Sandlot Baseball Logs – 06.2024
Wednesday, June 19th, 2024
6.2.2024 – Austin Drag vs. East Austin Ramblers @ Govalle – 3pm
Game’s instagram post.
Pitching can be really fun.
Sometimes your command is off and you just can’t seem to get out of an inning without issuing a few walks. Sometimes you execute bad, fat pitches that are left middle-middle in the zone and good hitters square you up and drink your milkshake. Sometimes you execute great pitches and the hitters still find a way to put the bat on the ball to make things happen. Dying quails or groundballs with eyes can turn what was a productive outing into dogshit real quick. Sometimes your defense lets you down. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes.
Luckily, for this outing, I threw strikes and the Drag defense was really, really sharp.
Game notes– Tyler had two huge hits. Marc and Gelli both had doubles. The defense turned two doubleplays. All in all, a really fun afternoon at Govalle. The Ramblers brought a raucous, fun squad.
Final score—-
Drag – a fair amount
Ramblers – an amount
Postgame notes:
The Cobras got dealt a rainout Friday night, so they managed to slide into the Govalle 7pm timeslot following the Saturday Drag/Ramblers game.
The Cobras put the word out that there’d be an open practice/pickup game going on and players began trickling in. I let myself believe there’d be 20+ players coming so that I could just hang out and maybe get a single AB or something like that. Dragsters RJ, Marc, and myself all decided to hang out while thinking the pickup game wouldn’t really need extra ballplayers.
Turns out, they did.
The pickup game started with Lance throwing on the hill and some Roadrunners and other sandlotters goofing around. At some point, Marc, RJ, and I had just about had as much Govalle as one can have. There’s a chance that Marc may have even OD’ed on Govalle.
You be the judge–
Thankfully, Elliott arrived and nursed him back to full strength. The three of us Dragsters somehow held down Govalle from 2:30pm -10:30pm though. Few days are better spent than a full day at the ballpark.
6.8.2024 – Austin Drag vs. ATX Roadrunners @ Govalle – 3pm
Game’s instagram post.
I was not there. I had a wedding.
Here’s a paraphrased recap though:
Steven got the start and was excellent.
Simon, Harrison, Marc, Scotty, and Ash brought the lumber.
Defense was impressive including a sweet up-the-middle play by Stillman that included a nice pick by The Big Cat at first.
Final score —
Drag – a fair amount
Roadrunners – an amount
Post-game notes: there was a garden party that will be discussed for years to come.
6.15.2024 – Austin Drag vs. Los Slowpokes de San Anto @ Pittman-Sullivan (SA) – 11am
Game’s instagram post.
Pitching can also be a complete bitch (more on that later).
Keith started on the hill and was consistent as ever. With Mike Limongelli devouring every ball that took a trip into leftfield as well as throwing out a runner at home trying to score from second on groundball that made it through the hole on the left side, he showed out as the defensive player of the game. Guy made plays all day. With all those plays, Keith never really got into any trouble.
Defensively, we got through most innings without incident. Offensively, with the exception of one inning, we weren’t able to materialize a legit rally. Their starting pitcher, Luke/Lucas, threw really well. We’d get a hit or two, and then the bats got real cold real quick. We continued our 2024 tradition of stranding runners and relying a lil too much on our pitching to bring home a W.
That strategy has been better than bad for us this season.
Keith pitched six efficient innings. Jeff threw a quality seventh. With a three-run laed, I got the ball in the 8th, and, for whatever reason, couldn’t find the strikezone. I could point to a few “factors” (read “excuses”), but I won’t bore you with those. The first responsibility for pitchers is to throw strikes and whatever the hell left my hand did not end up a strike.
My best/fattest pitch was undoubtedly a 3-0 or 3-1 meatball to their athletic lefty slugger who had been taking Big Daddy Hacks all game, but on this particular AB, he felt it was time to lay down a bunt. I get it. You’re down a few runs. There are two runners on. You’re hitting from the left side.
Cool. Lay it down. I understand this to be a “good baseball play.”
That said, I can’t sit here and talk favorably about Whiteyball and then knock a guy for bunting. I get it.
However, if you ever catch me laying down a bunt during a beer league social sandlot game, I expect someone to question me about whether or not I have intentions to retire from all forms of recreation in the immediate future. I know The Drag has a player or two that love laying down a tasty bunt. I get the appeal. But me? Me? I’ll be swinging.
Anyhow, bunt or no bunt, I biffed the save opportunity and simply didn’t have it.
The last time I couldn’t throw strikes was on November 4th. Here’s hoping I can make it the rest of the year without having dreadful control issues.
I deservedly got the quick yank off the hill and Steven tried to clean up my mess. With runners on and one out, they hit a flare into shallow left. Like he had done all game long, Limongelli made a terrific play to make the catch and had an opportunity to double off the runner on first (who thought the ball was dropping in and was making his way to second). Gelli’s throw to first from the outfield came up a little short. The ball short-hopped our first baseman and made its way into foul territory. We complete that play, double off the runner, that would have been a game-saving doubleplay.
It wasn’t meant to be though. The runners advanced. With runners at second and third, the next batter hit a comebacker that bounced off Steven’s leg (the pitcher) and softly kicked towards me at third. Once I got my hand on it, there was no play to be made and the winning run had crossed the plate.
That’s baseball. We got baseballed.
Final score —
Drag – 7
Los Slowpokes – 8
Luckily for us though, the San Marcos River just so happens to be one of the best places to wash off a bad loss, a bad day, or to redirect your mood if you feel like you’re in a funk. So that’s exactly what we did. We washed that stank off. Drank a few beers. And had ourselves a time.
Photos from Ramblers game + a few other sandlot photos (album link here):
