Fan Cam! The Commish Corner Spring 2015 / Week 1

Fan Cam! The Commish Corner Spring 2015 / Week 1

Team Game Summaries Game reports by the managers. Photos are courtesy of The Commish or the managers. The Redlegs The new-look Redlegs sported their awesome new uniforms and won their first game in solid fashion with a 10-5 win over the rival Rebels! Multi-hit batters included Freddy Leiby (2-4, 1 RBI), and co-manager Ron Commish Cortese (2-4, 3 RBIs), while Chuck Ironman DeNoewer shut down the Rebs in the last two innings to seal the deal! Co-manager Robert BobbyK Korn started the big inning with a key hit, then made a nice web gem catch in RF! Kris McFail and Jeremy Bourque made their Legends debuts and both contributed nicely in the field. I like the fact that the big investment in the unis paid dividends in the win column right away, stated BobbyK, who was in charge of the uniform design process. And thank goodness we listened to Nelson and moved away from the first design, he added.

Generals The three-time champion Generals began their campaign to win the inaugural season of Legends new 40+ League with a 14-11 win over the expansion Knights. Michael Jensik, the Generals candidate for Legend of the Week, dominated on the mound, allowing only two unearned runs over four innings. Brothers John and Jerome Allen led the team at the plate, with three base hits and two runs scored apiece. John also drove in two RBIs. Jensik helped his own cause by slugging two doubles, driving in two, and scoring a run. Rookie sluggers Ben Amsterdam, Billy Robinson, and Andrew Centineo contributed two hits each, with Amsterdam also notching a double. Veteran catcher Jeff Eanes drove in two runs on two hits and scored a run. Every General reached base at least once, with nine reaching two or more times. The Generals defense was challenged at several points in the game, but still improved over last season s squad. John Allen and Andrew Centineo were both responsible for starting tough 5-3 double plays. John also picked off a Knights runner. Key defensive contributions were made by everyone, especially Matt Allison, Matt Brown, Ben Bane, Billy Robinson, and Andrew Centineo. The Generals next face the defending champion Redlegs in the first Legends game to be held outside the United States. (At least it feels that way).

Eagles On a beautiful day for opening day of the 2015 Legends season, the Eagles scored 2 runs in the 8th inning to defeat the Brewers 9-8 Sunday at Leitch Park in Woodbridge. It was the Eagles only lead in the game that was threatened when the Brewers had the tying run on third base as the 3 hour time limit was fast approaching. Eagles closer Jason Wells won a fierce duel with the final batter with a pop fly to third to end the game. Wells retired 6 of the 7 batters he faced over 2 innings and shutout the Brewers while the Eagles scored 4 runs to mount the comeback. In addition to closing out the game he was also 3-4 at the plate and his 2 RBI single in the eight scored the tying and winning runs. "Jason is a major off season acquisition for the Eagles" says Skipper Codi Dudley. (Well, really Jason chose us when his Generals moved to the 40+ Division this season. But Jason and I played together with the Padres and have remained good friends over the years. I am so happy to have him on the team!) Andrew Clevenger, enjoying his last game as a single man(congrats AClev), also added 2 hits with a double and 2 RBI to lead the Eagles. Dudley added that it was a well played game defensively for the opening day of the season. The Brewers are a great team that took us to school last Fall and always play tough. We were fortunate to come away with a win today. Legends Player of the Week Nominee Jason Wells excelled in his first game in an Eagles uniform. On the mound he closed out the game retiring six of the seven runners he faced. At the plate he knocked in the tying and winning run in the Eagles Opening Day win!

Flying Squirrels Squirrels Ride Pitching and Defense to Victory The Flying Squirrels got stellar opening day pitching performances from Britt, Tyler, Bill and Frank and backed that up with solid fielding all around. At the dish, the Squirrels were finding holes in the defense, with seeing eye singles, and by continually putting the ball in play, keeping the pressure on a somewhat rusty Senators infield. The Sens had some of the harder hit balls of the day, and threatened throughout the middle innings but ultimately couldn't string enough hits together to mount a challenge. Nationals

The Nationals opened the season with mid-season form on a beautiful day for Baseball. Pitching and Defense stood out, allowing a tough Gashouse Gang team only two runs. We used several pitchers to keep the Gang guessing and it worked. Four of the five pitchers combined for eight shutout innings. Rookie Chris V. was the only pitcher who had to brush off a couple of years of rust on his arm giving up two runs. However the rust fell off quickly and Chris shut down the inning with the bases loaded. All five pitchers (Rich, Chris, Roger, Darnell, and Mike) looked great and kept the Gang guessing. The Nationals bats had some good solid swings, hits, check swings, and of course a few misses, but scored 16. However, the bats only had a little rust compared to previous opening days, so the Nats Manager was really happy, just not the strikeout he commented. Some bright spots in the batting order consisted of Al T. recording 3 hits (2 doubles) and scoring 3 runs; Grant Sharp going 2 for 4, BB, and scoring a run; however top honors goes to fresh off the cutting table and still playing Chris H., who went 3 for 4, HB, 3 runs scored, and 5 RBIs which included a 3 run homerun clearing the center field fence. Chris Herald is our candidate for Legend of the Week. BlackSox The BlackSox came out in normal fashion with Ken "Petro" putting up his usual five innings from the hill and only giving up one run. Somewhere in the the sixth we got a little derailed as the isotopes tied it up 3 to 3 and Rob Howell would take the mound to finish the inning. The next few innings were all BlackSox bats as Ryan Cleary would hit a clutch double with bases loaded to score three. Howell would pass the torch in the top of the 9th to newcomer Jesse Turner. Turner proceeded to deliver the final blow in only two pitches as he turned a double play to finish the game.

Hurricanes (19+) River Bandits (19+) Bison (19+) Mavericks (19+) Flying Squirrels (19+) Outlaws (19+) Nationals (30+) BlackSox (30+) Brewers (30+) Eagles (30+) Generals (30+) Isotopes (30+) Cardinals (30+) Expos (30+) Pirates (30+) Senators (19+) Redlegs (30+) Padres (30+) Rebels (30+)