“This is like deja vu all over again.”
Yogi Berra
April 6, 2021
The Club went 6 -3 on the weekend with some solid pitching across the club during the Easter weekend. Here is how they played
THE MINORS
The first part of the HKLL Minors Division concluded this weekend. Of the ten teams, the top six will compete in an “Upper” bracket with the remaining four teams playing in the “Lower” bracket. Three of our TTBC teams: Pirates, Typhoons and Sharks will represent in the Upper group with the mighty Eagles narrowly missing out. How cool would it be if TTBC teams won both the Upper and Lower competitions?!?
The Eagles had an opportunity to advance to the Upper bracket had they won their game against the Angels of the Korean Baseball Club (KBC). A win would have secured the last of the Upper competition spots for the TTBC birds but at the same time, the KBC Angels were looking to go undefeated in the first round. Final score: Eagles 2 to 16 Angels.
Oliver Barnes started on the hill and worked overtime, throwing plenty of pitches for the Eagles. Gabriel Gusak would enter the game as relief as the duo allowed the 16 runs on nine hits while striking out four Angels.
Coming into this weekend, the Shatin Martins had plans to displace the Typhoons from their fourth place position. A Shatin win would have lifted them over the Typhoons based on head-to-head tie breaker. However, the Typhoons would stand firm and would eventually blow pass the Martins in a convincing 13 to 5 win.
The Typhoon bats were on as they received production from up-and-down the lineup. Ken Ando had a day posting some serious numbers: three for three while driving in four runs and scoring twice! Jason Zhu picked up two hits on the day and Saul Freeman contributed with a single.
Taylor Gardner got the call and would pick up the win. The two Davids, Weiss and Wu came in from the bullpen and the three hurlers combined to allow five runs on just one hit whilst striking out eight Martins.
In the Sharks’ game, Jack Simmons led the 16 to 1 slaughtering of the Kaakiro Lions posting identical numbers to Ando of the Typhoons, both going three for three, with four RBIs while scoring two runs. The difference was Simmons was missing a double in his quest to hit for the cycle and achieving a feat few in HKLL Minors have accomplished! (Yes, mostly because four at-bats in a Minors game is rare especially if you carry a large squad.)
Other Sharks swinging the hot bat and recording multiple hits on the day were: Kingsley Wang, Henry Wolf and Briggs Freeman. Wang, Freeman and Ian Horng got it done on the mound as the three pitchers combined for a no-hitter and striking out nine.
With the victory, the Sharks go from tied for sixth place to fifth, ahead of the Shatin Martins.
Finally, the Pirates of Tai Tam Bay took on the Ho Man Tin Blue Jays in a game with little significance other than pride as the Pirates had sole possession of second place secured after last week’s emphatic win over the JBC Yakult Swallows. This week’s result: Pirates 10 – 1 Blue Jays.
Donovan Ma led the Pirates’ charge jumping on the Blue Jays’ first pitch with a laser into centerfield. Other Pirates who contributed with extra base hits included: Isshin Satake (HR), Ryan Lem (Triple) and Anyssa Yang (Double). Taku Cheng added to his league leading HBP (hit by pitch) total of five.
Lem toed the plank for the Pirates and earned the W on the day. Will Talsness and Ma came in from the bullpen in relief and the triumvirate allowed one run on just one hit and striking out nine Blue Jays.
Majors Update
Major Typhoons played back-to-back games Friday & Saturday. Friday’s match up against the Kaakiro Lions turned into a confidence booster for our Typhoons who have had a tough time getting back after the Covid break. Typhoons 21 – Lions 2.
Saturday saw Typhoons face off against the always solid JBC Orix Buffaloes in a game we had circled on the calendar & it did not disappoint. Adrian Unertl pitched 2 1/3 innings allowing 2 runs for Typhoons who played error free defence despite several hard hit balls by the Buffaloes. Jacob Flach dominated the 5th with 3 strike outs on 3 batters. Down 2 runs in the top of the 6th Adrian Unertl drove a ball deep to left center field for a triple. Not to be outdone, Isabelle Smythe stepped up to hit another triple driving in 1 run. But with 2 outs & the tying run on 3rd Typhoons ran out of steam to drop a tough one. Typhoons 4 – Buffaloes 5
The Eagles and the Thunder faced in a game between the Majors 1st and 2nd place teams. It was a pitching duel with one out of reach line drive that turned the game for the eagles. Solid pitching by Max Barney as he continued his shoutout streak of 12 innigns without an earned run. Andes Chai and Daniel “the goose” Gusak delivered clutch hits for the Eagles and Ian Nam lead the Thunder with 2 hits. Dylan pitched two innings of shut out ball
The Stats for the week
The Minors Leaders
Hits:
K Wang (Sharks) 17
B Freeman (Sharks) 16
T Blakely (Pirates) 13
J Simmons (Sharks) 13
I Satake (Pirates) 11
T Gardner (Typhoons) 11
RBIs:
J Simmons (Sharks) 16
K Wang (Sharks) 16
B Freeman (Sharks) 14
T Gardner (Typhoons) 13
C Ackerman (Typhoons) 10
Strikeouts:
T Gardner (Typhoons) 36
B Freeman (Sharks) 34
C Park (Eagles) 24
D Weiss (Typhoons) 24
I Satake (Pirates) 21
B Yang (Pirates) 21
THE MAJORS
Hits
Barney 33
Chai 33
Gardner 33
Lee 32
Lambert 25
Holland 24
Sabella 23
RBI
Lee 33
Chai 32
Barney 31
Holland 26
Waag 22
Lambert 21
Evans 20
K’s
Barney 74
Chai 71
Barney 74
Holland 46
Flach 41
This week we will have a lot of action as most of the teams are playing between 2 and four games during the week.
Happy Easter and let’s cheer for our teams during the holiday week.
Warmest regards,
Coach Barney