Ready for war....

Big night boys...load up your pump, load up your uzi, couple missle launchers with you know, a couple of missles...  we're ready for war.

Updated Playoff Bracket

Looks like a crazy night at the ball field... Just glad we are still alive!

Playoff Bracket

Here is the playoff bracket...  Looks like we get to pay back the Amish for beating us a couple weeks ago and also for all of thier crappy furniture and ugly beards.  First game is at 8:10 on Field #5.

Week 12 Recap / Scores

It was our last chance to put it all together before championship immortality is on the line and I have to say we played pretty well.  Game 1 was a much anticipated battle that would determine who got the coveted #3 seed.  Unfortunatly the Silver Bullets pulled ahead for an early 8-2 lead after 2, but we tightened things up in the following innings and really slowed them down.  Our offense fought back little by little, but heading into the top of the 7th we were still down a run.  Things didn't look good after getting 2 quick outs, but an amazing triple by Tom sparked a 5 hit, 4 run rally that gave us the lead heading into the bottom of the inning. An awesome defensive play by Fosmo that is simply impossible to describe with words capped off the game, leaving the Silver Bullets shocked and devasted.  Final Score: 16-13

Game two was very, very different but nearly as much fun. A 12 run first inning that included 2 HR's from Dan got us off to a nice start.  9 more in the 4th sealed the up the victory as we nearly shut out the down trodden Wild Turkeys.  Final Score: 21-3

It was a nice way to finish up the regular season and really proved that we have a great chance of winning our 2nd Title in the last 4 years. Here are the rest of the scores from last night:

Week 11 Recap - Fred Smoot Edition

"70% of the earth is covered by water, the rest is covered by us three".  With only Hof, Brian and Myself in the outfield, we stole one of Fred Smoots lines and adopted it on Tuesday night...

Due to some last minute circumstances, we were left to play a doubleheader with only 9 guys (for the second week in a row by the way)... But even with less than ideal circumstances our team put in 2 really solid performances.

In game one we took on a 13 man Doublwide squad who was out for payback after we beat them twice already this year.  Down 6-11 after 4 innings, we fought back little by little with the help of Hof's most amazing catch ever.  A Wunderlich HR and some solid D sent the game to OT were we scored 1 run in the top of the inning and held them to none, giving us a very hard fought and rewarding 14-13 victory.

Game 2 was another battle...this time against the Donkey Mob.  After a big 5 run second and our defense playing awesome again it looked as though we may somehow be able to snatch two wins on a night when the odds were stacked against us.  Unfortuantly, our bats got cold in the middle innings and despite taking the lead with 3 runs in the top of the 7th they singled us to death in the bottom of the inning and scored the winning run on a sac fly.   Final score: 8-9

All in all, it was good to see the fight we had, and if we can play this well shorthanded, we have to like our chances when we have our full compliment of playa's in da playoffs yo.  We Comin.

Week 11 Scores

Here are the scores from last night.  I will update the stats and get a post up about our gutty performance later today.  Looks like we have a game next week to determine who gets the #3 seed with Silver Bullets.

Week 10 Scores

I will be away from the desk all day but since half the team was gone I thought I would try to get these scores up here...  I will try to update everything else tonight.  Thanks.

Week 9 Scores / Recap

It looks like nearly every team stuggled last week, and it is hard to beat a team 3 times (or so you hear) but regardless, we put together a very lathargic ballgame this week... our Defense was pretty sloppy and we struggled to score runs... putting up our lowest run total all season.  Ballz Deep didn't even put any over the fence and they still dominated us.  It was uggggg-lee.  Hopefully thats our last stinker of the year as we get into form for the playoffs in a few weeks.  I think we have the pieces in place take down the championship this year, but we won't do it playing like this.  Here are the rest of the scores:

Flame Upgrade!

I know that we have had a few performances throughout the history of the Grizzlies that deserved more than just a normal flame, but Dan's stat line last night (which was 7-8 with 3 doubles and 3 HR's with 6 runs scored and 12 RBI) was amazing and inspired me to make a flame upgrade.  In honor of his performance and all future dominance we are introducing the "White Hot" flame for the stats column.  This designation will be reserved for only the most ultimate performances or streaks and if you recieve one you should definetly consider it a incredible honor, right up there with the noble peace prize or purple heart.  Congratulations Daniel!

Week 8 Recap / Scores

It was a couple of much anticipated match-ups as we faced the top 2 teams in double-header fashion last evening. In game 1 vs PT we started out very slowly at the plate and in the field, digging ourselves an eventual 14-3 hole after the top of the 4th.  Dan responed in the bottom of the inning though with a 2-run bomb to keep us from getting 10 runned.  PT came back with 5 more runs in the top of the 5th and things wer looking bleak, but in gritty fashion we responed with 6 straight 2-out hits to score 5 ourselves.  We finnally shut down thier offense in the top of the 6th and proceeded to score 7 more runs(with the aid of the flip-flop rule) but ended up just short of the amazing comeback.  Final Score: 17-19

We used our late game momentum to get off to a good start against the #1 team in the league, scoreing 5,5,4 and 9 runs in the first 4 innings.  Hose and Fitting came to play though as well as we found ourselves down 10-16 in the middle of the 3rd.  We put together 6 straight hits in our half of the inning to score 4, but the high score and long innings were taking it's toll on the clock.  Our 9-run bottom of the 4th gave us a 5 run lead heading into the ump declared final inning.  Even though we allowed the bases loaded with no-outs in that last inning we escaped with only giving up 2 runs to preserve the upset victory over our long time nemisis.  Final Score: 23-20

Here are the rest of the scores from last night:

Week 7 Recap/ Scores

It was a very steamy evening in Hopkins but the one thing that wasn't very hot were the Donkey Mob's bats.  Cary was able to induce an amazing amount of pop flys which Wurd almost exclusivly brought in.   The few good hits they had only produced limited runs as they left many guys on base. Our bats on the other hand were fairly hot, scoring 1, 2, 3, and 4 runs in the first 4 innings.  Dan and Wunder each contributed big 3 run blasts.  A 2-run double by Sam with 2 outs in the 6th was the final demoralizing blow.  Overall, another clean game as we head into a HUGE doubleheader next week against the undisputed top two teams in the league.  Objects in your mirror are closer than they appear...  We're Comin! We're Comin!!
 Here are the rest of the scores:

Week 6 Scores

Well, there was a mild upset last night as the Amish Donkeys stay hot and give PT thier second loss in as many weeks but everything else was basically as expected.  Here are the scores from last night:

Week 6 Recap

Last nights battle against Balls Deep included many hard hit balls, but the one with the most impact only traveled about 60'.  Hof hit a wicked liner down the first base line that targeted Tom's right leg like a rocket propelled grenade, and by Tom's reaction you would have thought it was an actual explosive because he was down instantly.  But in a true demonstration of heroism Tom crawled to 2nd base in gutty fashion just beating the throw safely.  Although we had to adjust the defense after the injury, Ballz Deep had used all of thier home runs at that point and multiple F-11's made life easier on the defense.  After keeping in close early (with only 9 guys until Wurd finally made it) we eventually cruised to a 10 run victory capped off with Fosmo's 2-run walk-off in the bottom of the 6th.  Wunder also contributed 2 more HR's to his total as he stays on track to beat his 2008 record.  Overall, it was a pretty smoothing evening of ball...well except of course for Tom (see below). Final Score: 19-9

Week 5 Scores

Well there aren't any more undefeated teams as Park Tavern and Hose and Fitting Supply both got thier first loss last week.  The Silver Bullets continue to roll and the Amish Donkeys seem to be putting up big scores and catching fire even though they lost a nail-bitter to Ballz Deep.  Here are the rest of the scores... sorry again for the delayed update.

Week 4 Recap / Scores

The phantom rain out in week 3 didn't seem to phase us as we came out of the gates hot against AMD with a quick 6-0 lead in the first.  Unfortunatly they fought back with 7 runs in the second to make it a ball game.  The score was tied at 12 going into the 6th, but they scored 3 in each of the last 2 innings while we grounded into 2 rally killing DP's in the last two innings to kill our chances against a team which entered the game with 0 wins.  Not good.

Game 2 against Doublewide started out great though with us putting up 11 runs in the first inning with HR's from Dan and Wunder.  We continued to put pressure on as we had 20 runs after the top of the 3rd, but a freak injury to Cary while rounding the bases changed the whole complextion of the game.  Even with Derek painting the corners the 3 man outfield opened up gaps as Doublewide narrowed the margin in the late innings.  Luckily we were able to hold them off  and salvage a split for the evening.

Here are the scores for the rest of the games last night:

Week 2 Recap / Scores

Storm clouds were in the air last night but luckily we beat out the rain, but unfortunatly got beat down by H&F Supply in game one.  A 6 run 1st and eventual 11 all tie-game after the top of the 4th faded away after they put up an 8 spot in the bottom of the inning.  They definetly have a solid team again and we will have to play better in week 8 to complete.  Game two was looking ugly as well as we could not turn any DP's and kept hitting into DP's.  We rallied for 5 runs in the bottom of the 6th though to take the lead and then shut them down in the 7th to steal the win.  Here are the rest of the scores from Week 2.

Week 1 Scores

We are only one week in and the dream of an undefeated season is already dead for 5 teams.  Only PT , Dead Money 2 (Hose and Fitting Supply) and the comeback kids (that would be us) have a chance at running the table.  Here are the scores from week 1:

Miken Dies, Grizzlies Survive

It was a very interesting night as we had 2 come from behind nail-bitters as well as the trajic death of an old friend.  In the first game we came from 4 down in the bottom of the seventh to ralley to beat the Silver Bullets as Fosmo provided an awesome slide to avoid the tag at home.  In the second game we hung with Ballz Deep (who had three 3-run HR's) compared to our single solo shot and rallied to score 2 in the bottom of the 7th to win as well. Overall we played pretty well, but still feel very fortunate to escape with 2 wins over a couple of tough teams. 

It was not all positive though as we discovered a fatal crack Hof's favorite Miken bat.  The Miken has been with us since 2008 and was very, very well broken in at this point.  Nobody is quite sure who officailly killed the bat, but it is very clear who is the most heart-broken.  It may sound cliche, but if any bat would make it to heaven, it would be your bat Hof.  Goodbye friend... you've done well.

Practice Game Eval

It was fun getting back on the fields last night, everyone got atleast 4 ab's and we went on to a very meaningfull 11-8 victory over Doublewide.  They are sure to be out for revenge in week 2.

Overall, our clutch hitting left a lot to be desired, but on the bright side,  the two new guys looked good and will definetly help us out this year.  Dan made an awesome grab in left and showed of his arm repeatedly while Wurd showed some silky smooth D and some pop in his bat as well.

Here is a quick rundown of the scorecard...
Dan 3-5 with 2 rbi, 2b
Wurd 2-5 with 2 rbi
Hof 1-5 with 1 rbi
Wunder 3-5 with 1 rbi, hr, 2b
Tom 3-4 with 2 rbi
Cary 1-4
Sam 1-4
Jason 1-4
Derek 2-4
Brad 4-4 with 3 rbi, 2b

I will also send in the check for the Burnsville Tournament today.  Here are the people who have said they are in for that so far, let me know if you are not listed but want to play:
Brad, Tom, Wurd, Jason, Brian, Fos, Cary, Joran, Dan, Jon

Past Season Info Updated

Just in case you have early onset memory loss check out how we did last year.  You need to scroll down past our current schedule on each link to see the info....
Season Recaps

Previous Schedule and Results

Previous Stats

Previous Standings

Also, Congrats to Wunder who made the Individual Records Column with his .730 batting average last fall.... nice job dude.

2012 - Year of the Grizzly

We needed to bring back to life the blog and according to the Chinese calender 2012 is the Year of the Grizzly.  This is bad news for the other teams unfortunate enough to have joined the Hopkins Minnetonka Tuesday Night Doubleheader Softball League.  The roster is nearly set, and almost everyone has paid in except for Fosmo and Brian.  The snow is melting and it will not be long until we are back on the field and back in the Spur on weekly basis.  I am confident our offseason training will have everyone in top physical condition come April.  Thank you to most of  you guys for getting your league fee in quickly and we also need to give a shout out to Ali and the Lone Spur for support our team once again this year.