Juniors Division:
The resurgent Typhoon Nation, 6-2 and on a 4 game winning streak, heading into the 2nd half of the Juniors season. However, the T-10 surge was slow to get started and our guys struggled early to contain the undefeated Japanese Buffaloes who scratched out an early 5-0 lead in the first inning. The Buffaloes played small ball – chipping away with short hoppers in the infield and finding gaps wherever they could to keep the run tally up, notwithstanding strong and consistent pitching by Shaye Schroth and Ethan Holland. The two boys combined for 56 strikes against 29 batters and were supported by some fine defensive plays, but the wily JBC batters just kept up a slow and steady barrage of bloopers and dinkers to keep inching up their lead each inning. The Typhoon’s offense, while totally dominant the last few weeks, started slowly against the talented and tricky Japanese pitcher, who lasted the full 5 innings. However, the Typhoons kept up the pressure, coming back from an 8-3 deficit to nearly tie the game in the final inning. Triples by Damian Lee and Jett Pederson and two doubles by Daniel Zhang drove in a handful of runs as the Typhoons nearly pulled off an upset. Resilient, patient, driven, the Typhoons tried to claw back in to the lead, but couldn’t quite get there in the end. Superb work behind the plate by Jett Pederson for 3 innings and Theo Simms for 2 kept the game tight and the pitchers focused (who seemed to consistently find the strike zone, even if in fact the plate ump could not….). We fell just short yesterday, but will be back strong and in the hunt for 1st place against the Lions on Boxing Day!
Majors Division:
Majors Pirates (5-3-1) played the Kaakiro Lions to win 11-2.
Briggs Freeman started on the mound for the Pirates, allowing zero hits and striking out four. Isshin Satake and Ryan Kim came into the game as relief. Overall, the Pirates defense held the Lions to only two runs and one hit.
Offensively, the Pirates quickly got on the scoreboard, scoring three runs in the first inning maintaining the lead till the end of the game. As for the Pirate’s batting, it was relatively quiet. However, there were some bright spots. R Kim had 3 RBIs, and both Freeman and Gabriel Gusak went two for three, with the latter hitting an RBI double to show some spark in the middle of the game. Despite not seeing some pop in the bats that Pirates fans are accustomed to, the Pirates walked away with a ‘W’.
Minors Division:
The Typhoons Minors (7-2) continue to march through the toughest part of their first half schedule with a well fought win over Astros Sonic by a score of 7-5.
The Typhoons started off strong with a 4-0 lead through the first three innings with a combination of great pitching along with solid defense behind the pitchers. Eugene Yan (4-2) had another strong start throwing three and two-thirds of two hit ball striking out five. Eugene got a bit tired in the fourth giving up three runs but Simon Chen put in two and one-third innings of excellent relief striking out another five batters while only giving up one hit to get his first save of the season.
Offensively, the Typhoons did not disappoint against the strong pitching from the Astros. Quinn Lawler picked up another two hits along with two more RBIs while Saul Friedman continues to be hot at the plate by extending his consecutive games with a hit to three. Taran Scheiwe and Eugene Yan each collected clutch hits as well.
Typhoons Minors players, coaches, and parents wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you all at the TTBC Whiffle Ball Extravaganza!