A somewhat “pedestrian” 5 wins and 5 losses this week for the TTBC teams as they were in action across Hong Kong.

In the Minors division at Ho Man Tin West, the morning saw three TTBC teams in action:  the Sharks hosted the Astros and in an inter-TTBC match-up, the Typhoons were at home to the Pirates.  The Eagles had the late game against the Shatin Martins.  

In a lop-sided affair, the Sharks came out attacking posting five runs in each of the first three innings making short work of the Astros.  The only thing that could contain the Sharks on the day was the 15-run mercy rule:  0 – 15 final.  Briggs Freeman started the game and Ethan Lee was called in from the bullpen to collaborate on a no-hitter.  The duo also struckout eight.  Jack Simmons led the onslaught with two hits, driving in three runs and also scoring twice.  

Meanwhile, the swashbuckling Pirates handed the Typhoons their first loss of the season.  The final score was 10 to 4 as the Pirates jumped out early and scored five runs in the first inning.  Takeo Blakely, Donovan Ma and Isshin Satake all recorded multiple hits as slugger Will Talsness hit a triple and a double.  For the Typhoons, David Weiss and David Wu had two hits apiece.  

The Typhoons attempted a late-stage comeback in the fourth inning when Connor Ackerman laid down a bases clearing bunt, scoring three.  However, all hopes were dashed when the Pirates responded with three more of their own to put the game out of reach.  Satake picked up his second win of the season for the Pirates and combined with Blake Yang and Talsness allowing four runs on five hits and striking out 10.  In his pitching debut, Talsness faced five batters and struck out three, to close-out the game.  

The late game saw the Eagles come up short in a 3 to 12 loss to the Shatin Martins.  Oliver Barnes started on the hill for the Eagles with Charlie Park and Gabriel Gusak coming in as relief.  The trio allowed five hits and struck out nine.  Offensively, Park contributed with a triple but that would not be enough to stop the Martins.  

Marcus Sabella, Dylan Burgess, Ethan Holland, and Ian Nam drove in a combined 10 runs as the Thunder rallied from an early deficit for a 10-7 win over the Typhoons, leading them to their third win of the season. Dylan and Ethan both had 2 hits a piece.  

The Thunder’s rally came in the fourth inning, drawing eight walks to open up the scoring. Dylan Burgess and Ethan Holland expanded the Thunder’s lead in the fifth inning with a clutch double and base hit.

Harrison Waag and Dylan Burgess pitched a combined total of 11 strikeouts and just two walks over five innings with Burgess having 9k’s himself.

The Typhoons were tough in defeat with Noah Lambert getting timely hits from BOTH SIDES OF THE PLATE and going 3 for 3.  Adrian Unertl and Liam Deplaedt all recorded multiple hits and in the bottom of the 5th they cut into the Thunder lead. 

In the other majors action the Eagles bats were on fire in there two games over the weekend with 40 hits and 44 runs scored as they beat the Thunder 15 – 5 on Thursday in a Dim Sum game and won 29-2 on Sunday against the dragons.  Michael Lee went 6 for 7 on the weekend and Daniel Gusack made Eagle History by being the first Eagle ever to hit for the cycle……….  There is an asterisk as he managed to run past the runner on first base to achieve  the historic feat.  The now familiar chant of “the goose is on the loose” was heard often from the hugely vocal crowd at To Shek.

The Juniors Typhoons were idle this week The Eagles Juniors had yet another back and forth affair with the Royals with an eager Eagles squad jumping out to an initial  lead in the first and second innings only to see that lead evaporate in the early afternoon heat of Lion Rock 2.  The Royals launched several balls to the fence and a crafty lefty pitcher eventually stymied the normally hot bats of the Eagles giving the Royals their first victory of the season 13-7.

Eagles notables with the bats were doubles hit by Rohan Shah and Woochan Nam, two infield singles by Kento Yan and a commendable performance by Sean Nelson in his junior debut at catcher. 

The Eagles will regroup quickly as they prepare for next Sunday’s first inter-club showdown of the season when they take on the vaunted Typhoons at HKIS as the sun emerges over the hills of Dragon’s Back. 

The Minors and Majors Stats for the week were as follows:

MINORS STATS

Hits

Takeo Blakely (Pirates) 6 

Donovan Ma (Pirates) 5 

Jack Simmons (Sharks) 4

Kingsley Wang (Sharks) 4

Six tied at 3 

RBIs

Connor Ackerman (Typhoons) 5 

Kingsley Wang (Sharks) 5 

Luke Murphy (Sharks) 4 

Jack Simmons (Sharks) 4 

Three tied at 3 

Ks

Charlie Park (Eagles) 17

Briggs Freeman (Sharks) 10 

Isshin Satake (Pirates) 9

Taylor Gardner (Typhoons) 9 

Blake Yang (Pirates) 8

MAJORS STATS

Hits 

Barney  19

Lee 16

Chai 16

Lambert 16

Sabella 13

RBI

Holland 17

Barney 16

Lee 16

Chai 15

Lambert 13

Strikeouts 

Chai 32

Barney 32

Holland 31

Flach 24

Burgess 19

Juniors Stats

HITS:

Evan Wu 6

Rohan Shah 6

Sean Nelson 6

Luke Ackerman 5

Nicky Hui 5

RBI:

Daniel Zhang 5

Evan Wu 5

Nicky Hui 5

Rohan Shah 5

Sean Nelson 5

Strike Out:

Woochan Nam 5

James Looram 5

Evan Wu 4

 

It will be a full slate of games and then there will be our inaugural Thanksgiving tournament the following weekend.

Let’s go TTBC!

Coach Barney