2015 Final Playoff Bracket

The dust has finally settled after last weeks marathon.  In case you forgot, won 3 straight come from behind games by a total of 4 runs, and then came back from over 10 down in the 4th game to nearly win it and force sudden death the next week.  BMW ended up winning it all by going 4-0 in the playoffs with a 61-24 run differential.  They were on fire heading into the last game, at that point having and insane 41-6 differential.  We had them reeling in the last few innings though as we rallied to pull within 2 and had the bases loaded with the top of our lineup coming up.  The comeback fell just short however and sadly the goal of the first 3-peat in Minnesota sports history just wasn't meant to be.  Regardless, it was an excellent season guys in which we won 18 games and had a very enjoyable final night of the season.  Here are the final playoff results...

Stats from last night...

  

Rounds 1 and 2 Recap

On Tuesday night we opened the playoffs... and if I would have told you that we would only score 8 runs on the evening and only have 1 guy batting above .500 on the night most logical people would assume that we would be eliminated. But we are not... we won the first game in workman like fashion, and ran into a group of Rent-A-Players in game two. Combine that with an very off night at the plate and I would say we are fortunate to get out of there in the shape we are in. We have a very winnable game to start out next week and then most likely a rematch with Ron's Repair which should get us pumped up. If we start out the night winning 2 straight and find our mojo again who's knows what can happen. The bottom line is this, we are still alive, the 3 peat is not dead, we are all blessed to have the ability to run out on the field and play ball so lets just go have fun. After reflecting on our poor performance for a few days that is where I am at. We are not eliminated. We are still the back-2-back defending champs. And we are all so fortunate to be able to play a game like this, so lets just go have fun and see what the heck happens!

Updated Bracket

I will get more info up here later, but here is the updated bracket for now. We play Excelsior Brewers next Tuesday at 6.

Playoff Bracket

I was gonna write a recap of last weeks games, but there really is no point as we are now in playoff mode. Back 2 Back 2 Back Championships don't grow on trees...its time to get focused starting with BMO Bombers next Tuesday at 8:15.

Week 10 Scores

There has been some movement in the standings as Gold Nugget lost twice last night...

Week 9 Recap - Nasty Nuggets

We won one and lost one last night and all went home with a bad taste in our mouths... Despite how much we lollygagged we still ten-runned Stepdads in the first game. We should have known we were in trouble when we only managed to have 5 runs after 4 innings against those guys when they only had 9 players in the field. Despite of this we played pretty good D and landed our first shut-out since blanking the Silver Bullets twice back in 09. With all due respect to the Silver Bullets, this years Stepdads is much worse. I hate playing those games as it seems to throw everyone off because they are so bad.

Game 2 was a different story. We came out pretty focused and after Dan's 3 run bomb in the first. We shut them down for a few innings and extended our lead to 5-0 despite a lot of fly ball outs and pop ups. They showed some power eventually though as they battled back with a couple of dingers to tie it up at in the 4th at 5-5. It was fairly tight the rest of the way but after all was said and done we lost mainly because our hitting failed us (its a big problem when we have 6 guys who only manage 1 hit each in the game). Despite the lack of baserunners, we still found a way to strand 6 runners in scoring position throughout the game (the worst being leaving Eric on 2B after a lead-off double). It was just an off day though and we can't expect to beat anyone when scoring only 7 runs (except maybe Stepdad's). The despite the loss I still like our chances heading into our big match-up again Ron's Repair... which happens to still be a do or die game for the #1 seed! To learn more here are all the scores from last night...

Next week is the last week in the regular season. Despite our down performance we are still in position to get the #1 seed with a win over Ron's Repair in the first game next week since only a 1/2 game back. We are still in great position to win the title no matter where we get seeded... but it sure would be nice to head into the playoffs with a big win over Ron's...

If the playoffs ended right now this would be the matchups:

1-Ron's vs 8-Stepdads
4-Gold Nugget vs 5-Excelsior Brew

3-BMW vs 6-Black Matter
2-DG vs 7-BMO Bombers

This is when it starts getting fun boys...
BACK 2 BACK 2 BACK!!
BACK 2 BACK 2 BACK!!!
BACK 2 BACK 2 BACK!!!!

Week 8 Recap - Another Day at the Office

Not gonna belabor the games, nobody was missing this week so we all know how it went. (Well, let me take that back, forgot about DAN) Very workman like... we kept both teams at arms length both games. The only drama really was provided by Derek again, who was talking trash with the SS from Black Matter, and then in the second game tripped over himself multiple times trying to field a dribbler up the line. I thought I was gonna have to bust out the super white hot flame for Fosmo, but he cooled off dramatically after his going 2-2 with 2 HR's to start of the evening. Tom provided a nice touch pre-game by picking up the tab at the Spur... which I think helped lead to our relaxed and enjoyable evening.

Here are the scores from the rest of the games, see ya next week!

Week 7 Scores

Scores just came in.  Nothing too surprising...

Also, here is a picture of the now famous Ford from last night. Please give a moment of silence for the windshield sometime today.

Week 7 Recap - An Interesting Night

It was an interesting night of softball to say the least. The rain held off for the most part and we ended up with a few milestones....

Game one featured our first tie in team history. It pretty much felt like a win though after our very slow start and the multiple comebacks we had. Instead of trying to remember every twist and turn I thought I would just post the scoresheet below. It was a very exciting last few innings. It could have very easily been a win as our last out was made on a HR...

Game two was a totally different story as we couldn't have started out hotter. In fact, the 17 runs in the first inning has gotta be a team record. Every single person reached base and scored the first time through the lineup leading to a melt down by their picture. It was an unreal start and some of the best hitting we have had all season. We slowly let them creep back into the game, but 5 runs in the 4th gave us the 15 run margin we needed to end it early. Here is the score sheet from that game as well.

I haven't received the scores for the all games, but will put those up here when I get them. 

Week 6 Recap - Humid and Humble

The dugout felt like a sauna but most of us kept our cool in route to our 8th and 9th wins on the season Tuesday.  In a follow up to last week, Scoops had a nice bounce back with some good D and a 6 for 8 night at the plate. He sent the following email last week, and it just might be partially true!

The entire team did play pretty well as well as a whole.  I wouldn't say we cruised to 2 easy wins last night as we had a few defensive lapses, a few untimely walks and a lot of pop ups, not to mention we were actually down 2-3 after 4 innings in game 2.  But we played very solid all around as we rounded the halfway point in the season.  Here are the scores from this week:

At this point Ron's/Doublewide is clearly the team to beat, as we will have some work to do to catch them for the #1 seed. They have the tie-breaker on us already (0-2) so we will need to atleast be tied with them heading in to our matchup in the last week of the season. A lot of time left, but the #1 seed would make the path to the 3-peat more manageable.

Week 5 Recap: Birthday Blues

"Scoops"

It was an up and down night for the birthday boy, and in turn the rest of the team. Its hard to hang the outcome of an entire evening on one mans shoulders, but this week it seems pretty justified.  We came out hot against the previously unbeaten BMW squad with a nice 7-0 lead after 3.  They tied it up after a big 4th inning but from there we pulled away.  The birthday boy was 4-4 in that game with 4 huge RBI which lit a fire under the whole teams asses...  We ended up winning 19-14.

Game 2 was a different story. Scoops lost his mojo and suddenly became afraid of the ball in the field. At the plate he slumped as well, going 1-4. Following his lead, the team defense started slipping too. Heading into the 7th after 3 straight offensive goose eggs we were still sitting at 7 measly runs and down 10. A late comeback sparked by Fosmo's second 3 run bomb of the game made the final score respectable. But this was definitely not a game worth celebrating. Final Score 13-17

Here are the scores from the rest of last nights games...  Looks like BMW dropped there 2nd game as well, losing to Excelsior Brewers (who we play next week).  Black Mater Vortex (our other opponent next week) is also hot putting up 2 wins with a 26-6 margin.  Should be a couple more good games on tap.  Pack your shoes.

No Games Tonight

Week 4 Recap: Offensive Explosion

It was a good way to rebound... two good games, good D, and some may say an offensive explosion even. Everyone had multiple RBI's and nearly everyone batted .500 or above on the evening. Pitching was poor, but that has to be expected. We actually set a record for our largest margin of victory last night, formerly 21... now it's 23. Nice job guys...lets keep it rolling next week. Here are the scores from last night.

Week 3 Recap: 1st Inning Hibernation

Not that it means much, but we did outscore our opponents last night 20-12 in innings 2-7. The problem was the first inning, were we got shelled in both games, getting outscored by a total of 20-0. Obviously its hard to win when we get in that big of hole. I think we all know that we can beat both those teams, but its not gonna happen unless we focus a little better than we did yesterday and everyone brings their shoes and gloves :). That's all I've got, lets just forget about it and play better next week boys.

Week 2 Recap: A night to remember

“You just gotta keep battling, and battling and battling.”
- Mike Tice

It was a rainy and miserable night. The Wild were playing and most of us were not all that excited to be at the game. Essentially the circumstances were about as stacked against us as possible. Let’s just list them off for a second…

1. Single game
2. 9:15 start time
3. Wild Playoff game happening
4. Rainy and Windy
5. 3 regulars missing
6. Unfamiliar Opponent
7. Opponent was warmed up, we were cold

It was a testament of character just to show up last night guys. Even more to show up and fight with our backs against the walls. Dan’s walk-off grand slam that came with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th was the most exciting way possible to win it. This came after being down 8-0 heading into our half of the 3rd, battling our way back to tie it up 11-11 in the 6th and then spoiling a golden opportunity in the bottom of the 7th to win it when we had the winning run in scoring position. When we headed into the extra frame things didn’t get much easier. After getting 2 quick outs in the 8th, we then let them get 4 runs in in demoralizing fashion. In combination with the weather and the Wild game, it was looking to be one of the more miserable evenings in our teams history, but it ended up as one of the most memorable. Awesome job guys! I posted the scoresheet from the game earlier in the day if you want to see more, but it was super fun and lets keep it rolling next week.

Scorecard from last night....

For you guys who missed this amazing game... and also for those of us who where there and are just wondering how that even happened...

Week 1 Recap: Just like riding a bike

It's a new year but we picked up right were we left off. New bat, new guys, new opponent, same outcomes. It was fun to finally be back on the fields again and it was fun to see so many guys hitting well so early in the year. Here are the scores and recaps from the first week of the season:

Game 1 against the Stepdads (3-13 last year) went about as good as could be expected.  We hit great right from that start (batting around in the 1st) , Dan was blasting dingers into windshields, and we actually played some decent D considering it was the first game of the year.  They did play some pretty horrible defense leading to a few big innings for us but it was a good start. It was over after 4.
Final Score:  Dirty Grizzlies 19 - Stepdads 2

After a long delay waiting for the BMO and Ron's Repair (former Doublewide guys) game to get over we got a little cold.  Game 2 was tight throughout and we were actually losing 2-4 after 3 innings.  Eventually we scrapped some hits together to put together a couple of decent innings to extend a lead.  It helped that their big 4 hitter stopped hitting balls into the parking lot and only to the warning track instead.  Their left fielder also tore up his knee pretty good on a fly ball so that really took the wind out of their team.  We won without playing our best, but this team could be a tough beat down the road.
Final Score:  Dirty Grizzlies 9 - BMO Bombers 5

Scrimmage is off tonight.

Too cold.  We are going to try to get together for some BP on Sunday afternoon when the temps will be above freezing again...  Stay tuned.

New Bat

Just ordered up a new bat for the season boys....

This FREAKISH hot multi-wall two-piece bat is for the player wanting an end load feel with a bigger sweetspot and optimal handle flex for ultimate feel and performance. Model: FRKBKU Length/Weight: 34/28, 14 ½" Barrel Length 2 ¼" Barrel Diameter USSSA 1.20 Certified, NSA NSA, ISA