Opening Season Road Trip Report
The Forfarshire Triple Deckers ball team began the 2018 season with a 3 game road trip.
First up was a journey into Fifeland to pitch their wits against the Kinloch Kings at the St Andrews Thunderdome. Pitching first the Deckers found trouble in the shape of the Kings lead batters who threw caution to the wind and hit multiple homers to turn in a first innings tally of 246. Cal Walker who has been traded back on to the Deckers roster as a free agent after five years on the DL pitched some good fast balls - and Jay Sim on return from secondment in Oz chucked a nice mix of sliders. But it was the Kings hitters that held the upper hand and striking mayhem ensued on occasions. Sweet. The Kings catering team put on a solid mix of snacks for the Deckers squad in between innings and it was a pumped up hitting team that headed out on deck to face up to the Kings pitchers. Walt Hardie held things together for the Deckers first up, but the Kings pitchers were on top as batter after batter fell to a mix of rapid pitches and the Deckers were deep in the mire at the bottom of the 35th. Glenn Carnage dug in and veteran designated hitter Clark McConnelly joined him and some homers were recorded on the scorecard. Panic. The Kings fans in the bleachers were worried for a spell, but in the end the Kings ran out winners by 13 hits.
Second date on the road trip schedule was a mega journey to the Bannockburn Red Sox at Dominos Park; but issues with the Deckers playing roster lead to a re-scheduling of this anticipated match up for later in the summer. Phew. The good news is that the Deckers collegiate stars that were recruited in winter via the draft pick should be free of study commitments by the time our opening day home game comes around; and will definitely be on deck by the time the long haul to match up against the Sox arrives.
Third and last on the three game opening season road trip was a shorter flight to match up against local rivals High Town Hogbacks at the Clubsport Stadium. The Hogbacks scheduled a delayed start due to junior college cricket taking place on the outer sector of the arena. Deckers took the mound first and the Hogbacks hitters struggled right through the innings. Veteran slugger Spider Mack Laurent was the only home hitter who hung around for long. Throwback. Young infielder JG Geronimo II provided the fielding highlight with a one handed leaping pouch to dismiss home slugger Le Bayne. Deafening. Blair Walker Jr snared four hitters with his spinning pitches on his Triple Deckers season debut. Wow. The Hogbacks failed to get the ton up and at snacks the Deckers were totally confident. Harvey Hardie and Cam Walker III took aim and hit well from the off. Hogbacks switched pitchers regularly and the bullpen finally snared Cam and Harv. When JG Geronimo hit a fly ball straight back to the pitcher the Hogbacks had some encouragement, but Jay Sim and Babe Laing emerged from the dug out and knocked it around. Nice. The Deckers got home and a win was registered. Number one for the season.
At the post road trip press conference, veteran pitcher Teddy Walker who defied the critics by pitching some impressive low straight sliders in game 3 to bamboozle the Hogbacks hitters commented, " it was good to get a game under my belt and I feel sure that we can challenge for the Championship pennant this year"
Deckers junior infielder JG Geronimo Jr excitedly addressed the press and surmised, " I know it is only 2018, but I guess you guys today witnessed the catch of the century."
Hogbacks supremo D Bucket-Lindsay was less happy. He grumbled , "Our hitters were ineffective and our pitchers too erratic." Rumour has it that veteran catcher How Garden the First might be coaxed out of retirement to add steel to a flimsy looking roster. Oof.
Next up for the Triple Deckers is the opening day home match up against the St Andrews Scholars. The Scholars won the Championship pennant last year and have started the deefence of their title in some style. Cal Walker is missing (on vacation) and Nige Le Clerk is also out ( IKEA) but the Deckers have some nice options in the bullpen and it should be a good match up for the visitors. Exciting. First pitch of the season will be thrown by special guest Thomas Markle who has dodged a family wedding to be on the mound. Go Tommy!
Let's play ball......