back at the same spot Povugel did.  This time Devenish laid out and made his first stop of the year.

The bottom of the 2^nd would feature a start by Shayne Cantan for the first time since he started against Seattle in the 2017 World Series in Florida.  He would go down on 4 swings in an uneventful return.  Luis Soto earned a start at DH in this contest with some really consistent batting practices all year.  As Peter Connolly took the mound to face him, they would get five pitches and a second consecutive whiff to start the inning.  Zuccarello would end the inning with a fly ball stopped by Suarez.  After two frames, Long Island led 2-1.  The rust was showing for sure.

The third did not offer much for Long Island as Erickson and Gilroy struck out.  Hughes put another ball in play to the left side.  Dias charged and it rolled past him.  Hughes took off toward first base.  The buzzing sound cut out half way down the line.  Hughes was able to find the base and make contact with it while it was not buzzing.  He never called late base.  Hughes was able to run a perfect line but would have given himself another chance if he had called for the late base.  Some laughter amongst the coaches ensued as the Bomber battery found it funny he ran a better line without the base buzzing.

Joe McCormick would lead off the frame and on the third pitch, hit a blast to left field that continued to roll across the field long past the 170 foot line as Mac easily scored his second run of the contest to tie the game.    Shawn Devenish then hit a blast almost as far into left center for the first back-to-back runs of the 2021 season.  Rob Dias then smoked a line drive to the right side that may have been his best ever hit to the opposite field as he had been working to improve his swing during the season.  After a Cantan whiff, Soto stepped to the plate.  He hit the first pitch he saw into right field on the fly; however, he took 3 steps to first before cutting across the field to hit third base for a run.  Poor base running that was helped by the power he put into the ball.  This bad base running would continue to be an issue as the Renegades were knocking the rust off their game.  Leadoff hitter, Zuccarello would then whiff for the 2^nd out.  McCormick then hit a dead ball and by rule would return to the plate with an 0-1 count.  He then would hit a grounder off the bottom of his bat up the gut of the Bomber defense and beat it out with his legs.  Devenish lofted a fly ball to the center of the field and was able to beat the Bomber defense again with his speed.  That would be all for Boston as they took a 7-2 lead.

The fourth inning would debut Long Island pitcher, Ethan Schulman.  Schulman, a high schooler had been pitching to the Bombers at practice. After making contact with Alvin Suarez on the first pitch he saw for a foul ball, he would struggle to find bats.  Suarez would strike out .  Puvogel would hit a coffin corner shot on the right side.  Zuccarello would make the stop but the base was late and Long Island would get a second chance.  That chance had no change in result.

He would set the Bombers down 1-2-3.  Boston did not have much to offer either.  Cantan struck out to pick up the silver enchilada (3 K’s in the game).  Rob Thayer came off the bench to strike out and Zuccarello was stopped off a line drive that hit Pasquale Agnone in the face on a bounce.  The score was still 7-2 after 4 innings.

Schulman would get his first run of his career to lead off the fifth inning.  With Edgar Erickson switching to swing from the left side of the plate he would hit a weak grounder up the middle.  McCormick was now playing the right short position and the ball skid by him and Devenish could not get the ball in the air as the Bombers scored their third run.  That would be all as Schulman struck out the next three batters.

The bottom of the 5^th would be the end of this game.  For Boston, they would wake up.  Joe McCormick lofted another bomb into left field for his 4^th run of the contest.  Chris Kimball, a rookie who had just started less than a month before this game would get his debut and strike out on four pitches.  Luis Rodriguez then strode to the plate to hit for Dias.  In his first at bat of the year he hit a weak fly ball to the center of the field and took a banana line to first base but scored for his first run of the year.  Cantan would avoid the Golden Sombrero with a line shot up the middle on the first pitch he saw for his first run of the season.  Ivan Rodriguez, a 48 year old rookie stepped to the plate for his first career at bat.  He lofted a fly ball to the middle of the field.  The Bomber defense dropped to a few beached whales and struggled to find the ball, Rodriguez took a bad line and cut across the field almost hitting Cochran on his path to third.  Erickson would put the rookie out.  Zuccarello hit the first pitch he saw to the left side.  Erickson charged it and it went by him.  Guy would score on this dribbler for his first run of the game out of the leadoff spot.  McCormick would score again for a five run game to start the season.  Kimball would foul off two straight pitches and on an 0-3 count lift a pop up to the left side.  Erickson charged it – but it got past him and Kimball hit third for his first ever run.  Luis Rodriguez scored his second run of the inning on a grounder and Cantan scored on another blast into left field.   That would cap an 8 run inning and put the game into the 12 run rule after five.

Long Island had no answer in the 6^th as they struck out three consecutive times.  Boston had its first win of the season under the lights on their practice field.  It was a fun game for the Renegades after a two year lay-off and lots of players contributed to this game.  There would be a lot to clean up as the base running was one of the worst base running games in team history.  Those bad bases did not hurt as the Renegade speed was too much for Long Island.

Game #2 Boston Bombs the Long Island Bombers 17-4

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Long Island	2	0	1	0	0	1		4	9	9
Boston	3	9	1	0	4	x		17	6	4

Long Island	AB	R	K	PO		Boston	AB	R	K	PO
Barrera	4	2	1	3		McCormick – 1B	3	3	0	1
Puvogel	4	0	1	0		– Hoyt – 1B	1	0	0	0
Agnone	2	0	2	0		– Joseph – 1B	2	0	0	1
– Suarez	2	0	1	0		Devenish – MF	6	3	2	1
Erickson	4	1	2	6		Dias – LS	5	5	0	3
Gilroy	3	1	1	0		– McCormick – RS	0	0	0	0
Hughes	3	0	1	0		S. Cantan – R	2	1	1	0
						– C. Kimball – R	3	1	1	0
						L. Rodriguez – 3B	2	2	0	0
						– Crook – 3B	2	0	1	0
						– Regan – 3B	—	—	—	0
						– Soto – 3B	1	1	0	0
						Soto – DH	2	1	0	—
						– Thayer – DH	3	0	1	—
						Zuccarello – DF-RS/LS	—	—	—	3
Totals	22	4	9	9		Totals	32	17	6	9
Pitcher – Sciortino	16	4	5			Pitcher – Cochran	27	15	6
Pitcher- Schulman	6	0	4			Pitcher – Connolly	5	2	0
						Catcher- Weissman
						LS Caller-Grillo 1-5
						LS Caller-Connolly 6
						RS Caller – Lenicheck 1-5
						RS Caller – L. Ward 6

Game Summary

The Saturday morning game of the Beast of the East would take both teams to another field in Woburn where the Beast of the East had been played every year but 2010.  It was decided that this game would be the one to count toward Beast of the East standings.   Both New Jersey teams dropped out of the contest, the Titans bailing on just a few week’s notice set this up to be a three team contest.  Could this game be any different with the Bombers getting some rest and a warm-up?  The Bombers would lose the coin toss and be awarded the away team (The irony here was we suggested we split the games so each team could be home once, but the Bombers wanted to leave it up to chance).  Their line-up would look different in this game with everyone there to start the contest.

This time, Alex Barrera would lead off the game for the Bombers.  He would lift a fly ball to the left side.  Dias ranged backwards and could not get the ball up on the first try and Alex scored to lead off the game.  Dias would get it back on the next hitter as Puvogel hit a grounder right at him that he stopped by lying out for the ball.  Agnone would whiff sending Erickson to the plate.  Edgar hitting from the right side hit a weak pop up into the coffin corner on the left side.  Dias took an odd line to the ball and got it up on the 2^nd try but Edgar had scored the second run of the frame.  Gilroy then hit another grounder to the left side.  Dias hit the ground early and the ball died in front of him.  He quickly scrambled on his knees to get Gilroy in time.  It was an all Rob Dias inning and he made 3 stops on 5 chances.  Every Renegade knew he was not happy with that stat.

Joe McCormick would start things off for the Renegades and pick up where he finished last night when the team walked off the field around 10:00.  He hit a line drive to the left side that bounced off a Bomber defender on the first pitch for his 6^th consecutive run on the year.  The Bombers were without Meghan Fink who is a Joe McCormick killer on defense and he was taking advantage of that defense for sure (and his new swing adjustment).  After a Devenish strike out , Rob Dias would then pop a high fly ball down the third base line to score the 2^ndrun of the game.  After a Shayne Cantan 4 pitch whiff, Luis Rodriguez would hit a pop up into the right side coffin corner and score in his first start of the season.  That brought out Peter Connolly to pitch to Luis Soto who was starting again as the DH in this contest.  He hit a laser up the middle of the field.  The Renegade bad base running continued as he ran right at Peter into the middle of the field and a sure run was taken off the board as “stop” was called for safety.

There was not much cooking in the Bomber’s second inning.  Hughes whiffed to lead off the inning.  Alex Barrera (batting left handed) hit a grounder down the first base side.  McCormick ranged to the line and slid feet first.  He picked up the ball right as Alex hit third base and the out was recorded.  A Puvogel whiff would put the Bombers down 1-2-3.  The score after one and a half was Renegades 3 and Bombers 2.

McCormick led off the inning and laced another line drive into the deep layer of the Bomber defense and raced to third for the score.  With three strikes, Devenish lofted a fly ball into the middle of the field and scored his first run of the game.  Dias kept things moving with a line drive to the right side on the first pitch he saw.  Shayne Cantan also saw one pitch and he lofted a fly ball and scored the 4^th consecutive run for Boston.  Luis Rodriguez then it a hard grounder off the Long Island Bomber front man and raced to third to score the 5^th consecutive run.  Peter Connolly took the ball from Cochran and threw just one pitch to Luis Soto.  That was laced up the middle on the fly for the 6^th straight run on just 11 total pitches as the Boston bats were catching fire.  McCormick kept things moving on a ball hit off the bottom of his bat up the middle of the field.  That was Mac’s 8th straight run and the 7^th straight to score for Boston.   Devenish would then plate his second run of the contest on a smash up the middle of the field.  Rob Dias would keep the party going and score his 2^nd run of the inning.  That was Nine batters up and nine runs scored.  With the game at a score of 12-2, it was in danger of going to the 12 run rule.  Weissman started to bring in the subs to make sure people got playing time.

First off the bench was rookie, Chris Kimball.  He hit the first pitch he saw up in the air, but Edgar Erickson ranged to the 3^rd base line to make the first stop of the inning and stop the bleeding.  Next off the deep Renegade  bench was Drew Crook.  Drew had battled leg injuries all season had been feeling better.    He hit a smash down the third base line by everyone and stood in the box before he ran.  More bad base running for Boston, but on this occasion, the ball was dead and Drew had to do it over.  He returned to the plate with an 0-2 count and would eventually strike out.  Rob “Hot Tub” Thayer’s number was called to hit for Soto next.  He hit the ball down the third base line and he was stopped because the Long Island players were on the base line and Thayer was in fair territory.  He would have been out anyway and safety was important.  It was not lost on the team that the base running continued to be an issue for the Renegade bench as Soto, Crook and Thayer all had trouble running bases in the first two innings of this game.  This nine run inning was one of the most explosive innings in Renegade history.  The last time it was done was against Tyler in the 2019 World Series (when Boston scored 10 times in the second inning) .  It was just the 11^th time Boston had ever accomplished the feat and the second time it had done to the Long Island Bombers.

A defeated Bomber team came to the plate and Pasquale Agnone led off with a whimper and a strike out.  Edgar Erickson would hit a nice line drive to the right side and Rob Dias laid out perfectly to make the stop in a thing of beauty.   John Gilroy then laced a shot into left field, Crook barely moved for it and called for help to the rookie, Kimball.  Chris tentatively chased the ball but Gilroy would score the third Bomber run of the game.   Jim Hughes then hit a weak pop up to the right side.  Guy Zuccarello raced into the arc and picked it up with plenty of time.  After two and a half, Boston had a commanding 12-3 lead.

Weissman would continue to dig into the bench as Melissa Hoyt would hit for a red hot McCormick.  And the trend of awful base running continued.  She hit a weak grounder up the middle of the field.  She paused in the batter’s box and then ran up the middle of the field and the play was stopped awarding the out to Edgar Erickson.  Devenish would also be stopped by Erickson on a grounder to the left side for Edgar’s 4^th stop of the game.  Rob Dias would get the only Renegade run of the inning as his speed beat Edgar to the ball on this play.  Kimball would whiff to end the frame and it was 13-3 after three innings.

Long Island switched pitchers at this point and handed the ball to rookie, Ethan Schulman.   Boston would get a 1-2-3 inning highlighted by just one defensive stop off the bat of Matt Puvogel by Guy Zuccarello who chased into the arc to make his second stop of the game.

Boston would get bad news in the bottom of the fourth.  Drew Crook would lead off the inning and hit a deep drive to the right side.  Half way down the third base line, he came up lame and limped his way to third base.  A Hamstring injury would put an end to his day, a day he had worked so hard to prepare for.  Rob Thayer then laced a shot up the middle and tip toed his way down the third base line.  Nine seconds later he missed the base and it took him two seconds to recover.  That gave Alex Barrera a chance to get off the ground and chase down a ball that had gotten by him as the last line of defense.  More awful base running by the Renegade bench.  Weissman went to the bench again, this time for Cory Joseph, making his first ever appearance in a game.  Cory had announced to the team that he was moving out of Boston in September to help care for his sick mother.  This may be his only game he would play.  He would ground out to Edgar Erickson, his 5^th defensive stop of the contest.

Heading into the 5^th inning, Boston would send rookie Elana Regan into the field for her first ever appearance.  She had just joined the squad earlier in the month.  Regan was at third, Joseph went to first and Kimball was at rover as the rookie class was getting some action.  After two strike outs, Hughes hit a grounder that would get by Zuccarello on the right side.  Joseph would be called up for help and he would pick the ball up “Elephant” style without ever hitting the ground.  A stop in his first ever chance, a very rare moment in Renegade history.  Every renegade knew Cory would be leaving the team and everyone was chanting “Cory” as he jogged off the field.

Boston would have another big inning in the 5^th.  Devenish, Dias, Kimball and pinch hitter Luis Soto (who re-entered the game)  plated four straight runs.  It would be the first ever 5 run game for Rob Dias on offense.  That would give Boston 17 runs.

Alex Barrera would score the 2^nd career run off Schulman to lead off the last inning.   Devenish and Zuccarello would make stops and this game would be over.  Boston would get 13 players into the game.  The base running was still an issue, but mostly from the bench.  After this game, Boston would get a break.  The Philly Fire were going to take the field to play Long Island and Boston was going to have some lunch.  Rob Dias paced the offense with 5 runs and both he and Zuccarello each made 3 stops on defense.  The story of this game would be the stop by Cory Joseph in what would be his only game he would play in for the Renegades before having to  care for his sick mother out of state.  Watching him run off the field with everyone chanting his name will hopefully be a memory he has for many years.

Game #3 Boston does not have enough as the Fire prevail 6-5

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Philly	0	0	2	0	3	1		6	15	11
Boston	1	0	1	2	1	0		5	7	3

Philly	AB	R	K	PO		Boston	AB	R	K	PO
Margist	4	1	2	2		McCormick – 1B	4	2	1	0
S. Hogwood	4	1	2	0		Devenish – MF	4	1	1	1
Rhines	4	2	2	1		Dias – LS	4	2	1	1
C. Krause	4	1	3	5		S. Cantan – R	4	0	1	1
Morgan	4	1	2	2		L. Rodriguez – 3B	4	0	3	0
Lezcanao – DH	4	0	4	—		Soto – DH	3	0	0	—
Natoli – DF	—	—	—	1		Zuccarello – DF/ RS	—	—	—	0
Totals	24	6	15	11		Totals	23	5	7	3
Pitcher – P. Krause						Pitcher- Cochran	20	5	7
						Pitcher – Connoly	3	0	0
						Catcher- Weissman
						LS Caller-Grillo
						RS Caller – Lenicheck 1-4
						RS Caller- Ward 5-6

Game Summary

Game #4 Boston rebounds in a 4 inning contest winning 5-4

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	2	0	0	3	x	x		5	5	4
Philly	0	0	3	1	x	x		4	8	7

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		Philly	AB	R	K	PO
McCormick – 1B	3	0	1	1		Margist	3	0	2	4
Devenish – MF	3	2	0	0		S. Hogwood	3	2	1	0
Dias – LS	3	2	1	1		Rhines	3	1	2	0
S. Cantan – R	3	1	1	0		C. Krause	3	1	1	3
L. Rodriguez – 3B	3	0	1	1		Morgan	2	0	1	0
Soto – DH	1	0	1	—		Lezcano – DH	2	0	1	—
– Kimball – DH	1	0	0	—		Natoli – DF	—	—	—	0
Zuccarello – DF/RS	—	—	—	1
Totals	17	5	5	4		Totals	16	4	8	7
Pitcher- Cochran	16	5	4			Pitcher – C. Krause
Pitcher – Connoly	1	0	1
Catcher- Weissman
LS Caller-Grillo
RS Caller – L. Ward

Game Summary

It was decided before the game that no inning would start beyond 5:20 because Philly needed to hit the road to be back home with some family members in the hospital.  Since Boston won the coin toss in game one, it was pre-determined that Philly would be the home team in this contest.  The game would not directly count toward Beast of East standings but would be used if a tie breaker was needed.  Before the game, Weissman had a talk with Shayne Cantan and Luis Rodriguez about their swing path.  They were a combined 0-8 with 4 K’s and 3 dribblers between them.  Could they make the adjustment in this contest? Both teams would start the exact same lineup in what was an equal match up in the first game of the day.

Boston would start strong.  After Joe McCormick grounded out to John Margist on the first pitch of the game Shawn Devenish would hit another grounder to Margist.  This time, he slid at it with his feet and he missed it.  Devenish took a bad line toward first base and finger tipped the base for the Renegades first run of the game.  Rob Dias hit a weak flare to the right side and was able to just get to the base before Hogwood could get the ball off the ground for the second run of the inning. Shayne Cantan actually hit a nice line drive with three strikes but Margist would make a tough play make easy.  L-Rod smoked a hard grounder to Margist which bounced off him but was able to pick up before Luis made it to first base.  It was three runs for the Renegades and 3 defensive stops for Margist.  Philly would go down on swings, striking out three straight in the bottom of the inning.

In the second, Luis Soto would lead off the inning with his personal pitcher Peter Connolly on the mound as he had done all weekend.  Luis hit two foul balls right out of the gate but then lost his balance with his last two swings breaking his streak of 7 straight balls put into play during the weekend.  McCormick laced another first pitch down the 3^rd base line.  Margist made a great play on the liner and was able to stop Mac for his 4^th stop of the contest.  Devenish would be stopped easily by Casey Krause on a dribbler up the middle to end the inning.  In the bottom half of the inning, Philly just mustered a flare off the bat of Morgan which Dias stopped on a few bounces and after two innings, Boston lead 2-0.

The third inning was not kind to the Renegades.  Ron Cochran would throw 12 pitches in the inning.  Each batter would have a foul ball and all of them would whiff.  This included Cantan and Rodriguez who had both showed promise in their previous trip to the plates.

Philly may have used that as a momentum shift.  After Margist struck out to lead off the inning, Scott Hogwood hit a weak fly ball down the third base line that froze the caller, Bryan Grillo, and Rob Dias.  By the time they figured out it was short, Hogwood won the foot race.  Rhines would hit a weak fly ball to roughly the same place and Dias could not get it up in time due to Rhines’ speed.  The game was tied.  Krause hit a grounder down the right side that McCormick could not stop for the go – ahead run.  After a Morgan whiff, Guy Zuccarello made a shoe string stop off of a Lezcano bouncer up the middle.  After three innings, Philly pulled ahead 3-2.

Boston would go to the bench to lead off the 4^th inning.  Rookie, Chris Kimball entered the lineup to hit for a red hot and possibly tired Luis Soto.  He would hit the first pitch right to Krause and be stopped quickly.  Joe Mac would then strike out for the first time in the game.  Shawn Devenish then hit a grounder with eyes as Krause slid feet first and Margist over ran the ball as Devenish scored down the first base line.  Dias then hit another grounder to the left side, this time Krause had no chance and Margist dove on his stomach with the ball bouncing off him.  His inability to pick it clean prevented the out as Dias scored the go – ahead run on a bang-bang play down the third base line.  Cantan stepped up and got two foul tips and he hit a dribbler to about 80 feet down the third base line and in Shayne Cantan style – stomped down the base line.  Krause dove head first and missed it.  Margist charged it but hit the ground too soon, Cantan scored for the first time on the day vs Philly.  Rodriguez would hit a weak grounder to the right side and Krause just got him before he reached first base.  The game would head to the bottom of the fourth and based on the agreed upon time limit – this would likely be the last half inning.

John Margist would lead off for the Fire and hit a hard grounder to the right side.  Zuccarello would not hit the ground and would miss it, but McCormick was in perfect position to make the play in plenty of time for the first out.  Scott Hogwood then hit a line drive into the Hogwood shift.  Dias had one chance at it and missed, Rodriguez also missed.  Cantan was there and picked it up right as Hogwood reached third base.  Boston clung to a one run lead.  Justin Rhines would whiff for the second out.  Casey Krause would swing and miss three times and hit a grounder to the left side.  Dias would miss it but Luis Rodriguez would find the perfect time to make his first stop of the 2021 season to clinch the game.

The game would be called because Philly needed to hit the road.  It was the end to a great day of beep baseball.  Great field conditions, a great crowd and amazing weather.  The Renegades were finally back after the COVID Layoff!

Game #5 Indy Thunder “C” Team rolls over Renegade “A” Team in 12-run contest 15-7

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	1	0	1	5	0	0		7	7	5
Indy	3	4	8	x	x	x		15	14	4

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		Indy	AB	R	K	PO
McCormick – R/1B	4	1	1	1		Buehler	4	2	0	4
– McDonald – PH	1	0	0	—		Ikramullah	4	2	1	0
Devenish – MF/R	4	3	0	0		Rodenbeck	4	4	0	6
Dias – LS	3	0	0	3		E. Brown	4	4	0	0
– Kimball – PH	1	0	0	—		J. Woodard – DH	4	3	0	—
Sanchez – DH	3	0	2	—		C. Woodard – DF	—	—	—	1
– L. Rodriguez – DH	1	0	1	—		Higdon	4	0	3	0
Zuccarello – DF/RS	—	—	—	0
I. Rodriguez – Ghost	0	0	0	0
– L. Rodriguez – 3B	—	—	—	0
– Soto – PH	2	1	1	—
– Crook – 3B	—	—	—	0
– Yee – PH	2	0	0	—
S. Cantan – 1b/MF	3	2	1	1
– Regan – PH	1	0	1	—
Totals	25	7	7	5		Totals	24	15	4	11
Pitcher- Cochran	18	6	4			Pitcher- J. Woodard
Pitcher – Connoly	7	1	3
Catcher- Weissman
LS Caller-Grillo (1-3)
LS Caller-T. Weissman (3)
RS Caller – Connoly

Game Summary

On a Hot and humid morning in Philly, The Boston Renegades would face off against the Indy Thunder for the very first time in an East Coast tournament.  The Indy thunder were filling in for a lack of commitment from East coast teams in this odd COVID year.  They would bring with them a very limited squad with just one player from their starting lineup and many players who had limited playing time during the World Series.  Coach Weissman was calling this their C team due to its lack of starters and the pitcher being forced to hit.  “a”, “B” or “C” – any team with the world’s best pitcher on the mound and whom practices close to 90 times a year is going to be a formidable opponent.  Boston would have their starting battery in Weissman and Cochran.  Peter Connolly would be available to pitch to a few hitters.  Defensively, Bryan Grillo would man the left side calling and the plan for the Renegades was to work in other callers into the games on the right side (Connolly, Ward, Teigan Weissman).  For game one Grillo would start with Peter Connolly making his debut on the right side.

Boston got off to a tough start on this early morning that started at the hotel when a rookie was still in bed as the entire team was loaded on the bus waiting.  That slow start would carry over into play.   Joe McCormick who had a great start to the season In Woburn, saw 6 pitches and struck out to lead off the game as Boston lost the coin toss and was the visiting team.   Shawn Devenish scored. Rob Dias hit a ball, missed third base and then scored, but his run was taken away due to a dead ball.  He would then hit a grounder to Adam Rodenbeck for the 2^nd out.  Next, David Sanchez would get his first at-bat of the year.  On the 6^th pitch he saw off Peter Connolly, he lined a shot to the right side hitting Clint Woodard in the leg while he was standing there.  A lucky hop for the Thunder stole a run from Sanchez.  Boston would need more than a single digit to beat this Thunder team.  It was a slow start to the day for sure.

The Thunder would also start slow.  Zach Buehler would hit a grounder down by third base.  Rob Dias would range back to nab it in plenty of time on the first pitch of the inning.  Ikram would strike out on 4 swings and misses and a take in his first ever at-bat against the Renegades.  Then the flood gates would open which would become a theme for the game.  Rodenbeck hit a line drive to the right side which Shayne Cantan would lay out for.  The ball hit him in the hands, but he could not pick it up in time.  Ed Brown then lifted a fly ball to the left side of the defense.  Dias dropped back on it a few steps but could not find the handle and Indy now had the lead on two balls that hit off the Renegade’s bodies.  The next hitter would cause some confusion for the Renegades as Jarred Woodard, one of the top pitchers in the league would come to the plate.  Woodard was filling in for the Thunder because they only traveled with 7 players, 5 who were healthy enough to play every game.  He would prove to be a two-way threat (Shohei Ohtoni comes to mind).  He hit a grounder to the left side by Dias, Rodriguez and into the hands of McCormick a split second after he scored.  Joe Higdon would strike out to end the inning.  The Thunder held a 3-1 lead.

Luis Soto would enter the game to replace the fielder, Luis Rodriguez in a Luis-Luis exchange.  He would go down on 4 straight pitches to start off the inning.  The second straight inning starting with a whiff for the Gades.  Shayne Cantan would also go down on strikes but was showing promise with an improved swing through his hard work to get better.  Joe McCormick then got three strikes on him and hit a grounder into left field.  He would be stopped by Para-Olympian goal ball player – Zach Buehler.  A team cannot go two innings with just one run against any Indy Thunder team.  And this would prove costly.

Zach Buehler would lead off the 2nd inning for the Thunder.  He hit a grounder to Rob Dias, The ball hit Dias in the legs and bounced straight up into the air.  Buehler’s speed would get him to the base before Dias could find the handle.  Dias would make sure to get the next player as Ikram hit a ball down the third base line.  Dias would pick that ball up for the out in what was becoming a busy game for the left shorty.  Adam Rodenbeck then hit a grounder up the middle of the field, Shawn Devenish never got fully down on the ball and could not find the handle either and another run would score.  Ed Brown then hit a line drive to the left side through the defense which was shifted to play on the other side of the field.  Boston really had no chance on this ball as Brown would make it 6 runs for the Thunder. The sighted Woodard would then loft a fly ball over the right side of the defense for another bomb that the Renegade defense would have no chance on and he would fly down the line to score.  Higdon would whiff for a second time giving the defense a break.  Buehler then hit a bomb to left field where Joe McCormick would pick it up on two bounces and make a great play.  This did stir up some controversy as the Thunder claimed he did not have it away from his body.  There was no appeal and the Thunder led 7-1 after two.

Shawn Devenish would lead off the third frame by hitting a dribbler to the right side, He burned down the third base line as Ikram bobbled the ball and could not make the play.  It would be Shawn’s second run and sadly, only the second run for the Boston offense.  Dias would hit a first pitch grounder right to Rodenbeck for a room service out.  David Sanchez would go down on strikes off Peter Connolly.  Joe Yee would then come off the bench to hit in his first at-bat of the season after suffering a knee injury in late July that derailed his season.  He would hit a hard grounder to the left side and take off toward first.  His line took him to the bench in what we call a banana line.  Zach Buehler would make the play in left field just before Yee hit first base.  The Renegades had trouble running bases in Woburn, and that continued for Yee in his first at bat.  It was Indy 7 and Shawn Devenish 2 after three innings.

In the bottom of the third, Ikram led off with a grounder up the middle of the right side. Shayne dove but came up empty.  Shawn did not get to the ground and it bounced off him, He bobbled it and Ikram scored.  Rodenbeck hit a scorching line drive to the right side.  Cantan never went down for the ball and it would be an easy run for the speedy Rodenbeck. Ed Brown lofted a line drive to the right side, Devenish dove and missed, McCormick also had a chance but came up empty. Woodard would then hit a hard grounder to the left side by the diving Rodriguez and McCormick as that was 4 straight runs for the Thunder.  Higdon would keep things going as he put the ball in play for the first time past a diving Guy Zuccarello and into the hands of Shayne Cantan for the first Renegade out on the right side of the defense.  Buehler then hit a bomb to the right side which Boston had no chance on for his second run and the 12^th run for the Thunder offense.  Ikram hit a high fly to the right side near the first base line.  Zuccarello ranged to the line but the ball went speaker down and needed to be replaced.  Guy could not hear the ball and it was another run for the Thunder.  Rodenbeck then hit a grounder right at Devenish, Shawn had the ball in time and then dropped it.

Weissman would call a time out to get caller, Bryan Grillo a rest and enter Teigan Weissman into the game for his first ever game action as a caller.  Ed Brown hit a grounder into the Bermuda Triangle.  Dias and Shawn would both go for the ball and fumble for it while both coming up empty, Shawn would get hit in the head but would be good enough to play.  Indy was up by 12 and the 12-run rule was invoked for the first time against Boston in 2021.  Jarred Woodard would finally be stopped in this game by a diving Rob Dias on Teigan Weissman’s first ever call – which was one of the few things to celebrate in this game.  Higdon would whiff- making 4 of the 9 outs for this Thunder team.  That would be it for the Renegades.  All that was left was trying to get their game on track for Philly at this point.

In the fourth when the pressure was off, Boston would score five times as Shayne Cantan scored a pair and found his groove with a fly ball and a hard liner, Devenish hit a blast  into left and Joe Mac and Luis Soto also plated runs to find their groove.  Boston would sub in players the rest of the way and have nothing to show for it.  The Indy Thunder’s bench would easily defeat the Renegades in this match where Boston could just not find the handle in the field or get past a slow start to the  morning.  It may have been enough to wake up the offense though.

The loss meant nothing to the Beast of the East, but the hope was it would be a wakeup call because the season was going to come down to the very next game against the hosts.

Game #6 Renegades Lose the Beast of the East for the first time ever, 21-16

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	7	3	0	5	0	1		16	6	7
Philly	2	4	9	1	5	x		21	8	12

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		Phily	AB	R	K	PO
McCormick – R/LS	6	4	1	2		Margist	6	4	1	3
Decvenish – MF/R	6	5	0	1		Hogwood	6	3	2	0
Dias – LS/1B	6	4	1	1		Turner	6	4	1	1
S. Cantan – 1B/MF/R	6	1	2	2		Rhines	6	5	0	1
Soto – DH	3	1	2	—		C. Krause	6	3	3	7
– Kimball – DH	2	0	0	—		Morgan – DH	6	2	1	0
Zuccarello – DF/RS	—	—	—	1		G. Natoli -DF	—	—	—	0
I. Rodriguez- Ghost
– Sanchez – PH	3	0	0	—
– L. Rodriguez – 3B	—	—	—	0
– Yee – PH	2	1	0	—
– Crook – 3B	—	—	—	0
Totals	34	16	6	7		Totals	36	21	8	12
Pitcher- Cochran	26	14	4			Pitcher – P. Krause
Pitcher – Connoly	8	2	2
Catcher- Weissman
LS Caller-Grillo
RS Caller- Connolly

Game Summary

This was the match up we had been preparing for in this tournament.  The Fire also loaded up their roster and picked up the best player off the Titans roster making their starting lineup half from the fire and half from the Titans.  This would be a great test for the Renegades.

Boston would score off three weak grounders to start off the game as McCormick, Devenish and Dias all scored based on some speed and some struggles the Philly defense was having.   Then Shayne Cantan hit a hard shot into left field and Luis Soto hit a fly ball to right field to make it 5-0.  After David Sanchez grounded out to John Margist, Joe McCormick scored on another line drive into left field for his second run of the inning.  Rob Dias scored on a coffin corner to the left side and that would be all the scoring for Boston as they left the first inning with six runs to start the game.

In the bottom of the first, the Renegade would start to struggle as Shawn Devenish did not use his fundamentals allowing Scott Hogwood to score.  Jeff Rhines kicked in a run on a dribbler up the middle which Rob Dias charged and rolled by him and Devenish was slow to get in the air due to Rhines speed.  That would be it for Philly as they had 3 whiffs and scored on their only two balls in play.  The shaky Renegade defense did not exude confidence.

In the second, After a Krause stop of Joe Yee, Boston would score three straight as McCormick scored on a bang-bang play on a short fly ball, Devenish scored on a line drive into deep left and Dias also scored on a pop up to the left side.  That pushed the Renegade lead to 10-2.

Things were looking up when Marvin Morgan hit a grounder to the left side and Rob Dias stopped it with perfect mechanics.  Then the wheels would start to come off. Margist hit a high fly ball in front of Shawn.  Devenish did not line it up on the second bounce and it got past him.  McCormick picked it up right as Margist hit the base.  Scott Hogwood would then hit a bomb into left field passed a diving McCormick.  The scary moment here was Shayne Cantan was stopped a millisecond from running into a telephone poll that was about 190 feet from home plate.  Thankfully the Renegades asked the Fire to move a set of bleachers before the game that could have come into play.  Thankfully everyone was safe though Cantan was really close to getting seriously hurt.

After the scare, Zach Tuner hit a dribbler down the left side.  Dias got down on his knees and in his effort to reach out for the ball, pushed it away from his self.   With Turner’s speed, that was the only chance he would have. Rhines would then hit another weak grounder up the middle, Dias ran in on it and the ball squirted by him as he over ran it.  Four Philly runs on just one solid hit.  Boston would end the inning on a nice play by Shayne Cantan on a fly ball that Shayne picked up on two bounces.  After two innings it was a 10-6 lead for Boston but the Renegade defense was looking shaky.

Boston had a bad third inning.  Luis Soto struck out as he was pushing himself too hard and losing his swing.  Sanchez hit a pop up and took a bad base and was put out and McCormick struck out.  That was a Renegade donut.  No room for donuts in a big offensive game.

The bottom of the third would be Boston’s worst inning on defense during the season.  That’s how things tend to go after a donut.  Margist would lead off with a fly ball hit right at Luis Rodriguez.  Luis was slow to the ground and it went right under him.  This was the 5^th error for the Renegades in this game. After a Hogwood strike out, Turner hit a hard grounder into left center. McCormick laid out perfectly to make the play for the 2^nd out of the inning.  Rhines hit a weak grounder to the right side.  Zuccarello hit the ground the and it went through his hands.  Krause then hit a nice fly ball to the middle of the field that got past Devenish.  Marvin Morgan then hit a high fly ball right at Rob Dias.  It landed with some crazy spin Dias had one chance at it but bobbled it and Morgan scored.  Margist would score on a 40 foot ball that Dias got to a hair after Margist hit first base.   Scott Hogwood would then go opposite field;  Zuccarello did not have enough speed to get to it as he was left on an island and six runs were in for Philly.  Turner (in his second at bat of the inning) then hit a grounder down the left Side. Dias chased it and kicked it with his knees as Turner scored on the 5^th Renegade error of the inning.  Weissman called a defense and changed the lineup brining McCormick in from Rover to left shorty moving Dias to first base.  Cantan was also moved to Mid field as Devenish moved to rover.  Rhines would test the shift right away and hit a ball up the middle that Cantan would over pursue for a run.  Krause then lofted a fly ball to the right side that Dias would pick up right as Krause hit the base.  That was nine runs in with Five Renegade errors.  Morgan would hit a grounder up the middle and Shayne Cantan made the play to stop the bleeding.  Philly was up 15-10.

Leading off the 4^th, Devenish hit the first pitch he saw on a short fly up the middle and he won a foot race against Krause to lead off the inning as the Renegades showed no quit.  Dias scored on a bobble to the right side.  Cantan finally made solid contact during the inning but was stopped by Jeff Rhines in left field as the coaching staff wondered what was happening to Shayne’s base running as his form looked off.  Chris Kimball would pinch hit for Soto and on one pitch hit a weak grounder to Krause.  That brought Joe Yee to the plate and Peter Connolly back to the mound. Yee hit a grounder to the right side and was able to score to turn over the order.  McCormick and Devenish would then plate runs to tie the game at 15.

The defensive changes would kick in right out of the gate in the bottom of the fourth as Margist hit a grounder that McCormick laid out for on his spot for the first out.  Hogwood then laced a hard grounder down the 3^rd base line which Shawn Devenish dove for and stopped right near the foul line for the 2^nd out of the inning in deep left field.  The Renegades would get a chance at a 1-2-3 when Turner grounded a bouncer up the middle where McCormick threw his feet at the ball and Shayne Cantan got on his knees and bobbled it instead of laying out.  The fire had a 16-15 lead and that would be all they would get as Zuccarello got his first out on a ball hit by Rhines.

Shayne Cantan would lead off for the Renegades but nobody had talked to him about his base running form.  He would be put out on a bang-bang play and his base running clearly was showing something was wrong.  Kimball and Sanchez would also be stopped and the Renegade had no answer in this 16-15 game.

Philly came up in the bottom of the fifth looking for some insurance.  Krause would score on a bomb into right field over the Renegade defense.  After a foul ball down the third base line which a “stop” call was called to prevent a collision between Morgan and McCormick avoided any injury, Morgan hit a hard grounder down the first base line for the 2^nd run of the inning past the entire Renegade defense again.  Margist hit a grounder up the middle, Cantan went feet first at it and it got by him, Rob Dias backed it up but was too late as Margist scored the third consecutive run.  Turner went back to the right side as he hit a grounder to Rob Dias who could not get it in time.  Rhines would score on another grounder up the left side which McCormick and Cantan could not put a body on.  That would be it as the next two batters would strike out.  Of the 8 strike outs in the Fire’s game, 3 of them came in this inning.

Down six, the top of the order was ready for the challenge.  McCormick would be stopped on a grounder to the left side by Krause for his 7^th defensive stop of the game (equaling the entire Renegade defensive output).  Devenish would stay hot and hit a deep fly ball for his 5^th run of the game.  Sadly, Dias and a shoeless Shayne Cantan (he had about 6 blisters on his feet which is why he was running awkwardly) would go down on strike outs.

The Philly Fire brought in three hired guns for this game.  Those hired guns would score 9 runs in 18 at-bats and make one stop on defense.  The hope is that these hired guns will stay with the Fire and help the team grow.  For the first time since the Beast of the East was established, the Renegades would not take the trophy home.

Though the Renegade streak was stopped, it took two teams to beat them.  More importantly, it has sparked a fire in the Renegades gut to work harder for the 2022 season.

Game #7 Boston 12-runs Long Island in two innings 14-3

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	6	8	x	x	x	x		14	5	11
Long Island	0	1	1	1	0	0		3	7	1

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		Athens	AB	R	K	PO
McCormick – LS	4	4	0	6		Barrera – DH	4	1	2	0
Devenish – 1B	2	2	0	0		Puvogel	4	1	1	0
– Regan – PH	2	0	2	—		Bahn	1	0	0	1
– Hoyt – 1B	—	—	—	0		– Johnson	3	0	1	0
– Crook – 1B	—	—	—	0		Erickson	3	0	0	0
Dias – DH	1	0	1	—		Gilroy	3	1	2	0
– Yee – DH	2	1	1	—		Thorne	3	0	1	0
L. Rodriguez – DF/3B	—	—	—	0
– Thayer – DF/R	—	—	—	0
S. Cantan – MF	3	3	0	2
Kimball – R/3B	3	1	1	1
Zuccarello – RS	3	3	0	1
– McDonald – RS	—	—	—	1
Totals	20	14	5	11		Totals	21	3	7	1
Pitcher – Cochran	18	13	4			Pitcher – Sciortino
Pitcher – Dickerson	2	1	1
Catcher- Weissman
LS Caller-Grillo
RS Caller -T. Weissman (1-3)
RS Caller (L. Ward 3-6)

Game Summary

The pressure was off and the disappointment of losing to Philly was quickly forgotten.  Boston was loose and ready to play its last game of the day.  Long island was limping into the game after losing both games on the day and every game in Beast of the East play.

Joe McCormick would lead off again and hit a grounder down the third base line for a run.  Shawn Devenish would bat next and score on a fly ball down the third base line and the momentum was quickly on the Renegade’s side as it started hot again after the cold start in the morning.  Rob Dias was inserted as the DH in this match as he was exhausted.  He could not find success and struck out.   That brought up Shoeless, Shayne Cantan, who had found new life now that his feet were not in pain anymore.  He hit a dribbler up the middle of the field that alluded Casey Bahn and caused Long Island to appeal to the umpire.  The appeal was denied and Cantan was on the board.  Chris Kimball earned his first career start as the rover and stepped into the plate with his usual deep breathe.  Kimball hit the second pitch hard up the middle and nailed his pitcher in the foot for a dead ball.  He reset and the very next pitch he hit it up the middle again hitting Ron in the back of the legs.  That would be all the contact he would make as he would swing and miss on the next three pitches.  Guy Zuccarello was next to the plate and would get his first plate appearance of the weekend.  After fouling two pitches off, including the second one which hit third base and knocked it over, Guy scored on a pop fly up the middle and he beat Casey Bahn by a step.  Casey Bahn would be involved in the next play as Joe McCormick hit a grounder that kicked off his feet and bounced to the middle of the field for Mac’s second run of the inning.  Devenish then took the first pitch he saw to the right side and hit it past Edgar Erickson for his second run of the inning.  Up by six, Joe Yee came off the bench to hit and would strike out in a 7 pitch at-bat.

For the Renegades, Joe Mac would get the start at the left short position after starting deep in the first two games.  After a lead off first inning Long Island whiff, Mac would stop Matt Puvogel with perfect mechanics on a ball hit right at him.  He then would range to his right and make another stop on Casey Bahn.

Up by six in the second, Shayne Cantan hit a grounder up the middle and scored easily.  Chris Kimball then lofted a short pop to the right side and on a bang-bang play, he missed third base and was put out as the curse of Renegade bad base running continued to haunt them in 2021.  Guy would foul four balls off and then score on a hard grounder down the right side that made it by both layers of the defense on the right side.  McCormick continue his dominance against Long Island as he scored on a fly ball that landed on the 40 foot line in front of Casey Bahn.  That would be all for Bahn as he was exhausted and called asked out of the game for health reasons.  Dan Johnson entered the game for Long Island.  Elana Regan strode to the plate and got another chance after her at bat earlier in the day vs Indy which she said she was super nervous for.  Regan missed every pitch she swung at but it was a timing issue, not her mechanics.  Then the flood gates opened.  Yee, Cantan, Kimball, Zuccarello and McCormick scored on a total of 7 pitches off Cochran and Connolly.  That was 14 runs.  The biggest Renegade challenge was this happened before Weissman could get enough people off the bench and into the game.

The twelve run rule would go into effect as only John Gilroy could plate a run and the Renegades had a 13 run lead after two.  Joe McCormick would continue to gobble up balls on defense as he would make 4 stops in the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings.

The 6th inning was some fun for the Renegades.  Alex Barrera would lead off the inning and hit a hard grounder to third base, Chris Kimball laid out and caught the ball in his hand while laying out for his first ever defensive stop. After Shayne Cantan stopped Puvogel for his second defensive stop of the day, Dan Jonson stepped to the plate with two outs.  He would hit a short ball up the middle.  Defensive sub, Brittany McDonald and Joe McCormick arrived at the ball at the same time and McCormick stood back to let McDonald make her first put out of her career.  That would be a great way to end the game.  Two Rookies making outs in the last inning of the game.  Boston would finish on a high note by celebrating the rookie’s accomplishments.

Game #8 Renegades win 6-0 and enjoy a bunch of “firsts”

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	1	1	1	2	1	0		6	8	4
Rochester	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	14	10

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		Rochester	AB	R	K	PO
McCormick – LS	4	3	0	3		Smith	3	0	3	0
Yee -3B	3	2	1	0		O’Brien	3	0	3	0
– McDonald – RS	1	0	1	1		H. Newell	3	0	2	1
Kimball – RS/1B	4	1	1	0		Harrington	3	0	2	8
Thayer -DH	3	0	1	—		D. Newell	3	0	2	0
– I. Rodriguez – DH	1	0	0	—		Jones	3	0	2	1
Soto – DF/1B/R	—	—	—	0
Regan- R/1B/3B	4	0	1	0
Hoyt – MF	4	0	3	0
Totals	24	6	8	4		Totals	18	0	14	10
Pitcher – T. Weissman	18	13	4			Pitvcher- Erbach
Pitcher – Dickerson
Catcher- R. Weissman
LS Caller-Dickerson
RS Caller -G. Devenish

Game Summary

After discussions all spring, the game was a late add to the schedule.  The Rochester team was in a tumble and had lost their momentum.  After forming in 2015, they had not played a game since 2018.  In an effort to kick start the team, Weissman offered the Pioneers a game and a clinic.  The goal would be to give them something to practice for and to give them some instruction to help their game.  The Renegades also benefited from this in that during a year without a World Series, they could get an extra game.  A game where it would be easy to play the less experienced players and coaches.  A small squad of 9 players and 7 Renegade coaches would converge on a suburb of Albany, NY called Guilderland.

With the game taking place here, a call went out to two Renegade volunteers who live in the Albany area.  Jamie Dickerson who left the team after the 2019 season has taken residence there.  Kim Vermilya left the team this spring to go to medical school there.  Both of them would be part of the Renegades again for the afternoon and both would play pivotal roles.  Dickerson would call call the left side of the defense.  Vermilya would volunteer to umpire.  For the first time. Dana Vermilya was the primary medical hand for this game.  She had a small line of players looking for tape jobs.  She handled them all like a champ prior to the game (and even after the game).

There was no coin toss in this game, Rochester was given the choice and they chose to be the home team.  This game would be about a lot of firsts for sure.

Teigan Weissman would make his first appearance as a pitcher in a game.  He had stepped up this year to pitch and threw a ton of BP in the spring.  With the loss of Dickerson, Weissman gave the Renegades three pitchers again.  His goal coming into the game was to put the ball in play and have a K rate less than 40%.  With an inexperienced lineup and an inexperienced pitcher, the game could be interesting for Boston.  He would be throwing to his uncle.

The third pitch of the game from Weissman was grounded to the left side off the bat of Joe McCormick.  Brian Harrington was playing very shallow and cut the angle off to make the stop with a ton of time.  However, this depth  was too shallow to stop a grounder off the bat of Joe Yee on the 4^th pitch of the game as Boston took a 1-0 lead.  Chris Kimball (getting his first ever start at Right shorty on defense) would hit the 5^th pitch of the game right to Harrington again.  Hot Tub Thayer (with his first start of the season) then also grounded out to Harrington.  It was a hoover Harrington inning.  The good news for Weissman though was he put every ball in play on just 10 pitches!

In the second inning, after Rochester struck out three straight times, Weissman would keep the trend cooking.  Rookie, Elana Regan in her first start ever hit the 2^nd pitch she saw to Harrington.  Melissa Hoyt (with her first start of the season) then struck out.  McCormick would score on a hard grounder down the third base line to give the Renegades a 2-0 lead.  Joe Yee would strike out to end the inning.

After three more strikeouts by Rochester in the bottom half of the second, Rookie, Chris Kimball led off.  With a full count, he hit a line drive up the middle and made it 3-0.  Weissman would strike out Thayer but with three foul balls in his at bat.  Regan then gave herself a chance to score when she hit a ball on a line up the middle of the field.  Sadly, for Regan she was running in quicksand allowing Haley Newell  to make her very first defensive stop of her career!  Hoyt would end the inning for Boston with her second strike out in two at bats.

The third inning would end the Rochester strike out streak at eight as the first two batters of the inning struck out.  Haley Newell put the very first ball of her career in play but would be stopped by Joe McCormick on defense.  After three, it was 3-0 Boston.

In the fourth, Boston would open things up as McCormick and Yee would both plate runs on just three pitches total.  Yee would hit first base hard and fell to the ground in pain.  He had missed a lot of the season with a bad injury and every Renegade held their breathe hoping he was ok.  He had just knocked the wind out of himself and was healthy, but that would be all for him on this day as Brittany McDonald started to warm up.  Kimball, Thayer and Regan would go down on stops by Harrington on the left side.  It was Weissman’s first ever crooked number.  He threw 10 pitches in the inning and had some form of contact on 8 of them.  He was on a roll.

The bottom of the fourth was Rochester’s best inning of the day on offense.  Brian Harrington led off with a grounder up the first base line.  That is right where Brittany McDonald was placed as she had just entered the game for Yee.  She got the call from Gina Devenish who was making her first ever start as a caller, after working very hard all year to build the skills and confidence.  Devenish groaned out the call and Brit took off at an angle to grab the ball on the line behind her for the defensive play of the game for the Renegades.  It was her second stop of the season!  Dustin Newell and Helen Jones then grounded out to McCormick on the left side to end the frame.

The best hit of the game would come in the top of the fifth after a Melissa Hoyt strike out.  Joe McCormick blasted a bomb into right center that would be a run against any team in the league.  That run was a milestone.  It represented the 6^th run Weissman would allow.  This put him past his uncle in all-time runs allowed as a Renegade pitcher.  The two would have a moment of glove bumps to honor the occasion.

That would be all the excitement in this game.  Boston would strike out three more times to end the game.  Harrington would make his 8^th stop of the contest on defense for Rochester and Helen Jones would make the final stop for Rochester off the bat of Melissa Hoyt.  The Renegade bench moaned in pain as Hoyt was stopped just one step before scoring her second career run.

Teigan would achieve his goal with a 33% K rate for the game.  Gina Devenish successfully had her first ever game as a caller.  Hoyt had her first full game with 4 at-bats in her entire career as the cooler weather allowed her to compete with ease.  Everyone involved had a lot of fun.  McCormick led this team in so many ways by helping all the new players with his leadership on the field and during warm-ups.  He also passed Dino Vasile to move into 4^th place all time in Renegade defensive stops with 179.  He also passed Joey Buizon to move into 5^th place all – time in games played with 122.

When the contest was over, Rob Weissman led a clinic for the Rochester team with the help of many of the Renegade players and coaches, most notably with the help of Joe McCormick, Joe Yee, Gina Devenish, Peg Bailey and Dana Vermilya.  Teigan Weissman would end up leaving the field in a sling.  After throwing 82 pitches, his arm was dead.  A few days prior, Christian Thaxton hit a screaming line drive off his Teigan’s shoulder in a scrimmage.  That line drive had caused some nerve pain and swelling.  The adrenaline of pitching in his first game carried the Renegades to victory. A gutsy performance for the rookie pitcher.

It was truly a wonderful afternoon for both teams.  Beautiful weather, an amazing field, the return of two Renegade coaches and a lot of fun for every player involved.  Hopefully, it will repeat in the future!