Dateline: Daws Hill
It was reasonably warm in the morning, but as usual the temperature started to cool off after noon.
Game 1:
The Nats led off with Hunter who walked and Luke followed up with a double to put runners on at third and second. Alex singled to right to score the two runs. Ely singled and Isaac walked but the Tigers pitcher settled down and got out of the inning with the Nats only scoring two runs. Bottom of the first and Marek looked sharp. He struck out a batter, gave up a double, settled down and struck out two more.
Top of the second and AJ made good contact but the pitcher made a nice catch on an infield popup. With two outs, Hunter singled, but Luke popped out to third to end the inning. Bottom of the second and Marek continued to throw heart. After a single, he struck out three more hitters.
Top of the third and Alex led off with a double. Marek walked. Ely singled to score Alex. With two outs, Tommy hit a nice shot down the line but the first baseman made a good play and got him at first. Bottom of the third and it was all Marek with two more strikeouts and he got the last batter to popout to third where where Hunter made a nice catch for out three. After three it was a close game at 3-0 Nats.
In the fourth, the Nats offense came alive. With one out Joseph was hit on the leg by a pitch but he shook it off and went to first. Hunter walked. Luke was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Alex walked to score Joseph. Marek singled to score Hunter. Kenta walked to score Luke. Ely singled to score Alex and Marek. Isaac grounded into a fielders choice at second but Kenta moved to third. Tommy singled to score Kenta. The Tigers pitcher settled down and got the last batter to strikeout but the score was now 9-0.
Hunter came on in the fourth and looked sharp. After the first batter reached on an infield hit, the next batter grounded back to the mound where Hunter threw to Alex for out one. A run scored on a couple of walks, but Hunter settled down and struck out the last batter to end the game. Final Score: Nats 9 Tigers 1.
Game 2:
Top of the first and Alex and the infield looked sharp. First pitch was a bouncer right back to the mound, Alex got it and threw nicely to Tommy at first for out one. The next batter hit a chopper to third where Ely grabbed it and fired across the diamond to Tommy for our two. Two pitches, two outs. After an infield hit,Alex struck out the next batter to end the inning. Bottom of the first and the Nats led off with Hunter getting s single, Luke walked and Alex singled to score Hunter. Marek doubled to left to bring in Luke and Alex. Kenta walked and Ely hit a hard shot to left to score Marek. Seven batters, four hits, four runs, no outs, it was a nice way to start game two.
Top of the second Alex struck out the first batter, the next batter grounded to Marek at short who fired to Kenta at first for out two. After two singles, the next batter grounded to short where Alex got it and stepped on the bag. After two it was all Nats 8-0. Bottom of the second. Isaac led off and was hit by a pitch (on his shoe). Tommy walked. AJ grounded hard right to the first baseman but the runners advanced to third ad second. Hunter drilled a double to left scoring the two runs. Luke singled but was gunned down at second as he tried to stretch it to to a double but Hunter scored on the play. Alex singled and Marek doubled to score Alex. Four runs, on four more hits and only two walks. After two it was all Nats 8-0.
Top of the third and Alex returned to the mound. The first batter popped up to first and Kaz camped right under and made a great play even though the ball hit a couple of tree branches on the way down. The next batter grounded back to the mound and Alex struck out the next batter for his third strikeout of the day.
Bottom of the third and the Nats continued to pour on the offense. Kenta led off with a hard single to center. Ely singled. With one out, Tommy walked to load the bases. AJ grounded into a fielders choice where the Tigers third baseman made a nice throw home and got Ely by a step. Hunter singled to score Kenta. Luke walked to score Tommy and Alex picked up his second double of the game and completed a nice 4-4 at the plate day with three doubles a walk and four runs.
Top of the fourth and Kaz made his first appearance of the year. He hit the first batter but settled down and struck out the next one for our one. An infield hit put runners on at first and second. The next batter popped up just a hair in front of the plate and Tommy made a great catch for out wo. The last batter grounded back to the mound. Kenta took his time and tossed to first for out three. Final score: Nats 12 Tigers 0.
Assistant Coach Grossman was available briefly after the game. He said, “These games sure do get cold up here for mid-May but our guys clearly did a fine job at the plate. I liked how our whole offense was putting the ball in play and it was great to see 10 putouts in the field. Marek, Hunter, Alex and Kenta were rock solid on the mound. I’m looking forward to our games next Saturday and Sunday.
A few tickets remain for Sunday’s big game with the Cubs. The Nats season record against the Cubs is 0-1-1 and prior to the games this weekend they were in second place down by only a game.
