Gold Country Buzzards

Gold Country Buzzards Game Report #19

August 16, 2009 Buzzards Walk All Over Astros, Win 18-0

The last game of the regular season was played against the weak Astros at Mahany Park in Roseville.  The Buzzards were scheduled for the early start time of 10 am, allowing the team to beat the Astros before the day got too hot and to enjoy the victory with ice cold drinks and cigars in the shade before lunch.  The Astros had a double-header, so they held back some pitching for their later game with the Free Agents. The pitching match-ups for the game were George “Web Master’ Bettencourt #26 with his wide array of curve balls starting for the Astros and Bob ‘Woody’ Wooden #22 throwing for the visiting Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards. 

The Buzzards scored first with three runs in the top of the first inning.  Taylor ‘Welzy’ Welz led off with a line drive single to left field.  Welzy then stole second base a few pitches later.  Dan ‘Wookie’ Wukmir choked up on the bat with two strikes and punched a hit through the left side of the infield for a run scoring single.  Wookie stole second before Woody followed with a walk.  After a double-play grounder, Jim ‘Wags’ Wagner walked on a full count to put two runners on.  Next, Charles ‘CJ’ Jackson took a base on balls to load ‘em up.  Gary ‘Stoney’ Stonebrook, fresh off the Buzzards’ Disabled List, hit a grounder to third that was misplayed scoring two runs. 

Woody took the mound with David ‘DK’ Kelley behind the plate.  Woody threw strikes all day long and did not have a three-ball count on a batter until the fourth inning and then only had three all game.  Bob threw eight pitches in the first inning and seven in the second to efficiently mow down the ‘Stros.  Charles ‘CJ’ Jackson caught the last three innings and the terrific pitching continued.  Woody faced 25 batters in the seven inning game giving up five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.  He threw 85 pitches, 61 for strikes and 24 balls.  He did give up a hit to Barry Spiller, league president, a flare to left field in the third inning, to make Barry’s day.  Woody struck him out the next time in the fifth inning.  Good job. 

The Buzzards scored a run in the top of the third with Woody’s solo home run.  Bob hit a curve ball over the left field fence on a 0-2 pitch.  The score after three innings was 4-0.  The Buzzards scored again the next time Woody came to bat in the fifth inning.  After a double to left-center by Welzy and a walk to Wookie, Woody blasted the curve ball way over the left-center field fence for his second homer of the game and the season.  What a stud Buzzard, pitching a three-hitter up to this point, and swinging the bat with authority while knocking curve balls over the fence on consecutive at-bats.  Woody also took the lead in homers for the season with two.  Welzy and Mark ‘Ronnie’ Wronski have the other homers this season. 

In the sixth inning, the Buzzards struck again when Stoney walked after tweaking his right groin muscle again on an awkward looking swing.  After a wild pick-off throw to first base advanced the runner to second, DK knocked a two-out single to center scoring the run.  The score after six was 8-0 Buzzards. In the seventh inning the Astros changed pitchers and the Buzzards scored 10 runs.  Going to the mound was big Steve ‘Huge’ Brady #27.  He does look intimidating on the mound, but he has lost velocity and he had a hard time getting the pitches down for strikes.  Brady walked Wookie, Woody, Mike ‘Bake’ Baker, Wags and CJ all in a row before they lifted him for the shortstop Craig Burford #34.  After an out, Craig then walked Stoney, then Brooklyn, then Pete ‘Baron’ Von Zboray before nicking Welzy with a pitch across the arm. 

With two outs, Woody drove in the last two runs of the game with a sharp single to left field.  After polishing off the Astros in the bottom of the seventh, the mercy-rule kicked in to end the game with the final score of 18-0. The score was high, but there were only 10 Buzzard hits during the game.  The 16 walks are a Buzzard record and added many of the runs to the score board. 

Lots of Buzzards scored runs, but only two had multiple hits in the game.  Welzy had a single and a double, and Woody had three hits - a single, two walks and two home runs for six RBIs.  Wow, did Woody have a great game or what?  Bob’s pitchin’ and hittin’ was awesome.  The ribbies were brought to you by the Baron, CJ, Stoney, Wags, and Welzy with one each.  Kelley and Wookie knocked in two, while Woody tied the Buzzard record of six RBIs  in one game.  Kephart had six ribbies against the Astros in June.  

The defense played well and made good plays on potential hits to limit the ‘Stros.  Wags made a tough play look easy in the third inning with a hard charging catch of a sinking liner in center field.  In the same inning with Barry Spiller at first base, Wags charged another line drive to left center that appeared to be a sure single.  Jim fielded the ball on the run and threw a strike to second base to get a force out of ponytailed Spiller at the bag for the second out of the inning.  Great coverage and throw to a hustling second baseman, Steve ‘Cookie’ Cook, to nail the runner.  Barry was not happy at all as he kicked dirt on his way back to the dugout. This game concludes the regular season with our record at 19-2. 

So far the Buzzards have performed well and look to be tough in the upcoming playoffs.  The pitching is nicked-up with injuries to Kephart and Stonebrook, but Wooden has pitched extremely well since his return from the Disabled List and is 5-0 on the season.  Now the real pressure packed fun begins.  The Buzzards will enjoy the playoff bye weekend with a light practice at Colfax High on Sunday. 

The next game will be for the National Division title on August 30^th, either against the Dragons or the Patriots.  The Buzzards will need a strong healthy team going into the championship series (three-game) starting with the double-header on September 13^th.  

Good season so far you Ol’ Buzzards.  The stage is now set to repeat as NABA champs. 

Buzzard Note #1: CD’s of the KAHI radio game will be passed out at the next game.  Kelley made copies of the radio station provided recording.  Copies will also be mailed to the Dragons.  Thanks again David for the work in securing the KAHI broadcast again this year.  KAHI has expressed interest in broadcasting a playoff game.  The radio station continues to use Buzzard provided news releases on their radio shows.  Be sure and tell your agent or maybe your kids. 

Buzzard Note #2: Check out the team and individual statistics.  The team batting average for the regular season was .385 with five Buzzards batting over .400.  Team fielding was .944 percent and the pitching ERA was 1.69.  Wow!  The web site is www.eteamz.com/gcbuzzards/