Game #1 – Bayou City Heat come out smoking and route Renegades 13-2

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	1	0	0	1	0	0		2	6	7
Bayou City	3	5	5	x	x	x		13	2	12

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		Bayou City	AB	R	K	PO
S. Devenish – MF	4	1	1	0		Gers	4	4	0	2
Dias – RS	3	0	0	3		Wiley	4	2	1	2
– Sanchez- PH	1	0	1	—		Fleeks	4	3	1	1
Kimball – DH	3	1	1	—		Chesser	4	3	0	3
Yee – DF/3B	—	—	—	0		Flores	3	0	0	4
Zuccarello – RS	2	0	0	4		L. Rodriguez – DH	3	1	0	—
– Regan – PH	1	0	1	—		Lynch – DF	—	—	—	0
L. Rodriguez- 1B	2	0	0	0
– Yee – PH	1	0	0	—
S. Cantan – R	3	0	2	0
Totals	20	2	6	7		Totals	22	13	2	12
Pitcher – Cochran	20	2	6			Pitcher – Medrano	15	6	2
Catcher- R. Weissman
LS – Caller . T. Weissman
RS Caller- G. Devenish

Game summary

The Boston lineup would look a bit weird in this game because a few players had limited BP through the season.  David Sanchez would start on the bench.  Shayne Cantan would bat sixth.  These two big bats hit over .500 each during the 2022 season.

The Renegades would lose the coin toss and bat first.  Boston had hopes of getting up on Bayou City early.  The Heat were very thin depth wise bringing just six players and a player/coach for their lineup.  Unexpectedly (to the Renegades), Tanner Gers made it to the tournament.  When that name appeared on the lineup card, Coach Weissman knew the team had an uphill battle.

First inning

The game would start off terribly.  Shawn Devenish lofted a line drive up the middle of the field and took off to third.  Off the bat, it looked like a sure run, however, Devenish did not trust his line and he missed the base for the first out. as Brandon Chesser corralled it in left center.  Rob Dias hit the first pitch he saw on the ground  and was stopped by Jacory Wiley.  Chris Kimball, who was making his first game back after a crushing injury in the series last year, was starting at DH.  As a way to get him comfortable again, he did not have to worry about playing in the field, especially a field with bleachers set up so close to the home run line in right field.  Kimball hit a grounder and scored the first run of the season with his speed.  Zuccarello hit the next pitch on the ground, Richie Flores bobbled it but was able to make the play in time.  Boston had eight pitches in the inning off Ron Cochran  and only swung and missed once.  It looked like a solid start at first, if not for the base running blunder.

On defense for the Renegades, Teigan Weissman was making his first appearance as the starting caller.  His previous experience consisted of a few innings in the 2021 season, never completing a game.  Gina Devenish was on the right side as she had just three games of experience in 2022 against Long Island and Palm Beach.  A very green crew that would get tested out of the gate.  Tanner Gers brought his golf swing to the plate and tested Weissman on the first pitch. He blasted his sand wedge way up in the air.  Weissman called a five and the ball landed in the five zone, Dias dropped to the ground and it spun into the six zone.  Dias struggled to beat the elite speed of Tanner Gers.  The game was tied.  Jacory Wiley and his elite speed were next and he hit a dribbler to the left side.  Dias slid in and made the play look easy for the first defensive play of the game.  Joe Fleeks was next, three big golf swings in a row for the Heat.  With three strikes, Fleeks hit a grounder down the third base line that passed the base and rolled into foul territory.  Joe Yee was there to make the play, but he was not aggressive enough and Fleeks beat the play out.  The call may have frozen him as the call sounded like a short call.  Brandon Chesser was next.  The long time Austin Blackhawk changed teams for the first time in his career.  He laced a line drive into right field.  Luis Rodriguez turned his back to home and chased it.  He dove, picked up the ball a split second after Chesser hit third base.  Luis played the ball perfectly, there was no way he could make this play any better.  The Heat had three runs in.  Richie Flores lofted a weak pop up to the middle of the field.  Gina Devenish called it but both Dias and Guy were there.  It was Guy’s ball, and he picked it clean for his first stop of the season on his quest to 400 career stops.  Lee Rodriguez stepped up next as the player coach.  Boston went into their big left handed pull shift for Lee and they laughed that he said he could hit to left.  With the challenge on, Lee hit a weak grounder to the right side and Zuccarello picked it with ease.

Second inning

Luis Rodriguez would lead off the second inning.  Nobody on the Renegades has put more time in on their swing in this season than Luis.  The question was if he could focus on staying calm and not amping himself up.  On the first pitch, he chopped slightly at the ball and grounded it up the middle.  Tanner Gers, playing up front on the right side made the play with ease.  This brought Shayne Cantan to the plate.  As expected, without much live BP this season, Shayne struggled to maintain his mechanics,  he had more swings and misses (3) in this at bat than the previous five hitters combined and struck out.  Devenish would have the opposite at bat as Shayne, fouling off three pitches before missing.  Boston whimpered to a 1-2-3 inning and put up a big bagel.  After one and a half innings, the Heat led 3-1.

Gers led off the 2nd inning with a shot into left field down the third base line.  Boston called for a dead ball, but the ball was clicking.  This was the second ball the Heat had in this game where the defense really had no chance to make a play.  Gers was on fire for the heat.  This brought up Wiley, who was not wearing a game shirt and was wearing some sort of back brace/vest.  Wiley blasted a bomb to the left side.  Weissman called a four and the defense took off to the middle of the field, when the call was closer to a two.  Yee charged the ball, Shayne barely moved and it was an easy run for Wiley.  Fleeks then hit a short fly ball that landed around 60 feet.  Another spinner hitting the ground and spun possibly two zones.  Zuccarello could not make the play.  Chesser then hit a weak flare with spin to the right side.  Gina made a great call, but the ball bounced and Zuccarello could not get it in time.  Richie Flores then grounded down the line on the left side, Dias slid and stopped it with ease for the first out of the inning.  Lee Rodriguez then hit another grounder to the right side to Guy Zuccarello.  Tanner stayed hot and on the second pitch blasted another high sky ball that bounced once and he hit the base giving the Renegades no chance to make a play.  Wiley would strike out to end the bleeding.  Bayou City plated five runs to take an 8-1 lead after two innings.

Third inning

Boston needed to answer or it was going to be a likely 12-run mercy rule soon.  Rob Dias laced a line drive spinner to the right side.  Tanner Gers angled back to his left and to the line to make the play look easy.  Dias struggled with his line and slowed down making the play easier than it should have been.  Chris Kimball then struck out after fouling three balls off.  Guy Zuccarello then hit a lazy liner to the right side and Jacory Wiley stopped him.  Seven straight outs for the Renegades.  Things were looking bleak.

Fleeks would come up with two runs in the game to lead off the third.  He hit a 70 foot grounder down the third base line. Dias should have gone head first, this little nuance made it hard for him to get the ball up in time as Fleeks plated his third run of the game.  Chesser who had two runs in this contest then hit a grounder to the left side.  Dias missed it, Yee missed it and Chesser had his third run of the game.   Flores then grounded to the left side, ran to the wrong base, but Dias would have stopped it either way.  With three strikes, Lee Rodriguez hit a lazy fly ball into the teeth of the shift.  Yee had the ball bounce off him and Rodriguez was safe.  Tanner then hit a grounder up the middle. Devenish laid out, but the ball went 5 inches by his feet.  Gers was a perfect 4-4 on the day.   Wiley then hit a grounder right at Dias, Dias had the ball go under his diving arms and Wiley was safe.  Boston needed a time out to reset.  It may have broken the mojo as Fleeks struck out.  Chesser then hit a flare to the right side, Gina Devenish made a nice call and Guy chased it down for the out.  The Heat put the game into the 12 run rule with a 13-1 lead.

12 run rule

Boston would limp its way to the finish line and get everyone into the game.  Devenish would hit a weak liner and score for the only other run the Renegades would score in this game.  Shayne Cantan would hit nice fly into left field but would miss the second base of the day for Boston.  This was not the start that Boston wanted.  The team definitely struggled with two missed bases.  Teigan Weissman also had his first look at these golf swings and as hard as they were, we could not make any plays on them.  Gers scored four times with Fleeks and Chesser pitching in three and Wiley having a pair of runs.  The top four guys killed Boston.  Guy Zuccarello paced the Renegades with 4 stops on defense.  Boston has not been held to two runs in a game since the 2007 season when the Pennsylvania Wolfpack beat the Renegades 6-2  in the first round of double elimination, a span of 264 games!

This was a tough game for the Renegades.  The slow grass really hurt them as they struggled to get the ball in the air.  Only Cantan and Devenish got the ball in the air and they totaled for two missed bases.  This lineup will not be representative of what the team trots out later in the year.

Game #2 – Indy Edge Toy with Renegades, Winning 13-4

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Edge	2	1	2	3	3	2		13	9	13
Boston	0	0	1	1	1	1		4	5	9

Edge	AB	R	K	PO		Boston	AB	R	K	PO
E. Rodriguez	6	2	3	8		S. Devenish- MF	4	2	0	3
Corey White	4	0	3	0		Sanchez – 3B	3	0	2	0
– Dobbs	1	0	0	0		– S. Cantan – 3B	1	1	0	0
Corian White	5	2	2	5		Yee – 1B	3	0	1	0
Holland	5	4	0	0		– Kimball – R	1	1	0	0
Jackson	5	2	0	0		S. Cantan – R	2	0	0	0
See – DH	5	3	1	0		L. Rodriguez – 1B	2	0	1	0
						Zuccarello – LS	1	0	0	1
						– Dias – LS	2	0	0	3
						Regan – RS	3	0	1	2
Totals	31	13	9	13		Totals	22	4	5	9
Pitcher – Kennedy						Pitcher- Cochran	20	4	4
						Pitcher – T. Weissman	2	0	1
						Catcher- R. Weissman
						LS – Caller . T. Weissman
						RS Caller- G. Devenish

Game Summary

Boston traveled across the field to take on the World Champion, Indy edge. Every player in their lineup has at least one championship under their belt, most have more than three.  For The Renegades, the lineup was unique.  The goal for the Renegades in this game was to help David Sanchez, Joe Yee and Shayne Cantan get their timing down since they had missed so many BP sessions.  Elana Regan also got the start to get her experience as she hunted her first career defensive stop.  Boston would have Teigan Weissman and Gina Devenish call.  Teigan would also be slated to pitch a little in this game.  Boston would be the home game in this match.

First Inning

Kyle Kennedy took the mound for the Edge and it appeared they were practicing in this game.  He started the game off with the league’s best player trying to take it to right.  After failing on the first three pitches, Eric Rodriguez took a pitch, fouled it off and then hit a laser into left past Shayne Cantan.  Cory White followed the same pattern, but this time he swing and missed on the last strike.  Corian White Followed suit but he took a pitch with just two strikes and struck out.  This brought Justin Holland to the dish.  Holland blasted his first pitch into center and nobody had a chance as he took a banana line to the base and scored with ease.  Mike Jackson was next.  Jackson was likely starting because Nick Mulherin was unavailable in this game.  The speedster connected on the first pitch and hit a bouncer to the right side.  It was right at Elana Regan, who dropped and stopped the ball perfectly.  She jumped up and down with joy as she recorded her first ever defensive stop.  We have seen her do it in practice a ton, but she needed this confidence to boost her game.  This was clearly the highlight of the weekend for the Renegades.

Down 2-0, Boston would have Shawn Devenish lead off the first.  Shawn would hit the second pitch to the right side, right at Corian White.  He took off to first, but third base went off.  The sound of third base was terribly low.  Even if he had run to the right base, he would have been out by 50 feet.  The game was delayed as the Edge worked with the Renegades to change out the equipment, as that base had been a problem earlier in the day.  After a five minute delay, David Sanchez made his first start of the season, and only his second career start in the field, playing third base.  He fouled two pitches off including one that was barely foul, where he stood at the plate and did not run.  His at bat resulted in a whiff.  This brought Joe Yee to the plate.  Yee hit the second pitch he saw on the ground to Eric Rodriguez.  After one full inning, the edge led 2-0.

Second Inning

Aaron See, batting 6th would lead off the second inning for the Edge, who were all wearing superman shirts.  He hit a hard grounder to the right side, Elena Regan dove, missed it and Joe Yee missed it as well for the first run of the inning.  Kyle Kennedy was still trying to take the hitters to right field, Eric Rodriguez and Corey White struck out.  Corian White would end the inning when he hit a grounder to the right side that Elana missed.  The ball stopped rolling and Shawn Devenish ranged over from the middle of the field to pick it up.  The Edge lead 3-0.

As the Edge took the field, Corey White needed a time out as he did not appear to be feeling well.  He did stay in the game however.  Shayne Cantan started things off for Boston, moving up in the order to the four hole and he hit a grounder down the third base line to Eric Rodriguez who made the play with ease.  This brought Teigan Weissman to the bump to face Guy Zuccarello.  Guy has been a machine off Teigan in the cage and we wanted to give Teigan some work.  This lefty pitcher had only seen game action against Rochester and was excited to pitch.  Zuccarello fouled off the 2nd pitch and then on the 4th pitch grounded another ball to Rodriguez who made the play with a lot of time.  Weissman, pitching to his uncle, stayed in to face Elana Regan.  She struck out.  Boston went down 1-2-3

Third Inning

Justin Holland would get the party started for the Edge in the third.  He hit a grounder past Elana Regan which died in front of Joe Yee.  Instead of Yee going after the ball, Shawn Devenish ranged from the middle of the field and by the time he could find it, Holland slammed into first base.  Mike Jackson, who has played with the Colorado Storm and San Antonio Jets was next.  On the third pitch he let it pass as it appeared he was done trying to go to the right side and on the 5th pitch of the at bat, he hit a coffin corner to the left side and took 3 steps to third when first base went off.  He stopped running and Guy Zuccarello made the out.  Aaron See, who may have the strongest upper body in the league was next.  This big man took the first pitch of the at bat.  He fouled off a hard grounder to the left side.  With a full count, he hit a chopper up the middle.  Devenish had it lined up and played it aggressively as he hit the ground and wiggled his body forward to try to make a play on the ball, as opposed to letting the ball play him.  Devenish made an impressive out in this slow grass.  Eric Rodriguez then laced a liner to left.  Sanchez took a dive and missed which sent Shayne on his horse, but his horse was too slow and Rodriguez had his second run of the game.  Corey White would strike out for the 2nd time to end the third.  The Edge inched forward and held a 5-0 lead.

Shawn Devenish got the Renegades on the board with a first pitch fister off the handle of the bat into left field for a run.  David Sanchez was next.  The right hander fouled off the first pitch and ran to third as the ball was on the line, right as he ran by the Edge bench, he was so fast, his speed blew the Edge Canopy over and thankfully, nobody was hurt in the process.  He then had his best hit of the day when he lined a ball of the leg of Ron Cochran for a dead pitch.  Sanchez would then lose his mechanics and give 1 bad swing before striking out.  Joe Yee was next, working on his timing with Ron, as he and Sanchez both normally face Peter Connolly (Yee’s cousin).  Yee rolled over on it and hit a grounder down the third base line. Eric Rodriguez slid over and made the play with ease for his fourth stop of the game.  Shayne then took the next pitch and hit a 60 foot grounder to Eric to end the inning for Boston down 5-1.

Fourth Inning

For the top of the fourth, the Renegades would make three changes.  Rob Dias would replace Guy Zuccarello up front on the left side, Luis Rodriguez would replace Joe Yee at first base and Chris Kimball would replace Shayne Cantan in our deep layer.  This was important as this was the first inning of defense Chris had played since his injury in 2022.  Corian White, the three hitter would lead off and once again, the Edge hitters kept taking pitches to adjust their timing.  With two strikes, White would foul off four pitches and then hit a fly ball that landed in front of Shawn Devenish to his left.  Shawn could not get it in time and White had his first run of the game. Holland hit a line drive up the middle, past a diving Shawn Devenish.  Chris Kimball had a chance at it, but he was hesitant and Holland was safe for the third straight time.  Mike Jackson hit the first pitch on a line to the right side. Luis Rodriguez took one step too far and he missed it as Jackson made it three straight for the Edge.  After See and Rodriguez struck out, Corey White took a full count and hit a nice fly ball up the middle at about 60 feet.  White took a little bit of a bad line to the base and that extra time allowed Dias to make the stop.  The edge led 8-1 after three and a half innings.

Rob Dias, hitting for Zuccarello in the five spot would leave off for the Renegades.  With two strikes he hit a grounder to the right side. Corian White made a nice play to stop Dias with ease.  Elana Regan would bat against Cochran in this at bat.  She would hit the 2nd pitch to Eric Rodriguez and take two steps to first before cutting across the field and running at the Edge bench.  Eric Rodriguez made the play with ease.  Shawn Devenish was up next and diving over the plate as he swing and fouled off the first pitch off his hands.  His fingers took a beating on the third pitch as well with another foul off his hands.  Shawn was off with his mechanics.  He then fisted another ball to the right side.  First base went off and Corian White came to the line and bobbled it into foul territory.  Stop was called to help avoid a collision and since White was in foul territory, the run was awarded.  David Sanchez grounded the ball to the right side; he took a bad line to third and was in fair territory. When he tried to fix his line, he slipped and tripped over himself, slamming his knee into the ground.  By the time he got to the bench, it had begun to swell.  His tournament was over.  Shayne Cantan re-entered the game for Sanchez.  The score was Edge 8 and Shawn Devenish 2.

Fifth Inning

Corian White led off the 5th frame for the Edge.  He struck out for the second time in this contest.  Justin Holland was next and a perfect 3-3 on the day.  He hit the first pitch hard to the right side.  Regan could not get down and it was hit right at her.  Luis Rodriguez was also slow to the ground as he was caught doing the Cha-cha and practicing his dance moves.  Holland had his fourth in a row.  Mike Jackson lofted a short fly ball to the right side.  Elana Regan hit the ground a step or too early but she lost her aggressiveness when Dias flew over to back her up.  They both stared at the ball, Jackson hit first and Regan picked it up too late.  Aaron See hit a grounder up the middle, just a few steps to Devenish’s left.  Shawn moved well on the ground, but the ball rolled right through his arms for See’s 2nd run of the game.  Eric Rodriguez then grounded a ball to the left side,  Dias laid out and made the stop with ease.  The Edge then went to the bench for Corey White, who had been struggling with health earlier in the game.  Jason Dobbs came off the bench.  Dobbs, normally a defensive player was last seen by the Renegades hitting as a member of the Kansas all stars.  He hit a grounder up the right middle. Regan dove and missed and Shawn Devenish made the stop.

Chris Kimball, hitting in Joe Yee’s spot fouled off two pitches and then hit a grounder that bounced over Eric Rodriguez and flew down the first base line for the first non-Shawn Devenish run of the contest.  Luis Rodriguez, hitting in Cantan’s original spot in the order was next.  Luis hit a chopper to the right side and took off into the middle of the field.  Stop was called and Corian White was closest to the ball and he would have made the out easily without the help of the stop call.  Dias would ground out weakly to Rodriguez.  Elana Would follow suit, giving Eric Rodriguez his 8th stop in this game.  After five innings, the Edge led 11-3.

Sixth Inning

In the 6th, Corian White lofted a fly ball to the right side with a little spin on it.  The ball landed in front of Luis Rodriguez but he waited for Shawn Devenish to come over and by the time that happened, White was safe.   Holland would then hit a weak ball up the middle, Rob Dias made the stop to get Holland for the first time after he scored four runs in this game.  Mike Jackson then hit a grounder to the right side, Elana laid out and it hit her hands and rolled away,  She went after it a step and made the play for her second career stop.  Aaron See then laced a line drive up the middle, Kimball trotted after it as he tracked it while running and See had an easy run.  Eric Rodriguez would whiff to end the frame, his third of the game and Kyle’s 9th strike out.  The Edge had a commanding lead 13-3.

In the last of the sixth, Devenish would lead off with a weak grounder to the right side and a bad line to third base.  Corian White made his 5th play of the game.  Shayne Cantan was up next in David Sanchez’s spot.  He hit a 42 foot pop up, Eric Rodriguez raced in and over slid it and Shayne was safe.  That would be all for the Renegades as Yee and Rodriguez struck out to end the game.

Wrap up

For the Edge, Justin Holland led the game with four runs.  Eric Rodriguez and Corian White made all of the defensive stops.  In an uncharacteristic game, Kyle Kennedy struck out 9 hitters.  Boston had to find another gear as they would have to face the Chicago Comets with just eight players as David Sanchez would not be available.

Game #3 – Boston Beats the Comets for the 2nd time in team history 10-7

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	1	3	2	0	3	1		10	10	13
Chicago	1	0	2	1	3	0		7	5	8

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		Chicago	AB	R	K	PO
S. Devenish – MF	5	2	3	1		Landrum	5	0	3	0
Dias – LS	5	3	0	8		Beckman	4	1	0	0
Kimball – DH	5	2	1	—		Francese	4	4	0	0
L. Rodriguez – DF/R	—	—	—	1		Gamino	4	0	1	4
– Regan – DF/R	—	—	—	0		Tavera	4	1	0	0
S. Cantan – 3B/1B	5	1	4	2		Aldridge- DH	4	1	1	—
Zuccarello – RS	4	0	1	1		Hernandez – DF	—	—	—	4
Yee – 1B/3B	4	2	1	0
Totals	28	10	10	13		Totals	25	7	5	8
Pitcher- Cochran	28	10	3			Pitcher – Perry
Catcher- R. Weissman
LS – Caller . T. Weissman
RS Caller- G. Devenish

Game Summary

Boston Vs Chicago for game three of the first day of the Tournament. Both teams limped in with an 0-2 record.  The Comets were playing better as they lost to the Edge 12-7 and the Heat 18-6.  They had not been 12-runned.  Additionally, the Renegades came in with a lifetime 1-11 record vs the Comets with the  only win coming in 2016. They had three guys who were carrying their offense in Bill Landrum (4-9), Gio Francese (3-8) and Noah Beckman (4-6).  These three guys had scored more runs than the entire Renegade team.  It was going to be a battle.  The Comets were without their top two hitters and The Renegades without two of their big bats and their two of the most experienced callers in the sport who have over 186 games of experience between them (Bryan Grillo and Jason Lenicheck).

1st Inning

The Renegades would lose the coin toss and bat first.  The lineup would be adjusted a little for Boston to try to get the hotter bats into the lineup.  The bases were a problem again, but for the first time in team history, they peeled the base back like a banana, leaving the cover on and exposing the foam.  Shawn Devenish would lead things off and just like the other games, it was not a good start with 4 pitches and 4 swings and misses.  Rob Dias was next and grounded a ball to the left side.  Alex Gamino was there to make the play but he bobbled it and Dias just beat it out. The call was contested and it was very close.  The call stood.  Chris Kimball would whiff on 4 pitches and Shayne Cantan would whiff on 5 pitches.

Long time pitcher, Chad Perry would toe the mound for the Comets.  Chad’s tenure in this sport dates back at least a decade before the Renegades were formed in 2000.  Leading off was big left hander, Captain, Bill Landrum.  Landrum would strike out to kick things off (similar to the Renegade leadoff hitter).  Noah Beckman was next.  Beckman had never played vs Boston and he hit a shallow fly to the middle of the field and raced to first, Dias was able to pick it up in time to get the speedster.  Big G came up next.  On the first pitch, he laced a line drive to the left side of the field that bounced off Shayne.  Luis Rodriguez was on the ground and right next to it but Shawn tried to come in and get it and Gio was safe.  Tie game.  Alex Gamino struck out.  Not a great start for either team with a combined five whiffs and 2 bang-bang plays.

2nd Inning

The second inning would start with Guy Zuccarello.  On the first pitch he would hit a weak liner to the middle of the field, over the head of their short man, Dan Hernandez.  Alex Gamino raced over from the left side of the field and on a bang-bang play would get Guy by a millisecond.  This brought Joe Yee to the plate and he hit a line drive to the left side that took a wicked hop.  Yee scored for the first time on the weekend and the first time since playing Rochester in the last game of the 2021 season.  A big confidence builder for sure.  Shawn Devenish may have fed off that energy as he laced a shot into right field by everyone for the first time all weekend, the Renegades squared up two balls in a row, something they had not done in the 2023 season..  Rob Dias hit a weak flare that fell near the 40 foot line.  The Comets were playing a point defense with their one shorty, Dan Hernandez about 60 feet right up the middle.  This was room service for him and the second out of the inning.  Chris Kimball then kept things going with a line drive run scoring hit to the left side.  This brought the inconsistent, Shayne Cantan to the plate.  Shayne absolutely battled.  He saw eleven pitches in this at bat and had 8 foul balls.  Sadly, it ended in a swing and a miss to the end the inning.  However, this was the best Renegade inning of the day as the team showed some life and took a 4-1 lead heading into the bottom half of the inning.  During this at bat, Rob’s catching stool broke which would prove to be a challenge for the catcher who had not caught without a stool since the 2008 season.

Gerardo Tavera, a rookie from the 2022 season would lead off and hit a weak grounder to Rob Dias for the first out.  Lamarain Aldridge, A burly right hander with a high swing was next.  He hit a high fly ball up the middle of the field, Dias ranged over, dropped to his knees and made the play for the second out.  Bill Landrum then fouled off five pitches before hitting a weak flare to the right middle of the field. Zuccarello ranged to his right and made a nice play to end the inning.  The Renegades had their biggest lead of the tournament and led 4-1.

3rd Inning

Guy Zuccarello would lead off the third with his only strikeout of the day.  Joe Yee then hit a bouncer up the middle that got by Dan Hernandez.  He actually slowed up at the base making it closer than it should have been, but the run stood and Yee had his second run of the game.  This run tied him with Justen Cantan for 14th all time and was his 63rd career run scored.  Then with three strikes, Devenish double hit a ball and blasted it by everyone into deep right for the Renegades deepest hit of the day.  The second time he and Yee went back-to-back.  Dias would hit a weak bouncer up the middle to Hernandez for an easy out.  Chris Kimball stepped up and hit a line drive up the middle.  Dan Hernandez made a nice stop.  Boston led 5-1 heading into the bottom of the third.

Noah Beckman led off with a flare down the third base line that hugged the line and went into foul territory after it passed the base.  Shayne was a little slow to get to it and Beckman’s speed beat it out.  Big G was next.  He hit a line drive down the first base line.  Joe Yee gave chase near the 170 line and Gio beat him by a step to the ball.   Alex Gamino hit a fly ball that got past Dias and Shayne Cantan was there for the stop.  Tavera hit a grounder to Rob Dias and Aldridge hit a fly ball up the middle that Dias over ran, came back for and picked up quickly for the third out of the inning.  This was Rob’s 5th stop of the game as he was just three shy of becoming just the 5th Renegade in team history with 200 defensive stops.  Chicago closed the gap and The Renegades led 6-3.

4th Inning

Shayne Cantan would lead off the 4th and strike out on 4 pitches.  Guy Zuccarello would hit the second pitch on a fly to the left side.  Alex Gamino would stop him with ease.  Yee then would take it to a full count and hit a grounder down the third base line.  He ran to third base and then found out first was buzzing which likely may have cost him a run.  Boston put up a bagel in the inning.

Heading into the bottom of the fourth, Elana Regan subbed into play the designated Fielder position and took out Luis Rodriguez.  The Comets had the top of their order out.  Regan would surely be tested.

In the bottom of the fourth, Bill Landrum would lead off and hit the second pitch from Perry up the middle.  Shawn Devenish would hit the ground and wiggle forward to make a nice play.  This would be Shawn’s 50th of his career and would tie him with Aqil Sajjad for 15th all time in Renegade history.  This brought Noah Beckman to the dish.  He hit a chopper to Rob Dias who bobbled it and made the stop after it was contested by Chicago.  Gio Francese was next and was looking for his third run in a row.  He would hit a fly ball into left center.  Elana Regan gave chase, but could not get it in time and Gio had three in a row.  Alex Gamino would close out the inning with a 45 foot slow dribbler that Rob Dias slid in on to make the stop.   Boston led 6-4.

5th Inning

Shawn Devenish would struggle to lead off the inning.  After two foul tips on the 3rd and 4th pitch, he would strike out for the second time in this game.  Rob Dias then took the second pitch and hit a line drive to the right side.  Their right front man dove and missed it but it died before the second layer.  Dias was safe.  Chris Kimball would dig deep after swinging and missing three times, he would foul one back to Weissman.  He then hit a ball to the left side and beat it out to first for his second run of the game.  Shayne Cantan then hit a weak flare up the middle of the field.    It was just over Dan Hernandez’s head and Alex Gamino flew over from the left side and picked it up a split second after Cantan hit third base.  Zuccarello then lined a ball up the middle, Dan Hernandez made a nice stop on the line drive off his body.  Joe Yee would strike out to end the inning.  Boston led 9-4 heading to the bottom of the fifth.

Tavera would lead off out of the four spot.  He would get his best knock on the day with a fly ball to center.  It would bounce over Devenish and head past him.  Elana Regan would be slow to track it down and the Comets got a run back.  Aldridge, who like Tavera was also 0-2 with two outs to Dias was next.  He hit a fly ball to the right side that got out to Joe Yee.  The ball went off his hands and he bobbled it.  Aldridge was safe.  During the play, Elana Regan started to have some trouble as she was walking toward field three.  Rob Dias and Shawn Devenish realized something was off with her.  When she was asked what month it was, she answered “January”. That was the end of her day.  Luis Rodriguez would re-enter the game as the DF.  That time may have broken some mojo that Perry had as Landrum struck out for the second time of the game.  Noah Beckman was next and hit a line drive about 105 feet to Shayne Cantan who made the play with plenty of time.  The unstoppable Big G was next.  He blasted a ball to center; Gina Devenish called it which means it was on the right side. Joe Yee who was shaded up the middle gave up on the ball as it rolled to center and Gio had his 4th run of the game.  Alex Gamino would then hit a flare to the left side and Rob Dias would gobble it up for his 8th stop of the game and his 200th career stop.  This would make him just the 5th Renegade in team history to reach this milestone joining Zuccarello, Justen Proctor, Darren Black and Joe McCormick in team history.

6th Inning

Boston clung to a 9-7 lead but the struggles would continue for Devenish who would get a foul tip on the first pitch but then swing and miss three times for the third K of his game.  Rob Dias would step up as a light cool rain began to fall on a sunny day.  He hit a weak grounder up the middle that got by Hernandez and a diving Gamino.  His third run of the game gave the Renegades a three run lead.  Kimball  would then hit a grounder up the middle, Alex Gamino would make a great play running to the middle of the field.  That brought Shayne Cantan to the plate.  Shayne would swing and miss on the first pitch.  Weissman caught something wrong with his mechanics and decided  to point it out.  Much to Cochran’s dismay, Shayne’s swing changed dramatically with his change, however, Cochran was unable to find the bat.  This would hurt Boston in this game, but Shayne found his swing again and that would be positive for Sunday’s game.

Heading to the Bottom of the 6th, Boston was up 10-7.  Chicago would have their 5-6-1 hitters up.  They were a combined 2-10, but Tavera and Aldridge had scored in their last at bats.  Tavera hit a line drive to left center.  It was hit right at Luis Rodriguez.  He picked it up with plenty of time.  However, he put it on the ground after being excited to make his first stop of the season and Chicago thought he bobbled it.  It was contested and the play stood.  A big stop at a big moment.  Aldridge and Landrum would strike out to end the game.  Boston would win 9-7.

Wrap

An Interesting game where the leadoff hitters on both teams struggled.  though Devenish scored a pair, he struck out three times.  Landrum was 0-5 with three strike outs as well.  In fact, Perry struck out just five hitters and three of them came from the leadoff spot.  Boston struck out a pathetic ten times as Shayne whiffed four times to pace the Renegades in this stat.  For Chicago, Hernandez and Gamino made all the stops up front.  For Boston, 5 of the 6 hitters scored and five players made stops on defense.  Boston had the deeper team on this day.  It was just the second time in team history the Renegades had beaten the Comets.  Boston would head to the 5/6 game to face the Gateway Archers.  Chicago would go to the 7/8 game vs Cleveland.  Rob Dias would be the player of the game with his 8 defensive stops and 3 runs scored.  Joe Yee would get honorable mention with his two runs out of the six hole

Game #4 – Gateway Gets revenge to their 2022 loss winning 12-9

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	1	0	3	0	0	5		9	5	11
Gateway	1	1	7	3	0	x		12	4	13

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		Gateway	AB	R	K	PO
S. Devenish – MF	5	1	1	3		D. Smith	5	2	2	1
Dias – LS	5	3	1	4		Dillon	1	0	0	0
Kimball – DH	5	2	1	—		– Morrow	4	2	0	0
Zuccarello- DF/RS	—	—	—	3		Krussel	4	1	0	0
S. Cantan – 1B	4	2	0	1		– Sisson	1	0	0	0
Yee – 3B	2	1	0	0		Morris	4	3	0	5
– Regan – R	2	0	1	0		Wright	4	3	0	1
L. Rodriguez – R/3B	4	1	1	0		Johnston	4	1	2	6
Totals	27	10	5	11		Totals	27	12	4	13
Pitcher- Cochran	27	10	5			Pitcher – Walker
Catcher- R. Weissman
LS – Caller . T. Weissman
RS Caller- G. Devenish

Game Summary

With an eight team tournament, The Renegades finished 3rd in its bracket and would play the 3rd place finisher of the other bracket, the Gateway Archers.  Gateway is a relatively new team, but many of its players have been in the league for a while..  In fact, their entire lineup, short of their two hitter, Chad Dillon and rookie Kaleb Wright has played with other teams. Their pitcher, Johnny Walker a legacy in this sport who has pitched for so many teams including most recently the USA Legends, Colorado Storm and Philly Fire.  The Renegades and Walker have had so many battles over the years…very rarely an easy game between them!

First inning

Once again, the Renegades lost the coin toss in this game and were the visiting team.  Shawn Devenish worked the count to three strikes and then hit a weak grounder to the left side.  Ethan Johnston could not make the play in time and Boston drew first blood.  Rob Dias would keep up his streak of low pitch at bats and hit the first pitch up the middle.  Kaleb Wright would range to the middle of the field and stop Dias for the first out of the game.  Chris Kimball was next and hit another dribbler to the left side.  Ethan Johnston had this with ease for the out.  Shayne Cantan was next, moving up in the order with his improved mechanics.    Shayne would hit a bouncer to the left side that would squirt under Johnston but Marc Morris would range over to his right and make the out as Shayne Ran just by third base, grazing it with his arm pit.

For the Archers, their leadoff hitter would be David Smith.  Smith was a rental player from the San Antonio Jets for the weekend.  He was the Co-offensive MVP with our own Joe McCormick in the 2022 World Series.  He would hit a hard grounder up the middle that would bounce of Shawn Devenish and just over him.  Shawn could not recover in time and the game was tied at one.  Next up was Chad Dillon, a lefty.  He would hit a grounder to the right side  but a step out of the box, he would appear to injure his calf and limp his way to first base.  Guy Zuccarello would have this lined up but would actually miss it.  Rob Dias came over from the other side of the field to back him up and make the stop.  This brought Richie Krussel to the plate.  Krussel, a long time Colorado Storm and a former Indy Edge would hit a grounder to the left side.  Rob Dias laid out nicely and stopped it quickly for the second out.  This brought up Marc Morris a speedy player with experience playing with the Indy Thunder and Indy Edge.  Morris would hit a fly ball to the right side.  Gina Devenish made a quick short call on this fly ball and led Guy Zuccarello right to the ball for his first stop of the game.  After one, the game was knotted at one a piece.

2nd inning

Heading into the second inning, Demetris Morrow would be subbed in for the injured Chad Dillon.  Morrow has been in this league since at least 2003 and has played for a few teams including  Colorado and the San Antonio Jets.  Joe Yee would hit the first pitch he saw on a line into left field.  Marc Morris would scoot to his right and make the stop to get Yee with plenty of time.  This brought Luis Rodriguez to the plate.  He would hit a weak pop fly to the left side and Ethan Johnston would get him just as he plowed into first base.  Shawn Devenish was next.  He hit a weak pop to the middle of the field but would miss first base and would be put out as Shawn’s base running woes continued to haunt him.  Boston would go down 1-2-3 on just five pitches.

Rookie Kaleb Wright would be the first hitter of the inning, hitting in the 4 spot of the Archer lineup.  We did not know a lot about Wright other than he had some pop and he actually had thrown a bat on the previous day that sent one of the people on their bench to the hospital.  Everyone was on alert for thrown bats on the Renegades bench.  He would hit a bomb to the center of the field and when it hit the ground it took a nasty hop to the left.  Luis Rodriguez had one shot at it and came up empty.  Wright gave the Archers the lead.  This brought up Ethan Johnston (another long time Colorado Storm and Indy Edge player).  Johnston took out his nine iron and golfed it to the right side.  Gina called a two but it spun to the line, but Zuccarello was aware of the hitter and went to the line and made a nice play on the golf swing.  Back to the top of the order and David Smith.  He hit another grounder up the middle.  Devenish hit the ground and moved one slide to his left and stopped it for a big out.  This brought in the newest addition to the lineup, Demetris Morrow.  Morrow hit a grounder to the right side that died in the thick grass.  Shayne Cantan was playing him deep and came a long way to pick up this ball and made the stop.  The Archers led after two innings 2-1.

3rd inning

Rob Dias would get things started with three strikes and hit a weak pop to the coffin corner on the right side and score.  Chris Kimball would see 4 pitches and swing and miss on all four of them.   Shayne Cantan would need one pitch and he would loft a fly ball to left and score on his best hit of the weekend.  Yee, was uncomfortable on the first pitch and took it, a veteran move.  Three pitches later he hit a laser down the third base line and took off for first base.  His line was too perfect and he slammed into the base at top speed for a run.  Luis Rodriguez was next, short of hitting a grounder off of Ron Cochran’s legs would not make any other contact in this at bat and would strike out.  That would start a bad trend.  Devenish would foul off four pitches but strike out on six pitches.   However, this three run outburst was one of the more productive innings of the weekend and the Renegades led 4-2.

Richie Krussel would lead off the inning for Gateway. After crushing a ball foul down the third base line, he hit a bouncer down the first base line.  He was in fair territory as Guy Zuccarello came to get the ball.  They were about to collide when “STOP” was called and Zuccarello went into a fetal position on the field.  Krussel would be called out for being in fair territory.  Marc Morris was up next, just as Walker delivered the pitch, a celebration broke out and the Renegades tried to call time.  It was not awarded and Zuccarello was frozen.  By the time he picked up the sound, he had given Morris a good 60 foot head start.  Morris was safe easily on a 50 foot ball.  Bad luck for Boston.  The next hitter was Kaleb Wright.  He hit a dribbler to the left side.  Dias lost the ball and took an odd line to it.  Ultimately he over ran it and dropped and sat on it like an egg.  He got the ball up and the initial call was an out.  However, it was contested and the call was over turned.  Boston should have been out of this inning.  Ethan Johnston then bounced one up the right middle of the field.  Zuccarello could not get the handle on it and bobbled it for three straight runs that all went less than 60 feet.  That is all Johnny Walker needs.  David Smith then launched a bomb over Shayne Cantan’s head in center field for a ball that Boston had no chance on.  Morrow then hit a line drive into left field.  Luis Rodriguez had it lined up but bobbled it and Morrow was safe.  Krussel would help the Renegades out with a dribbler to the left side and just to make sure the Renegades would make the play; he took two steps to first when third was buzzing.  Rob Dias made the play with this additional assist.  Morris would then hit a fly ball right at Rob Dias.  Teigan called it short, and Dias ran in…but he quickly found the ball would land where he started.  That time to change direction and run backwards cost him the out and Morris was in for the second time in this inning.  Kaleb Wright would then launch a bomb into deep center field that had to be near the home run line for an easy run and a no doubter for the Archers.  Johnston would strike out to end the inning. Gateway would plate seven runs in an inning that could have easily been a 1-2-3.

4th inning

Boston would limp back to the bench and their bats would remain limp.  Rob Dias would strike out to start the fourth.  This was his first whiff of the weekend and the fourth Renegade whiff in a row.  Kimball would then hit a grounder up the middle and take one step to first before learning third was going off.  That one step cost him the run and he was out.  More haunting bad base running for the Renegades.  Shayne then hit a line drive into left and took off to first.  Marc Morris would make a nice stop and the call was an out.  Boston challenged the call to no avail as the Archer catcher told the Renegades that they had “just been screwed on that call”.  Not much of an answer to the Archer rally and Boston was down 9-4 going into the bottom of the 4th.

The Archers had a chance to bury the Renegades as David Smith would lead off the frame.  He would strike out.   Morrow would then pound a line drive into left center.  Devenish dove and missed, Zuccarello was behind Shawn and dove and the ball bounced off him.  Morrow scored.  Krussel then hit a spinning fly ball to the right side.  
Gina Devenish called a two but it spun to the one, away from Shayne Cantan and the run scored, Krussel’s first of the game.  Marc Morris would then loft a fly ball about 90 feet to the left side.  Dias lost his field awareness and went back too far on this ball as it rolled out to Joe Yee.  In his efforts to get the ball, Dias cleated Joe Yee in his surgically repaired shins.  Yee was in a ton of pain with a possible bone bruise and was taken out of the game.  Elana Regan came off the bench to play the deep spot while Luis Rodriguez moved up to 3rd base.  After a three minute delay to get Joe off the field and attended to, Kaleb Wright stepped to the plate.  He would hit a weak grounder up the middle.  Zuccarello and Dias converged on it and Dias made the stop.  Ethan Johnston would whiff for the 2nd straight time.  Gateway plated three runs and led 12-4.

5th inning

Elana Regan would trot in from the field to get her first at bat of the game in replacement of Yee, to her surprise.  She struck out on 4 pitches.  Luis Rodriguez would then work to three strikes and hit the 4th pitch bouncing short up the middle. Ethan Johnston would make the play closer than it should be but he made the out.  Shawn Devenish would then hit the first pitch off the bottom of his bat to the right side.  David Smith had switched positions and was up front on this play and he made the play with ease.  Boston had eight consecutive hitters make an out.  The team’s energy was down and it was showing.

Leading off the bottom of the 5th with an eight run lead, David Smith would whiff for the 2nd time of the game.  Morrow was on fire after coming in for Dillon.  He would hit a grounder to the left side that went under a diving Rob Dias.  Dias called Shawn up on the ball, and after a bobble, Shawn made the stop.  Gateway then went to their bench and brought in Josh Sisson for Krussel.  Sisson would hit a grounder up the middle, Dias would call in Devenish again and Shawn would make his second stop of the inning and third of the game.

6th inning

Weissman pulled the team together to try to finish strong and show no quit.  Play this game one at bat at a time.  Rob Dias would lead off and to true Dias form, hit the first pitch he saw up the middle for a run.  Kimball also hit the first pitch on a fly to the left side that bounced about 5 feet in the air away from Ethan Johnston.  Ethan recovered but dropped the ball and Kimball was safe.  Cantan then hit a bouncing hard grounder to the left side.  Johnston missed it and then Marc Morris bobbled it and dropped it.  Cantan was in for three straight runs.  Elana then hit a 42 foot ball and took a step to first when third went off.  Johnston would put her out with ease.  Luis Rodriguez was next.  He hit the first pitch he saw on the ground hard into left field by everyone.  The Renegade energy was picking up!  Back to the top of the order and Devenish would hit a dribbler up the middle and had a perfect line to first base but he didn’t trust it and went wide left, missing his 2nd base of the game.  A big out and a big mistake for the Renegades.  Dias was next and hit another dribbler to the left side, but he took a great line and beat it out.  Boston had pulled the game to 12-9 after showing some life.  Kimball was next and hit a line drive to the left side to Ethan Johnston.  It was a bang-bang play.  The call was an out.  Weissman contested it and the call stood.  Boston’s rally fell short

Wrap up

It was another ugly game for the Renegades.  Three missed bases.  A terrible 3rd inning that got away from the team after muffing a few easy plays and not a lot of great hitting.  An injury to Joe Yee on top of it all to rub salt in their wound.  The player of the game was Marc Morris who scored three runs and also made five stops in the field.  Kaleb Wright had himself a game with three runs and Ethan Johnston made six stops up front.  For Boston, Rob Dias was the player of the game with three runs and four stops on defense.  Rob (204)  also inched ahead of Joe McCormick (201) for 4th all -time in Renegades defensive stops  Boston would take 6th place on this weekend.  The team would soon get a lecture about its approach to this tournament with the goal to get working harder and smarter.   Boston missed three bases in this game and lost by three runs.  That statement  would sum up the missed opportunities the Renegades had.  Of all the tournaments in the season, this one was being used for experience and learning.  The renegades learned a lot and will be better for it.

Game #5 – Renegades fall short against Philly

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Philly	5	2	4	3	3	3		20	6	13
Boston	3	0	3	6	0	0		12	5	12

Philly	AB	R	K	PO		Boston	AB	R	K	PO
Rhines	7	5	1	1		McCormick – R	5	3	0	2
T. Rodriguez	7	2	0	2		Devenish – MF	5	2	1	2
Margist	6	3	3	2		Cantan – 3B	5	1	2	0
S. Hogwood	6	1	0	1		Dias – LS	5	2	1	7
Lezcano – DH	6	4	1	—		Crook – DH	5	2	1	—
D. Hogwood – DF	—	—	—	0		Zuccarello- DF/RS	—	—	—	1
C. Krause	6	5	1	7		Thayer – G	0	0	0	0
						-Yee – 1B	—	—	—	0
						– L. Rodriguez	5	2	0	0
Totals	38	20	6	13		Totals	30	12	5	12
Pitcher – P. Krause						Pitcher- Cochran	30	12	5
						Catcher- R. Weissman
						LS – Caller – Grillo
						RS Caller-Lenicheck

Game Summary

After beating Philly twice in 2022, Boston traveled to Philly to kick off the Beast of the East.  Dean Thomas and Tom Albertson were sent to do the coin toss after a 1-3 start in coin tosses to the season .  They won the toss and would take the home team in Philly.

Boston was hoping to get off to a quick start and tried a new warm up routine to try and get it ready.  For the Renegades, They would have Both Bryan Grillo and Jason Lenicheck calling the defense.  Ron Cochran and  Rob Weissman would be handling the battery at the plate.  With the Canadian Wildfires, there was some concern about air quality, but thankfully it improved.

First inning

For Philly, Pat Krause would take the mound in his white Yankees hat that would surely turn the stomachs of many of the Renegade Red Sox fans but his sportsmanship and jokes would win them over.  On the second pitch of the game, Justin Rhines lofted a fly ball into left field over the head of Shayne Cantan, joe McCormick took off to his right, dove and made the play, but Rhines hit the base just about at the same time and was called safe.  Tyler Rodriguez then hit a grounder up the middle.  Rob Dias slid to his left but the ball bounced over his legs toward Devenish.  Devenish dove and it went by his hands and Philly lead 2-0.  After John Margist whiffed, Scott Hogwood stepped up and hit a hard grounder up the middle, Shawn Devenish dove to his left and made the play as the ball hit him in the chest.  This brought up the Arizona native, Cesar Lezcano.  Lezcano , an improved player over recent seasons launched a bomb into left field.  McCormick sprinted to his right, slid by the ball and had one chance and could not come up with it in time.  This brought up Casey Krause to face his father.  He launched a fly ball into center field as Grillo made a call and quickly sunk his head as McCormick ran by the ball in a play where the call was probably off by a zone.  Back to Rhines who hit the first pitch he saw over Devenish’s head in center field, McCormick was there in time, laid out, but the ball dropped in front of him and by the time it rolled into McCormick’s hands, Rhines was safe.  Philly was up 5-0 and Weissman called a time out.  Maybe that time out helped, but either way Tyler Rodriguez hit a flare to the left side as Rob Dias came in, slid on his knees and made a stop for the third out of the frame.

Joe McCormick would lead off for Boston in his first game action of the 2023 season.  He entered the game needing 7 runs to become the all-time leader in runs scored in renegade’s history behind Larry Haile.  He hit a short fly ball to the left side and took off to third base. Krause froze and then came in and grabbed the ball right as McCormick reached third and Mac was safe.  Shawn Devenish then hit a grounder down the third base line, Krause gave chase, Rhines gave chase but Devenish hit third to score the run.  This brought up Shayne Cantan who hit the second pitch he saw up the middle for a room service Casey Krause out.  Rob Dias was next, sporting a tweaked swing for the first time this season.  He hit a slow roller up the middle, Tyler Rodriguez missed it and Dias was too quick to first base for the run.  Drew Crook was next, making his 2023 debut.  He would strike out on four pitches.  Luis Rodriguez was next, pinch hitting for Joe Yee.  With three strikes, he put the ball in play up the middle on the ground, Rodriguez took two steps to third before realizing first base went off and Tyler Rodriguez put him out.  After one frame, Philly led 5-3.

Second Inning

In the second, John Margist would lead off.  Margist lined a shot into right field that rolled to a fence that was about 190 in right field.  To protect Luis Rodriguez, STOP was screamed.  This field does not meet the NBBA spec of 200×200 and safety was of the most importance as two volunteers were on the fence line to protect the fielders.  Margist was safe.    Hogwood then dribbled the ball up the left side for a room service Rob Dias Stop.  Lezcano was next, he too hit a grounder to the left side, Dias charged it but it scooted by his hands.  Cantan also charged it and it scooted by him and Lezcano was in for his second run of the game.  Krause would whiff for the 2nd out of the inning. Rhines would hit a dribbler up the middle, Dias corralled it and Philly scored one run.

McCormick led off in the 2nd inning.  After fouling off two pitches, he hit a grounder up the middle that bounced over Krause and into the chest of a diving John Margist diving to his right.  Devenish would see one pitch and ground it to the left side.  Krause lost the handle on it but regained possession right before Devenish hit first base.  Cantan would whiff and Boston would go down 1-2-3 with the top of the order in a critical opportunity to take the lead.  Philly led 7-3.

Third Inning

Tyler Rodriguez would hit a grounder up the middle, Devenish dove to his left and it ricocheted off him into right field, Luis Rodriguez was alert in in the area. He got to the ground to grab it, but Rodriguez was too quick and scored.  After a Margist whiff, Hogwood came to the plate and lofted a weak fly ball to the right side.  Zuccarello was there in time but could not find the ball and by the time he lifted it off the ground, Hogwood had scored toward first base.  Krause would test Zuccarello again, as he too Lezcano to the right side.  The ball spun away from Guy, but he recovered to make a nice play.  Krause then took his son to the right side on a weak fly ball.  Zuccarello played it was well as one could, picking it up after one bounce, but Krause’s speed was too much.  Rhines then hit a line drive up the middle past a diving Devenish and McCormick over ran it and Rhines had three runs (matching the Renegade’s totals).  Tyler Rodriguez would end the inning with a grounder to Dias.  Philly led 11-3.

Boston rarely quits and there was a lot of game left.  Rob Dias would lead off the inning.  After 5 pitches and three fouls, he lofted a bomb by everyone into deep left field.  Philly claimed it was dead.  However, the ball still had noise and Dias was safe on the hardest hit ball of the game for the Renegades.  Crook then grounded a ball up the middle that Krause missed and Margist bobbled, but they had time to get Crook out.  Luis Rodriguez then hit a hard grounder up the middle and sprinted toward first for a nice run.  McCormick was next and on the 2nd pitch, grounded it just past the 40 foot arc and it was a foot race between him and Tyler Rodriguez.  McCormick won this race and scored his 2nd run of the game and the 3rd of the inning for Boston.  Shawn Devenish then blasted the 2nd pitch he saw into deep left field.  Rhines took off after it, slid and the ball rolled right into his chest for a great stop to take the wind out of the Renegade’s sails.  Cantan would go down on strikes for the second time and Philly led 11-6 after three innings.

Fourth Inning

John Margist led off with a grounder down the third base line.  Dias took a bad angle at it and Cantan was slow to the spot.  Cantan then dropped to the ground and bobbled it as Margist hit third base for the run.  Hogwood then hit a bouncer up the middle which bounced over Dias, Devenish scrambled to pick it up and made the play, just in time for the out.  Lezcano then hit a grounder up the middle that went under Dias, Past Devenish’s feet and McCormick could not get it in time.  The play was contested but the call stood.  Krause then went deep into the count and laced a line drive up the middle that got by Devenish and McCormick had little chance with Krause’s speed.  Rhines whiffed.  Tyler Rodriguez then blasted a ball up the middle past a diving Devenish and into Joe McCormick’s crotch.  It was a cup check, and Mac was not wearing a cup, but managed to make the play.  Philly led 14-6 after three and a half frames.

Rob Dias would leadoff the fourth inning.  He would foul off the first two pitches and this meant he had made contact on 7 of the 9 pitches thrown to him (not too bad for a guy working on a new stance).  Sadly, that trend would not continue.  Maybe it had to do with the fact the second pitch of this at bat was fouled off his face.  Dias would eventually strike out.  Crook would hit a first pitch hard grounder to the left side.  Philly called dead ball, But it was still ticking and Crook was on the bard for the first time in 2023.  Luis Rodriguez then hit the first pitch he saw as a flare to the right side.  He took a Perfect line to third base.  The Philly coach yelled foul, but it was about a foot beyond the 40 foot line and the run was awarded after there was some controversy between the Philly players and their coach.  McCormick then hit the 3rd pitch in a row from Cochran as he raced to third and Krause raced backwards after the ball.  Boston was down 14-9.  Shawn Devenish would then begin a battle and on the 6th pitch, hit a dribbler to Krause who missed it.  Devenish was ruled safe, the play was contested and the call stood.  Five straight runs for Boston.  This brought a struggling Shayne Cantan to the plate,  He hit a hard grounder into left and took off toward third, Krause dove, missed it and then the circus began.  Rhines picked up the ball as Cantan missed third base but Rhines lost the handle on the ball and accidentally flew out of his hands about 10 feet and Cantan scrambled back to third base for the runs.  Rob Dias then hit the first pitch on the fly to the left side.  Casey Krause actually caught the ball on two hops and just beat Dias to the base.  A great play for Krause to help stop the bleeding.  Crook then hit a laser up the middle that would end up hitting the fence in deep center field for his second run of the inning.  Rodriguez then hit another first pitch at bat up the middle on the ground.  The bouncing ball hit Krause right in the chest as he made another great diving play.  Boston had a six run inning.   Nine batters came to the plate and six of them hit the first pitch.  Boston was down 14-12.

Fifth Inning

John Margist would lead off the fifth and strike out for the third time of the game and just the 5th time for Philly all day.  Scott Hogwood then hit a dribbler up the middle.  Rob Dias was there and bobbled it two times but still had it in time to beat Hogwood.  Lezcano was up next and Boston had a great chance to keep the momentum going their way.   He hit the third pitch high in the air to the left side. The ball bounced in front of Dias and after the second bounce Dias picked it up on the second attempt and Lezcano had a big insurance run and is fourth of the game.  Krause then hit a ball up the middle and Shawn Devenish dove to his right side, the ball hit him near his feet but Devenish could not get the ball up in time to stop the speedy Krause.  Justin Rhines would stay hot hitting a bouncer to the left side past Dias and Off Shayne Cant’s T-Rex arms into left field and would score with his speed.   Tyler Rodriguez would end the frame with a bouncing grounder up the middle to Rob Dias.  Philly led 17-12.

Boston hoped the top of their lineup could keep them in the game after the big inning in the 4th.  McCormick was 3-4 in the game and hit the second pitch off the bottom of his bat weakly on the ground to Krause for the first out in the fifth.  Devenish saw four pitches and would strike out for the first time and the 5th for Cochran in the game.  Shayne Cantan lofted a short pop fly to the left side.  Krause sprinted in, Cantan took off too third and Krause beat him on a bang-bang play.  Boston would whimper to  a critical 1-2-3 inning and was down 17-12.

Sixth Inning

Margist then laced a shot into right field that hit the fence to start off the inning.  These two teams should have been playing on the other field that did not have the fence because these two teams are the bigger hitting teams in the East coast.  This fence had come into play too many times in this game.  Thankfully, the safety protocols in place were working perfectly.  Hogwood was next, and with three strikes hit a grounder to the left side.  Cantan dove and missed but McCormick lined it up perfectly for the first out of the inning.  This was significant as Boston did not have a game in all of 2022 where two stops were made in the deep layer of the defense.  Lezcano would whiff for the second out of the inning.  Then just as it happened in the 5th, Boston could not get out of the inning.  Krause hit a grounder up the middle, Devenish slid and just stayed on the ground and few others moved.  The ball was dead and Krause would be back with a 1-2 count.  on the 7th pitch of the at bat, he hit a fly ball up the middle,  Dias tracked it well but Krause slid too early and came up short of the base, giving Dias a chance to make the play.  Dias was not quick enough and Krause was safe for the 5th time of the game.    Rhines then hit a grounder to Rob Dias’ right, Dias did not lay out for it, Shayne used his T-Rex arms again and missed it and McCormick slid by it and  Rhines had his 5th run of the game.  Tyler Rodriguez then hit a grounder up the middle Dias laid out to his left and the ball hit him in the chest and Boston was out of the inning down 20-12.

Boston needed 8 runs to tie, a loft goal, considering they had scored just 12 all game.  Rob Dias would be the leadoff hitter.  On the third pitch of the at bat he hit a line drive up the middle.  Scott Hogwood was right there and made a nice play on a good hit.  Crook then hit a bouncer up the middle that Krause over ran.  Crook was not fast enough and Krause was able to recover for the second out of the inning.  This left Luis Rodriguez as the last hope to keep the game alive.  Luis Dug in, got his base check and called “coach”.  Weissman yelled set but then called for a time out as Cochran was in his wind up.  Nobody knew what was going on, including Cochran.  The ball had stopped beeping in Ron’s hands.  Maybe that was a sign for what was to come the Renegades were dead as well.  Luis took an awful swing and missed and then hit a ground down the first base line that Tyler Rodriguez played perfectly.  The Philly Fire had won 20-12.

Wrap up

Philly was the better team in all facets of the game on this day.  The Boston bats were inconsistent and had three inning where they did not score.  Casey Krause would be the player of the game scoring 5 times in six trips to the plate and making 7 stops in the field,  Justin Rhines also plated five runs as these two guys accounted for 50% of the offense and 60% of the defense.  Boston was paced by Joe McCormick who had three runs and on defense, Rob Dias had 7 stops.

Game #6 – Renegades 12 run the Strong

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Strong	1	0	0	0	0	0		1	12	6
Boston	1	6	4	2	x	x		13	6	5

Strong	AB	R	K	PO		Boston	AB	R	K	PO
DeBrigard	4	0	2	2		McCormick – RS	3	1	0	1
C. Nagle	3	1	2	2		– Regan – RS	2	1	1	1
Quintanilla	3	0	1	1		Devenish – MF	3	2	0	1
Pingel	3	0	1	1		– Thayer – R	1	0	1	0
Kamara	3	0	3	0		Kimball – R/LS	4	3	1	1
Diaz	1	0	1	0		Zuccarello – LS/MF	4	0	1	1
– Slominski	2	0	2	0		Sanchez – DH	4	4	0	—
						Cantan – DF/1B	—	—	—	0
						– Hoyt – DF/1B	—	—	—	0
						Yee – 3B	4	2	2	1
Totals	19	1	12	6		Totals	25	13	6	6
Pitcher- Magpiong						Pitcher- Cochran	24	12	5
						Pitcher – Thomas	1	0	1
						Catcher- R. Weissman
						LS – Caller – Grillo
						RS Caller-Lenicheck

Game Summary

After losing 20-12 to the Philly Fire, Boston then took on the upstart Boston Strong team.  14 year old Matt Debrigard would lead off for the opponent.  He would lift a short pop fly to the left side and Guy Zuccarello would come in to make the stop for the first out of the inning.  Next up was a Big Chris Nagle, a very big height difference from the leadoff hitter.  Nagle would hit a line drive up the middle of the field.  It got past a diving Shawn Devenish and Chris Kimball laid out a beached whale and Chris Nagle had a run as he raised his hands in the air, as it could have possibly been the first run of his career.  After a Quintanilla whiff, Wynter Pingal would come to the plate.  She would get the bat on the ball and hit a dribbler to the right side.  Joe McCormick would come in to make the stop and the Strong led 1-0 heading into the bottom of the first inning.

First inning

Joe McCormick would lead off for the Renegades as a way to get some work since he missed the first four games of the season.  On the third pitch he got a ball off the bottom of the bat that dribbled out to the left side, Matt Debrigard would make the stop.  Shawn Devenish was next and on the first pitch off the bottom of his bat as it trickled just past the 40 foot line to the right side of the field. George Kamara would then have a race with Shawn Devenish.  Devenish would win that race and tie the game at one.  Chris Kimball would strike out on four pitches, that number matched the time of night he arrived in Philly, after staying up late to attend the Ed Sheeran concert in Foxboro.  Guy Zuccarello was up next, looking for his first run of the season.  He launched a fly ball into left field that traveled further than both McCormick and Devenish’s hits combined but Quintanilla would hit the ground and make the play just as Guy ran into third base.  After one frame, the score was 1-1.

Second inning

The second inning for the Strong was not what they were looking for as George Kamara, Christina Diaz and Debrigard all struck out.  Three up and three down.

David Sanchez would  step to the plate for the 100th time in his career.  He would then hit a grounder up the middle and it would elude two defenders as Sanchez had his first run of the season.  Joe Yee was next and hit a line drive into left field and would score with ease running toward first base.  McCormick was next and launched a fly ball to center field for an easy run past the defense.  Shawn Devenish was next and hit a grounder to the left side. Debrigard was able to make the stop and the 14 year old had two stops on the day against two former NBBA league all-star hitters.  Kimball was next and worked the count to three strikes.  Digging in and looking to get a ball in play he then grounded one up the middle and it was a foot race between two kids that may not weight 200 pounds combined! DeBrigard dropped to his knees and the ball rolled by him to his left as Kimball raced to third.  Kimball was able to get to the base and score.  Zuccarello then hit a grounder up the middle. Chris Nagle creeped up on the play and made the stop with plenty of time.  David Sanchez was next and hit a dribbler up the middle of the field and he was able to beat it out for his second run of the contest.  Joe Yee was next and hit a fly ball into left field that bounced over Quintanilla in left field for his second run of the inning.  Joe McCormick was next and hit a line drive up the middle, Chris Nagle took it off the chin but made the stop to end the bleeding.  Boston plated six runs and led 7-1 after two innings.

Third inning

For Boston, Weissman would start rotating players in as Elana Regan entered to replace McCormick.  Nagle would lead off with 4 swings and 4 misses.  This brought up Quintanilla.  After taking the first pitch, he laced a line drive up the middle, Devenish slid to his right and made a nice diving stop for his first stop of the game.  Pingel would whiff making her the last one in the lineup to whiff on the day.

In the bottom of the third, Devenish would lead off the frame.  He would hit a grounder up the middle past Nagle and Quintanilla to lead off the inning with a run.  Kimball would then hit the next pitch on a line up the middle, as he raced to first, Nagle could not get a handle on it and Kimball plated his second run of the game.  Zuccarello was next but would go down on 4 swings for the first out of the inning.  David Sanchez strode to the dish next and hit a dribbler to the right side.  His line to first was bad and he ended up running more than 100 feet as Kamara struggled to locate the ball.  Sanchez was safe easily.  Joe Yee was next and after two lasers, in his first two trips to the plate, he struggled striking out on 5 pitches.  This brought Elana Regan to the plate for her first at bat of the contest.  She hit the first pitch she saw and it was a race between our youngest player and the 14 year old front man for the Strong.  Regan took off toward first base, slid and was safe for his first run of the 2023 season as the team erupted.  That noise continued as Weissman went to the bench again.  This time, Rob Thayer came to the plate and he brought with him our newest pitcher, Dean Thomas.  Thomas, new to the sport had been a Renegade coach for less than a month had wanted to pitch since day one on the team.  He had extensive work with Thayer and Rob wanted to help him get into the game.  Thomas, without a glove took the mound for the first time.  The nerves may have made Dean’s palms sweaty as the first pitch bounced before home plate to the catcher.  Thomas and Thayer made solid contact on the 4th pitch Thomas threw as Thayer launched it down the first base line, but it was foul.  The result of the at bat was a strike out, but the energy Thomas provided was contagious and Boston was pumped up.  After three innings, the Renegades led 11-1.

Fourth inning

The Renegades would continue to sub.  Melissa Hoyt would enter the game and replace Shayne Cantan as the Designated fielder at first base.  Guy Zuccarello vacated the left front spot to move to the mid field spot, vacated by Shawn Devenish.  Rob Thayer moved to left field and Chris Kimball moved up to play the left front slot.  The Strong led off the inning with George Kamara, who struck out for the second time.  They then went to their bench and off popped Bella Slominsky.  This young right handed hitter saw four pitches and took four solid swings.  She had one foul ball, but the result of the at bat was a strike out.  DeBrigard was next and hit a grounder to the left side.  Kimball was there and on his second attempt scooped the ball up for the out and Kimball’s first stop since the 2023 season.  The Renegades led 11-1 heading to the bottom of the 4th.

Chris Kimball would lead off the 4th for Boston and hit a grounder right to DeBrigard, as these two kept challenging each other.  Matt took a few steps back before coming forward and that was the difference as Kimball slid safely into third for his third run of the game.  Zuccarello was next and on the first pitch grounded it to the left side.  On his way out of the box, he groaned to Weissman that he hit another ball to the left side.  Wynter Pingel charged it and fell down as she approached the ball but she recovered in time to make the out.  Sanchez was next and hit a grounder to the left side and it was a race between him and DeBrigard.  Sanchez was quick out of the box and took a perfect line to third.  That base running allowed him to beat Matt to the ball as he bobbled it once and Sanchez had a four run game.  Joe Yee and Elana Regan would whiff to end the frame for Boston.  That would be Joe Yee’s 200th at bat of his career- making him just the 16th player in team history to achieve that milestone.  After four innings, Boston invoked the 12 run rule and was up 13-1.

Fifth and Sixth innings

As Boston took the field for the 5th inning, Lenicheck was waived off the field as the caller on the right side, as the plan was to get Gina Devenish in the game.  However, she was not available and Rob Weissman took the field to the total surprise of the Renegade defense.  As the right side agonized and laughed at their coach, Weissman soon called time out when he saw Gina walking back to the bench from the rest room.  Time was called and the Weissman calling experience was avoided.  Chris Nagle was the leadoff hitter and would strike out for his second time.  This brought up Quintanilla who hit a weak chopper to the right side.  Elana Regan charged it and then moved to her left and picked up the ball for her third stop of her career.  Wynter Pingel then hit the first pitch she saw up the middle past a diving Chris Kimball, but Joe Yee was able to back him up and make the stop, for his first stop of the 2023 season.  That would end the 5th inning.  The sixth inning was uneventful as all three hitters would strike out and the game would be over.

Wrap up

The Renegades would win this contest behind the offense provided by David Sanchez, who plated four runs and Chris Kimball who had three of his own.  Elana Regan was also big in this game as she scored and made a defensive stop for the Renegades.  Chris Nagle and Matt Debrigard were stand out players for the Strong with their defensive efforts as they each had 2 stops each.  For the Renegades, this would be the 27th time in team history they would hold an opponent to one run or less.  It was also the 18th time the Renegades have won by 12 or more runs in a game and the 35th time they had 12-runned an opponent in team history.

Game #7 – Renegades Hold off the Titans 6-5

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	0	2	0	2	2	0		6	9	10
NJ Titans	1	1	0	2	1	0		5	8	9

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		NJ Titans	AB	R	K	PO
McCormick – R	4	3	1	1		Turner	4	3	1	2
Devenish – MF	4	0	2	0		Morgan – DH	4	1	1	—
Dias – LS	4	0	2	6		Cruz – DF	—	—	—	0
Crook – 3B	4	0	1	1		Harrell	4	0	1	1
Sanchez – DH	4	0	3	—		Gonzalez	4	0	2	0
Zuccarello – DF/RS	—	—	—	1		Bordley	4	0	1	2
I. Rodriguez – G	0	0	0	0		George	3	1	1	4
– Regan – 1B	—	—	—	0
– Yee – PH	3	2	0	—
– Cantan – 1B	—	—	—	1
– Kimball – PH	1	1	0	—
Totals	24	6	9	10		Totals	23	5	7	9
Pitcher – Cochran	17	4	6			Pitcher – Dinome
Pitcher – Connolly	7	2	3
Catcher- R. Weissman
LS – Caller .Grillo
RS Caller- Lenicheck

Game Summary

Boston started off the day sending two of their youngest coaches to do the coin toss as Rohan Seth and Rasik Waikar trotted out with orders to win the toss.  They failed and were instantly ridiculed by the Renegade bench as the Renegades were the away team on their home turf.

1st inning

With a growing crowd down the first base line, the concern that the fans would yell during McCormick’s at bat was real.  Sadly, he didn’t make contact and went down on strikes to start things off.  Shawn Devenish was next and hit a weak grounder to the left side.  Randy George ran in and beat Shawn by 2 steps to the bag.  Rob Dias was next and lined a ball past Rady George to left.  Turner and Alfonso Harrell converged on the ball and Alfonso made the stop in the 3rd layer of the defense.  Three up and three down.

For the Renegades Bryan Grillo would call the left side and Jason Lenicheck would call the right side.  The Titans would start the game off with Zach Turner facing his father, Steve Dinome.  Turner would have the same result as McCormick and would go down on strikes despite getting two fouls.  This brought up former NFL prospect and a 2021 WS all-star on offense, Marvin Morgan.  Morgan, the Designated hitter would get to a full count and then hit a grounder down the first base line.  The Renegade’s defensive fielder was Elana Regan.  She took a step in the wrong direction and ran back toward the line, as she approached the ball, she played Pele, and kicked the ball allowing Morgan to score with ease.  Alfonso Harrell then was up next and on the third pitch fouled a ball back that Nestor Gonzalez could not get a glove on and it hit our volunteer base operator in the face.  Time was called to check on her safety and she blurted out that she was mentally tough and wanted the game to continue.  On another full count, Alfonso lofted a fly ball to left field.  It bounced right in front of Drew Crook who made his first stop of the 2023 season beating Alfonso to the base by a few steps.  Next up was Damian Gonzalez.  The lefty hit the first pitch he saw to the left side in the air.  The ball bounced in front of Rob Dias and Dias corralled it in time and after one, the Titans held a 1-0 lead.

2nd inning

Leading off the second would be Drew Crook.  Crook would foul off the first pitch and then lace a hard grounder to third base.  It got past George in a hurry, but Turner made a nice stop to beat Crook by a mile for the first out.  The Renegades switched pitchers as Peter Connolly made his first appearance of the season to face David Sanchez.  Peter, who was finding his groove sailed a few balls over Sanchez’s bat and Sanchez struck out.  This brought Peter’s cousin, Joe Yee to the dish as a pinch hitter for Elana Regan.  On the third pitch, Yee lined a shot down the third base line.  Turner chased after it and bobbled it.  Joe Yee hit third base a hair before Turner had the ball.  The play was contested and the ruling stood as Yee tied up the game.  Joe McCormick was next and hit a roller off the bottom of his bat to the left side.  George ran in and it went by him.  George hit the deck as Mac sprinted toward first.  George inch- wormed on his bely to the ball with his feet facing home and his head facing the outfield.  Tough way to beat McCormick in a race and Mac was safe.  Devenish then got to three strikes and hit a grounder up the middle.  Lamont Bordley was there to make the stop with ease.  After one and a half innings, the Renegades led 2-1.

To start off the 2nd inning. Shayne Cantan came in to play defense as Joe Yee was pulled from the game.  Bordley hit a grounder to the right side.  Zuccarello dove and missed and Shayne Cantan picked up the ball on a bang-bang play.  The initial call on the field was safe.  Weissman contested the play and after a long discussion with the volunteer umpire, the play was over turned to the dismay of the Titans.  Tension was starting to grow in this game as the umpire was not well trained to conduct the game and the game was going to be close.  Randy George was next and he would go down on swings.  Zach Turner was next and hit a line drive down the first base side that died at about 100 feet.  Cantan was slow to move to the ball.  He needed to be more aggressive with Turner’s speed, and missed an opportunity as Turner tied it up. Marvin Morgan then hit the 5th pitch he saw up the right middle of the field, Zuccarello moved to his right and dove, knocking it down as it hit his body and rolled just under him.  Guy was able to recover in time as Marvin took a bad line and was short of the base.  After two full frames, the games was knotted at two apiece.

3rd inning

The third inning would be uneventful for Boston on offense.  Rob Dias would go down on strikes to start off the inning.  Drew Crook would hit a line drive up the middle of the field,  It took one hop and hit Bordley in the chest and then bounced off him.  Bordley had plenty of time to recover from the gun shot to his chest and stopped Crook with plenty of time.  This brought Connolly back to the mound and Sanchez to the plate.  The two could not connect and Sanchez was down on strikes for the second straight time.  This was the Renegades 4th whiff of the game.

The third was also unkind to the Titans.  Alfonso Harrel led off and hit a short high fly ball around 50 feet in front of Rob Dias.  Rob charged it, slid and made a great play with plenty of time to get Alfonso who was running to third.    That would be all they would get as Gonzalez and Bordley would strike giving the Titans four whiffs in the game.

4th inning

Heading into the top of the 4th inning, The Renegades would go back to the bench and take out Shayne Cantan and go back to Joe Yee to hit.  Yee laced a no doubter that John Cruz could not handle and Yee was safe for his second run of the game.  Joe McCormick then hit a first pitch grounder to the left side sending George running back toward Turner.  McCormick scored for his second time in the game as all of the offense was provided by a Renegade named Joe.  Sadly, that momentum would not build as Shawn Devenish struck out.  Then things would get heated again with Rob Dias at the plate would hit a high short fly ball that landed 1 inch past the forty foot line.  The volunteer umpire called foul ball on a play that would have been very close as Dias was flying down the line and George was on his feet.  To the dismay of the Renegades, the play was called dead and Dias would eventually strike out.  More bad luck for Boston as Drew hammered the first pitch down the third base line.  The volunteer umps turned off the base as Crook trotted to third.  The Titans called dead ball.  The play was a mess.  Ultimately, the ball was called dead.  Crook would then fare the same way as Dias and would strike out as Boston had 7 whiffs thru the first 4 innings.  Boston led 4-2.

In the bottom of the 4th inning, Randy George would lead off the inning as the third base bag was having issues and would delay the game.  Oddly enough, Nestor Gonzalez was able to fix the Renegade’s base.  More odd stuff would occur as Randy George fouled the first pitch right off his own face.  He would shake it off.  George would then hit a grounder under the dive of Rob Dias and straight to Joe McCormick.  Mac would be frozen and was waiting for it to get to him as George ran to third.  It was a bang-bang play and the call was safe.  Zach Turner was next but the game would be delayed as third base was having issues.  Thanks to the Long Island Bombers, we had a replacement.  After a 7 minute delay, the game resumed. Turner would hit a high short fly ball up the middle of the field.  Dias took a bad line to the ball and was able to recover, and another bang-bang play went to Jersey as Turner’s speed was the difference on this play.  This tied the game up at four a piece.  Marvin Morgan would whiff, Alfonso Harrel would whiff and that would bring Damien Gonzalez to the plate.  On the first pitch of his at bat he hit a grounder to the right side where Zuccarello would be close to making a play when the umpire made a bad call and called foul ball as the NJ coach was visibly upset, and rightfully so.  The pitch would not count and Gonzalez would have a fresh count and would strike out.  After four frames. both teams had four runs each in this tie game.

5th Inning

Between innings, the volunteer umpire tagged out of the game as she was not having a good time and was struggling to run the game.  Joe Bourque took her place as the umpire; he is the most fair person who has ever umped a Renegade game in team history.  He also hustles and runs all over the field when he umpires.  The Titans were suspect but accepted the change.  Peter Connolly would then toe the mound to face David Sanchez who would hit the third pitch of the at bat down the third baseline.  Randy George made the stop with ease.  This brought Chris Kimball off the bench to pinch hit for the first time in the game for Elana Regan off Ron Cochran.  He tipped the first pitch and then hit a grounder up the middle which sent George running back into the defense as Kimball slid too early into first but still made it in time for the go ahead run.  This brought the hot Joe McCormick to the plate who hit a high fly ball that landed over George’s head and in front of Turner.  This was Mac’s third run of the game and his 317th run in team history.  This moved him into first place all-time passing Larry Haile who played with the renegades from 2005-2019.  Devenish would continue to be inconsistent, would foul one ball off (actually hitting it twice) and eventually strike out. Dias would then hit a weak grounder up the middle which George would charge with aggressiveness and Dias would be out.  Boston led 6-4.

Shayne Cantan would come back on to the field to replace Chris Kimball as Lamont Bordley stepped to the plate.  He would hit a short ball down the third base line and Rob Dias came in on it and picked up the ball that had stopped rolling before Bordley made it to first.  Randy George then hit a grounder to the left side. Dias took off to his right, slid feet first, over running it but he stopped it with his hands for the second out of the inning.  Turner was next, and leading the Titan offense with 2 of their runs in this match.  Turner went back to Dias on the third straight ball almost in the same spot as Bordley.  This time the ball got past Dias and died before Drew Crook and Turner made the game 6-5.  Marvin Morgan was next, swung and missed three straight times as tension built, took a pitch and then fouled off a pop fly.  He would whiff to ended the inning.  After five frames, Boston led 6-5.

6th inning

Drew Crook would lead off for the Renegades in the 6th inning.  He would hit the third pitch of the at bat in the air to the left side.  Zach Turner and Alfonso Harrel would converge on the ball and Turner made a nice play for the first out of the inning.  Sanchez was next with Peter Connolly on the mound.  He would foul one pitch off and strike out for the third time of the game.  This brought Joe Yee back to the plate as a pinch hitter for Shayne Cantan.  Yee would stay red hot and hit a line drive up the middle.  Lamont Bordley would make a great stop sliding to his left for the third out of the inning.  Boston could not get any insurance.  Boston led 6-5.

Heading into the bottom of the 6th inning, Boston subbed Elana Regan back in for Joe Yee on defense.  The Titans had their 3-4-5 hitters up and they were combined 0-9 with 4 whiffs in this game.  Alfonso Harrell would lead off.  He was 0-3 and was stopped in the first by Crook, Dias in the 3rd and whiffed in the 4th.  Harrel hit the second pitch in the air that landed in front of Rob Dias.  Dias had to wait for the bounce and then pounced on it making a stop on a bang-bang play that went uncontested.  This brought the lefty, Gonzalez to the plate.  He would work the count full, foul a ball off and then hit a weak grounder to the left side. Dias over ran it but recovered with Gonzalez still about 10 feet from the back for the last out.  This brought up Bordley who had been stopped by Cantan in the 2nd, whiffed in the 3rd and was stopped by Dias in the 5th.  He laced the first pitch into left field, Crook lined it up, laid out and it missed his hands by less than six inches and rolled by him.  Bordley was racing to third as McCormick was racing to back up Crook.  McCormick slid past the ball, but Bordley missed the base.  McCormick was able to recover before Bordley did and that was the ball game.

Wrap up

Boston would hold on to win this match.  The players of the game for Boston would be Joe McCormick who plated three runs and made one huge defensive stop.  Joe Yee also played two runs and Rob Dias made 6 stops on defense.  For New Jersey, Zach Tuner (3 runs) would be the stand out on offense and Randy George would pace the defense with three stops.

Game #8 – Boston 12 runs Long Island in the 3rd inning winning 15-9

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Long Island	2	0	0	1	1	5		9	9	6
Boston	3	7	5	x	x	x		15	6	9

Long Island	AB	R	K	PO		Boston	AB	R	K	PO
Wee Ellis	5	1	3	0		McCormick – RS	4	4	0	1
Barrera	5	3	1	2		– Dias – RS	—	—	—	2
Suarez	5	0	3	0		Devenish – DH	3	1	1	—
C. Dejesus	4	3	1	2		– I. Rodriguez – DH	1	0	1	—
Thorne	2	0	0	1		Yee – DF/3B	—	—	—	1
– Erickson	2	1	0	—		– Hoyt – DF/3B	—	—	—	1
Weeks	4	1	1	1		Kimball – R	3	2	0	0
						– Regan – LS	1	1	0	1
						L. Rodriguez – 1B	3	2	0	0
						– Mireault – R	1	1	0	0
						Cantan – MF	4	3	0	1
						Zuccarello – LS	3	1	1	2
						– Thayer – 1B	1	0	0	0
						– Crook – 1B	—	—	—	0
Totals	27	9	9	6		Totals	24	15	3	9
Pitcher – Sciortino						Pitcher- Cochran	19	12	2
						Pitcher – Connolly	5	3	1
						Catcher- R. Weissman
						LS – Caller – Lenicheck 1-3
						LS – Caller – Grillo 4-6
						RS Caller-Connolly

Game Summary

Riding a 21 game win streak, the Renegades looked to get things going against the Long Island Bombers.  Keep in mind, this rivalry started off with Long Island owning a 7 game win streak.  Long Island last beat Boston in 2012.  Boston would actually win the coin toss in this game as Luis Soto and Tyler Mireault represented the team with pride.

The lineup in this game would be a little different,  The callers to start the game would be Jason Lenicheck on the left side and Peter Connolly on the right side.  Joe McCormick would start at the right shorty spot.  Joe Yee would be the DF and start at third.  Chris Kimball got the start at the rover position.  Luis Rodriguez started at first base.  Shayne Cantan was at the mid field slot and Guy Zuccarello moved over to the left shorty position.  This is how the game would start, but only one of them (Cantan) would end the game in the same position.

First inning

The Bombers had flown in their long time pitcher, James Sciortino to pitch.  This meant Boston would expect a higher rate of contact.  The leadoff hitter for Long Island was Melchion Wee Ellis.  Wee Ellis had been on the roster for a few years but injuries had prevented him from playing, so this was his first game against the Renegades.  The slight speedster struck out to start the game.  This brought the switch hitter, Alex Barrera to the plate hitting from the right side. On a full count, he would hit a ball that landed on the coffin corner, right where the foul line meets the 40 foot line.  Zuccarello was slow to the ball and Alex beat him on a bang-bang play.  Long Island drew first blood.  Alvin Suarez was next and hit a line drive off the pitcher hitting him near his chin, thankfully he was wearing a mask.  He would stay in the game.  He would hit a dribbler up the middle and Joe McCormick would range to his right, slide and make a perfect play for the 2nd out of the inning.  This brought Chris DeJesus to the dish.  He hit a weak pop into the coffin corner on the left side.  Zuccarello ran in and was there in time, but could not find the ball as it was under his body.  Long Island led 2-0.  This brought up the only player in their lineup who was on that Bomber team that owned the Renegades from 2002-2007, Braulio Thorne.  Thorne grounded it to the left side, past a diving Zuccarello as Joe Yee slid to his left to make the stop on the ball that had died in the grass.

Joe McCormick would lead off this game and hit a weak pop fly down the first base line. Braulio Thorne would have a tough time winning this race and McCormick had Boston on the board.  Shawn Devenish was next.  He also tested the right side and Thorne, this time the ball was on the ground and Thorne made the play before Devenish got to first base.  Chris Kimball was next and hit  ball up the middle and Kimball scored, but the ball ticked off Ron Cochran and the play was called dead.  He would then foul off three pitches before hitting a grounder to the left side which Chris DeJesus stopped with ease.  This brought Luis Rodriguez up for his first at bat of the tournament.  He would hit a short pop up to the left side, DeJesus may have gotten a bad call as he hit the ground too early and they could not recover as Rodriguez was fast down the third base line.  Shayne Cantan was next with Peter Connolly taking the mound.  Cantan lofted a fly ball to center field and would score to give the Renegades the lead.  Guy Zuccarello was next and hit a fly ball to the right side.  Thorne gave up on it and Weeks came charging in.  The out was called but replays show that Weeks did not have the ball off the ground and Zuccarello should have been safe.  After one inning, Boston led 3-2

Second Inning

Robert Weeks would lead off for the Bombers and would go down on strikes to get things started.  Melchion Wee Ellis was next and hit a fly ball up the middle. Shayne Cantan crept up from his spot at midfield and made a nice aggressive play.  Alex Barrera, who scored the first run of the game, was next, hitting right handed.  Alex grounded it weekly to the left side and Guy Zuccarello stopped it with ease for a 1-2-3 inning.

Joe McCormick would lead off in the second inning.  His first swing would send a fly ball foul down the left field side.  It would strike third base on the fly.  He would then send a hard grounder up the middle that Alex Barrera would chase to his left and it would come to stop before getting to Alvin Suarez in the third layer for Mac’s 2^nd run of the game.  Shawn Devenish would go down on strikes.  Chris Kimble, looking to get on the board in this game was next.  On the second pitch, he would hit a dribbler in front of Chris DeJesus.  Kimball would win the race of the Chris’s to get his first run of the game.  Luis Rodriguez would test Chris DeJesus again in a weak hit up the middle.  Rodriguez took a great line to third and won the foot race for his second run of the contest. Pete Connolly then took Shayne Cantan to the left side coffin corner.  DeJesus would make this play in time.  Guy Zuccarello, who was robbed in the first on a bad call, looking for the first hit of his season would line the second pitch off Cochran up the middle.  DeJesus would dive and miss and Barrera dove and it went off his legs, the ball rolled away and it was too far away from any player to stop Guy from scoring the first run of his season.  Back to the top of the order, McCormick worked the count to 1-2 and lined a ball to the right side past the Long Island defense.  Devenish would then hit a grounder up the right side middle, Long Island defenders would all hit the ground, but nobody was close as Devenish scored his first run of the  contest.  Kimball would next hit a line drive to the right side.  Weeks slid to his right, dove and picked up the ball right after Kimball hit first base.  Luis Rodriguez then lofted a pop fly up the middle and would make this play closer than it should have been because he took two steps to the wrong base. Alex Barrera would hit the ground and pick it up to make the stop.  Boston plated seven runs to take a 10-2 lead.

Third Inning

The Long Island bats would then go silent.  Alvin Suarez and Chris DeJesus would strike out to start things off.  Big Braulio Thorne was next and on a full count grounded a ball to the left side to Guy Zuccarello for a 1-2-3 inning.

Shayne Cantan would lead off the bottom of the third, looking to get something going off Peter Connolly.  Cantan would hit a grounder down the third base line that would get past a diving DeJesus and he would beat Wee Ellis to third base.  Zuccarello would strike out on four pitches.  McCormick was next and grounded a ball up the middle, DeJesus went to the end of his zone responsibility and Braulio Thorne didn’t move as McCormick plated his fourth run of the game. Weissman would go to the bench and get Ivan Rodriguez into the game as the designated hitter in his first appearance of the season.  Peter Connolly was in the game to face him.  Ivan would tip the second pitch but swing and miss on the next two pitches and would go down on strikes.  Elana Regan would pinch hit for Chris Kimble against Ron Cochran.  She fouled off three straight pitches.  She then tagged a line drive down the third base line and sprinted toward first and scored.  As the cheering was going on, rookie, Tyler Mireault stepped into the box for his first ever at bat.  Mireault, did not have his own game shirt yet as it was in the mail, was wearing #9, thanks to Zuccarello.  He fouled off the third pitch for the first contact of his career.  He hit the 4th pitch to the left side and stood at home plate as the ball went foul.  Weissman chatted with him about the importance of running out all hits.  Tyler then lofted a fly ball to the left side and stumbled out of the box as he turned to third base.  The ball landed behind Chris DeJesus and Alex Barrera was frozen.  Mireault picked up speed and beat Barrera to the ball as the Renegade bench was all waiting at home plate to congratulate Tyler on his first run.  Mireault joined Aqil Sajjad, David Sanchez and Drew Crook as one of just four Renegades to score in their first at bat.  Shayne Cantan was next, with Peter Connolly back on the mound.  He would tag the second pitch into left center field past everyone for the 15th run of the contest.  Rob Thayer would get his first appearance of the day, hitting for Guy Zuccarello.   Thayer would ground it up the middle as Alex Barrera would make the second stop of his game.

Fourth Inning

Boston would lead 15-2 and the game would be in the 12-run rule.  Weissman had to change the entire defensive lineup.  Rob Thayer would play first base.  Tyler Mireault would move to rover, Melissa Hoyt would play third, Elana Regan would move to the left shorty spot.  Rob Dias would come off the bench to play the right shorty.  The only player who stayed in the field was Shayne Cantan.  Bryan Grillo would also replace Jason Lenicheck as the left side caller.  Robert Weeks would lead off the fourth and ground a ball up the right middle of the field.  Rob Dias would make the play.  Wee Ellis would hit a fly ball to the right side.  Rob Thayer would freeze in his track and just point at the ball, Dias sprinted back to try to make the play, but Wee Ellis legged it out for the run.  Alex Barrera hitting right handed and Alvin Suarez would strike out to end the fourth.

Fifth Inning

Heading into the 5th, Drew Crook would enter to play first base to replace Rob Thayer.  Chris DeJesus would lead off and hit a grounder up the middle. Elana Regan would move to her left and over run the ball slightly as the ball hit her in the leg as she went to the ground, she struggled to find the ball as DeJesus hit third base safely on a close play.  Long Island went to the bench for Edgar Erickson to hit for Thorne.  He would hit a line drive up the middle and Rob Dias would scoot over from the right side to make the play.  Robert Weeks was next and he hit a grounder at Elana Regan. She hit the ground and realized it was not going to make it to her and she scooted forward to make the stop.  Wee Ellis would strike out to end the fifth inning.  With the game in a 12 run rule, Boston led 15-4

Sixth inning

Alex Barrera would lead off the 6th inning batting from the right side.  He lofted a fly ball to the left side over Elana Regan.  Melissa Hoyt may have been playing a tad too deep.  By the time she attacked the ball, Alex was safe on a close play.  Alvin Suarez would whiff for the third straight time and the 7th time for Long Island.  Chris DeJesus was next and hit a fly ball at Elana Regan, but she took two steps to the middle of the field and then could not recover as DeJesus had his third run of the game.  Edgar Erickson then hit a grounder down the third base line that died around 65 feet.  Regan took a poor line to the ball as it never made it out to her, she then dropped to the ground and crawled to it giving Erickson his first run of the game. Robert Weeks was next and hit another grounder at Elana.  She went down diving to her left and the ball rolled under her feet.  She heard Rob Dias backing her up, but by the time he could get to the ball Weeks was safe for his second run of the game.  Wee Ellis whiffed for the third time for the 2nd out of the inning.  Alex Barrera then hit a grounder down the right side.  Dias had to give chase as he was left alone on that side of the field.  Barrera scored with ease.  Alvin Suarez was next.  He hit a line drive at Elana Regan who got caught running up the middle on the call.  Melissa Hoyt took charge and yelled, “mine” as she grabbed the ball for the final out and her 3rd career stop.  Long Island would plate 5 runs in the 6th inning.

Wrap up

Boston would win this game with ease with their second 12 run victory of the 2023 season.  Joe McCormick would pace the offense with four runs.  Shayne Cantan would also pitch in with a trifecta of his own.  Guy Zuccarello and Rob Dias would each pace the defense with two stops each.  The big story in this game was the run scoring effort of rookie, Tyler Mireault.  Long Island was paced by Alex Barrera and Chris who each scored three runs and made two stops on defense.

Game #9 – Philly Routes the Renegades 16-3

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	1	1	0	0	0	1		3	3	8
Philly	1	1	0	2	1	0		5	8	9

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		Philly	AB	R	K	PO
McCormick – R/LS/RS	3	2	1	4		Rhines	5	4	1	1
– Regan – PH	1	0	0	—		T. Rodriguez	5	2	0	5
Devenish – MF	3	0	1	1		Margist	5	3	2	1
– Thayer – PH	1	0	0	—		S. Hogwood	5	2	0	0
Dias – LS	2	0	0	1		Silver	4	3	1	0
– Mireault – R	0	0	0	0		C. Krasue	4	2	0	8
– L. Rodriguez – R	1	0	0	0
– I. Rodriguez – PH	1	0	1	—
Cantan – 1B	2	0	0	0
Sanchez – DH	3	0	0	—
Zuccarello- DF/RS-LS	—	—	—	2
Crook-3B	2	0	0	0
– Mireault – PH	1	1	0	—
Totals	20	3	3	8		Totals	28	16	4	15
Pitcher – Cochran	16	3	2			Pitcher – P. Krause
Pitcher – Connolly	5	0	1
Catcher- R. Weissman
LS – Caller .Grillo
RS Caller- Lenicheck

Game Summary

First inning

After losing the coin toss, the Renegades were the visiting team.  Joe McCormick would lead off for Boston with Ron Cochran pitching.  Mac would hit the second pitch down the first base line.  Tyler Rodriguez would slide to his left and as he went down to get the ball, he booted it into toward the lie, and that lack of a clean play allowed Mac to score easily into first base.  Shawn Devenish was next and hit the third pitch down the third base line.  Casey Krause slid to the line with ease but the ball never made it to him, he was able to recover in time to get Devenish.  Rob Dias worked the count to three strikes before hitting a grounder right to Casey Krause on the left side. This brought Peter Connolly to the mound to face Shayne Cantan.  Cantan lofted a line drive into left field.  Justin Rhines ranged to his right, slid and picked up the ball in deep left field before Cantan hit the base. A great play by Rhines.  Boston only got one run in the first frame.

For the Renegades, Bryan Grillo would call the left side and Jason Lenicheck would call the right side.  Justin Rhines would lead off after making a great play to end the first inning.  He would ground the ball to the left side, but the base switch operator was slow in getting the base on and the play would be redone.  Rhines then hit another grounder right at Rob Dias.  Dias was frozen and stood his ground.  It rolled to him slowly and Rob’s lack of aggressiveness allowed Rhines to score. Tyler Rodriguez then smoked a line drive down the first base line and nobody had a chance on this for Boston as the Fire took the lead.  John Margist would whiff for the first out.  Scott Hogwood then lofted a fly ball to center field.  McCormick over ran it by a step but was able to recover and make the stop with plenty of time to get Hogwood for the 2nd out of the inning.  Nick Silver struck out to end the inning.  After one full inning, the Fire led 2-1.

Second Inning

In the top of the 2nd inning, Connolly stayed on the mound to face David Sanchez.  Sanchez hit the first pitch to the right side.  Tyler Rodriguez got his body in front of it but it rolled up and over him.  He was able to recover in time to make the stop.  Drew Crook was next as Ron Cochran came back to the mound.  He hit the second pitch up the middle and Casey Krause slid to his left, dove and made a perfect stop.  This brought Joe McCormick back to the plate.  He hit a hard grounder past Casey Krause, but  the base was late.  Mac called late base but the umpires were not trained well and called late base in the middle of the play. McCormick did the exact same thing , sending a bouncer over Casey Krause.  Philly would contest the call, but the play would stand.  Shawn Devenish then sent the third pitch in the air up the middle of the field.  Tyler Rodriguez came over to make a nice stop to end the inning.

Casey Krause would lead off the 2nd for Philly.  He would hit a room service grounder right to Rob Dias and was stopped very quickly for the first out.   Rhines would hit a grounder to Dias but we would have the third issue with a last base in this game.  At this point, the Philly head coach asked for a new base operator and a change was made.  Rhines would strike out bringing Tyler Rodriguez to the dish.    He would hit a grounder to the right side as Guy Zuccarello charged it and made the play.  After two innings, the game was tied at Two,

Third Inning

Rob Dias would lead off for the Renegades.  He hit the second pitch off his hands to the right side to Tyler Rodriguez.  During the play, he felt something in his leg and Mike Marciello started to work with him to see if he could stay in the game.  This brought Connolly back to the mound to face Shayne Cantan.  Shayne lofted a fly ball up the middle of the field.  Casey Krause moved to the middle and converged on it with two other defenders and made the play.  Sanchez hit the first pitch he saw down the right side right to Tyler Rodriguez.  Boston went down 1-2-3 on just 4 pitches.

As Boston took the field, it was decided to take Dias out of the game with the World Series being two weeks away.  Tyler Mireault would get the call to play rover while Joe McCormick moved up to play the left short position, vacated by Dias.   John Margist would find the rookie to start off the inning.,  He hit a line drive that got out to the 2nd layer and got under a diving Shawn Devenish and bounced off a diving Tyler Mireault for the go ahead run.  Scott Hogwood then hit a scorching grounder to the left, Crook thought he had it lined up but it would go off his hands and roll past him.  Mireault was there but Crook did not call for help and Hogwood was save. Nick Silver then lofted a fly ball up the middle.  McCormick tried to line up the ball and Silver missed third base, but Mac could not get the ball off the ground for the third straight run.  Krause then hit a grounder to the left side and McCormick dropped immediately, but the ball was hit to his left and he was on the ground waiting for it.  Devenish gave chase but could not get it in time to beat the speedy Krause.  Rhines then smashed a ball on the ground to the left side, past McCormick, under Devenish and over Mireault for a run.  Tyler Rodriguez then hit a line drive up the middle past a diving Devenish.  This was six straight hitters and six straight scores.  Margist up for the second time in the inning.  He hit a dribbler up the left side. McCormick took a bad line at the ball running to the center of the field before cutting back to his right, dropping before the ball and crawling to it.  Margist was safe.  Hogwood then hit a dribbler down the third base line, McCormick over dove it but recovered to pick it up for the first out of the inning. Silver then lofted  high fly ball right at Drew Crook, Drew laid out and picked up the ball fast, bit no fast enough to get Silver.  Krause was next and hit a dribbler up the middle, McCormick and Zuccarello charged it, Krause missed the bag just as McCormick picked the ball up.  Justin Rhines stepped in and hit a fly ball to the middle of the field.  Shayne Cantan picked it up a hair after Rhines hit the base.  Tyler Rodriguez then hit a grounder at McCormick, Mac laid out it rolled by him, but Rodriguez missed third base, giving McCormick time to make the play.    Philly scored 9 runs in the frame but could have scored more if they had run better bases.  This marked the 15th time in team history that an opponent had scored at least 9 runs in an inning.  The last time was in the first inning vs the Indy Edge in the 2022 WS when they let up 12 runs (the record was 12 against the Indy Thunder in the 2017 WS).

Fourth Inning

Boston needed an answer or this game was in danger of getting into the mercy rule. Drew Crook did not waste time as he hit the first pitch on the ground up the middle past Krause and Margist bobbled it.  Margist had plenty of time to regroup and make the play.  McCormick was next and struck out as he slammed his bat on the way back to the bench in frustration of how the game had gone.  Devenish would not fare much better as he also struck out.  The Renegades limped back into defense down 11-2.

Heading into the bottom of the 4th, Luis Rodriguez entered the game to replace Tyler Mireault.  John Margist would lead off for the second inning in a row.  He would blast a ball to right center, Cantan was there, on his knees waiting for the bounce, but it bounced by him and even though Margist missed the base, he was safe as the ball rolled into no-man land.  Hogwood then hit a grounder to the left side.  Zuccarello had shifted over to the left side at the start of the inning.  He would charge it, over run it and pick it up but Hogwood beat it out.  The Renegades contested the call, but the play stood.  Nick Silver lofted a ball to the right side in the air.  McCormick gave chase and slid running back into the defense and almost made the play but Silver was safe.  Krause then hit a fly ball to the right side, McCormick charged it but it landed almost where he started and Krause was safe.  Rhines then hit a weak grounder up the middle, the call must have fooled Grillo as nobody charged it.  by the time Zuccarello adjusted, it was too late and Rhines was safe.  Tyler Rodriguez had a chance to make it two straight innings where everyone scored.  He hit a grounder to left center.  Devenish got on his horse and took off, slid and stopped the ball on a rangy play by Devenish for his first stop of the game.  Margist would strike out for the second time of the game.  Hogwood would hit a grounder and Guy Zuccarello would stop the bleeding.  Philly put the game into the 12 run rule up 16-2.

Fifth and sixth Inning

As the Renegades came in, Weissman announced that everyone was getting into the game.,  It was time to figure out how to do that. Luis Rodriguez would lead off after playing an inning in the field.  He hit the first pitch hard down the third base line.  Krause took a hard angle that took him over 100 feet behind first base and made a great play to stop Rodriguez.  Joe Yee would come off the bench to face his cousin and hit the first pitch to the right side where Tyler Rodriguez was waiting for it for the out.  David Sanchez would stay in the game and hit a 40 foot coffin corner, Krause would race forward, bobble it and make the play.  Tyler Mireault would then re-enter the game and hit for Crook.  He hit a line drive past everyone on the right side and would score on a laser hit into right field.  He became just the second Renegade in team history to score in his first two at bats (Drew Crook was the other player in 2019).  Elana Regan hit for McCormick and hit a grounder down the left field side and Krause made the stop.  Rob Thayer entered the game and grounded it up the middle, to who else, Casey Krause.  Ivan Rodriguez would enter the game and face Peter Connolly.  He would swing and miss four straight times and that was the ball game.

Wrap up

This was the first time in team history that the team from Philly had ever 12-runned the Renegades.  The stars of the game were Casey Krause who scored twice and had 8 stops on defense and Justin Rhines who scored 4 times and had one stop in deep left field.  For the Renegades, there was not a lot to celebrate other than Tyler Mireault who scored the second run of his career and flew down the base path showing off what he is capable of and hopefully getting him excited for his 2024 season!

Game #10 – Boston takes the wind out of the Hurricanes 18-6

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Houston	2	0	2	1	0	1		6	13	6
Boston	4	6	2	6	x	x		18	6	5

Houston	AB	R	K	PO		Boston	AB	R	K	PO
Syphers- DH	4	0	4	—		McCormick – R	5	2	2	1
Perry – DF	—	—	—	0		– Hoyt – MF	—	—	—	0
– Quick – DF	—	—	—	2		Devenish – MF	5	5	0	0
Boudreaux	2	1	1	0		– I. Rodriguez – R	—	—	—	0
– Navarro	2	1	0	2		Yee – DH	4	1	2	—
Walters	4	1	2	0		– Sanchez – DH	1	0	1	—
Marquez	4	1	2	1		Dias – DF/LS	—	—	—	1
Hutchins	4	1	2	0		Cantan – 3B	4	3	0	0
Biggins	2	1	0	1		– Regan – 1B	1	0	1	0
– Harrison	2	0	2	—		L. Rodriguez – 1B	5	4	0	0
						– Crook 3B	—	—	—	0
						I. Rodriguez – G	—	—	—	—
						– Zuccarello – RS	2	1	0	3
						– Crook – PH	2	1	0	—
						– Kimball – RS	1	1	0	0
Totals	24	6	13	6		Totals	30	18	6	5
Pitcher – Burris	16	4	9			Pitcher- Cochran	21	14	3
Pitcher- Gonzalez	8	2	4			Pitcher – Connolly	9	4	3
						Catcher- R. Weissman
						LS-Caller – Grillo
						RS Caller- Lenicheck

Game Summary

Kicking off Pool play in the 2023 World Series, the Renegades traveled to Norman, Oklahoma for their 21st World series in their history.  An 8:30 am start and clear blue skies would kick off the game with temps starting in the 80’s and would climb to the 90’s as the game progressed.  These two teams faced off in 2022  with the Renegades eliminating the Hurricanes from contention by twelve running them 18-5 in five innings. Houston, in their second year had learned a lot.  Boston started the game as the home team as Bryan Grillo and Jason Lenicheck took the filed with the defense.  It was expected to be a high scoring affair as the fields were lightning fast.

First inning

For Houston, they would deploy a pitching rotation of two pitchers, Kyle Burris and John Gonzalez.  Each pitcher would have his set of hitters in the lineup.  The game started with Burris on the bump and four swings and 4 misses by Tim Syphers as he kicked off the series with a whiff.  Blake Boudreaux, the former league president was next and with four consecutive foul balls drilled a line drive down the third base line.  Shayne Cantan hit the ground late, as the ball got under him. Joe McCormick sprinted over and hit the ground sliding a good ten feet past the ball as Blake drew first blood.  Cantan would be charged with an error on the play.  Jason Walters would strike out on 4 pitches and that would bring John Gonzalez to the mound to face John Marquez.  Gonzalez really brings the heat and Marquez hit a dribbler up the middle to a charging Rob Dias.  Dias charged, slid on his knees and lost the ball under his legs.  By the time he picked up the ball, Marquez was safe as Dias made the second error for the Renegades in the inning.  This brought up Roy Hutchins, who joined the Hurricanes just a few weeks prior when his team, the BCS Outlaws chose not to attend the series after two family members on their team suddenly passed away.  Playing with a heavy heart, he struck out to end the first.  Three whiffs, but two runs in and Houston led 2-0

Joe McCormick would lead off for Boston and would follow the pattern that Houston set as he swung and missed 3 times, took a pitch for timing and then whiffed against Ron Cochran.  Shawn Devenish was next and on the second pitch hit a dribbler down the third base line that Jason Walters gave chase to and Devenish won the foot race to score the first run of the 2023 series for Boston.  Joe Yee, who had been mashing all season earned the three spot as his cousin, Peter Connolly came to the mound to pitch.  Yee had a similar at bat to McCormick as he swung and missed twice, then took a pitch to calm down, fouled off a pitch back to the catcher and struck out.  Shayne Cantan was next, facing Connolly.  Shayne would work the count to three strikes and hit a bouncing grounder to the left side and would score.  Luis Rodriguez was next and on the first pitch from Ron Cochran hit a weak fly ball to the left side and slammed his body into first base and the ground for the go ahead run.  This brought Drew Crook to the plate, pinch hitting for Guy Zuccarello and on the first pitch, he hit a laser up the middle of the field for the 3rd consecutive run of the match.  McCormick would come back to the dish and he fouled tipped the first pitch but would have the same end result, a whiff to end the inning.  After one full inning, Boston led 4-2.

Second inning

Heading into the second inning, Chris Kimball would replace Drew Crook and would head to the right shorty position.  Doug Biggins, hitting out of the six hole would lead off and hit a line drive up the middle which screamed by a diving Devenish and McCormick sprinted to his right, dove and made a nice play deep in the defense for the top stop of the game so far.  Syphers and Boudreaux would whiff to end the inning as Boston would hold a 4-2 lead after one and a half innings.

Devenish would lead off the bottom of the second but before he could bat, Houston took out Blake Boudreaux who injured his wrist.  PJ Navarro would replace him.  Devenish would hit a line drive up the middle of the field sending Doug Biggins on his horse. Devenish missed third base but still had time to come back and hit it for the first run of the inning.  Yee was next with Connolly back on the mound.  They connected on the first pitch on a grounder to the left side.  It got past a sliding Walters and rolled out to the third layer and Biggins laid out but missed it as Yee got on the board for his first World Series hit since 2019. Cantan would hit the first pitch as well in the air to the left side and score the third straight run.  Luis Rodriguez was next and also hit the first pitch off Cochran to the right side but was stopped by John Marquez but may have been safe if not for the banana line he took going to the base.  Chris Kimball was next and hit the first pitch hard to the right side and scored running toward first base, blowing up the base.  Kimball was slow to his feet after the play as he was attended to by the Renegade medical staff.  McCormick then hit the second pitch in the air to the left side and beat the play out, but the play was called foul and they started over.  Mac then hit the next ball on the ground up the middle and scored running toward first base.  Devenish came back to the plate with a 9-2 lead.  Devenish hit a dribbler up the middle as he beat Walters to the base for his second run of the inning and third of the game.  Yee would hit a line drive down the third base line.  PJ Navarro angled back from the third base side, dove and made a terrific play to stop Yee from scoring for the second out.  Cantan then hit a grounder up the middle and yelled late base as he ran to first. His base running was off line and that cost him the run as Boston led 10-2 after two frames as the team headed into a mandatory time out (the umpire did not award him a late base).  Two bad base lines may have prevented this game from getting into the twelve run rule in the second inning.

Third inning

Heading into the third inning, Jason Walters would lead off for Houston with his pitching wedge.  He hit a line drive up the middle past a diving Devenish and a diving McCormick for a run.  Marquez and Hutchins would strike out for the 6th and 7th time for Houston in this game.  Doug Biggins was next, hitting out of the six hole. He lofted a fly ball to right center over Devenish and Luis Rodriguez dove at the ball, as it hit him in the chest and rolled out of his reach as Houston had their fourth run of the game.  Syphers ended the inning with his third straight whiff and the 8th for Houston in this game.

Luis Rodriguez would lead off in the third against Cochran and hit a first pitch dribbler up the middle.  However, his base line was much better and this time he scored with his speed.  Drew Crook re-entered for Kimball and on the first pitch found the newly substituted Alex Quick who came in for Josh Perry in the right short slot.  Crook would get the ball off the top of his bat to Quick and Quick got the ball up in time to stop Crook.  McCormick was next and hit a grounder to the left side.  McCormick took off to first base but his line took him to the left of first base as he slid by it and missed it.  By the time he corrected  himself, Navarro made the stop.  This was actually a trend at this point as there was a wall which was bouncing the sound off about 20 feet from the base.  Many of the players had to adjust for it, but Mac struggled on this one becoming the third player (Rodriguez and Cantan) who struggled with the base.  Devenish dropped his yellow ball on the on deck circle and came to the plate.  He hit a fly ball to the left side and scored his fourth run of the game.  Yee would strike out to end the third.  After three, Boston led 12-4.

Fourth inning

Boston would replace Drew Crook with Guy Zuccarello in this inning as Guy took the right short spot.  PJ Navarro would make his first plate appearance of the day.  He hit the first pitch from Gonzalez to the right side.  Zuccarello missed it and the ball bounced off Rodriguez and he scored with ease to first base.  Walters would strike out for the second time. Marquez would then hit a dribbler up the right side.  Zuccarello charged in, slid on his knees and picked it clean for his 399th defensive stop of his career.  Roy Hutchins was next and on a full count hit a grounder off a diving Zuccarello’s knees.  Guy got off his left side quickly to recover and make the stop against the speedy Hutchins.  Guy became the first renegade to make 400 defensive stops in his career!  Boston led 12-5 after three and a half frames.

Shayne Cantan would lead off the 4th inning, with his sleeves rolled up to help with his tan line.  He hit the first pitch down the third base line for his third run of the game.  Luis Rodriguez hit a grounder to the left side and scored running toward first as he slammed into the base and the ground for the second time in this game.  Zuccarello stayed in the game as the Kimball was ruled out of the game with headaches after he hit the ground earlier in the game (Concussion protocol).  Zuccarello hit a line drive past everyone on the right side to score his first run of the series to make it two straight and a 14-5 lead.   McCormick then hit a 41 footer up the middle and beat it out with his speed for his second run of the game.  Devenish was next and on the third pitch hit another weak grounder up the middle.  Quick and Walters could not get it up in time and Boston was owning this game with their speed in this inning as the smallest player on the team hit the best ball till this point.   This also sent the game into the 12 run rule meaning Boston would not  hit the rest of the game unless Houston could tie it up.   This brought David Sanchez off the bench to hit for Yee against Connolly.  Sanchez would foul off the second pitch but would swing and miss three other times in his first World Series appearance.  Elana Regan would come off the bench next.  Regan would face Cochran and would not make contact as she went down on strikes. Luis Rodriguez was looking for his 4th run of the game as he was having his best game of the season to date.  On the 5th pitch of the at bat he hit a shot into left field and scored with ease toward first base for his first four run game of the season.  Doug Biggins would be removed from the game after this play and would be replaced by Willie Harrison.  Zuccarello then hit his first pitch to the right side and Alex Quick would make the stop.  Boston would end the 4th up 18-5 and the teams would take a mandatory 10 minute break.

Fifth inning

As Boston took the field, the lineup looked different.  Elana Regan stayed in the game to play first base.  Drew Crook came back into play third.  Willie Harrison would lead off the 5th against Gonzalez and would strike out.  Syphers would collect the Golden Burrito with his forth strike out of the game.  PJ Navarro would then hit the 5th pitch of the at bat rolling past the 40 foot line and Zuccarello charged it and made his 401’st stop of his career.

Sixth inning

In the 6th inning. Weissman Subbed in Ivan Rodriguez and Melissa Hoyt and took out McCormick and Devenish.  This would be Hoyt’s first series appearance since 2017.  Jason Walters would lead off the 6th and hit his sand wedge straight up in the air to about 60 feet on the field.  Rob Dias would make the stop in time for his first of the game.  Marquez would strike out for the second time and the second out bringing Roy Hutchins up.  He would hit a ball to the right side.  Zuccarello hit the ground and missed and Elana Regan did not appear to hear the ball or the call as she barely moved and Hutchins was on the board with his first run.  Willie Harrison would end the game with a strike out as the Hurricanes bats created a lot of wind and 13 whiffs in the game.

Wrap up

This would be the 21st time Boston had plated 18+ runs against an opponent in team history.  This was the 17th time the team had batted .600 or greater in a game. It was also just the 21st time the Gades had a run differential of 12+ runs in team history.  It was the third 12 run rule victory of the season and the 37th 12 run rule of all time.   The players of the game here were Shawn Devenish with his first 5 run game of the season in a perfect 5-5 performance.  Luis Rodriguez also had a big game with four runs of his own.  Defensively, Guy Zuccarello paced the defense with three stops.  Houston’s player of the game would be PJ Navarro who scored one run and led the team with 2 stops on defense.  Boston would stay put and prepare to play the St. Louis Sirens as the Hurricanes vacated the bench to play the San Antonio Jets.

Game #11 – Renegades silence the Sirens

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	2	1	0	11	2	x		16	8	8
Sirens	2	0	1	0	0	0		3	10	7

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		Sirens	AB	R	K	PO
McCormick – DH	5	2	3	—		Bloomer	3	0	1	0
– Kimball – RS	1	0	0	1		– Warren	1	0	0	0
Dias – DF/LS	—	—	—	1		Sweigard	2	1	1	0
Crook – 3B	5	3	0	0		– Marin	2	0	1	0
– Devenish – DF/MF	—	—	—	—		Turner	4	1	2	2
– Hoyt – DF/MF	—	—	—	—		K. Blumenthal	3	1	2	1
Sanchez – R	4	2	2	0		Overshiner	3	0	1	3
– I. Rodriguez – R	1	0	1	0		Morales	3	0	2	1
Cantan – MF	2	1	1	0
-Hoyt – MF	0	0	0	1
-Yee – 3B	3	3	0	0
Zuccarello – RS/LS	5	2	1	5
Regan – 1B	5	3	0	0
Totals	31	16	8	8		Totals	21	3	10	7
Pitcher – Cochran	16	3	2			Pitcher – M. Blumenthal
Pitcher – Connolly	5	0	1
Catcher- R. Weissman
LS – Caller .Grillo
RS Caller- Lenicheck

Game Summary

The Renegades would face the St. Louis Sirens in the second game of the series.  This was the first match up between these teams and the second game of the Series as Boston had just beaten Houston 18-6 in a 4 inning twelve run rule.  The Sirens lost to the San Antonio Jets 13-1 in a one inning twelve run rule.

First inning

Boston would have to change its plan as Chris Kimball was supposed to be the leadoff hitter in this game but he was ruled out at the start of the game on offense by the medical staff after headaches started to creep in after he hit the ground in the first game of the day. We wanted to play it safe.  This meant Joe McCormick would lead off instead as the designated hitter.  He would step in against Ron Cochran.  Mac would get four swings and miss all four times for the first out of the game.  Drew Crook was next. With three strikes, he hit a weak grounder to the left side.  Lauren Morales would make her first World Series stop and the Sirens had two down to start the game.  David Sanchez was next with Peter Connolly coming to the mound.  Sanchez lofted a high fly ball up the middle and plated the first run of the game.  Shayne Cantan was next and hit a line drive up the middle of the field and would score with ease.  Guy Zuccarello was next and would ground out to Kim Blumenthal, who was the key driver in starting this historical team.  Boston led 2-0 after the first half of the inning.

Boston would start this game with Peter Connolly calling the right side and Jason Lenicheck calling the left side as Bryan Grillo would get some rest.  Klarah Bloomer would start off the same way McCormick did with a four pitch whiff.  This brought Amy Sweigard to the dish.  She hit a grounder up the middle that narrowly passed by a diving Guy Zuccarello’s feet.  Guy called Shayne Cantan up, but he crawled to the ball, picked it up and dropped it as Cantan picked up an error.  The umps decided to talk this over on their own and Sweigard had her first ever World Series run.  Corey Turner was next and hit the first pitch up the middle as Guy Zuccarello made the stop.  Kim Blumenthal was next as she dug in against her daughter, Mari who was on the mound.  Unofficially this may have been the first ever mother/Daughter battery in league history.  She hit a line drive past Zuccarello.  Drew Crook made no attempt to get to the ground and left it to Sanchez.  Sanchez was late to the ground and then he went after it and kicked it for the second error of the inning as the Sirens screamed with excitement tying the game.  Kaitlyn Overshiner was next and hit a ball that just dribbled over the forty foot line.  Chris Kimball ran in, slid and over slid it.  He then got back up and made the play in time for his first out of the 2023 World Series,  After one, the game was 2-2.

Second inning

Elana Regan would lead off for the Renegades in the second.  She hit a pop fly to the left side and Kaitlyn Overshiner made her first stop of the World Series two steps before Regan reached first base.  McCormick should not have been in this game at this point, but was left in because he whiffed in the first.  His at bat was equally as frustrating to him as he swung and missed at the first three pitches, took a pitch got a foul tip and then struck out for the second time.  Drew Crook then hit a first pitch high fly ball and scored to give the Renegades a lead.  Sanchez would end the inning with a strike out.

Lauren Morales, the six hitter would strike out to lead off the second.  Klarah Bloomer would then hit a short fly ball about 55 feet down the third base line.  Zuccarello scooted over to make the stop.  Sweigard battled but eventually struck out to end the second.

Third inning

Leading off the third would be Shayne Cantan and he would whiff on four pitches.  Zuccarello was next and made contact on the second pitch and put the ball in the air to the left side as Overshiner made the stop.  This brought Elana Regan back to the dish as the Sirens cheered her on.  She hit a short fly ball to the right side, ran to first, slid and missed it.  There was a thought she may have hit the base but replays show she missed it and the umps got the call right as Corey Turner had her first put out of the Series.  After two and a half Boston led 3-2.

Boston would make changes heading into the bottom of the third as Rob Dias replaced Chris Kimball and moved to the left shorty spot.  Guy Zuccarello slid over to the right short spot and Melissa Hoyt came in for Cantan to play mid field.  Corey Turner would hit a grounder up the middle to lead off the inning.  Rob Dias slid and the ball went under him and he decided to go back after it instead of calling Hoyt for help.  Dias and Hoyt both went for the ball but neither could get it up in time as Dias would be charged with an error and Turner scored, tying the game as the Sirens screamed loudly living up to the name of their team.  Blumenthal would strike out and Overshiner next hit a ball that just passed the forty foot arc to a waiting Guy Zuccarello.  Morales would whiff to end the inning but after three, the upstart Sirens were tied up with the Renegades.

Fourth inning

Heading into the fourth, Boston needed to wake up.  Joe McCormick would lead off and on the second pitch would hit a grounder up the middle through the defense for his first run and giving the Renegades the go-ahead run.  Crook hit a laser to the left side that hit the fence in deep left field which was deemed an automatic run.  Sanchez could not keep the momentum up and struck out for the second straight time.   Joe Yee came in to pinch hit for Melissa Hoyt and hit a line drive off his cousin, Connolly to the right side on the first pitch for an easy run.  Zuccarello then hit the first pitch off Cochran to the right side that was foul almost all the way up the line, but slowly rolled closer to the line and landed right on the line as it came to rest before the base which is a fair ball and Guy scored.  Elana Regan was next as the Sirens cheered her on again.  She hit a dribbler to the left side.  Overshiner came in on it and bobbled it as Regan slid safely into third base.  McCormick asked his way back into the lineup, looking for a good hit and he struck out.  Crook was next and hit a hard grounder through the defense for his third run and the 9th for the Renegades.  Sanchez then got off the Schnied and hit a grounder through the defense for his second run of the contest.  Joe Yee would stay hot and hit a fly ball to the right side and score his second run of the game.  Zuccarello would keep things going and would score on a grounder up the middle for his third run of the game.  Elana Regan was next and hit a pop fly-coffin corner shot to the left side and scored with ease running to third base for her second run of the game.  This brought Joe McCormick back in a spot where he should have been getting rest for the week.  He then got the hit he was looking for as he hit a line drive into right field.  He took a bad line to third base, slid and was safe easily.  However, he was still on the ground and needed to be attended to.  That was the end of his game.  Drew Crook then hit the second pitch of the at bat on the ground to the right side.  He stood at home plate for three seconds before running to first.  Corey Turner made the stop to end the inning.  Boston scored 11 times in the frame.  This was the second biggest inning in team history as Boston plated 11 runs in 2007 in the first inning against Stockton and 16 runs in 2105 in the first inning against Tyler.  Boston was one run away from putting this into the 12 run rule but losing McCormick was the bigger concern.

Heading into the bottom of the fourth, more changes for Boston.  Bryan Grillo would replace Jason Lenicheck as the caller on the left side.  Shawn Devenish would also enter the game to replace Drew Crook and Joe Yee stayed in the game to play defense.  Klarah Bloomer would lead off with a grounder down the first base line which Zuccarello charged and picked up.  The Sirens went to their bench to Whitney Marin.  Marin hit the second pitch to the left side and Rob Dias charged it for the out.  Turner struck out to end the inning.  After four frames, Boston led 14-3

Fifth inning

Ivan Rodriguez would hop off the bench to hit for David Sanchez against Peter Connolly.  Looking for his first ever run, he would strike out on four pitches.  Joe Yee stayed hot hitting another line drive to center and scored easily for his third run of the game.  Zuccarello would strike out for the second out of the inning after fouling off three pitches in the at bat.  The Boston energy rose for Elena Regan.  She hit the first pitch on the ground up the right side and scored her first ever three run game.  This brought Chris Kimball up who was cleared to play as his headaches subsided.  He hit a ground ball right at Overshiner who made a nice play to end the inning.  Boston led 16-3.  If they could stop the Sirens in the 5th, the 12 run rule would be invoked.

Boston would sub back Melissa Hoyt into the game in the 5th inning.  Kim Blumenthal could not connect off her daughter, Mari.  Overshiner also struck out to start the fifth.  Lauren Morales then put her first ball into play but it went to Zuccarello for the out.  This put the game into the 12-run rule.

Sixth inning

Katherine Warren pinch hit for Sweigard and slammed the first pitch up the middle.  Melissa Hoyt charged it and over ran it.  She hit the ground on her knees, got up, pivoted ran backwards and picked up the ball for her first ever World Series stop.  This stop tied Pam Love for the all-time lead in defensive stops by a Renegade female player!  This would be it for the Sirens as Marin and Turner struck out to end the game.

Wrap up

This would eventually be one of the best games the Sirens played all series as they plated three runs in this match and did not score more than two the rest of the week.  They were in the game for the first three innings and played well.  The 13 run differential would be the 10th time the Renegades had ever beaten a team by 13+ runs.  In this game, Guy Zuccarello set the Renegade all-time record for most games played, playing in his 204th game of his career.  The stars of the game for the Renegades would be Elana Regan with her first ever three run game, Joe Yee with a three run game, Melissa Hoyt with her first World Series stop and Guy Zuccarello with 2 runs and 5 stops on defense.  For the Sirens Kaitlyn Overshiner led the defense with three stops while Amy Sweigard, Corey turner and Kim Blumenthal plated runs.  Boston would pack up and head to the adjoining field to take on the San Antonio Jets.

Game #12 – Jets take off on Renegades in just two innings and win 22-8

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
San Antonio	8	14	x	x	x	x		22	5	11
Boston	2	1	0	2	2	1		8	9	1

San Antonio	AB	R	K	PO		Boston	AB	R	K	PO
Arambula	5	3	2	8		Devenish – MF	1	0	0	0
Smith	5	6	0	0		– Thaxton – PH	4	2	2	—
Cox	5	3	1	2		L. Rodriguez – 1b/R	1	1	0	0
A. Almanza	4	3	1	0		– I. Rodriguez – PH	4	0	3	—
Casteneda	4	3	1	1		Yee – 3B	1	1	0	0
Lara	4	4	0	0		– Crook – 3B	0	0	0	0
						– Cantan – PH	4	2	2	—
Note – Smith HR in the 1st						Sanchez – DH	5	2	2	—
						Dias – DF/LS	—	—	—	1
						Kimball – R/RS	3	0	0	0
						– Zuccarello – PH	1	0	0	—
						Zuccarello – RS	0	0	0	0
						– Regan – 1B	4	0	0	0
Totals	27	22	5	11		Totals	28	8	9	1
Pitcher – J. Lopez						Pitcher- Cochran	16	3	2
						Pitcher – Connolly	12	5	7
						Catcher- R. Weissman
						LS – Caller – Grillo
						RS Caller-Lenicheck

Game Summary

Both teams entered this game 2-0 in pool play and both these teams finished top five in the 2022 World Series as the Jets took 2nd and the Renegades took 5th.  Boston had 14 players on its bench and the Jets had just six players on their roster for this game.  Boston would win the coin toss and select home team.  This would be one of the few things they would win in this game.  This game would be played with a fence out near 200 feet and if the fence got hit it would be an automatic run.  Bryan Grillo and Jason Lenicheck would call in this game and lead the team to the field for the first inning.

First inning

Zack Arambula would lead off the game with a strike out.  David Smith was next and he would make history, becoming the first opponent to ever hit a Home Run against the Renegades as he blasted one to deep left field with a three strike count.  A home run in beep baseball counts as two runs.  Axel Cox then hit a line shot up the middle of the defense that landed past Shawn Devenish and split the defense for an easy run and the Jets led 3-0.  This brought up Aaron Almanza who hit a hard grounder to the left side.  Joe Yee dove and missed it but Chris Kimball line it up and picked up the ball.  The play was ruled safe and after contesting it, the call stood.  Ricky Castaneda was next and would strike out for the 2nd out of the inning.   This brought up the six hitter, Hector Lara.  He hit a fly ball that Joe Yee lined up and it hit him after the first bounce in the legs, but the ball rolled away and Yee could not get it in time and the inning would continue.  Arambula was next and would score as would David Smith.  Axel Cox then hit a weak fly ball down the third base line that landed about 75 feet.  Dias scrambled over but could not get the ball in time to beat Cox to third.  Almanza would strike out to end the inning.  Boston could not get an out in the inning as all three outs came by strike out.

Ron Cochran would take the mound with Shawn Devenish leading off for the Renegades in this game.  He would hit a weak fly ball that landed just over the forty foot arc.  Arambula and Castaneda rushed in and Arambula would make the stop.  Luis Rodriguez would be hitting second and with three strikes hit a sharp grounder down the third base line and scored.  Joe Yee was next and on the second pitch off his cousin, Peter Connolly hit a grounder to the  left side but took 2 steps to third when first went off.  He corrected and was able to reach base and score despite the struggle hearing the base with a slight breeze.  David Sanchez would bat next off Connolly and would add to the breeze with four straight swings and misses.  Chris Kimball was next and would hit a first pitch grounder down the third base line sending Arambula to chase it.   Kimball missed first base as he slid to the right of it and Arambula had the stop to end the frame.  After one inning, the Jets led 8-2.

Second inning

The second inning for the Jets would be a record setting inning, and not in a good way for the Renegades.  Castaneda led off with a dribbler to the right side.  Zuccarello came in and had time but he bobbled it for an error and the Jets were on the board.  Lara would hit a high fly ball to the left side.  Rob Dias was there but it bounced three times and Dias could not get the handle as Lara scored.  Arambula then hit a line hugging grounder down the third base line.  Dias angled toward it but gave way to Yee.  Yee was playing too deep for this ball and hit the ground too early and it was three straight runs for the Jets.  Smith, the Home Run hitter (who had hit two home runs so far on this day), hit a line drive up the gut past a diving Devenish for another run.  Axel Cox gave the Renegade defense a break as he struck out.  Almanza hit a grounder that Dias slid to his left on and hit the ground as it went under him.  Yee hit the ground too soon and missed it as well and Almanza scored.  After the play, Yee was getting dizzy and was taken off the field as the temps were at 104 degrees.  Drew Crook would enter the game to replace him.  Castaneda lifted a fly ball to the middle of the field and Devenish dove, the ball got under him and the run scored.  Hector Lara kept the pain going with a line drive up the middle past a diving Devenish and a diving Kimball as five runs were in.  Arambula lofted a high fly ball to left field.  Crook was there and picked it on the second bounce but the speed of Almanza was too much and he scored.  Smith then hit a dribbler that froze Dias.  Dias recovered, took a bad line to the ball, dropped before the ball and then could not get it clean and Smith scored.  Boston called a time out down 12-2 with just one out.  Guy Zuccarello would be taken out of the game at this point and Elana Regan would enter the game and go to first base as Luis Rodriguez moved to Rover and Chris Kimball moved to right shorty.  Cox hit a grounder up the middle, Devenish missed it, Regan dove and missed it and the run scored.  Almanza was next and hit a high fly ball to the right side.  Chris Kimball ran in, hit the ground but could not get the ball up in time as he lifted it right after Almanza hit first base.  Castaneda then hit a weak grounder to Kimball who took three steps to his left and the ball was to his right, he hit the ground and it went under him for the run.  Lara then hit a grounder down the third base line, Crook laid out but the ball went by his out stretched fingers and the run scored.  Arambula was next and he struck out as every out in this game was by the way of a whiff as Boston could not make a stop.  Smith hit a bomb up the middle where nobody was and scored with ease.  This brought Axel Cox to the dish.  He hit a bouncing grounder to the left side.  Dias laid out and knocked it down and recovered to make the stop as the Renegade bench cheered that they got out of the inning.  Boston let up 14 runs in this inning and recorded just one put out.  This would be one of the worst defensive innings in team history.  The previous record was 12 runs allowed against the Indy Edge in the 3rd inning of the 2017 World Series.  The Jets also put up 11 in the 2nd inning of a game between them in pool play during the 2019 series in Tulsa.  Oklahoma was not being kind to the Renegades in these Jets match ups! The Jets led 22-2 and unless Boston could score 8 runs the 12 run rule would be invoked.

Elana Regan would be the lead-off hitter in the second.  She would hit a weak line drive to the left side and Arambula would stop her.  At this point, Christian Thaxton would come off the bench.  He was taking BP between games and had about 20 pitches.  They were the first pitches he had since 2021 off Teigan Weissman and the first pitches he saw off Cochran since 2019.  He fouled off the first pitch which helped with his confidence on his timing.  The third pitch was grounded up the middle past everyone and Thaxton scored his first run since 2019.  Weissman would go to the bench and switch Rodriguez’s as Ivan pinch hit for Luis.  Ivan would go down swinging.  Shayne Cantan then came in to pinch hit for Crook and he would follow suit with a strike out.  After two full frames, Boston was down 22-3 and the 12-run rule was invoked for the third time in the 2023 season (Bayou City and Philly accomplished this as well in this season).  Boston had not been 12-runned three times in a season since 2008.

Third inning

The third inning would have David Sanchez lead off.  He hit a line drive into the second layer of the Jets defense.  Axel Cox made a nice stop for the out.  Chris Kimball then and hit a line drive up the middle right back to Cox who made his second straight stop.  Regan would go three strikes deep and hit a flare to the left side and Arambula stopped her for the last out of the 3rd inning.  The Jets led 22-3 as the Renegades threw up a donut.

fourth inning

Thaxton would lead off the fourth inning.  No stranger to being a lead-off hitter, Thaxton was enjoying the batting practice as he loves to hit.  He hit a high fly ball to left field but did not get all of it and scored.  Ivan Rodriguez was next and hit a grounder to the left side.  He lost his balance and ran almost 15 feet toward the pitcher before correcting himself.  Arambula put him out with plenty of time.  Shayne Cantan was next and struck out after fouling two pitches down the third base line.   David Sanchez was next, giving Connolly three hitters in a row.  He lofted a fly ball down the right side and took off toward first.  Sanchez demonstrated some serious speed on this play and scored with ease.  Kimball hit a fly ball up the middle and Arambula stopped him in time but Kimball was upset as he missed the base (though he was out anyway)  The Jets led 22-5.

fifth inning

Elana Regan would lead off the 5th and ground out weakly to Castaneda on a grounder up the middle.  Thaxton would step up and foul tip two pitches before striking out.  Ivan Rodriguez would get 4 pitches, swing and miss four times and head back to the bench for the last out of the 5th.  However, the scorekeepers did not have the score right and allowed the Renegades to hit again as Shayne Cantan ripped a hard grounder into left field to score.  Sanchez then ripped a line drive into right field and scored.  Guy Zuccarello came into pinch hit for Kimball.  He hit a grounder up the middle. Arambula slid over, dove and missed it and got back up to pick up the ball in time for the out.  The Renegades got four outs in this inning and were down 22-7 (note, the Renegades rookie scorekeeper was unaware of this til the game was over).

Sixth inning

Elana Regan would lead off the 6th and hit a grounder to the left side. Arambula would stop her for the first out of the inning.  Christian Thaxton was next and would make some noise with an absolute bomb that went foul.  He would strike out on six pitches.  Ivan Rodriguez was next;  He would also battle. He saw 7 pitches and hit a nice ball foul down the third base line.  He would strike out for what should have been the last out of the game.  Again, the umpire gave the Renegades another out (and again, the Rookie score keeper did not notice till after the game).  Shayne Cantan then took advantage of that and hit a laser into left that hit the fence for a run.  Sanchez would strike out (the 4th out of the inning) and the game mercifully ended with the Jets winning 22-8

Wrap up

This game would be all sorts of bad for Boston setting all-time lows in team history that included:

• Worst inning ever – 14 runs
• The third time the team was 12-runned in a season – most since 2008
• Least amount of stops on defense (1) only done three other times – last time it was done in a loss was in 2002 vs the Kansas All stars.
• Worst Defensive percentage at 4.5% beating the 2002 Kansas All star game which was 5.9%
• the Tenth time the team had allowed 22+ runs in a game – last done in 2019 vs the same Jets – TWICE!
• 14 run differential was just the 7th time overall it ever happened and the last time was in 2018 vs the Indy Edge when we allowed 15 runs in a loss.

The player of the game for Boston would be Christian Thaxton.  He shook the rust off and scored twice in this game.  For the Jets Arambula scored three times and had 8 stops on defense.  David Smith also scored six times with his Home Run to pace the Jets.  There was a big difference between these two teams.  The Jets entered the double elimination bracket as the two seed with their 3-0 start.  The Renegades would be the 9 seed with a 2-1 start.

Game #13 – Renegades play some defense and down the Comets 15-8

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	0	0	4	2	7	2		15	6	16
Chicago	2	1	0	1	3	1		8	2	12

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		Chicago	AB	R	K	PO
Thaxton – DH	6	2	2	—		Schultz	5	1	1	0
Dias – DF/LS	—	—	—	7		Youngren	5	3	0	3
Devenish – MF	6	4	0	2		Landrum	4	2	0	2
L. Rodriguez – R	6	3	0	0		Tavera – DH	4	0	1	—
Crook – 3B/!b	6	1	2	3		K. Kackson – DF	—	—	—	2
Cantan – 1B/R	5	2	2	2		Gamino	2	0	0	0
I. Rodriguez – G	0	0	0	0		– Aldridge	2	1	0	0
– Zuccarello – RS	1	1	0	1		Hernandez	4	1	0	5
– Yee – PH	2	0	0	—
– Kimball – RS	—	—	—	1
– Sanchez – PH	2	2	0	0
Totals	34	15	6	16		Totals	26	8	2	12
Pitcher – Cochran	24	11	4			Pitcher – C. Perry
Pitcher – Connolly	9	4	2
Catcher- R. Weissman
LS – Caller – Grillo
RS – Caller – Lenicheck

Game Summary

Double elimination starts on Wednesday.  The 9 seed will always face the 8 seed in this game and this season it was the Renegades and the Comets.  Boston had beaten the Comets earlier in the year without Crook, Thaxton and McCormick.  Chicago was also shorthanded in that game without Schultz and Youngren.  So, both teams were missing their top of the order.  Boston won that game 10-7, but almost everyone put the Comets ahead of the Renegades in the rankings despite the fact Boston finished 5th in 2022.  The Comets have historically owned this match up with Boston owning just a 2-11 record against the Chicago squad.  It was put up or shut up time for both these teams.

First inning

Chicago would win the toss and select to be the home team.  Christian Thaxton would lead off the game in his first start of the season.  No stranger to the sport, Thaxton never gets cheated on a swing.  He was a little off with his timing and would go down on strikes.  As the Comet defense took a breathe of relief, Shawn Devenish came to the plate.  He hit a worm burner to the left side.  Daniel Hernandez dove and missed it and Kalari struggled to find it as well, however, Devenish missed third base giving Kalari a chance to make the out.  This brought Luis Rodriguez to the dish.  With three strikes, Cochran found his bat and Luis hit a hard grounder into the third layer of the Comets defense. Bill Landrum, slightly over ran it, dropped to his knees reached backwards with his left hand and pawed it in time for a 1-2-3 inning.

The Comets would lead off with big left handed, Richie Schultz.  On the first pitch, he hit a pop fly down the first base line.  Boston was shifted and Drew Crook was perfectly positioned, hit the deck and made the play with ease for the first out of the inning.  Chicago got their first look at Crook!  This brought up Dustin Youngren.  Speaking of first looks, this was his first ever game against Boston.  With three strikes, Youngren hit a slow grounder to the left side.  Grillo must have called short as Rob Dias sprinted in to find the ball rolling by him.  Dias put on the breaks, spun around and chased it but Youngren was too quick and accurate with his base running and the Comets drew first blood on a 70 foot grounder.  Bill Landrum, the  big lefty was next and hit a hard grounder to the right side past a diving Guy Zuccarello and Shawn Devenish for a two run lead.  Gerado Tavera was next, the second year player fouled the first pitch off the umpire’s mid section.  Then he hit a bouncer to the right side.  Lenicheck may have called a short call as Guy over ran it, pivoted and had to chase it as it rolled by him.  As he chased it Tavera missed third base and Guy had the second out of the inning.  Chicago contested it but the call stood.  Both offenses had missed a base early in this game.  Alex Gamino was next and with three strikes hit a grounder to the left side.  Dias shuffled to his left, dove and stopped it in the box for the third out.  Chicago led 2-0 after one frame.

Second inning

Drew Crook would lead off for Boston in the second off Ron Cochran.  He would have four swings and four misses and would be the first strike out of the game.  Peter Connolly came to the mound to face Shayne Cantan.  Shayne would foul two pitches off including a smash down the third base line but have the same result as Crook.  Joe Yee came off the bench to pinch hit for Zuccarello off his cousin, Connolly.  Yee hit the ball on the ground down the third base line.  Kalari Jackson dropped and made the play look easy as Boston went down 1-2-3 again.  Chicago led 2-0 after one and a half frames.

Chris Kimball would replace Joe Yee on defense.  Dan Hernandez would lead off out of the six hole for the Comets.  The speedy short fielder would find Kimball and hit a grounder at him.  Kimball dove, came up short of the ball but Shayne Cantan was there to back him up for the out.  Richie Schultz came up for the second time and hit a grounder to the right side.  Kimball hit the ground but was late as it rolled under him.  Crook came in on it and when he went to the ground it went just under his arm pit.  That was enough time for Schultz to score the third run for Chicago.  Dustin Youngren then hit the first pitch on the ground to the left side.  Dias dove and just missed it but Crook was behind him, lined it up and made the stop.  Bill Landrum was next and hit a grounder to the right side.  Kimball came in on it, laid out and missed it.  He got back up quickly, chased it backwards two steps and made his first stop of the game.  Chicago led 3-0.

Third inning

Boston would have Christian Thaxton lead off the third looking to get things started.  He hit a high fly ball to the left side and ran to first base.  Kalari Jackson turned her back to the plate and was able to pick it up after two bounces but not in time to beat the speed of Thaxton.  Devenish then hit the second pitch on a line up the middle past three lines of the defenders for the second run of the inning.  Rodriguez would hit a first pitch bouncer up the middle and Daniel Hernandez was standing right up the middle short and made the play quickly.  Crook would strike out for the second time and the second out of the inning.  Shayne Cantan was next with Connolly coming to the mound.  Cantan would hit a bouncing grounder on the third pitch that Hernandez just missed.  He got up and Kalari Jackson came toward the ball, they both went for it, bumped into each other, bobbled it and Cantan was safe.  An error on Hernandez led to the tie game.  David Sanchez stepped up to pinch hit for Kimball and hit the fourth pitch on the ground to the third layer of the defense and Sanchez got to third just before Landrum could show possession.  Chicago contested the play and the call stood as Landrum did not have the ball off the ground in time.  Thaxton was next and hit a hard grounder to the third layer of the defense.  Landrum picked this clean for the out.  Boston scored four runs to take the lead, 4-3.

As Boston took the field, Zuccarello re-entered the game for Sanchez.  Tavera would lead off for Chicago in the bottom of the third.  He hit a line drive up the middle, Shawn Devenish had a beat on it, came up a few steps, stopped the ball on his hips, bobbled it but got to the spot in plenty of time to record the out.  Alex Gamino hit a weak grounder to the left side just getting over the forty foot line.  Grillo made a great call and Dias was there in a flash to make the play with ease.  Daniel Hernandez hit a line drive to the left.  Dias slid to the line but over ran it by a step, pivoted and dove back toward the middle of the field, threw his hand out at it and stopped the ball.  Boston’s defense shut them down 1-2-3 and the momentum was shifting toward Boston.

Fourth inning

Shawn Devenish would lead off the fourth inning.  With three strikes, Shawn hit a grounder to the left side.  Hernandez had to run backwards on it but Kalari came up on it and they came close to bumping into each other.  That spacing may have cost them the chance to get the ball and Devenish scored.  Rodriguez hit a bouncer up the middle and Hernandez dropped to his stomach with his head toward home plate, the ball bounced off his hands and away from him as Luis scored his first run of the game.  Two plays, two errors and two runs.  Crook was next and hit a grounder up the middle.  Kalari missed it and Youngren attacked it and made the play.  Cantan was next and hit a second pitch fly ball over Daniel Hernandez.  Daniel chased it backwards, tracked it and got his hands on it before Cantan could hit first base.  A nice play by Hernandez after a rough inning.  Joe Yee came off the bench to hit for Zuccarello.  With two strikes, he hit a weak grounder to the right side.  Hernandez, playing the point defense was able to get over with plenty of time to stop the bleeding and Boston led 6-3 heading to the bottom of the fourth.

Chris Kimball would reenter the game for Yee and head to the right shorty position as Chicago brought up their lefty bats.  Schultz hit the first pitch on the ground to the left side.   Rob Dias made a perfect stop into his chest.  Youngren was next and hit a grounder to the left side.  Dias charged it and the ball rolled well past him and Youngren would score with ease.  Bill Landrum stepped in as the Renegades shifted for the lefty.  He hit a grounder down the first base line and Shayne Cantan was there waiting for it for an out.  Tavera was next and just as he did in the first inning, hit a foul ball to the right, this missed the ump but went right over Christian Thaxton who was bent down getting some equipment on the Renegade bench.  It narrowly missed Thaxton.  He would strike out for the first Chicago whiff of the day and the end of the fourth.  Boston led 6-4.

Fifth inning

Christian Thaxton would be the first hitter of the inning and he would put up an epic at bat. He would foul off four of the first five pitches, breaking the beep on one of the foul balls.  He would then tag a line drive to center field screaming by everyone.  The ball was called dead but there was uncertainty if it was a home run.  Replays show it was very close.   Sadly, a dead ball is not a fresh count and Thaxton would inherit a three strike count and would strike out.  Devenish hit the first pitch in the air to the right side.  Hernandez had to run back and the ball also bounced past Gamino sending both of them crawling after it as Devenish scored.  Rodriguez was next and after two misses, he hit a grounder up the middle.  Hernandez went down on his knees, Kalari came over for it and they both missed as Rodriguez scored.  Crook was next and on the second pitch, hit a bomb into left field sending Landrum backwards.  As Landrum picked the ball up, Crook scored on a close play. Shayne Cantan then hit the second pitch from Connolly in the air short to Hernandez.  He got the ball in the air and off the ground but Kalari bumped into him and he lost the handle awarding Cantan the run.  Herzog had seen enough and changed the defense sending Youngren to the front and five of the six players changed defensive positions.  David Sanchez pinch hit and hit a grounder to the left side.  It got past Gamino near 100 feet and Hernandez was there on his knees waiting for it.  Sanchez hit the base before Gamino lifted the ball and Boston had five straight runs.  Thaxton fouled another ball down the third baseline and on the third pitch hit a fly ball with a ton if English on it.  It went about 80 feet deep but 80 feet high and when it hit the ground, it spun about 15 feet to the right giving Youngren a tiny chance to make a play and was the sixth run of the inning.  Devenish then hit a grounder to the right side and Youngren made the play quickly breaking the streak of six straight runs.  Rodriguez got things going again with his best hit of the game, a hard grounder that bounced off a diving Youngren and rolled away from him.  Youngren was sent crawling as Rodriguez was sprinting and Rodriguez scored his third run of the match.  Crook was next and hit a laser into left, past everyone.  The ball was dead.  Unlike Thaxton, this was the first pitch and the count would be 0-0.  Crook would work the count to three strikes after two foul balls.  He hit a line drive up the middle and Daniel Hernandez was there, on his knees and caught it on two hops to end the inning.  Boston plated 7 runs to take a 13-4 lead after three and a half frames.

Chicago would pinch hit for Gamino and enter Lamarian Aldridge.  Boston would bring in Zuccarello to play defense for Sanchez.  Aldridge hit a line drive into right field, Cantan never got down and it was by him for a run.  Daniel Hernandez then hit a flare into left.  Dias slid over, lined it up and stopped it on two bounces.  Schultz hit a bouncer up the middle and would score but the ball hit Chad Perry and the play would be done over and resulted in a strike out for just the second Comet whiff of the game.  Youngren hit a slow bouncer up the middle.  Dias laid out and missed it but got up and chased it backwards as Devenish slowly crept up.  They collided and Youngren was safe.  Both players would stay in the game.  Bill Landrum was next and hit a grounder to the right side.  Cantan dove and missed.  Devenish was backing him up perfectly and stopped the ball, but he bobbled it for an error and Landrum scored.  Tavera wasted no time and hit it right back to Devenish on the first pitch.  Shawn picked it clean and made the third out of the inning.  After five, Boston led 13-6.

Sixth inning

Shayne Cantan was the lead-off hitter, facing Connolly.  He would go down on strikes for the second time in this game.  This brought up Guy Zuccarello for his first at bat.  He hit a ball that went a few inches over the forty foot line.  Youngren came in and passed it by a step kicking it with his back leg.  Youngren did not get it in time.  The call was contested and the call stood as a run for Boston.  Thaxton would hit a weak grounder up the middle and Youngren made the play quickly.  Devenish was next and made his best contact of the game with a line drive into left that got past a diving Daniel Hernandez for an easy run once it got past their last line of defense.  Luis Rodriguez hit a laser into left field past a diving Landrum and into Daniel Hernandez’s body.  On the play, Weissman stopped Rodriguez for safety as he was lost coming out of the box and was in fair territory.  After five and a half, Boston got two insurance runs and led 15-7.

Lamarian Aldridge would get things started and hit a grounder to Rob Dias who stopped it text book on his chest.  Daniel Hernandez then went oppo.  Zuccarello raced to the line calling for Cantan.  Shayne did not make it to the line in time and Hernandez had his first run of the game.  Schultz was next and hit a grounder to the left side and Dias lined it up perfectly again for the second out.  Youngren would be next and hit a line drive down the third base line, Crook angled back and stopped it in his chest to win the game 15-8.

Wrap up

This would be just the third time in team history, Boston had defeated the Comets A team.  Boston did it with its defense as the Renegades made 16 stops tying a team record for a six inning game as the only other time they did it was in the 2018 Series against the BCS Outlaws. (the team record is 21 against the Bombers in a 9 inning game in 2009).  Rob Dias paced the defense with a high of 7 stops in this match. It was just the 24th time in team history a Renegade had made 7+ stops in a game, last occurring when Rob Dias made a career high of 8 stops vs the Chicago Comets in Indianapolis in June.  For Chicago, the player of the game was Dustin Youngren who plated three runs and had three stops on defense.  For Boston, Shawn Devenish plated four runs and Luis Rodriguez scored three.  Boston moved on and Chicago was sent to the losers bracket.  The Renegades would face the one seeded, Indy Edge next.

Game #14 – Living on the Edge – of the Heat index – Edge win 25-8

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	1	3	1	1	1	1		8	6	7
Edge	4	6	2	4	9	x		25	9	11

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		Edge	AB	R	K	PO
Thaxton – DH	2	3	0	—		E. Rodriguez	7	5	1	9
– Devenish – DH	1	0	0	—		Mulherin	7	7	0	2
– Kimball – DH	2	1	0	—		Corey White	7	4	2	0
Dias – DF/LS	—	—	—	1		– Jackson	—	—	—	0
L. Rodriguez – 1B/R	2	0	1	1		Holland	7	1	4	0
– I. Rodriguez – R	2	0	0	0		See -DH	5	4	0	—
Sanchez – 3B	4	1	2	1		Foppiano – DF	—	—	—	0
Cantan – MF	2	0	1	0		– Burns – DH	1	1	0	—
– Hoyt – MF	1	0	1	0		Corian White	6	3	2	0
– Devenish – PH	1	0	0	—
Kimball – R	1	0	0	0
– Regan – 1B	3	0	2	0
Zuccarello – RS	4	3	0	3
NOTE- Thaxton Home Run in the 2nd
Totals	25	8	7	6		Totals	40	25	9	11
Pitcher – Cochran	17	7	4			Pitcher – K. Kennedy
Pitcher – Connolly	8	1	3
Catcher- R. Weissman – 1-2	9	4	3
Catcher – G. Devenish 3-6	16	4	4
LS – Caller – Lenicheck – 1-2
LS – Caller – Grillo – 3-6
RS- Caller – Connolly – 1-2
RS- Caller – Lenicheck – 3-6

Game Summary

Eight teams left without a loss on Wednesday.  Boston had defeated the 8 seed, Chicago Comets while the Edge rolled over the Minnesota Millers in a 1 inning 12 run rule.  The Edge were well rested for this match having only played 3 games till this point.  They beat Tyler in a 2 inning 12 run rule, 20-9 and the NJ Titans 27-5 as well.  Boston had played one more game but a heck of a lot more innings.  The winner would move on to the final four  of undefeated teams and the loser would go to the losers bracket to play the winner of the Atlanta Chaos and Austin Blackhawks.

First inning

Christian Thaxton would lead off for the Renegades with Ron Cochran on the mound.  He clobbered the third pitch down the third base line and would score as the Indy Edge defender went into the fence but would not be hurt.  Luis Rodriguez was next and would struggle with his consistency at the plate and would go down on strikes after five pitches and just one foul shot down the left field line  David Sanchez was next with Connolly taking the mound and Sanchez would swing and miss three times with a foul ball for the second out. Shayne Cantan was next and he would also go down on strikes with two foul balls.  Boston would whiff three times in the inning and that was not going to be enough to compete with the defending champion, Indy Edge.

Jason Lenicheck and Peter Connolly would start this game as the callers.  Eric Rodriguez would lead off for the Edge.  He hit a grounder to the left side and the call would send Dias charging forward, but he ran in and it rolled past him.  Dias had no help behind him as Sanchez was waiting back on his spot on the call.  Dias had no chance with Rodriguez’s speed, even though he called late base (as the base turned on and off) on the play and the game was tied.  Nick Mulherin was next.  He hit a weak grounder down the first base line.  Guy Zuccarello charged it but had the wrong angle and it rolled just by him.  Guy adjusted but kicked it on his way to get it and Mulherin scored with ease.  Corey White would strike out for the first out of the inning.  This brought up Justin Holland who hit a bomb over Cantan in dead center for an easy run.  Aaron See was next and hit a bouncer down the first base line.  Zuccarello would have little shot at this, and Luis Rodriguez was playing more up the middle, however, Rodriguez moved very late on the play and did not get there fast enough as See scored the 4th run of the inning.  Corian White would strike out for the second out.  Eric Rodriguez then hit a high fly ball to the right side.  Zuccarello tracked it, it bounced twice and Guy pounced on it for the stop to end the bleeding.  The Edge led 4-1 after one inning.

Second inning

Chris Kimball would lead off the second inning and hit the first pitch on the ground to the left side.  Eric Rodriguez was able to make the play in time.  Guy Zuccarello was next.  With three strikes he hit a grounder to the left side sending Rodriguez backwards, he struggled to line up the ball and Guy scored hitting third base.  Back to the top of the order, Thaxton ripped the second pitch to left center field.  Indy chased after it as he scored with ease. The Indy Edge team had a great view of the hit and said it cleared the 170 line and was a home run.  That counts as two runs in beep baseball and was Thaxton’s 2nd of the week and third of his career.  Luis Rodriguez was up next and hit a grounder down the third base line.  Eric Rodriguez would range to the line to make the play for the second out.  David Sanchez was next, and with three strikes hit a fly ball to the right center of the field.  Mulherin was late to get to the ball and Eric Rodriguez ranged far to his left and over the middle of the field to make the third stop of the inning.  The Edge led 4-3.

In the bottom of the second, Elana Regan entered the game for Kimball and went to first base, sending Luis Rodriguez to the Rover spot.  Mulherin led off hitting a high fly ball up the middle of the field.  Cantan fielded it on two hops but the speed of Mulherin was too much.  Corey White struck out for the second out as four of the first five outs came by the way of a whiff for the Edge.  This brought up Justin Holland.   He hit a high fly ball to the left side.  He took a step to the wrong base which may have messed up his line.  Sanchez was too slow to get to the ground, and it bounced over him.  Luis Rodriguez was late to the spot, slid feet first at the ball.  Holland missed first base and Rodriguez picked up the ball about 8 seconds after Holland hit it for the out.  Aaron See was next and on a full count, launched a shot to left field that was close to home run distance as Rodriguez had no shot at this play defensively.  Corian White hit a line drive into right field where the Renegades were giving up the line and scored with ease on a bomb.  Eric Rodriguez hit a hard grounder to the left side, Dias dove but it was by him too quick.  Sanchez showed slow mechanics to get to the ground putting his hand on the ground, but never his hips and the ball raced past him.  Luis Rodriguez did not hear the right call as he took off sprinting to the middle of the field.  Eric had his second run of the game.  Mulherin was next and after fouling a pitch off our tripod (bending it) hit a grounder up the middle.  Cantan backed up on it, sat and waited for it, Mulherin slipped out of the box and by the time Cantan waited for the ball, Mulherin was safe.  Corey White was next looking for his first hit.  With three strikes, he hit a ball right at Cantan, Shayne took two steps getting out of the way of the ball.  Cantan dove back to his right, and missed it.  White missed first base giving Boston a chance. Luis Rodriguez was late to the spot as he shuffled to his left, stopped moving and then restarted but it took too much time. White was able to recover and hit the base for a run.  Justin Holland would strike out, making the second out of the inning.  The Edge led 10-4 after two innings, but the Renegade defense looked shaky making only one real out in this game as the Edge had whiffed four times and Boston got a stop because of a missed base.  As the inning ended, word came from the scorer’s table that the city was stopping the games due to the heat index.  There was a long discussion about what would happen and both teams asked if they could call this an official game.

The teams would wait another 6 minutes before the games were officially called.  All of the teams would be asked to meet at 7:00 at night to discuss the situation.  The plan was all of the games would restart at 6:30am the next day.  This schedule would be rough for Boston as they then had their next game scheduled at 11:30.  So they would have to play a game at the crack of dawn, come back to the hotel and possibly play two more games that day, one of them could be a night game.  These games would have a two hour and 15 minute time limit placed on them.

Third inning

The game would restart on Thursday morning at 6:37am.  The teams were on the field before the sun rose and the lights were on to start the game.  Rob Weissman would not be with the team as he stayed back at the hotel due to illness.  This meant Gina Devenish would make her first ever appearance at catcher in a game.  The last time someone caught other than Weissman was in 2007.  Weissman had caught 5,957 consecutive Renegade at bats, surely a league record ( a meaningless record but the reality is with his health issues, this is somewhat of a miracle).  Restarting the game, Cantan hit the third pitch in the air as a flare to the right side.  Mulherin stopped him with ease as the ball had a ton of back spin on it like a gold ball sticking on a putting green.  Elana Regan was next and she swung and missed four times for the second out of the inning.  Guy Zuccarello was next and hit the third pitch up the middle.  Eric Rodriguez hit the ground way too soon and crawled toward it as Guy raced to third and scored.  Shawn Devenish entered the game to pinch hit for Thaxton.  He hit a weak grounder up the middle and would be stopped by Nick Mulherin.  After two and a half innings, the Edge led 10-5.

Melissa Hoyt entered the game to replace Shayne Cantan at the midfield spot.  Ivan Rodriguez replaced Luis Rodriguez at the rover position as the Renegades made changes. Bryan Grillo also went to call the left side with Lenicheck going back to the right side.  Aaron See would lead off for the Edge, 2-2 in the game.  He hit a line drive down the third base line.  Sanchez took one step to the line and it got by him.  Ivan Rodriguez did not move and the Edge were on the board before 7:00 am.  Corian White would strike out and Eric Rodriguez would also strike out.  Nick Mulherin then hit a weak grounder to the left side and slipped out of the box on his way to first base.  Dias came in on the ball on his knees and held his hands out for the ball.  The ball ticked off his hands and rolled a little ways from him.  Dias bobbled it again and Mulherin was safe as the error by Dias kept the inning alive.  Corey White was next and hit a hard grounder to the left side.  Dias laid out and it hit him in the legs and rolled over him.  Dias got up on his knees quickly, spun around and picked it up for the out.  After three it was 12-5.

Fourth inning

Ivan Rodriguez would lead off the fourth with Peter Connolly on the mound.  He hit the first pitch on the ground down the third base line and took two steps to third before correcting and running toward first.  Eric Rodriguez made a nice play on this angling back to the line to make the stop.  David Sanchez then hit the first pitch to the right side like a sliced golf shot.  That spin made it hard for Mulherin to track and Sanchez scored to make it 12-6.  This brought Melissa Hoyt to the plate.  She would foul off the third pitch but go down on strikes for her first at bat of the series.  Elana Regan then hit a fly ball to the left side sending Erod on his horse back and to the line.  He made the play about one step before Regan hit the base.  After three and a half, Boston was down 12-6.

Justin Holland would lead off for the Edge and would strike out for the second time in this game.  Aaron See would hit a grounder off the bottom of his bat short and up the middle.  Guy Zuccarello slid to his right, dove head first and stopped it in his gut for the second out of the inning and his second stop of the game.  Corian White then hit a no doubter down the right side for an easy run as Elan Regan was jogging after it tracking it as she was moving.  Eric Rodriguez lined a shot up the middle right at Hoyt.  She dropped to her knees, never fully laying out and missed it and Rodriguez had his third run of the game.  Mulherin then hit a grounder to the right side.  Elana Regan was there, lined it up but she sat and waited on it and that time gave Mulherin the chance to score with his speed.  Corey White then hit a grounder at Rob Dias who dove with his legs together as the ball bounced over his legs.  Sanchez made no effort to get to the ground.  Neither did Ivan and the run counted.  Justin Holland would strike out for the second time in the inning and third time in the game to end the bleeding.  The Edge led 16-6 as they could not twelve run the Renegades.

Fifth inning

Guy Zuccarello would lead off the 5th for Boston and line a ball of Ron’s hip.  He then hit a grounder up the middle to Eric Rodriguez who charged it and dropped fast to the ground to make the stop.  Chris Kimball was next and hit a weak grounder to the left.  Eric Rodriguez was frozen on the play and was late to move.  He dove, missed and had to go back for it and Kimball’s speed was too much as Kimball was on the board.  Ivan Rodriguez then hit a fly ball to the left side.  Eric Rodriguez got to the spot fast and stopped the ball in his gut for a tough play that he made look easy.   David Sanchez would whiff to end the top of the fifth as Boston was down 16-7.

The bottom of the fifth was an ugly inning for Boston.  Aaron See started things off hitting a grounder down the right side. Zuccarello had to angle back, but Regan was also slow to the spot.  See beat both of them in this race but hit the base awkwardly and was injured on the play.  Corian White then it a weak grounder to the right.  Zuccarello came in on it, slid on his knees and made the stop for the first out of the inning.  Eric Rodriguez was next and hit a high pop up to the middle of the field.  Guy and Dias were both there but neither could get the ball in time and Rodriguez scored.  Mulherin (5 for 5 in this game) blasted a line drive into right field that was just short of the 170 line for an easy run.  Corey White then hit a hard line drive down the third base line.  Sanchez didn’t move back on the ball and it rolled by him to the fence for a run.  Justin Holland then hit a line drive down the third base line and David Sanchez dropped to all fours, then got to the ground to make the stop for the second out of the inning.  This would bring up Elijah Burns, pinch hitting for See.  He hit a grounder to the right side, past a diving Zuccarello and off of Elana Regan who could not scramble in time to get the ball as Burns had his first career run against the Renegades.  Corian White (2-5 on the day) then hit a line drive past Zuccarello but Regan ran in the wrong direction and White scored his third run of the game.  Eric Rodriguez then hit a fly ball near the home run line and off the fence as he scored his fifth run of the game.  Boston called a time out as the Edge had plated 7 runs in this inning.  Mulherin was next and he was a perfect 6-6 in this game.  He hit a grounder to the right side.  Zuccarello went to his left, dove and the ball hit him and then rolled off and by him as Mulherin had 7 in a row!  Corey White (3-6)  next hit a high fly ball to the right side.  He looked like a sniper was shooting at him as he ran “army”” style, zig zagging up the line.  Guy could not find the handle in time and White scored.  Justin Holland was having a brutal game, and would strike out to end the inning.  Justin Holland would whiff for the 4th time and make his 6th out of the game (against 7 for the rest of the Edge team).  Even great hitters can have an off day.  The Edge plated 9 runs in this inning.  For the 14th time in team history, the Renegades let up 9+ runs in an inning.  The Edge led 25-7.

Sixth inning

Shawn Devenish would enter the game to hit for Hoyt.  He hit a fly ball to the left side.  Eric Rodriguez quickly back pedaled, heard the ball land in front of him and pounced on it before Devenish could hit third.  Elana Regan then struck out.  Guy Zuccarello then hit a line drive off the end of his bat to the left side.  Rodriguez could not get this as he attempted to make a play on the ball.  However, the ball was dead.  Controversy started as both teams did not know the rule.  The final call was that the fielder did make contact with the ball and he had intent to field it, so it would not be ruled a dead ball.  The run counted and Zuccarello had his third run of the game.  Chris Kimball was next and grounded out to Eric Rodriguez for the final out of the game as he tumbled over the base.

Wrap up

For Boston, this would be a game to forget as a team.  The 25 runs allowed were 4th most in team history (Chicago plated 31 runs in 2012).  The 17 run differential was the 2nd most in team history (most was against Long Island in 2008) and the 19.4% defensive percentage was the 8th worst in team history.

The player of the game would be Nick Mulherin who was a perfect 7-7 and made 2 stops on defense.  Eric Rodriguez also pitched in 5 runs in 7 trips to the plate and paced the defense with 9 stops.  For Boston, Christian Thaxton hit his third home run of his career, Gina Devenish became the third most active catcher in Renegade history and Guy Zuccarello scored three runs.  Boston would head to the losers bracket and the Edge would move on to the next round in the undefeated side of the bracket.

Game #15 – Boston Eliminates the Austin Blackhawks 17-5

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Austin	2	2	0	1	x	x		5	9	9
Boston	3	5	1	8	x	x		17	3	3

Austin	AB	R	K	PO		Boston	AB	R	K	PO
Sterling	3	1	2	2		Thaxton – DH	5	4	0	—
– S. Hernandez	—	—	—	1		Dias – DF/LS	—	—	—	1
Brock – DH	3	1	2	—		Devenish – MF	5	2	1	0
A. Malero – DF	—	—	—	0		Hoyt – G	—	—	—	—
– Lakey – DF	—	—	—	0		– McCormick – R	—	—	—	0
Reynoso	3	3	0	0		– Sanchez – PH	3	1	1	—
– J. Sibson	—	—	—	0		– Kimball – R	—	—	—	0
Finn	3	0	1	2		– Yee – PH	1	1	0	—
– D. Perez	—	—	—	0		– L. Rodriguez – PH	1	0	1	—
Burnett	3	0	3	3		Cantan – 1B	5	4	0	0
– P. Chesser	—	—	—	0		Crook – 3B	4	3	0	2
Manning	2	0	1	1		– Regan – PH	1	0	0	—
						I. Rodriguez – G	—	—	—	—
						– Zuccarello – RS	4	2	0	0
Totals	17	5	9	9		Totals	29	17	3	3
Pitcher – M. Flemming						Pitcher- Cochran	20	11	2
						Pitcher – Connolly	9	6	1
						Catcher- R. Weissman
						LS – Caller – Grillo
						RS Caller-Lenicheck

Game Summary

Two teams with a long history would face off with one loss each in this double elimination tournament. The last time they faced off was in the 2019 series with Austin walking off on Boston in pool play.  Boston would have Ron Cochran and Peter Connolly on the mound in this game and longtime vets, Bryan Grillo and Jason Lenicheck spotting.  The loser of this game would finish no higher than 9th at this series.  For Austin, they would be pitching, Molly Flemming in her first full year as a pitcher.  This would be a big test for her.

With the city of Norman halting all games the day prior due to the extreme heat index, it was possible the paths of these two teams could impact the result.  Could sleep and rest impact this game? The Renegades were forced to the field for a 6:30am restart to their game with the Edge and then had to wait for this game.  Austin got to sleep in and they played an 8:30 start.  This favored the Austin team as the Renegades left the hotel at 5:45am on just a few hours of sleep.  There would also be a two hour and 15 minute time limit imposed on all matches on Thursday.

First Inning

Darius Sterling, the speedster would be the lead-off hitter for Austin. With the departure of former all-star Brandon Chesser, Sterling moved up to lead-off due to his success off Molly Flemming. He got the party started with a line drive up the middle.  Devenish was a little shallow, and was late to the ground.  McCormick slid over to his left, hit the ground and stopped it but Sterling was already at the base as Austin drew first blood.  Next up was Daniel Brock, the 2022 Rookie of the year.  His first appearance against the Renegades resulted in a whiff. Mariano Reynoso was moved up in the order to hit third and hit a weak bouncer up the middle.  Devenish got down to his left and the ball bounced over his legs as he was slow to the ground and created a ramp for the ball to shoot over his body. Shayne Cantan was there to back it up but he was slow to the ball and Austin led 2-0.  Mike Finn and Drew Burnett next whiffed on 8 swings and misses, Molly struck out the side in her first inning against Boston.

Boston would lead off Christian Thaxton in this game, Austin had not seen him since 2018 but they knew his ability.  Thaxton, still working on his timing with Cochran would swing and miss on the first two pitches of the at bat.  Thaxton then launched a high fly ball to the right side and take off to first base.  Drew Burnett had to wait for the ball to land and then find it as it spun to the right side and Thaxton was safe with ease.  Devenish was next and hit the first pitch off the bottom of his bat to the left side right to Sterling as Darius made a nice play up against his chest.  This brought up David Sanchez to pinch hit for Joe McCormick who started the game in left field.  This also brought Peter Connolly to the bump for his first time of the game.  Sanchez would strike out.  Shayne Cantan was next with Peter staying on the mound.  With three strikes, Shayne hit a lazy fly ball down the third base line that went over Sterling and past a diving Ed Manning.  Cantan scored  to tie the game.  Big Drew Crook was next, in his first at bat vs Austin. He crushed a grounder on the second pitch down the third base line past everyone and the 170 line. Crook scored easily as Mike Finn ran after the ball with his back toward home plate.  From the big man, Crook to the little man, Guy Zuccarello.  Guy hit the first pitch up the middle.  Drew Burnett lined it up, moved up on the ball and made the stop.  Boston led 3-2 after one inning.

Second Inning

Chris Kimble would enter the game for Boston as David Sanchez would exit the game.  Ed Manning led off out of the six spot for Austin.  He hit the second pitch down the third base line.  Drew Crook shuffled over to the line, dove head first and the ball hit his chest, rolled a little ways away from him but Drew pawed it like a cat pawing a mouse and collected his first stop of the game.  Sterling was next and swung and missed four times for the second out.  Daniel Brock swung and missed three times , fouled off a ball behind home plate and then hit a hard grounder to the right side.  Shayne Cantan was slow to get over and even slower to get to the ground as it went under his hands for the tying run.  Reynoso then hit the third pitch on the fly to the right side.  Cantan slid to his left and was slow to the ground but when he hit the ground the ball hit his out stretched hand.  However, Shayne was slow to get it off the ground and Reynoso gave Austin a 4-3 lead.  Mike Finn was next and with three strikes hit a pop up with back spin to the left side.  The ball hit the ground and died with the spin.  Rob Dias came in and grabbed it about two steps before Finn hit third base.  Austin led 4-3 after one and a half innings.

Thaxton would lead off the second.  On the third pitch, he grounded weakly down the third base line.  The big swing must have frozen the Austin defense as Sterling hit the ground and it never got to him as Thaxton hit third long before Sterling picked it up.  Devenish was next and on the third pitch hit a line drive up the middle deep.  Mike Finn shuffled to his left toward the center of the field and he may have over run it as when he went to the ground feet first, the ball went under his arm pits and Devenish gave the Renegades the 5-4 lead.  Weissman then pinch hit for Kimball with Joe Yee who would have his cousin, Peter Connolly throwing to him.  Yee hit the first pitch in the air down the right field line.  Austin had Ashley Malero on an island and the ball was hit over her head for an easy run.  Shayne Cantan then hit the third pitch to the left side.  This ball had eyes as it went under Sterling’s legs, Manning over ran it and when he dove , it went under his arms but Finn was in the third layer and got Cantan by a few steps for the first out.  Crook was next and on the second pitch hit a fly ball to right center past Reynoso and Crook scored with ease.  Zuccarello was next and on the second pitch hit a line drive up the middle past Sterling, past Burnett and as the ball got to Finn, Guy hit third base before the ball got to Finn and Boston led 8-4.  Thaxton in his second at bat of the inning hit a hard bouncer up the left side and Finn made a nice play for the out in left field.  Devenish would go down on strikes after getting six pitches and represent the second Renegade whiff, and the first from Cochran.

Third Inning

Down 8-4 heading into the top of the third, the game was near the one hour mark in this time limit game.  Austin needed a rally.  Drew Burnett, Ed Manning and Darius Sterling would all go down on strikes.  Austin had seven strike outs and Boston had just two stops on defense in this match.

Starting off the bottom of the third, the renegades were looking to jump on the Austin Blackhawks.  David Sanchez would reenter the game replacing Joe McCormick. He hit the first pitch on the ground up the middle.  Austin thew three bodies at the ball and the last one, Mike Finn came up with the stop.  Connolly would stay on the mound to face Shayne Cantan.  Shayne would hit a lazy pop fly to the left side but it had enough air and the ground was hard enough that it bounced in the air and Sterling could not find it as Cantan was safe.  Drew Crook was next and on the first pitch hit a hard third base line hugger.  Ed Manning dove head first and made the stop for out number two.  Zuccarello was next and on the third pitch hit a grounder up the middle.  Sterling dove to his right and missed and Drew Burnett crept up to make the play.  After three, Boston led 9-4.  Keep in mind there was less than an hour before the game would called as the game had a two hour and 15 minute time limit.

Fourth Inning

Daniel Brock would lead off for Austin as they had some hope of a momentum shift.  That would not happen as he would strike out and that would make four whiffs in a row.  Mariano Reynoso was next.  He stepped in representing 50% of their offensive production.  He blasted a line drive down the first base line where no Boston defender was.  Reynoso scored.  Mike Finn was next and hit a bouncer to the left side.  Drew Crook dropped to his left and stopped the ball for his second stop in the game. Drew Burnett would whiff to end the fourth and Austin was down 9-5.

With time ticking down, Boston was looking for a big inning.  Who better to lead off than Christian Thaxton. On a 1-2 count, he ripped a grounder to the left side that Darius Sterling laid out for and hit Sterling in the hands…but sadly for Sterling that didn’t slow it down and it rolled past Finn and over the 170 line.  Sterling was hurt on the play and time would be called to look at him.  He would gut it out and stay in the game.  Shawn Devenish would then step up and test Sterling right away hitting a weak grounder down the third base line.  Sterling scrambled to the line and would make the play with his hands in foul territory as he beat Shawn to the base.  Luis Rodriguez came off the bench and would strike out.  Next was Shayne Cantan and he would have an epic at bat.  He fouled off 4 pitches and on the 7th pitch hit a weak pop up to the right side.  A foot race between Cantan and Ashley Malero would result in a run in a five minute at bat.  Drew Crook was next and hit a laser, foul down the third base line that took more than a minute for the volunteers to chase down as it rolled over 250 feet.  Crook then hit a little piggy to center field that went over the 170 line and Finn gave up as Crook scored with ease on a bomb.  The ball needed to be replaced after that hit.  Zuccarello then went oppo on a hard grounder past Malero and before Reynoso finally fell on the ball, Zuccarello made it three straight runs.  Thaxton was next and fouled off 4 straight pitches, took a pitch, fouled off another and then hit a hard grounder down the third base line as three Austin defenders hit the ground and missed it for his second run of the inning.  Devenish would also go into a deep count and with three strikes hit a fly ball into left field that bounced over a diving Mike Finn.  Sanchez then hit two foul balls and with three strikes hit a line drive up the middle that Burnett dove and missed.  Finn came over and struggled to find the ball, but Sanchez missed the base.  Finn struggled too long and the Sanchize had scored.  This at bat by Sanchez was Peter Connolly’s 390th batter faced and would move him past Jamie Dickerson for 4th all time in team history in batters faced.   Shayne Cantan then laced a hard grounder down the third base line and scored putting this game into the 12 run rule.  Elana Regan then stepped in to pinch hit for Crook.  Austin then huddled and called a time out as both teams were struggling with the time left in the game.  It didn’t make sense to either team that the league was asking to complete a game that was over.  Austin brought in Sarai Hernandez, Pam Chesser, Jamie Sibson, Davion Perez and Bobby Lakey.  Regan hit the second pitch to the left side and Sarai Hernandez ended the game with a stop.  That eight run inning ended this game as Boston defeated a team that was seeded three slots ahead of them.  This gave the Renegades a date with the Houston Hurricanes at 8:30 at night under the lights.

Wrap up

The players of this game were Christian Thaxton and Shayne Cantan who each had 4 runs.  Drew Crook also pitched in three runs and led the Renegade defense with two stops in this game.  For Austin, Mariano Reynoso plated three of their five runs and Drew Burnett made three stops on defense.  The Renegade offense had scored 17 + runs in a game for the 27th time in team history. The 10.3% K rate was the 13th best in team history and this was the 19th time Boston had beat an opponent by 12 + runs in a game.

Game #16 – Renegades put the lights out on Houston Hurricanes 17-4

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	4	1	0	2	8	2		17	12	12
Houston	1	0	1	0	2	0		4	6	6

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		Houston	AB	R	K	PO
Thaxton – DH	5	3	2	—		Parker – DH	2	0	0	—
– Regan	1	0	0	—		– Syphers – DH	2	0	0	—
Dias – DF/LS	—	—	—	1		Boudreaux – DF	—	—	—	0
Devenish – MF	6	5	0	5		– Navarro – DF	—	—	—	0
I. Rodriguez – G	—	—	—	—		Walters	4	1	0	2
– Sanxhez – PH	2	1	1	—		Hutchins	4	2	2	1
– McCormick – R	—	—	—	1		Marquez	4	0	4	0
– Kimball – PH	3	2	0	—		Perry	3	0	0	1
– L. Rodriguez – R	1	0	1	2		Bigggins	3	1	0	2
Cantan – 1B	6	2	3	2
Crook – 3B	4	2	2	0
– Yee -3B	1	0	0	0
Zuccarello – RS	5	2	3	1
Totals	34	17	12	12		Totals	22	4	6	6
Pitcher – Cochran	25	14	8			Pitcher- Burris	15	4	2
Pitcher – Connolly	9	3	4			Pitvcher – Gonzalez	7	0	4
Catcher- R. Weissman
LS – Caller .Grillo
RS Caller- Lenicheck

Game Summary

The first night game of the NBBA World Series since the Renegades took on the Jets in the 2019 series in Tulsa.  This game was rescheduled due to the heat index being at 10 and the city halting activities.  It was a cool 93 degrees at game time at 8:35 Central time.  For Boston, Ron Cochran and Peter Connolly would be on the mound and Bryan Grillo and Jason Lenicheck would be calling the defense.  The winner of this game would stay alive and the loser would be sent to the 7/8 game.  Houston looked rough on Tuesday, but they mentioned to Weissman during a coaches meeting that their Tuesday morning matchup was the first time they had played together all year and they were rusty.  They had a huge upset win over the Bayou City Heat, a team in which most of these players played on before breaking off in 2022.  This game would have a two hour and 15 minute time limit and needed to end by 11:00 at night.

Weissman warned the team to get its rest during the afternoon because this was going to be a different game.  He was right. The lineup had two different starters. One of them was legend, John Parker, the man Christian Thaxton replaced as the all-time leader in batting average in 2018!

First Inning

Speaking of Christian Thaxton, he would lead off this contest with a laser that went foul.  After another foul ball, Thaxton lofted a fly ball to left field.  Weissman and Cochran started calling for a home run call and the umpires confirmed it and Thaxton had his 2nd home run of the week and third of his career.  Unofficially, this may have been the first ever NBBA leadoff home run in a game. That woke the team on a day in which many of the players were up at 5:00 am.  That Home Run gave Boston a two run lead.  Shawn Devenish was next and on the 5th pitch hit a fly ball to left field.  Doug Biggins was on it as it bounced and rolled into his chest.  Shawn hit third base just before Biggins got the ball off the ground.  The play was contested but the call would stand as a run for Boston.  David Sanchez was next and Connolly strode to the bump to face him.  Sanchez hit a shot that was questionably called fair and would score, but the play was contested and the umpire made the right call as the ball rolled just foul.  Sanchez then hit a hard line drive down the third base line that got by every layer and hit the fence for an automatic run and Boston led 4-0.  Shayne Cantan, Drew Crook and Guy Zuccarello would end the inning with a whimper  as they would strike out collectively with just four foul balls between them.  Crook was too amped up in his at bat as he was trying to match Thaxton’s bomb, and failed.

As Boston took the field, Joe McCormick replaced Sanchez in the outfield.  Houston led off John Parker with Kyle Burris on the mound.  He lofted a fly ball to center where Shawn Devenish laid out and made the stop.  Jason Walters was next with his pitching wedge in hand.  On a full count plus a foul ball, Walters lined a shot to left field. McCormick lined it up but it bounced off his chest and away from him as Walters put Houston on the board  Roy Hutchins was next.  He joined the team just weeks before as the BCS Outlaws were unable to attend due to two deaths in their extended family. He struck out. John Gonzalez then take the mound to face John Marques, and he would strike out. After one frame, Boston led 4-1.

Second Inning

Christian Thaxton would lead off for the Renegades in the second inning.  He crushed a first pitch laser to left field that one hopped the fence in “Kevin Millar territory”, but he was early and it was foul.  On the fourth pitch, Thaxton hit a line drive that hit third base and knocked it down.  His at bat would end in a strike out and a comment from his catcher saying, even though you whiffed, you are still 2-2 in this game (due to the first inning home run).  Devenish was next and on the second pitch, hit a line drive down the third base line that bounced off the deep man, Doug Biggin’s feet and Devenish scored.  This brought pinch hitter, Chris Kimball to the plate to replace McCormick.  Kimball hit a grounder to the left side.  Jason Walters would hit the ground and dive to his right and stopped the ball in his hands.  Shayne Cantan then stepped into the box with Connolly coming back to the mound.  He hit a line drive into left field.  Biggins bobbled it and picked it up.  Initially, the play was called safe, but the play was over turned and the inning was over.  After one and a half, Boston led 5-1.

Houston would lead off with Josh Perry and John Gonzalez pitching to start the second.  Luis Rodriguez replaced Kimball and headed to left field on defense.  On the third pitch, Perry hit a grounder that Zuccarello stopped with ease but the play was called dead due to a late base.  With three strikes, Perry hit a line drive into left field, Crook over ran it and Luis Rodriguez shuffled to his right, laid out and made the play.  The play was contested and the call stood as Rodriguez made a huge out deep in the defense.  Doug Biggins was next as Kyle Burris came back to the mound.  On the first pitch, he hit a line drive up the gut of the defense, Devenish dropped and stopped the ball for the second out.  This brought Parker back to the dish and with a full count he hit a fly ball to left field.  Luis Rodriguez lined it up and made the stop deep in the defense as he then got mobbed by Devenish, Crook and Grillo in a celebratory moment.  This was his first double put out inning of the season.  The Boston squad took three good hits away with solid defense!

Third Inning

Drew Crook would lead off the third and get the same result as he did in the first with a strike out though he had a grounder hit the fence in foul territory on the first pitch.  Zuccarello would be next and also have a similar result, resulting in a four pitch whiff.  Thaxton strode back to the plate for the third time in the contest. He hit the second pitch in the air up the middle. Roy Hutchins was under it and the ball short hoped him and he caught it.  It may have been a double play, but there were two outs and it only counted as one.  Another great defensive play in this game.  Boston put up a bagel in the inning and heading to the bottom of the third, led 5-1.

Jason Walters would lead off for Houston, representing the sole run they had in the game.  Kyle Burris was back on the bump for Houston.  Walters hit a line drive up the middle.  Devenish lined it up, stopped it with his face, but it rolled off him, he was able to scramble to stop it for the first out of the frame and the 4th consecutive nice defensive play. Burris had words for the ump as he felt Devenish was saying “up” before he had the ball.  Devenish explained he was saying “Owe” as he got the ball off his face.  Roy Hutchins was next and hit a grounder to the left side.  Rob Dias ran in and slid but it rolled past him.  He bounced back up, ran backwards after it but the speed of Hutchins was too much and the run scored.  Marquez would whiff for the second time and the second out.  Perry was next and hit a weak grounder to the left side.  Rob Dias came in on it, hit the ground and slithered forward to make the stop.  Boston led 5-2 after three innings.

Fourth Inning

Shawn Devenish would be the leadoff hitter in the 4th, a rare moment when Thaxton makes the last out of the inning. Shawn would get the count to three strikes and hit a weak grounder up the middle. Both Houston shorties flew in on the ball.  Walters was the first one there, but Perry was more aggressive and called it off, he missed it on his first time to pick it up and Devenish scooted down and hit third base to beat out the play and scored his third run of the game.  David Sanchez Re-entered the game with Connolly back on the mound. He struck out on five pitches.  Cantan was next but could not connect and was down on four straight pitches.  Weissman had Yee and Crook both ready to go and decided to stick with Crook.  With three strikes, Crook crushed a line drive past all three layers of the defense which was an automatic run as it crashed into the fence.  This brought up Zuccarello who for the third straight time would go down swinging on four pitches as Cochran and Weissman were concerned that Zuccarello may be gassed due to the heat and long day.  Boston would hold a 7-2 lead after three and a half innings.

Heading into the 4th, Joe McCormick would head back into the field replacing David Sanchez.  Doug Biggins would lead off the inning for Houston.  Biggins hit the second pitch up the gut.  Devenish slid to his right and made his fourth stop of the game to lead both teams on defense!  This brought up a pinch hitter for John Parker, the lead-off hitter.  Enter Tim Syphers who hit a ball up the middle.  Zuccarello dove at the ball and it hit his hands and changed direction toward the middle of the field.  Guy called for help and Devenish was there to assist.  He bobbled the ball but Syphers missed the base and Devenish had his 5th out of the game.  The play was contested as Syphers complained he hit the base, but he was caught coming back to tag the base and the call stood. Jason Walters was next and on the first pitch, hit a fly ball to the left side.  Dias backed up and hit the ground as it went under his arms.  Crook stood there like a statue, “making no effort to get to the ground” (as Hunter Weissman called it) and Joe McCormick made a brave decision to reach between Drew’s legs and pick up the ball for the final out of the inning.  McCormick sure put his life on the line if Crook decided to hit the ground!  Boston maintained their 5 run lead 7-2.

Fifth Inning

Thaxton led off the 5th and on the second pitch one hopped the fence again, but it was foul.  The next pitch was a grounder that actually hit third base.  He would go down on strikes for his second whiff of the game and the 10th for Boston. This extremely long day influenced the whiffs as many of the players were masking their exhaustion with adrenaline. Shawn Devenish was next and hit the first pitch weakly to the right side.  Josh Perry made the play on his knees to stop Devenish with ease for the first time in this game.  Weissman then went back to the bench bringing Chris Kimball to hit for McCormick.  Kimball hit the second pitch in the air weakly up the middle. Neither shorty charged it as they may have been frozen on the call. Kimball whistled down the first base line for a big run with two outs.  Connolly came back to the mound for Cantan. Cantan hit the first pitch deep to left field in the air.  The ball bounced over a diving Doug Biggins in the third layer of the defense for the second run of the inning.  Drew Crook then hit the a second pitch grounder to the left side.  Walters hit the ground as the ball hit his feet and changed direction bouncing far past his head.  Walters needed to get off the ground, chase it and pick it up.  He ran out of time as Crook scored the third straight run with two outs.  Zuccarello was next and hit a line drive up the middle, the Houston defender, Marquez dove and missed it and Zuccarello was on the board.  Thaxton was next and after fouling back two straight pitches to Weissman, hit a high fly ball that went higher than deep.  Walters was frozen on the play and by the time he charged it and the ball landed, Thaxton was near the base and had his third run of the game.  Devenish put a charge into the first pitch he saw and lifted it into deep left field as the ball bounced by Doug Biggins and Devenish had his fourth run.  This was six straight runs with two outs as Houston could not get off the field.  Chris Kimball, came back to the plate  and hit a line drive to the right side and scored with ease sliding into third base.  Kimball started this inning off and really picked up the team in a big spot with his second run of the frame.  Cantan and Connolly came back to the plate.  Cantan fouled off three straight pitches and hit a fly ball off the top of the bat to the left side.  Walters was there but the ball dropped in front of him.  Cantan got down the third base line and just beat the play out for the 8th straight run with two outs.  Weissman went to the bench up 15-2 as Joe Yee came off the bench.  Yee hit a hard grounder to the left that got by two defenders.  Doug Biggins made the stop in left field.  Boston led 15-2 on the back of Chris Kimball coming off the bench providing much needed energy!

Boston left Joe Yee in the game to play third base.  Luis Rodriguez came back into the defense to play left field.  Houston needed to avoid the 12 run game, but they were also up against a clock that was ticking down as the game neared 2 hours in length.  Roy Hutchins was the first hitter up and he hit the first pitch to Rob Dias, the ball went off his foot and Dias scrambled to look for it.  Hutchins was burning down the first base line and Dias could not pick it clean in time and Houston was now one run away from getting out of the 12 run rule.  John Marquez would strike out for the first out.  Josh Perry was next and hit a line drive down the first base line.  Zuccarello dove and missed. Cantan slid over, picked it up just in foul territory around 110 feet.  The call by the umpire was “safe”.  Boston challenged the play and the call was reversed awarding Cantan his first stop of the game.  Doug Biggins was next, looking to avoid Devenish who had stopped him twice.  He was also looking to avoid the 12 run rule.  Biggins hit a chopper to the left.  Dais slid to his left but missed it.  Yee came a distance, slid and made a play on it but Biggins was safe.  Controversy began as the ball was dead.  Weissman, Kyle Burris and John Parker converged with the umpire to discuss the rule.  Weissman and Burris were unsure of the rule while Parker was confident it was a run.  As time ticked down, the head umpire’s presence was requested. Ultimately, the defender had clear intent to make a play on the ball, and the call would result in a run. This brought Tim Syphers up to the dish.  With three strikes he hit a grounder to the right side.  Guy Zuccarello dropped and made the play to end the inning.  Houston avoided the 12 run rule as time ticked down under ten minutes with Boston holding a 15-4 advantage.

Sixth Inning

All Boston wanted to do at this point was end the game and made pleas to just call it as the lights were supposed to go out at 11:00 and Both teams had a 7:30 am game the next day.  We were not supposed to start an inning after 10:50, but that was just in four minutes.  The game continued and Guy Zuccarello would lead off the frame.  PJ Navarro entered the game to replace Blake Boudreaux as the Defensive Fielder.  Zuccarello hit a fly ball to the left side, Walters hit the ground, and it bounced off his body and Guy scored running to third base for his second run of the game after his silver Enchilada, three whiff game.  Elana Regan came off the bench to hit for Thaxton.  She hit a grounder down the third base line.  Walters had to go a long way and angle back.  He fielded the ball near the third base line right before Regan reached first base for the first out.  Shawn Devenish was next and hit a dribbler just over the forty foot line.  Walters rushed in as Devenish scrambled to first. Shawn won the foot race and scored his 5th run of the game; this marked the 6th time on his career he had a five run game! Luis Rodriguez would stay in the game and hit.  The result was a strike out.  Cantan would also strike out and Boston had whiffed 12 times in this match.  This at bat by Cantan would be a milestone for Peter Connolly as it was his 400th batter faced as a pitcher in his career (4th All-time)  Boston last struck out 13 times in a game in 2013 in a win vs New Jersey.

Boston would be forced to take the field as the teams were told the lights would go off at 11:00 and many of the lights on other fields were starting to go out.  Houston was down 17-4.  Jason Walters would lead off the last of the 6th and hit a grounder to the right side.  Zuccarello dove out of the way of the ball but helped direct Cantan to the ball as Shayne crawled forward slowly to make the stop for his second stop of the game.  Hutchins whiffed and Marquez then followed suit with a K of his own as Boston would move on to be one of the final six teams alive and Houston was eliminated and sent to the 7/8 game.

Wrap up

Boston would secure its 8th top 6 seed in a row with this win dating back to 2014.   This would be a 13-run win and represented just the 10th time in team history the Renegades would win by 13+ Runs.  The last time they accomplished this feat (Prior to the Sirens game this season) was against these same Hurricanes in the 2022 World Series. Hunter Weissman called this the “Shawn Devenish game”.  An exhausted Devenish, paced the offense with five runs and the defense with 5 stops. It was a long day for Boston and despite the high strike out rates, Boston barreled a bunch of hits.  Thaxton’s Lead-off Home Run, just the third in team history was the best example of Boston Barreling up the pitches.  For Houston the star of the game for them was Roy Hutchins with two runs and a stop on defense.

Game #17 – Thunder Come back and Roll over Renegades 30-19

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	8	5	2	2	1	1		19	5	10
Indy	3	2	10	15	x	x		30	2	13

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		Indy	AB	R	K	PO
Thaxton – DH	5	6	0	—		Buhler	7	6	0	4
Regan – DF/G	—	—	—	—		Dycus – DH	7	6	0	—
-Dias – DF/LS	1	1	0	5		Rodenbeck – DF	—	—	—	1
Devenish – MF/R	5	4	1	1		K. Lewis	7	4	2	4
– L. Rodriguez – PH	1	0	0	—		– M. Lewis	—	—	—	0
Hoyt – G	—	—	—	—		Jeffares	7	6	0	1
– Sanchez – PH	3	2	0	—		Dunleavy	6	4	0	2
– McCormick – R	—	—	—	0		– Diaz	1	0	0	—
– L. Rodriguez – 1B/R	—	—	—	0		– Ikram	—	—	—	1
– Yee – 1B	1	1	0	0		Gregory	6	4	0	0
– Kimball – 1B	2	1	0	0		– Sellers	1	0	0	0
Cantan – 1B/R/MF	5	2	1	2
– Sanchez – PH	1	0	0	—
Crook – 3B	4	1	1	0
– Regan – PH	2	0	1	—
I. Rodriguez – G/PH	2	0	1	—
– Kimball – PH	1	1	0	—
– Zuccarello – RS	3	0	0	2
Note – Thaxton Home Run in the 1st inning
Totals	36	19	5	10		Totals	42	30	2	13
Pitcher – Cochran	24	14	3			Pitcher- J. Woodard
Pitcher – Connolly	12	5	2
Catcher- R. Weissman
LS – Caller .Grillo
RS Caller- Lenicheck

Game Summary

Welcome to Friday!  The Renegades were still alive without two losses on the last day of the bracket for just the 7th time in team history.  The Renegades would take on the Indy Thunder with both teams having a loss.  The Thunder beat Oklahoma 37-20 (3 inning 12 run rule), Gateway 18-17 (in a 12 run rule win) before losing to the Jets 20-19.  The winner of this game would stay alive as one of the top four teams and the loser would be sent packing to the 5/6 placement game.

First inning

Boston lost the coin toss and would start the game at the plate for a 7:30am start, the earliest start to the beginning of a game in team history.  Christian Thaxton would get things started off Ron Cochran’s second pitch which he launched into left field for a run.  Shawn Devenish then smacked the first pitch on a line down the third base line. Zach Buhler booted it and Shawn was safe.  Peter Connolly trotted out to the mound to face David Sanchez.  On the first pitch, Sanchez hit a fly ball to center field that bounced over the last layer of the defense for a run.  Shayne Cantan was next and on Connolly’s 2nd pitch, Cantan kept the party rolling with a line drive into left field.  Buhler was able to stop this ball on a bang-bang with Cantan running to third.  Drew Crook brought Ron Cochran back to the mound. He saw 5 pitches (compared to the 6 combined pitches to the four guys in front of him).  Crook would hit a squibbing, spinning ball off the very tip of his bat to the right side.  Cody Jeffares would make the play after taking a bad line to the ball.  Chris Kimball was next, as a pinch hitter for Ivan Rodriguez.  He hit the first offering from Cochran on a line up the middle.  That ball got through three defenders as Kimball scored on a ball that Kimball knocked 80% of the beep out of and the players could not hear it.  Boston led 4-0 with Thaxton coming to the plate for the second time.  He nailed the first pitch into deep left field.  There was no volunteers on the field in the outfield or at third base.  When the ball was hit Weissman said it was a Home run and was immediately questioned by the Indy bench.  When asked how Weissman knew, the answer was “there is no ump out there so we likely won’t get it – but I’ve seen that same ball twice this week and it looked gone, though I have no proof.”   Seconds later word came in from the Indy spotter, that the ball went over the line and Thaxton had his third Home run of the week (there was a total of 10 hit in the week).  A Home Run is worth two runs and Boston jumped to a 6-0 lead.  Devenish then worked the count deep and hit 3 straight fouls balls with the last one a bomb into left that hit the fence.  After a break where Devenish needed his coach to help him tie his cleats (Devenish was not happy about this), he hit a fly ball up the middle off the top of his bat that froze the defense.  The short men were both slow to adjust and ran in late allowing Devenish his second run of the inning.    David Sanchez then hit the second pitch off Connolly into left field and beat out a close play as Buhler lifted the ball right after David hit third base.  Shayne Cantan battled to three strikes with two foul balls in a row and hit a weak grounder to the left side.  Kyle Lewis grabbed it a few steps before Cantan hit first.  A great start for Boston as they plated eight runs in the first inning.  Boston had only plated 8+ runs in the first inning of a game 7 times in their history.  This was also the 8th time ever the Renegades had plated 8+ runs in an inning.  A great start to this 7:30am game!

Joe McCormick would take Sanchez’s spot in the lineup and run out to play defense in left field for Boston.  Guy Zuccarello would replace Kimball and jog out to his spot at the right short spot.  Jarred Woodard would take the mound for the Thunder.  With at least 6 championship rings in his trophy case, this thunder team would have a lot of confidence.  Buhler would lead off and belt a grounder up the middle.  Devenish took a step too far and missed it, McCormick dove and missed it and the Thunder were on the board.  Gerald Dycus was next and lofted a ball at Shayne Cantan on the fly and would score.  Kyle Lewis struck out on four pitches.  Cody Jeffares was next, worked the count to three strikes and hit a grounder up the left side.  He took a bad line that he was able to correct near the Renegade bench.  Rob Dias slid to his left and stopped the ball with his chest for the second out.  Chris Dunleavy then lofted a fly ball to center field past  Devenish.  Giving chase, Cantan dove and collided with McCormick.  The run would score.  McCormick would try to walk it off but it was too painful and Dr. Marciello took him out of the game.  Luis Rodriguez would be called into action and would replace McCormick at rover.  Toby Gregory would step up after a lengthy delay.  He would hit a short fly to the right side.  Cantan was there on his knees and the ball dropped in front of him as Cantan picked it with plenty of time.  After one inning, Boston led 8-5.

Second Inning

Drew Crook led off the second for Boston and went down on strikes after hitting hard shots down both lines as Cochran was trying to get the timing down with Drew.  This brought Guy Zuccarello up and he hit a short pop to the left side.  Kyle Lewis bobbled it but picked it in time for the second out.  The Red Hot Thaxton was next while it was still cool in Oklahoma.  He drilled a hard line drive past everyone to the fence and Thaxton was 4-3 (not a typo – 4 runs in 3 at bats!).  Devenish then hit a weak grounder to the left side.  Devenish ran about 5 child size steps to first and then cut across the field in front of Ron toward the Renegade bench, corrected it and scored.  Indy claimed dead ball and they were right.  This was about the 7th ball that had to be replaced in this game.  This ball did not deserve to be dead on such a weak hit, but something was going on with the balls in this heat!  Devenish then hit a harder grounder that got thru the defense and he scored on a cleaner play after the dead ball.  Joe Yee subbed into the game, replacing Luis Rodriguez (who subbed in for Joe McCormick).  Yee stayed hot, hit the second pitch to the right side rolling past Jeffares hands and found its way past three deep defenders crisscrossing by it.  That ball had eyes for sure weaseling its way past four defenders!  Cantan would foul three balls off and missed one.  He then hit a line drive into left field past three diving defenders and scored his first run of the game.  Crook would get his second at bat of the game.  He would work the count to three strikes off Cochran and hit a line shot into left field past Buhler to the fence.  Zuccarello would end the inning losing a bang-bang battle with Kyle Lewis at the left short slot.  Boston led 13-3 after one and  half.

Heading into the bottom of the second, Joe Yee stayed in the game and moved to first base as Shayne Cantan moved from first to Rover to replace Rodriguez.  Leading off the second was the leadoff hitter, Zach Buhler who crushed a line drive into right field where Joe Yee had no chance to make a play as he was not deep enough.  Gerald Dycus then hit a fly ball to center field and the Boston defense could not hear it.  The ball was dead and Dycus came back with a 0-0 count as it was on the first pitch.  He then hit a grounder to Rob Dias for an out. Kyle Lewis would strike out for the second time and the second out of the second inning.  Cody Jeffares was next, and hit a fly ball down the right field line which was wide open and Jeffares scored with ease to make it 13-5.  Chris Dunleavy would end the inning with a weak grounder to the right side where Zuccarello lined it up and made an easy stop as Jarred Woodard walked off the field before Guy had the ball because he knew Guy had the play.  Boston led 13-5 after two frames.

Third inning

Christian Thaxton led off the third smoking a grounder down the third base line past Buhler to the fence.  He took a tumble over the bag but would be ok.  Shawn Devenish struck out on 4 pitches.  Sanchez then pinch hit for Joe Yee and hit the third offering off Connolly up the right middle of the field.  Chris Dunleavy shuffled to his right, dove and made the second out of the inning.  Shayne Cantan would not waste time and rocked the first pitch off Conolly into left field and scored.  Drew Crook then hit a grounder into left field past two defenders but not past Zach Buhler who made the stop with plenty of time.  Boston led 15-5 after two and a half innings.

Luis Rodriguez re-entered in for David Sanchez to start the third inning.  Tobey Gregory would leadoff and hit a flare to the left side.  Dias had it bounce by him and he would chase it backwards but could not pick it clean with a bobble and an error and Gregory was safe.  Buhler then hit a fly ball that Devenish lined up and on the second bounce, Devenish stopped it in the gut for an out and the first time Buhler had been retired in this game.  Dycus lofted a fly ball to the left center of the field,  Dias went back on it, Devenish hit the ground but Dycus scored.  Kyle Lewis then had a moment.  He hit the ball to the right side but at the same time he hit the ball into fair territory, the bat flew into the field near Zuccarello.  Controversy ensued because the umpire called the play dead and actually gave Lewis a do over on a ball that was hit into play.  Lewis got a second life (but in 2024, this would be ruled an automatic out as a rule passed making this an out and rightfully so as that bat came close to Zuccarello).  Lewis hit the next pitch up the middle and Zuccarello sprinted in.  The call from Lenicheck may have been off as the ball was well to Guys right..and he had to correct and find it.  That correction cost him too much time and Lewis scored.  Jeffares crushed a line drive to right center.  Luis Rodriguez took off toward his left despite the call and the ball going in the opposite direction.  That mental error cost him a chance to make the play.  Dunleavy then hit a line drive up the middle.  Rob Dias slid to his left and stopped it, making a nice play.  This should have been the last out of the inning if the gift to Lewis was not awarded.  Instead, the inning continued.  Gregory stepped up from the right side and hit a weak pop to the left side in the air.  The ball had a ton of back spin on it and died near the 40 foot line.  Dias must have gotten frozen by the call as he was a little late to sprint forward but when he heard it land..he crashed forward  and dropped to his knees about 15 feet too short and then crawled to the ball and Indy scored again as Dias put his head on the ground knowing what happened.  Buhler was next and hit a grounder to the right side past Guy and Luis Rodriguez and scored.  Dycus then hit a fly ball up the middle that bounced right to Devenish’s right.  Rodriguez hit the ground and could not pick it clean and Dycus scored.   Woodard then took the left handed, Kyle Lewis to left field. Cantan moved in the wrong direction off the bat, had to recover, was slow to the ground and the ball was past him.  This was 6 runs in after the Lewis thrown bat controversy and the score was 15-12.  Jeffares then lofted a fly ball to the right side to Luis Rodriguez.  Luis hit the ground too early and it got by him, but Jeffares missed third base and Luis was still crawling after the ball and was not quick enough.  Dunleavy then hit a bouncer to the left side.  Dias hit the ground but it bounced over his hips.  Crook laid out and missed it and Shayne had it lined up but never laid out and it rolled through his legs as he was on all fours as that error would extend the inning.  Gregory then hit a ball up the middle on the ground to the left center of the field.  Dias slid to his left and Zuccarello moved to his right as they converged on the ball.  Normally, Dias comes up with it, but this time, Guy Zuccarello pushed Dias out of the way and took the ball to end the 3rd inning in which the Thunder plated 10 runs.  This was just the 9th time ever Boston allowed 10+ runs.  The Energy had changed and the Renegades and Thunder were tied at 15.

Fourth inning

The game would be delayed to start the fourth to replace a weak first base.   Guy would hit a dribbler up the middle where Lewis and Jeffares converged on it and Lewis struggled to get the ball up fast and eventually won the race on a bang-bang play.  Thaxton was next and after fouling a bomb into Kevin Milllar territory in left, would hit a high fly to left.  It took three hops before Buhler could corral it but Thaxton would beat it out for his sixth run of the contest.  Devenish then hit a grounder down the left side that got past all three layers for his 4th run of the game.  Chris Kimball would re-enter the game and hit for Luis Rodriguez.  Kimball hit the first pitch on the ground to the left side and Kyle Lewis would gobble it up for the 2nd out of the inning.  Shayne Cantan would step up against Connolly looking for insurance.  He would have an epic at bat.  Before the ball could be pitched, it started beeping oddly and would need to be replaced.  One of the bases started having issues as well which delayed things even more.  Cantan swung and missed on the first two pitches.  He hit a foul down the third base line next.  A foul tip was then followed by a weak grounder to the left side, foul.  Another foul tip back to Weissman and another foul ball that was close and Cantan had to run this one out as he broke the ball on this weak hit.  Shayne decided to catch his breath and took the 8th pitch.  He then rocked a foul ball down the third base line on the 9th pitch.  The 10th pitch was fouled off down the left side.  The 11th pitch was hit off the top of the bat with back spin up the center of the field, but it did not have the distance and was foul.  He would whiff on the 12th pitch.  Shayne’s at bat took close to 8 minutes of game time and the Renegades led by a score of 17-15 heading into the bottom of the 4th.

Chris Kimball stayed in the game and went to first base to start the 4th.  Zach Buhler would lead off for the Thunder and hit a fly ball down the right field line where nobody was placed and Buhler had his 4th run.  Dycus then lofted a fly ball down the third base line.  Dias pursued but gave way to Drew who was playing too deep and did not come up on it.  Dycus was too fast  and plated his 4th run as well.  Kyle Lewis would have a good grip on his bat in this trip and on a full count hit a grounder to Rob Dias.  The ball hit Dias in the feet and the ball popped up in the air up towards his head.  Dias was able to pick it clean and made a nice stop on a hard grounder.  Boston adjusted its defense to protect the line which Jeffares had been peppering, but Woodard took Jeffares up the middle.  Shayne was there, but was slow to the ground and the ball was past him.  Dunleavy hit a line drive to the first base line.  Kimball sprinted toward the line, dove feet first and the ball went under his legs for his 3rd run of the game.  Gregory hit a grounder up the middle.  Dias dove and missed.  Devenish did not get far enough over and it was by him and Shayne could not line it up or get to the ground and Indy had a 20-17 lead with just one out.  Boston called a time out for water.  Buhler then hit a ball into left center and the Renegades defense could not hear the ball but it had noise in it and the run counted.   The ball needed to be replaced again and during that time, Weissman switched Cantan and Devenish on the field as Devenish moved back to Rover and Cantan moved up to Mid Field.  Woodard found Cantan with a grounder up the middle of Dycus’ bat.  Cantan hit the ground and slid to it, but was too slow and Dycus scored.  Kyle Lewis then hit a ball to left field that Devenish could not handle the 8th straight run.  Jeffares went back to the right side on the fly.  Kimball was there but could not get it in time to beat the speed of Jeffares.  Dunleavy was next and hit a fly ball to Kimball and the ball changed pitch off the bat.  Kimball was on his feet and it landed near him as he did not back up enough on the play and the ball got past him for another run.  Gregory hit a line drive to the left side past a diving Crook and Devenish for his second run of the inning and the 11th run of the inning.  Buhler then hit a grounder to the right side.  Guy was one step shy on his dive and it was by him.  Cantan over ran it, came back and bobbled it as Buhler had his 3rd run of the inning.  Another error for Cantan on this play as he was to fast with his hands and booted it away from himself.  Another time out by Boston.  Dycus then hit a grounder to the left side ticking off Rob Dias’ hands.  He slowed it down and Shawn Devenish could not find it in time.  Kyle Lewis lofted a bomb to right center where Kimball and Cantan chased but were unable to make the play.  Jeffares went back to Kimball on a line drive that rolled a very long way and he had his 6th run of the game and third of the inning.  Indy went to the bench to hit for Dunleavy with a rookie, Danial Diaz.  He hit a grounder up the middle.  Cantan was on his knees again, but this time he made the stop for the second out of the inning.  EJ Sellers was then inserted into the game to hit for Gregory.  But before he could hit, another issue with the bases delayed the game and kept the Renegade defense baking.  Sellers then hit a hard grounder to the left side.  Dias slid to is right, dove and made a nice stop to end the inning. The Thunder plated 15 runs, setting the Renegade record for most runs allowed in an inning.  25 runs in two innings was also a record the Renegades would not be proud of.  Indy led 30-17 and the game entered the 12 run rule.

Fifth inning

Heading to the 5th inning, the Thunder would make a few subs as Ikram replaced Diaz in the lineup and Michael Lewis replaced Kyle Lewis on defense.  EJ Sellers stayed in the game.  Boston would go to its bench.  Elana Regan hit for Drew Crook.  She battled, fouling off four pitches but eventually struck out.  Ivan Rodriguez would hit for Guy Zuccarello.  Peter Connolly would take the mound to face him.  On the second pitch, Ivan lost his balance and fell to the ground as laughter ensued.   He struck out.  This brought Rob Dias in to pinch it for Thaxton as the DF replaced the DH.  This would be Rob’s first at bat of the World Series.  Dias swung and missed at the first offering from Cochran.  Dias then hit a hard grounder down the left side past Ikram and to Buhler who could not get it in time to stop Dias.  Luis Rodriguez pinch hit for Devenish and with three strikes hit a fly ball into left field.  Adam Rodenbeck worked his way to the ball as Luis Rodriguez missed first base.  That was enough time to give Rodenbeck the out.  Indy led 30-18

Sixth Inning

Heading into the 6th inning of this 12 run rule.  Chris Kimball led off and hit a hard ball to the right side past all three layers of the defense for a run.  David Sanchez re-entered the game and hit for Cantan.  He hit the first pitch into the third layer of the defense and Zach Buhler made the play look easy.  Elana Regan was next and hit a grounder to the left side which Ikram came in on but the ball rolled past him.  He was able to recover in time for the out.  Ivan Rodriguez was next, hoping for his first career run.  He hit a nice grounder down the left side that got past Ikram and Buhler came in on it and made the play.  The problem was Ivan did not hear his coaches when Indy started to celebrate the win and he did not slow down quick enough and would eventually slowly walk into a wall.  He would be ok without injury and would kick it in frustration.  That about summed up the end of this game.

Wrap up

The Thunder would advance to the next round to play the Philly Fire (they would eventually beat them and take third place).  The players of this game for the Thunder were Zach Buhler who went 6-7 with 4 stops in the third layer of the defense.  Cody Jeffares was also 6-7 with 1 stop.  For Boston the players of the game would be Christian Thaxton with his home run and 6-5 performance (not a typo as a home run is worth two runs). Shawn Devenish was 4-5 with 1 stop on defense and Rob Dias had 5 stops on defense for Boston.  the Renegades would change fields and prepare to play the Bayou city Heat for 5th place  The Indy Thunder have now beaten Boston more than any other team in our history with 14 wins in 19 games.

Game #18 – Boston/Bayou City battle for nearly 4 hours – Boston wins 25-22

	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	K	Put outs
Boston	3	0	4	12	5	1		25	9	10
BY	7	1	2	2	6	4		22	8	9

Boston	AB	R	K	PO		Bayou City	AB	R	K	PO
Devenish – MF	8	5	0	2		Gers – DH	7	5	1	—
Sanchez – DH	7	4	1	—		Lynch – DF	—	—	—	1
Zuccarello – DF/RS/LS	—	—	—	3		Coughlin	7	6	0	4
Cantan – 1B/RS	7	4	3	1		B. Chesser	6	2	1	2
Kimball – R	2	2	0	0		– Minor	1	0	0	0
– L. Rodriguez – 1B	1	0	1	0		Gonzales	4	2	1	0
= Regan – RS	3	2	1	0		– Fleeks	3	2	0	0
– Crook – 3B	1	0	1	0		Flores	6	3	2	1
Crook – 3B	5	2	2	0		Sumner	4	1	2	0
– Thaxton – PH	1	1	0	—		– Wiley	2	1	1	1
– McCormick – 3B	—	—	—	0
– L. Rodriguez – 3B/1B	1	0	0	0
Dias – LS	7	5	0	4
Totals	43	25	9	10		Totals	40	22	8	9
Pitcher – Cochran	29	17	5			Pitcher- Medramo
Pitcher – Connolly	14	8	4
Catcher- R. Weissman
LS – Caller .Grillo – 1-2, 4-6
LS Caller- Lenicheck -3
RS Caller- Lenicheck 1-2, 4-6
RS Caller- Connolly- 3

Game Summary

The Bayou City Heat battled all week long.  They were seeded 6th to start the week but beat the Gateway Archers in a 4 inning 12 run rule 23-12 to grab the 5 seed into double elimination.  However, they were upset by the Houston Hurricanes in the first round by a score of 20-16 sending them to the losers bracket.  They then beat Cleveland 20-5 in a 2 inning 12 run game, Gateway 23-20 (in a 4 inning 12 run game, New Jersey 23-12 (in a 4 inning 12 run game) and were coming off an elimination game at the hands of the Philly Fire which they lost 42-34 in which Philly 12 runned them.  They had to be exhausted.

Boston tweaked the lineup a bit as Thaxton would start the game on the bench and Devenish would bump up to the leadoff spot.  Chris Kimball also started this game and Rob Dias would get his first start of the week in the batting order.  The winner of this game would take 5th place and both teams were fighting for this spot.  This did not have a consolation game feel to it at all.

First inning

Devenish got things started with a second pitch grounder down the third base line.  Mike Coughlin dove and fell a few feet short as Devenish scored running to third.  Connolly came into the game for the 2nd and 3rd hitters, David Sanchez and Shayne Cantan.  Sanchez hit a grounder up the middle that was stopped in left center by Brandon Chesser.  Cantan hit a line drive into left field and scored the second run of the game.  This brought Chris Kimble up and Ron Cochran back to the mound.  He hit a line drive up the middle and slid into third base for a run.  Crook then lined a ball into left field.  The designated fielder, Dennis Lynch made a nice play to stop the missile and that had to have left a mark.  Rob Dias then stepped into the box, a foreign place for him this week, and he hit the first pitch bouncing to the right side where Richie Flores made the stop.  Boston led 3-0 after the first half of the first inning.

Tanner Gers would lead off for the Heat.  One of the best hitters in the league’s history. Gers swings like he is using a golf club with the goal to hit the ball high in the air and use his elite speed to crush opponents hopes.  He would not golf this at bat and instead hit a hard grounder down the third base line. Crook was slow to get to the line and the Heat were on the board.  Mike Coughlin who has grown up with beep ball and played for years with Philly was now a Heat.  The Renegades knew him well but that did not matter as he hit a seeing eye grounder to the right side thru Zuccarello, Devenish and Kimball was caught on his knees unsure which way to lay out and the Heat were up 2-0.  Brandon Chesser (formerly of the Austin Blackhawks) was next, looking oddly different in his orange uniform, would ground a ball up the middle.  Devenish hit the ground, moved to line it up and made the play for the first out of the inning.  Speaking of Orange uniforms, the next hitter, Alex Gonzales was wearing white, looking like a libero on a volleyball team wearing a different color than his whole team.  This was his very first at bat in his career vs Boston.  He launched a line drive into left field.  Kimball struggled to find it and Boston called dead ball. After a long walk past the 170 line, the ball was still beeping and the run counted as the ball was broken and exchanged.  That took 2 minutes and 36 seconds to complete and this would become a theme of this game.  Richie Flores was next. He has worn more team jerseys than we can keep track of but he cut his teeth winning titles with the Austin Blackhawks and had also played with Atlanta and the San Antonio Jets.  He hit a line drive to the left side. Drew laid out but came up short and Kimball struggled to find it for another Heat run.  Chad Sumner had been in the league for years.  He started against Boston playing for the Kansas All-stars and the Colorado Storm.  He has played with the Heat for a few years as well.  He hit a high fly ball to the right side, right to Guy Zuccarello.  The ball hit the ground in front of him and as it bounced, Guy dropped to his knees to attempt to block it and it bounced well over his head.  Guy could not chase backwards in time to make the stop.  Gers came back to the plate and hit a fly ball to right center. Shayne ranged to his right, laid out well and made the stop for one of his best stops of the week and the second out of the inning.   Coughlin then launched a fly ball down the right field line.  Cantan was there, but laid out and missed it, got back to his feet to chase it but Coughlin scored for the second time in the inning.   Brandon Chesser then hit  another shot at Cantan who dove on his stomach and missed it as the Heat had seven runs in.  Bryan Grillo called a time out to regroup and hydrate.  Alex Gonzales then struck out to end the inning.  After one full inning, the Heat led 7-3.

Second Inning

Shawn Devenish started off the second inning, hitting the first pitch on the ground to the left side.  Coughlin stopped him with ease diving to his right.  Sanchez then hit a grounder to the left side and Coughlin made the play on a bang-bang play.  Weissman contested the call but lost the challenge and the out was recorded.  Shayne Cantan was next  and would be retired on strikes as the Renegades put up a big bagel in the second.  The Heat maintained their 7-3 lead.

Richie Flores would lead off the second and hit a ball into the defense that was dead.  a One minute and 47 second delay to check the ball and it was confirmed as dead.  Flores would eventually strike out.  Chad Sumner would follow suit with a strike out of his own.  Tanner Gers would then hit a no-doubter bomb into deep left field for a run he could have walked to the base on.  Mike Coughlin would end the inning on a grounder that Shawn Devenish gobbled up.  The Heat led 8-3 after two innings.

Third Inning

Chris Kimball led off with a line drive up the middle and score hitting third base.  However, he slid late again and jammed his finger into the ground.  A trip to see Dr. Mike started before he got back to the bench.  Drew Crook would strike out after hitting Ron in the glutes with a weak bouncer and fouling two balls down the third base line.  Rob Dias then hit a 41 foot grounder up the middle and beat it out running toward first base.  Devenish was next and swung and missed three times and on his 7th pitch hit a line drive into left field for a run.  David Sanchez was next with Connolly coming to the mound.  He hit the second pitch weakly up the middle.  Coughlin came in and was slow to the ground as it rolled under him and Sanchez ran hard to third for the run.  Shayne Cantan was next and struck out on 5 pitches.  This brought up Luis Rodriguez, hitting for the injured, Chris Kimball.  His swing was inconsistent and he struck out on five pitches as well.  Boston crawled back into the game and after two and a half the Heat led 8-7.

For Boston, Elana Regan replaced Luis Rodriguez and went to right shorty.  Weissman also made a decision to move Rob Dias back to the rover position for his first ever playing time in that slot which also slid Guy Zuccarello over to the left shorty position.  Additionally, Bryan Grillo came out of the game with Peter Connolly going into call the right side with Jason Lenicheck moving to the left side to call there.   Brandon Chesser tested the left side right away, hitting a grounder which Zuccarello dove and missed.  Drew slid to his left but dove and fell short of the ball but Rob Dias slid to his right feet first and made the stop on the first ever chance he had playing rover.  Alex Gonzalez was next in his white shirt and he hit a fly ball to the left side.  Zuccarello was there but it bounced over him and he could not pick it in time.  Flores then hit a fly ball to left field.  Dias was there waiting for it.  He was on the ground, moving for it but it spun just a little bit when it hit the ground and went off Rob’s hands and Flores was safe.  Sumner and Gers would strike out to end the 3rd inning.  The Heat led 10-7 after three frames.

Fourth Inning

Drew Crook led off the fourth with four swings and misses as both teams were exhausted and it showed in the combined ten whiffs at this point in the game.  Rob Dias, playing both ways for the first time in the week would foul two balls off and on the fourth pitch tag a laser into left field for a run. Devenish then hit the first pitch to the left side and scored.  Sanchez then went to the 4th pitch and hit a hard grounder to the right side and scored the tying run.  Shayne Cantan would also go deep into the count fouling off three pitches before hitting a ball to the right side and scoring the go ahead run.  the energy was building on the Renegade bench.  Weissman felt it was Elana’s time and if she could score, the energy level would help the Gades and crush the Heat.  She was a little amped up and as the at bat went on, she calmed down, ultimately taking the 4th pitch.  On the 5th pitch she hit a weak line drive to the right side that got past Flores and Regan had a huge run for the Renegades.   Drew Crook then did something he has never done, he hit a first pitch fly ball to the 40 foot arc and actually beat it out as Coughlin got frozen on the call and was slow to  get it as Drew followed Lanie with another big moment.  Rob Dias then hit a hard grounder on the first pitch and Coughlin made a nice play for the second out of the inning.  Boston was up 13-10 with Shawn Devenish hitting the first pitch up the middle which Coughlin had trouble tracking and Shawn had his second run of the inning.  Sanchez then hit the first delivery off Connolly in the air to the right side and scored running to third for his second run of the inning.  Cantan would start of his at bat with a grounder but the base did not go off and he had a second life.  He made the best of it and after a take, launched a line drive into left field.  Bayou City called for a dead ball but it still had a tick in it and the run counted after a two minute delay to check that ball.  Could Elana Regan do it again?  Her confidence was higher this time for sure.  She hit a grounder up the middle between Coughlin and Flores.  The call on the field was an out.  Bryan Grillo asked to challenge it.  The call was over turned and Grillo jumped with excitement (not injuring his calf as he did in 2022).  Regan had two runs in the inning.  Crook then had an epic at bat.  He launched a bomb into left field, took two steps to the wrong base and then trotted to first easily.  The ball was clearly 200+ feet away and the defense said it was dead.  This took a long time for the umpire Kevin Miller to get to and after close to a 4 minute delay, Crook was ready to go for the second pitch.  He launched another bomb down the third base line and Bayou City called dead ball for the second time in two pitches.  They were right again.  Another four minute delay and we were back in action.  Crook then swung and missed three times, foul tipped a pitch and hit a weak grounder up the middle.  Bayou City’s left short man, Coughlin got fooled again as Drew’s contact must have changed the pitch on the ball.  Crook was safe and the ball was replaced before Dias stepped into the box.  Drew’s at bat took nearly 12 minutes of time as the Heat were baking in the Oklahoma sun, mostly due to the balls not holding up in this game as crook went through three balls in his at bat.  Rob Dias then hit a laser into left for his second run of the inning.  Devenish would come back for the third time in the inning and hit a hard grounder into left field.  Brandon Chesser made a nice play to stop the bleeding.  Boston plated twelve runs in the fourth to take a 19-10 lead.  This would go down as the second largest output in an inning by the Renegades in team history, surpassing the 11 runs they scored on day one against the Sirens and falling four runs short of the game against Tyler in 2015 when they plated 15 runs in the 1st inning of that game.

Mike Coughlin would lead off for the Heat and hit a hard grounder to the right side.  Elana dove but came up short,  Shayne Cantan was there but never lined it up and did not get to the ground and the ball was by him.  Rob Dias got into the area but did not have good spacing with Shayne and it was by him as well before Dias could blink.  Chesser then hit a grounder up the middle.  Devenish slid to his right, dove but came up a few feet short, but Dias was there and lined it up making his second out of the game in left field.  Gonzalez then hit a grounder down the third base line.  Crook missed it but Rob Dias was there again for the second out of the inning and his third of the game in left field!  Richie Flores then went back at Crook.  Crook missed it and Rob Dias could not get it as the Heat struck again.  Chad Sumner then hit a grounder to the left side.  Zuccarello slid and the ball kicked off his hands. Guy had to get up and run it down and that is what he did to beat Sumner to the base.  Boston led 19-12 after four innings.  Elana Regan’s bat and Rob Dias going to rover gave life to this team!

Fifth Inning

Boston needed to keep the pressure on as the Heat are known for their offense.  A mandatory five minute break would ensue as both teams tried to get their much needed rest.  That five minute break turned into a 25 minute break.  David Sanchez would  strike out to lead off the 5th.  Cantan then swing and missed three times and hit a bouncer to the left side, scoring his 4th run of the game.  Elana Regan was next and would have another long at bat.  She saw 7 pitches and fouled off five of them but would go down on strikes for the second out of the inning.  The Renegades would go to the bench, looking to keep the inning alive and off popped Christian Thaxton.  Thaxton would smack the third pitch of the at bat into left field for the second run of the inning and keep it alive as Rob Dias came to the plate, worked the count and hit a line drive into right field for his 4th run of the game.  Devenish would keep things going with a pop fly up the middle near the 40 foot arc on the third pitch of the at bat.  Devenish had more in the tank than either Coughlin or Flores and would score his 5th run of the game.  Sanchez would get another chance in this inning and make the best of it with a laser into left field for one of his best hits of the week.  Cantan would be retired to end the fifth, but the Renegades answered with five runs and led 24-12 after four and a half.  It was notable that in this at bat, the league ran out of “Denver balls” and put Fonzie balls into play.

Before the game had started, the league asked the Renegades if they would be ok using Fonzie balls in this game.  Boston’s response was that they loved the Fonzie ball but they were playing Fonzie and it would be a competitive advantage for them and that would not be fair.  The League agreed but had limited balls they would give in this game.  Joe McCormick would enter the game for Thaxton and play defense at third base.   Tanner Gers lofted a fly ball into left field to kick off the 5th and would score to make sure this game did not go into the 12-run rule.  Coughlin would hit a weak grounder to the right side.  Elana Regan missed it and the second layer of the defense did not pursue it with enough speed and the run scored.  Brandon Chesser was next and hit a slow grounder to the left side.  Zuccarello hit the deck but it went by his feet and slowly rolled past him.  McCormick was backing him up and was there but was not low enough and by the time he got to the ground, the ball was past him.  Chesser scored.   The Heat pinch hit Joe Fleeks  for Gonzalez (who was 2-4).  Fleeks hit a line drive down the third base line.  McCormick was a little late and dove and missed it and it was gone for the 4th straight run.  Richie Flores was next and hit a line drive up the gut.  Devenish dove to his left and missed and Dias was there for the stop.  The Heat pinch hit Jacory Wiley for Chad Sumner (who was 1-4 in this game). Wiley whiffed for the second out.  Tanner Gers was next and hit a high fly ball to the right side.  Cantan hit the ground a little too early and it spun away from him for a run.  Coughlin then hit a fly ball down the right side.  Cantan was there and missed it and Rob Dias came a very long way but picked it a split second after Coughlin hit first base.  Brandon Chesser was next and struck out but on the last swing would come up lame and in pain.  After five innings, the Heat climbed back into it and the score was Boston 24 and the Heat 18.

Sixth Inning

Drew Crook would re-enter the game for Boston just sitting out the minimum of six outs.  Crook would go down on strikes.  Luis Rodriguez then re-entered the game to hit for McCormick.  He would hit the first pitch weakly to the left side and Coughlin would get him on a close play.  Rob Dias stayed hot and hit the first pitch weakly to the left side and beat the defense with an insurance run as he tagged third base with the 25th Renegade run.  Devenish would be stopped  on a bouncing grounder to the right side by Jacory Wiley.  Boston led 25-18 heading into the last of the 6th.

For the 6th, Boston had to make some defensive changes.  Shayne Cantan entered into the right shorty spot as Drew Crook went back to third base.  Joe Fleeks would lead off in the 6th and hit a fly ball to Dias.  Rob had one chance at it but tried to play the bounce on his knees and it went past him.  Richie Flores would strike out for the second time in this game.  Jacory Wiley was next and hit a slow grounder to the left side.  Guy slid to his right and dove coming up short.  Drew also dove and came up short as the Heat scored their second run of the inning with the Fonzie balls.  Tanner Gers kept the pain train alive scoring his 5th run of the game on a blast into deep left field.  Mike Coughlin kept things going with a fly ball to the right side.  This should have been Luis Rodriguez’s ball but Rob Dias beat him to the spot and the ball rolled under his legs before he could get it up and the run was safe.  The score was 25-22 and the Heat had Darryl Minor in the game (he replaced the injured Chesser).  Minor hit a ball in the air up the middle of the field as Guy moved to his left and Guy caught it…on the 2nd hop.  If he had caught it on the first hop, the game would have been over. Two down and Fleeks was next.  Fleeks swung at the first pitch and lost his bat toward the Bayou City bench.  The second time this week a Renegade opponent had thrown a bat.  If this was 2024, he would be out as a new rule was passed that makes this play an automatic out for safety.  Fleeks was shaken on the play and thought the issue was his batting gloves as he looked to calm down and fix his grip.  He then lofted the next ball to the left side and controversy would begin.  Guy made the play on his knees but the umpires felt Fleeks missed the base.  The call was contested but the call stood and the game was over.

Wrap Up

For the Renegades, the players of this game would be Rob Dias with five runs and 4 stops on defense – all in the 3rd layer of the defense where he had never played before.  Shawn Devenish also checked in with 5 runs and 2 stops on defense.  This would be just Rob’s 2nd career five run game and this would be Shawn’s 6th career five run game.  Elana Regan was also huge in this game with two energy lifting runs.  For the Heat, Mike Coughlin would be the MVP with a 6-7 offensive performance and 4 stops on defense.  Tanner Gers also pitched in with a 5-7 performance out of the DH slot.  This was just the second time in team history the Renegades had beaten the Heat.  The 25 runs scored tied a team record with the 2022 performance against the Gateway Archers.  This was also just the 14th time in team history, the Renegades had allowed 20+ runs (and the third time this week).

The Renegades would take 5th place with this win, marking the 7th straight time they had been a top 5 team since 2015.  They took 5th in 2015, 2nd in 2016, 5th in 2017, 5th in 2018, 3rd in 2019 missed 2020 and 2021 for COVID and took 5th in 2022 and 2023.  Few teams have had this longevity during this stretch.  It was a total team effort this week as eight Renegade hitters had 19+ at bats during the week and every player made at least one contribution in each game during the week with 12 players scoring at least one run and 12 players making at least one stop on defense.