Official Championship Poster!

The poster is complete...  A small number of limited editions prints will be available soon at a store near you!

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Playoff Recap - Grizzly Country

It is playoff time and yes, we have entered into Grizzly Country.  A time of year where the Grizzlies are especially dirty and those who encounter them are likely to be attacked and killed.  Some will play dead, like Gold Nugget, and be mauled methodically.  Others may provoke aggression, like Park Tavern, and be attacked quickly (like a 9 run first inning for instance).  Either way, teddy bear time is over, and the Grizzlies are out to eat.  Up next, a high protein diet of the Balco boys next Tuesday Night.

Game 1 Recap
The game against #6 Gold Nugget started off great for us as we were up 4-0 after one after 3 straight singles and a Grand Slam by Dan.  We added 3 more in 2nd as the top of the order came up big again.  The top 4 in the order started out 7-8 with with 7 runs scored in the first two innings.  By the time GN finally got on the board we were already up 9-0 in the 4th.  They did put up 5 in the 5th to tighten things up a bit,  but a 3 run blast by Fosmo in the 6th put us up ten and ended it early.  Overall it was a great way to start the playoffs as our fielding was sharp and our bats were hot. 
Final Score:  Dirty Grizzlies 16 - Gold Nugget 6

Game 2 Recap
After watching BMW and PT go back and forth from the fence for a while were weren't quite sure who we would play.  After being tied after 7 BMW got up by 5 in the 8th and we were feeling kinda lucky that we might get to play the 7th seed instead of the 2 seed.  Park Tavern came roaring back though to win the game with a walk-off bomb and it was on....

Their team and crowd were plenty amped up after there comeback win, but that all quieted down pretty quick as we began batting.  The first time through the lineup we had 8 hits and a walk.  We didn't get our second out until 13th batter came up.  After all was said and done we ended the first with 9 hits, 2 walks and 9 runs scored.  We then proceeded to shut down the top of their order and were up 9-0 after 1.    After that our bats cooled off slightly and we began leaving a lot of guys on base.  PT scored 3 in the second and 3 more in the third to pull within 4 and keep things tight. But our D picked up and shut them down in the 4th and 5th as we added on a couple of more insurance runs to stretch the lead back to 6 heading into the final innings. 

Park Tavern was able to mount a moderate threat in the bottom of the 7th, and despite giving them a few extra outs and bases along the way we were able to eventually shut them down  and take a big step towards our goal of repeating as champs.  An especially rewarding victory after there bench ran their mouths all game and also knowing that JJ's had lost earlier and we wouldn't have to face them in the next round.
Final Score:  Dirty Grizzlies 12 - Park Tavern 8

Lone Spur Hot Wing of the Week
Brian Wedewer
8-8 with 1 Walk, 4 Runs and 3 RBI
Setting the table all night just like they do at Applebee's.

Coop's #1 Defensive Gem of the Week
Derek Berube
You've been digging balls all year, but this week you fielded a few too!

Video of Last nights game...

I will definitely get a recap up later, but luckily one of the Park Tavern fans was filming the game last night and caught most of the action on video along with the aftermath...

2014 Playoff Preview

 

Of all the ways this bracket could have landed I think it shook out about as good as we could have asked for.  Of the 4 teams we lost to this year, 3 of them (JJ's, Ballz Deep, Balco) are on the other side of the bracket.  The one remaining team we lost to is Park Tavern, but we have shown we can beat them (15-13 in Week 2) and the other two games were pretty tight, albeit low scoring (2-6 in Week 5 and 5-8 in Week 7).  Our first round matchup is against Gold Nugget, a team we have beaten multiple times (22-5, 20-15, 19-9) and seam to have good success against at the plate.  We cannot take them lightly though, as there is a chance they will bring in ringers like last year when they made a big splash the first week of playoffs scoring like 80 runs in 2 games.  Our best bet will be to get up on them early, take away any hopes they may have for an upset, get everyone swinging good and then carry that momentum into the Park Tavern were I will take our chances against those douche bags.  Those guys weren't around last year, and they probably have no idea of how to handle the pressure that comes with playoff softball in a league like this....especially against a team of hardened veterans who also just happen to be the defending champs.  Seriously though, there are usually a few crazy upsets in the playoffs, lets make sure we are on the good side of those games.

Week 10 Scores

Also, you may have noticed on the right side of the page a new section: Team Batting Stats. I was curious as to how our hitting this year compares to other years. In general our batting average is way down, at it lowest point its ever been in the 7 seasons. Also, extra base hits also are down compared to earlier years... We will still have hopefully 4 or 5 more games to add to these stats though!

Week 10 Recap

Normally we would have a recap of the games from night, but for 1, we are focused on the playoffs now so no sense looking back, and 2, the photo above pretty much sums up the most exciting part as this accurately shows the amount of damage the deranged soccer chick thought her car had sustained via homerun ball last evening.

In addition to arguing with the crazy woman who was ready to take on 22 grown men at once to get to the bottom of the damage to her beloved Toyota Prius, last night we were putting the lid on a regular season that put us firmly in 3rd place in the standings, but well below where we thought we would be following a 21-1 record in 2013. The season has been quite up and down due to injuries, inconsistent hitting, fielding lapses and a recently diagnosed lack of fun. We scored 13.3 runs per game this year (compared to 15.6 last year) and are giving up 11.1 (compared to 8.3 last year). This has led to tighter games and less margin for error. JJ's alone have handed us 3 of our losses this year outscoring us 39-66 in the process. Luckily for us they fall on the other side of the bracket for the playoffs and we won't have to deal with them until the championship where we beat them last year in dramatic fashion.

I think there is plenty of reason for hope though as our overall attitude was great last night and now the pressure is off of us completely and we can go into the playoffs with people taking us lightly and 0 pressure. Hopefully Dan can get healed up and our bats will come alive when we finally need them.... the hitting against Gold Nugget last night was definitely a good start. I sent out the bracket via email earlier, but I will post it online later in the week with a playoff preview. If anyone wants to get together for some pre-postseason BP let me know as I would be available after work on Thursday or Monday.

Week 9 Scores