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An Ugly Opener for Cougars, but
a Victory Nonetheless
On a windy afternoon at Triscari Field, on April 17th, the
Gamerskey Wiffleball League held their season opener. The matchup was the
Brunswick Fighting Irish going head to head with the World Champion Colehamer
Cougars. Dylan Sprague took the hill for the Irish and Mark Fitzpatrick
got the nod for Colehamer.
From the start the game was ugly. The wind had a big effect on the ball,
and home runs were jumping out of the park. Mark Fitzpatrick led off with
an opposite field shot that gave the Cougars the lead heading into the
bottom of the first. As he began to pitch though, he struggled. Alex
Blizinski followed up a deep fly out from rookie Thomas Heritage with his first
career round tripper that was gone the second it left the bat (he was tested
after the game, no sign of steroid use). By the time the first inning
shelling was through, the score was 3-1 Irish. Dylan Sprague continued to
pitch well, but when he ran into Scott Fitzpatrick and Mike Triscari, within
seconds the game was tied. Back to back homers tied the game going into
the bottom of the second. But Mark continued to struggle. The Irish
reached the run limit and carried an 8-3 lead into the third. Mark left
the mound with a groin injury. Still down 8-3 in the bottom of the third,
Cougar ace Scott Fitzpatrick was called upon to fill in for the injured Mark who
moved to second with a nagging groin. He stopped the bleeding for the most
part, surrendering only two runs over the next two innings. Though he
slowed the Irish down, the deficit stayed the same. Thanks to another
opposite field shot that clanked off of the pole by Mark Fitzpatrick, the
Cougars remained down six into the fifth, 10-4. Then, the Colehamer
offense showed signs of life in the fifth, stringing together a rally of hits
and a fielder's choice to tighten the noose at 10-6. The bottom half could
be considered the turning point, as the Irish did not score for the first time
all game. To make it 10-7, Mike Triscari went yard on a solo blast that
cleared the left field fence by a mile. Things changed though, quickly.
The bottom half presented problems for Colehamer pitching. Three runs were
surrendered and suddenly they found themselves down 13-7 with only three frames
left. But then there was a slight change in the winds. The ghosts
were coming out for the Colehamer faithful. Dylan Sprague took himself out
after six, claiming his arm was sore, and Josh Sprague was inserted into the
game. The Cougars stayed patient and brought in five runs on mostly walks
and singles. But the story of the inning was a grand slam blast by Scott
Fitzpatrick. The shot was sent soaring over the screen monster. The
deficit was closed to one. 13-12. The Irish loaded the bases and
what happened next was possibly the most unbelievable play in wiffleball
history. A throw over to first brought home three runs. Throwing
errors and pickoff attempts brought Thomas Heritage all the way home from first.
Four runs scored that inning. 17-12. Josh took the mound again for
the eighth. Patience was key and Matt Tozzi executed better than anyone
who has ever seen a wiffleball. A slew of walks and singles along with an
RBI single by Mark Fitzpatrick tied the game. Certainly, the ghosts were
present at Triscari field. Strikeout after strikeout, Scott kept Colehamer
in the game and opened up an opportunity for them to win it in the ninth.
Kyle Keegan took the hill. He had no control. Walks and a hit
batsmen loaded the bases for Scott Fitzpatrick. With two outs and strikes
on Scott, Keegan served up a lollipop. The ball may still be in the air,
we're not sure. Scott Fitzpatrick's second grand slam of the game tied a
GKWL record. 21-17 was the score as Mike Triscari stepped in to pad the
lead. His third home run solidified the game, and a game ending double
play in the ninth finished the job for the Cougars.
Opening day
was ugly, that's for sure. Scott Fitzpatrick pitched seven solid innings
for Colehamer giving up nine runs and striking out nine also. Matt Tozzi
contributed to the effort with great defense and a good job at the dish, drawing
four walks with his unreal patience. It was released that Mark Fitzpatrick
will not spend any time on the disabled list for his pulled groin. More
games will be scheduled over spring break, most likely beginning on Friday, so
stay tuned for more news and more wiffleball action.
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 R H E
Cougars 1
2 0 1 2
1 5 5 5
22 21 2
Irish
3 5 1 1
0 3 4 0
0 17 24 2
W- M Fitzpatrick (1-0)
L- D Sprague (0-1)
S- S Fitzpatrick (1)
By: Mark
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