Dateline: Fox Mill 2
On a chilly fall evening, the Rangers played under the lights against the Padres. The Padres appeared set for revenge of their prior loss to the Rangers as they calmly went through their warm-ups. Tommy started on the mound and walked the first batter, but settled down and struck out the next three. The Rangers mounted a threat in the first after Bryon grounded out to first. Andy walked and Tommy grounded to shortstop who flipped to second to get out two. A walk to John moved Tommy to second and he quickly stole third. Unfortunately, the Padres starter settled down and got Erick on a swinging strike three. After one, there was no score.
In the second Tommy continued to fire heat. He struck out the first two and got the last batter on a lineout back to the mound. The Rangers finally got on the scoreboard as Spencer led off with a shot down the left field line for a double. He stole third and scored on a wild pitch. Christian and Michael singled. Christian stole third and scored on a wild pitch. Joe singled and Michael stole third. Bryon then hit a huge two out single to score Michael. With two outs, Andy drilled a line drive and the Padres shortstop made a tremendous catch. After two it was 3-0 Rangers.
Bryon came on in the third and had some control problems. The Padres scored two on a few walks and a weak infield hit, but Bryon settled down and struck out three to end the inning. In the bottom of the third, Tommy walked, John was safe on an infield error. Tommy stole third and scored on a wild pitch. Erick walked and John then stole third and scored on a wild pitch. Spencer walked and Erick stole third to put runners on the corners. Max then hit a shot through the infield to score Erick and end the inning. After three it was Rangers 7 Padres 2.
Max went to the mound in the fourth and quickly logged a strikeout. The next batter walked and after that Max got his second strikeout of the inning. An infield single and a couple walks led to two runs for the Padres. With a runner on third, a wild pitch bounced back to the screen. Michael at catcher through off his mask and ran to the ball, he set his feet and made a perfect toss to Max who deftly applied the tag to get the third out of the inning. In the bottom of the fourth, the Padres pitcher had some control problems and he walked Christian, Michael, Joe, Gabriel, Andy and Tommy which resulted in four runs for Christian, Michael, Joe, and Gabriel respectively. After four it was Rangers 11 Padres 4.
Andy came on to finish off the game. As the temperature decreased, it was tough to throw strikes. The first batter walked and eventually scored, but Andy settled down and struck out three to end the game. Rangers fans again rejoiced and the team happily shared in some most tasty pizza. (Editors Note: We have no idea why our resident sportswriter knows anything about the aforementioned tastiness of the pizza, but we’ll take his word for it).
Coach Grossman said, “I liked how our guys looked at the plate. We put a lot of balls in play and it’s great to see that much improvement at the plate. I am sure we can keep improving as we head into the final week of the season.” Coach Goldstein said, “I thought out guys looked more alert in the field. I refuse to talk to you guys anymore tonight as its going to cause me to miss out on the best piece of pizza.”
Some tickets remain for the final two games of the season. The Rangers play next Tuesday at Browns Chapel and again next Saturday at Browns Chapel field to close out their fall campaign.
