It
was another beautiful, sunny morning. I
wasn’t fooled after yesterday though.
This time I was wearing a hoodie and had my jacket with me. I nearly stayed up late Saturday night
watching the season opener of F1 in
Australia, but wanted to make sure I got up early instead. Their racecars now have this hoop around the
cockpit. I don’t know why they don’t
just put in a windshield. I called Ron
to see if he was available for this game against the Redhawks. I didn’t wake him
up this time, but he was still running behind.
He said he’d meet me at the ballpark.
Once
again, I came hungry to Presley Askew
Field. Concessions was offering $1
hot dogs, which is about what they’re worth.
For the first time, I was offered chili and cheese for my hot dog for
another $1. Well, that’s the only
topping I actually like on a hot dog, so I accepted. Unfortunately, it was chili with beans, which
I don’t like. It was also completely
tasteless, which is I suppose better than tasting bad. I was too hungry to complain anyway.
The
wind kicked up hard during the Anthem and it was partly cloudy, but the weather
never got bad. The wind would be a
factor in the game. It was a light crowd
to start with, but filled in fairly well.
The Old Man came by and again sat behind me. We chatted about yesterday’s game for a
couple of minutes. He was excited. A scout-looking guy saw me with my scorecard
and asked about this weekend’s games and about Kyle Bradish. Of course, I
froze up a bit and likely gave him incorrect information. Once I write stuff down, I often totally
blank on it right after. It’s gone from
my head. I hope I didn’t say anything
that might wreck Kyle’s career.
The
game started off with some low energy from everyone in the park, except the Old
Man, who was cheering it up. Aggie
starter Jonathan Groff walked the
first batter. No harm there, as he then
picked him off. Ron came in in the
bottom. We caught up a bit. I showed him the mark in my notebook where
the foul ball hit (Game 2, 3-17-18). As I expected, he was super disappointed that he missed out on free ice
cream yesterday. (They would have cut
him off at some point.) The Old Man
moved over a bit when Ron came in so that, “I won’t be yelling into your
ear.” He suddenly left halfway through the
game without explanation.
In
the second, Groff got a strikeout and a double play for a quick inning. In the bottom, Tristen Carranza was hit to start the inning. He didn’t flinch as it bounced off him. Trey
Stine moved him to third and Caleb
Henderson sacrificed him in to give the Aggies a 1-0 lead. The coach came out and talked to pitcher Dawson Day. The PA played a new Family Guy clip during the meeting.
Joey Ortiz got
style points for a play at short to start the inning. He did a 360 after fielding the ball before
throwing out the runner. In the bottom, Marcus Still singled and was then moved
to second on a balk. Was that the fourth
balk call in three games? Was it the
same umpire making all these calls? Wasn’t
there an MLB umpire nicknamed “Balkin’ Bob?”
Regardless, Noah Haupt drove
Marcus in. Mason Fishback then drove him in with a line drive home run to left
center. Judging by the flag, that may
have been against the wind direction, but still in a stadium jet stream. Fishy’s little batting slump ended in the
ninth yesterday, but this was more emphatic.
People
kept walking by with little plastic wine glasses, some with white wine, some
red. I think I saw this yesterday, but
today, there were some definite winos in the crowd. We’re still in the third. Carranza singled his way on. Henderson then came up and hit the scoreboard
in left for another homer in the inning.
Logan Enhes followed that
with another homer. This one went to
right with the wind pushing it. Bradish’s
dog up in the stands started barking as the crowd cheered the barrage.
After
six runs, 6’ 11” Brayden Weyer was
brought in to pitch. Whenever I see guys
like this on a baseball team, I wonder why they aren’t playing basketball. Nick
Gonzales greeted him with another homer, again to left center. One bad fielding play extended the inning as
the Aggies batted around, when the shortstop threw the ball away to put Marcus
on second. A good play by the catcher, Kyler Murphy, on a popup finally ended
it. The ball went towards the stands
then blew back towards the plate. Murphy
stayed with it. 8-0 Aggies.
Seattle
went down quick in the fourth. In the
bottom, a lady Redhawks fan in front of me asked about one of the player’s line
score. Hey, I’m suddenly useful. The big Mastiff service dog from yesterday
was sitting with her and her husband and his owner. The dog was really friendly and nice (and
still just out of reach, I wanted to pet him so bad). Fishy singled, then Carranza struck out, but
one of his foul balls did land in between three players in a testament to the
swirling winds. Trey then singled. Boom! That was another homer, this one for three
runs, courtesy of Henderson. I’m getting
a bit winded standing up and applauding all these shots. 11-0 Aggies.
A
Redhawks player, Lucas Denney, was
hit to start the fifth. The ump called
him back. Apparently he felt that the
batter had leaned into it. “That’s
bull****!” shouted one of the Redhawks fans in front of me. “We’re going to have to leave separately,”
said his wife next to him. I question the
call as well, but I was more skeptical of the ump’s inconsistent strike zone,
which myself and some others noticed.
We’re not even getting into the balks.
Denney hit a liner to Ortiz. He
dropped it, but managed to throw him out.
A double play ended the Aggie half of the inning.
I
haven’t mentioned yet that there were plenty of attractive young women in
attendance. I’m sure many were the
players’ girlfriends, but them and their short shorts didn’t hurt to have
around. Let’s hear it for warm
weather. I think I saw a couple of
softball players in the crowd. They were
on the other side of the stadium, so I won’t try to ID them. I was surprised they didn’t come as a team,
since they were off this weekend. After
the game, a few volleyball players walked by, Megan McGuire, Bridgette
Lowe, and Briana Ainsworth. I almost didn’t recognize Briana. She’d trimmed her hair and put in some
highlights and dropped some weight.
She’s taken off some pounds very quickly. (Briana’s so beautiful to begin with; this
must be for increased athleticism.)
The
Redhawks got a couple of singles in the sixth.
Both runners moved up on a passed ball.
There was a grounder to Stine at third.
He looked the runner there back before throwing to first, but the runner
still scored on a play at the plate. Henderson
outdid himself to end the inning. He
laid out to make an awesome catch on a liner by first base. Once again, I’m standing and applauding. Carranza hit a solo homer in the bottom, so
that I could get some more exercise. Haupt
seemingly struck out twice to start the frame.
The Redhawks’ catcher started to throw around the horn after the second
strike, but had to wait for the next pitch to fully do it. 12-1 Aggies after six.
I
finally saw it coming before it happened.
The Aggies could potentially run rule win this inning. I told Ron, and he hoped that wouldn’t
happen. Dalton Hurd led off with a triple off the centerfield wall for
Seattle. He was brought in by pinch
hitter Jack Reisinger with a
single. The ball floated over Joey at
short. He completely lost track of it as
it dropped in behind him. He would start
a double play on the next batter though.
Another pinch hitter singled. The
Aggie bullpen was active before the inning, but would not be necessary. 12-2
Aggies was the final.
Coach Brian Green never
put in the reserves for this game, and I think he used the same lineup for all
three games. He even stuck with Marcus
Still, even after his bad game yesterday.
The game only took around two and half hours. Only playing seven innings accounts for most
of that, but what made the game move along was that there was only one walk
(and that was on the first batter).
There
are two easy gameballs to hand out today.
Jonathan Groff had a complete
game (7 innings) and only gave up two runs.
Considering what Redhawks’ pitching gave up in the same wind, that’s
amazing. On a day with six home runs
accounting for nearly half the Aggies’ hits, Caleb My Name is Earle
Henderson accounted for half of the runs driven in. In three plate appearances, he hit two home
runs (5 RBI’s) and drove in a run with a sacrifice. Not to mention, he had the defensive play of
the game in the sixth.
The
crowd was happy, but seemed reluctant to leave.
Ron was a bit despondent over the quick ending. He’d wanted to hang out and watch some
more. I was happy to see the win and for
the pleasant weather. One issue though
was that it was a little early for lunch.
Not that that stopped us from taking advantage of Papa John’s current two-pizza deal.
It’s all good. We chatted for a
while before Ron started nodding off and went home. This was a good start to conference play for
the Aggies against a good team. Neither
of us can go to the Texas Tech game
on Wednesday, but I plan on listening.
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