Bulls Close Out Home Stand With A Win
In a game that had a little bit of everything, including the surreal and the bizaare, the Bulls completed an eight game home stand Friday with a 6-4 win over the Medicine Hat Mavericks.
It started out like any other game with the Bulls leading 1-0 after five innings. Then strange things started to happen in the sixth. Medicine Hat got three runs off starter Alex Tufts with two out in the top of the sixth. The first run was scored on a base hit. But the second and third runs came in on an error by Tufts.
Mavericks number nine batter Lee Fruson hit a come backer to the mound. Tufts threw the ball to first base but Josh Lowden lost it in the low evening sun and two runs crossed the plate.
Then the fickle finger of fate paid a visit to the Medicine Hat dug out in the bottom of the sixth. Eric Dorton lead off and was hit by a pitch. Dustin Bissonnette followed with a base hit. And after Zach Rhodes struck out, Lowden hit a ground ball to third base that was thrown away to score Dorton. The next batter was Jesse Sawyer. He stroked a double to left field that drove in two runs to tie the game.
Scott Hornstra reached on the second Medicine Hat error of the inning, that allowed Sawyer to score the go-ahead run. Then things got even stranger. Joel Blake appeared to reach base safely on another error by the Mavericks, with Hornstra coming home on the play. But Medicine Hat Coach Greg Morrison informed plate umpire Mitch Ball that Blake was batting out of turn.
Jamie Mitchell was supposed to be the proper batter and was called out. With two away Blake returned to the plate, this time as the proper batter, and responded with a base hit to center field that drove in Hornstra.
The problem started in the pre-game when Bulls Coach Scott Rhodes submitted an initial line-up to the official scorer, then exchanged it later for a second revised line-up. He had Blake and Mitchell flip-flop positions in the batting order (seven and eight) but apparently didn't note the change in the dug out.
The Bulls also had pitcher Curtis Smith in left field to start the game, pulled him after one pitch, and replaced him with Ryan MacDonald. (I told you it was a strange game). Smith was in the game to assure play off eligibility. A player must be in the line-up for three games prior to July 10 in order to be eligible for the WMBL play offs.
And if that wasn't enough of the weird and wonderful, a "fan", clad only in his under shorts, decided to streak across the outfield in the top of the ninth. After he was through making a spectacle of himself he was quietly and quickly escorted off the field.
Now back to the game. Tufts got his second win of the season (2-2) going six innings, allowing only one earned run on five hits, striking out eight, and walking three. It was the usual rotation for the last three innings. Richard Pharr pitched the seventh, Jimmy Munnil the eighth, and Steve Hogue closed out in the ninth. The bullpen allowed four hits, but didn't give up a run or a walk.
Medicine Hat out hit the Bulls 10-6, but also had four errors while the Bulls had three. Sawyer was the only player in the line up with more than one hit. He was 2 for 4 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored.
The Bulls complete the home stand with seven wins and one loss, improving their overall record to 15 and 12. They head back on the road now, with two games in Edmonton Sunday and Monday, then two games in Medicine Hat July 8 and 9. The next home game is Friday, July 10 against the Regina Red Sox in the opener of a two game series.
It started out like any other game with the Bulls leading 1-0 after five innings. Then strange things started to happen in the sixth. Medicine Hat got three runs off starter Alex Tufts with two out in the top of the sixth. The first run was scored on a base hit. But the second and third runs came in on an error by Tufts.
Mavericks number nine batter Lee Fruson hit a come backer to the mound. Tufts threw the ball to first base but Josh Lowden lost it in the low evening sun and two runs crossed the plate.
Then the fickle finger of fate paid a visit to the Medicine Hat dug out in the bottom of the sixth. Eric Dorton lead off and was hit by a pitch. Dustin Bissonnette followed with a base hit. And after Zach Rhodes struck out, Lowden hit a ground ball to third base that was thrown away to score Dorton. The next batter was Jesse Sawyer. He stroked a double to left field that drove in two runs to tie the game.
Scott Hornstra reached on the second Medicine Hat error of the inning, that allowed Sawyer to score the go-ahead run. Then things got even stranger. Joel Blake appeared to reach base safely on another error by the Mavericks, with Hornstra coming home on the play. But Medicine Hat Coach Greg Morrison informed plate umpire Mitch Ball that Blake was batting out of turn.
Jamie Mitchell was supposed to be the proper batter and was called out. With two away Blake returned to the plate, this time as the proper batter, and responded with a base hit to center field that drove in Hornstra.
The problem started in the pre-game when Bulls Coach Scott Rhodes submitted an initial line-up to the official scorer, then exchanged it later for a second revised line-up. He had Blake and Mitchell flip-flop positions in the batting order (seven and eight) but apparently didn't note the change in the dug out.
The Bulls also had pitcher Curtis Smith in left field to start the game, pulled him after one pitch, and replaced him with Ryan MacDonald. (I told you it was a strange game). Smith was in the game to assure play off eligibility. A player must be in the line-up for three games prior to July 10 in order to be eligible for the WMBL play offs.
And if that wasn't enough of the weird and wonderful, a "fan", clad only in his under shorts, decided to streak across the outfield in the top of the ninth. After he was through making a spectacle of himself he was quietly and quickly escorted off the field.
Now back to the game. Tufts got his second win of the season (2-2) going six innings, allowing only one earned run on five hits, striking out eight, and walking three. It was the usual rotation for the last three innings. Richard Pharr pitched the seventh, Jimmy Munnil the eighth, and Steve Hogue closed out in the ninth. The bullpen allowed four hits, but didn't give up a run or a walk.
Medicine Hat out hit the Bulls 10-6, but also had four errors while the Bulls had three. Sawyer was the only player in the line up with more than one hit. He was 2 for 4 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored.
The Bulls complete the home stand with seven wins and one loss, improving their overall record to 15 and 12. They head back on the road now, with two games in Edmonton Sunday and Monday, then two games in Medicine Hat July 8 and 9. The next home game is Friday, July 10 against the Regina Red Sox in the opener of a two game series.
