Dirty Steamers done in five

Five-inning scoreless drought sinks club

SANTA CLARA -- Leland Yow's Dirty Steamers, though they gave quite a scare in the early going, lost to Rob Flores' Reservoir Donkeys 17-13 Sun Apr 30 at Goodson Field. The Game Five win clinched a series victory for Flores, who becomes the first captain in BAB history to win two complete series.

Reservoir Donkeys win series 4-1

14/40	1	2	3	4	5		6	7	8	9	F
	7	0	2	0	0		0	0	0	4	13
	7	0	0	0	2		2	1	5	-	17
Dirty Steamers						Reservoir Donkeys: Return of the Donkey Show
Leland Yow Tito Bernal Greg Lynas Torance Matsui Jason LaRose Brandon Hamilton Kevin Kuzmiak						Greg Minor Bryan Bush Ryan Ledee Brian Simas Cav Manning Ed DaRosa Greg Sacramento Skillz Davis Rob Flores Soonam Chowdhury

After the Steamers dropped 7 on the Donkeys in the 1st with the help of a 2-run Hamilton single off CF Minor's glove, the Donkeys put up 7 of their own in the bottom half of the inning with a string of 8 straight hits.

After three, the Steamers hung on to a 9-7 advantage. Unfortunately for them, they were unable to penetrate the Donkey defense again until the 9th, by which time they trailed 17-9. Not even the late arrival of slugger Kuzmiak could kick them fully over the hump.

In the bottom of the 8th, Simas (who'd struggled on the day) came through for the Donkeys with a 3-run double that would prove to be crucial--after Matsui broke the Steamer scoring drought in the top of the 9th with an RBI knock, they went on to plate 3 others with the assistance of the fumbling Davis at catcher.

The game ended in controversy when Kuzmiak launched a deep foul ball into the glove of Minor. Kev argued it was over the fence and thus uncatchable, but to no avail--the game, and the series, was over.

With only Ledee, Sacramento and Lynas departing, Hamilton and Davis faced off in yet another exhibition.

In a very low-scoring contest, the Bones went scoreless through 3 and trailed 7-5 going into the 8th. Why? Not only was a 5-pitch limit in effect, but the league mandated each man on each team pitch one inning! Yow's first inning mound performance was nauseating, even by his lofty standards (one player said he'd rather have President Bush pitch to him). Several others fared...well, poorly. Finally the cycle went through and more capable hurlers took the hill.

In that 8th, LaRose cracked a 2-run triple to tie the game at 7, but a key bloop by Chowdhury and Matsui's muff of a Davis flyball led to a 5-run Dexterity 8th.

Though the Hambones pushed across one more in the 9th, LaRose grounded out weakly to Manning at 3B to wrap up a 12-8 Dexterity win.

GAME 1 NOTES:

• No one K'd, though LaRose and Bernal both went down to their 6th pitches before singling in the 1st and 3rd innings, respectively.

• LaRose, playing SS in the early absence of Kuzmiak turned a fine 6-3 DP on Ledee in the 2nd. Two innings later, he'd gun down Simas practically from the outfield at 1B, and he'd make a sweet over-the-shoulder catch on a Sac sinking liner at BS to end the 8th.

• In the top of the 7th, Bernal--who consistently whacked the ball hard today--lofted a pop halfway between 1st and 2nd. But neither 1B Flores or SS Ledee took charge, and it fell in between them. Bernal then lined out directly into Ledee's glove.

• The entire Donkey roster was named BAD ASS of the Day for defeating the Dirty Steamers. Donkeys Ledee and Manning earned Gold Gloves, while Steamer Lynas did so as well; he was very tough on defense the whole series. No Small Penis was named.

• Other statistical highlights: Simas and Ledee each drove in 3 for the Donkeys, and Bush (playing his first game since April 2) finished 4-for-5 with 3 runs. Matsui went 5-for-5 for the Steamers, and LaRose chipped in 4 RBI in addition to exemplary defense.

• The Donkeys were without 1B Joel Stauffer.

• The Steamers were without SS Nick Collins, OF Nick English, OF Dave Del Real, and injured C Danny Menee, who hopes to return next week from a gruesome ankle cut.

GAME 2 NOTES:

• Chowdhury fell victim to the PHK against Yow (he had NO chance) and only rushed swings prevented Minor, DaRosa and Manning from the same fate in the 1st inning. Bush also racked up a PHK later on.

• Bernal struck out twice conventionally in Game 2.

• Flores (who also K'd once), nursing an injured foot and wanting to get back to the dugout, hit lefty in the 7th, looking terrible on his first two swings before managing a FC ground ball.

• All Hambone runs were driven in by Kuzmiak (3) LaRose (3) and Flores (2).

• After LaRose drove in a run with a grounder that took a wicked hop and bounced 2 yards over Davis' head at 1B, Simas, Manning and Davis turned a 6-5-3 DP on Bernal.

• Chowdhury was named BAD ASS of the day for his 3 doubles, triple, 3 RBI, and unexpected good catch of a Kuzmiak popup near the plate--not to mention good sportsmanship in the wake of his PHK. DaRosa's fine 6th inning catch of a Matsui foul flyball earned him a Gold Glove, and Davis named himself Small Penis for an abysmal overall 3-for-9, flyout-ridden afternoon.

• For the first time in the series, spectator/rookie Javier Gonzalez was not present. One spectator who was present, the girlfriend of LaRose, made a beautiful, barehanded one-hop snag of a Bernal foul ball as she sat on the benches behind the backstop. (Bush's girlfriend, a regular spectator last year, was also in attendance.)

• Davis ran his career record against Hamilton to 3-0, and all 3 matchups have been competitive--the league decided to set aside the Easter Eggs and outright name the two sophomore BAD ASSes captains of the next series. There is a footnote: Davis and Hamilton, in order to make things more interesting, agreed each captain would be the FT left fielder for his respective squad! JD

* Players of the Week *

BAD ASS of the Day

Reservior Donkeys (Gm 1)

Won Series in five

Soonam Chowdhury, Dexterity (2)

3 2B, 3B, 3 RBI

Gold Glove

Ryan Ledee, Donkeys (1)

Great catch at SS

Cav Manning, Donkeys (1)

Great D at 3B

Greg Lynas, Steamers (1)

Great D at 3B/LF

Ed DaRosa, Dexterity (2)

Fine running catch in LF

Small Penis

Skillz Davis, Dexterity (2)

Combined 3-for-9 in DH