Aggie Baseball had an interesting
series last weekend against Texas
A&M. They lost the first game, 19-0.
I was listening to that game with the A&M radio call. College Station seems like a very
intimidating place to play with the crowd there. Saturday didn’t go much better with a 7-1 loss. Sunday, Matthew
Yarc, whose last two outings had not gone well, combined with Saul Soto in a dominating pitching
performance for a 4-1 win. Getting one was against the #14 in the nation
was encouraging, though they then dropped a pair to Lamar on the road.
Back
for a homestand, I tuned in Friday and was surprised to hear the voice of the El Paso Chihuahuas, our old friend, Tim Hagerty, calling the game. I guess Adam
Young was still getting back from the C-USA
Basketball tournament that unfortunately featured disappointing first round
exits for the Aggie Men and Women’s teams. The ladies were blown out, while the Men kept
it close and had a chance before falling in defeat. [Quick Edit: the Ladies have accepted an
invitation to the NIT. They probably wanted to give Molly Kaiser a chance to play some
more.]
The
Men’s game was also Jack Nixon’s
final Aggie broadcast after 45 years of service. He was remarkably unsentimental about it and
only said at the end, “We’ll call it a season and a career.” Jack glad to have finished with a close loss
than a blowout loss, which tells you what he thought of the team’s chances
moving on. There wasn’t any career
retrospective on the broadcast. I guess
we’ll have to wait for him to write a book.
On
that note, as soon as I heard him, I wrote Tim an e-mail saying I wished I was
there to get his autograph on his book, which I wished I still had. (I’d lent it out to Ron and haven’t seen him
since. I’m probably going to have to buy
another copy.) I also wrote to correct
him on the pronunciation of Coach
Angier’s name. The A&M radio
guys were also calling him, “Coach Anger.”
I don’t know if Tim got the message or someone else talked to him, but
he did get it right a couple of innings later.
I
was also a bit sorry to not be there for the “Tiny Pete” giveaway. It does look cute. However, it was cold out with some wind. It sounded like a good crowd for the Aggies’
first game against the Portland Pilots,
but it was actually only 408. Starter Jack Turner turned in a good outing and
lasted into the seventh. Dylan Weekly closed out the 12-5 Aggie win. Sheehan
O’Connor added another home run and was 4 of 4. Mitch
Namie had 3 RBI’s, Brandon Forrester
went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI’s, and Joey
Craig homered.
This
Saturday the weather was schizophrenic.
It was cold, then stormy, then cool with a breeze. By the time the weather had settled, an hour
before the game, it was too late for me to get ready and go. Just as well, it was sprinkling at the park
by the time the game started, as it had clouded up again. Over the course of three hours, the weather
went from rain, to sunny, to gusting winds.
Jeff Matthews on the radio
call said it was a “hardcore” crowd with only 411 there.
I
was glad I didn’t go for more reasons than the weather. It was 7-0 Pilots after an
inning-and-a-half. While the Aggies did
some hitting themselves, their pitching couldn’t put up a zero. The Pilots won 18-8. Thankfully, the game
only went seven innings in the run rule win.
I’m sure the crowd appreciated the mercy ending. The Aggie bullpen, likely as well, after they
had used seven pitchers. Tommy Meluskey did hit his first Aggie
home run in the game.
Aggie Softball was also playing this
weekend . . . at the same time as Baseball.
There’s two more crossed up weekends on the schedule. I may only get to see Softball one more time
for the rest of the season. Anyway,
they’re starting the conference portion of their season. The Aggies lost, 9-7, on Friday to Jacksonville
State and won on Saturday, 8-7,
with Faith Aragon pitching all seven
innings.
This
brings us to Sunday. I am a fair-weather
fan at this point and it was a very fair weather day. There were clear blue skies and only the
occasional cool breeze. I got there just
in time to start filling out the lineups while I was picking up the program
outside the stadium. A pretty good crowd
of 671 came out for the game. I went
over and sat with Fan Michael, Ken, and Trey.
Trey’s wife was with their daughter in Las Vegas for a volleyball
tournament. I’m sure there’s lots of
work involved, but that’s not the worst place to be compared to Huntsville,
Alabama, where the Basketball tournament was.
Beyond
the outfield wall, Aggie Softball
was starting their game. Today’s live
Anthem singer had to contend with Softball’s Anthem being played 30 seconds
after she started. The young woman
admirably kept singing and even finished her rendition as the other one ended. The guys said this happened yesterday,
too. This dual (dueling) scheduling
sucks.
I
talked to Trey about the A&M series, which he was at. The team had had to take a grueling bus ride
to College Station, which accounted for their terrible Friday loss. He confirmed that there were 6,000 passionate
fans in the stands that had a special cheer ready for every occasion. He wondered if there was a guidebook to
cheering and if they had to take classes.
Trey
also talked about his best experience as a visiting player. While warming up in the outfield at Louisiana-Lafayette, he met a lady
cooking up catfish. It smelled good
enough that he asked for some after the game.
As the team was leaving on the bus, the lady brought him a big plate
full, which his teammates helped themselves to.
Later at the conference tournament, LA-Lafayette was eliminated
early. Their fans were stuck there for
the rest of games and adopted the Aggies, who had no fans there, and cheered
them on to victory. (Sitting next to a
former ball player is great for stories.)
Today’s
game was a really interesting matchup.
We had Matthew Yarc, who’d
done so well last Sunday against Texas A&M.
On the other side was Ryan
Rembisz. He’d pitched a perfect game
this season against Seattle U. This was only the 21-st perfect game in NCAA D1 history. A hardcore pitcher’s duel was on tap.
That
buildup exploded quickly. The Pilots
scored three times in the first. The
first run came in after a single that was driven in by a triple that left
fielder, Mitch Namie, dove for and
missed. (He always plays flat out. You love the effort even if it doesn’t work
out.) That runner came in on a passed
ball that probably didn’t get 5-ft. away from the plate. Sheehan
O’Connor picked up the defense with a great catch of line drive at short,
but another run came in on a single. 3-0
Pilots.
Rembisz
gave up a hit on the first batter.
“Cancel the press conference,” as Hawk
Harrelson would say, as we weren’t going to get a no-hitter or perfect game
today. There was a wild pitch, but
further damage. Portland added to their
lead in the second with a two-run homer by Doyle
Kane, who’d hit the triple last inning.
5-0 Pilots. Michael was rolling
his eyes, “Oh, man! It’s just like yesterday
all over again.”
(I
should mention, there was a bit of controversy about Portland’s hitting from
yesterday. Pilot hitters were exchanging
a little black device that they were putting in their helmets. It was examined by the umps, but nothing was
done about it. Trey thought it was
somehow stealing signs and alerting the hitter.)
Perfect
game pitcher or not, the Aggies weren’t taking it lying down today. Sheehan led off the inning getting on base
with an error. After a hit batter, Tommy Meluskey came up and cranked out
a three-run homer. Trey related that
Tommy had been about to quit baseball before homering yesterday. Right after that, a cheer went up from
Softball. There was a delay as an Aggie
batter had hit one into the Baseball outfield.
Jeff Matthews on the radio
call, said they’d hit back-to-back home runs at the Softball game.
The
hits continued. Steve Solorzano doubled in Tariq
Freeny, who’d singled. Brandon Forrester walked. Mitch singled and Solo slid into home under
the tag after a great throw from the outfield.
Bryce Campbell doubled in a
run and Mitch scored on a wild pitch.
After Sheehan came up for a second time and was hit, Rembisz was
relieved. That’s baseball for you. He went from throwing a perfect game to
giving up 7 runs in an inning. Pilot JT Lanwehr threw one pitch and got a
double play to end the inning. 7-5
Aggies.
Trey
was on the phone during the inning. I
thought he was talking to his wife about his son, pitcher Cooper Reese. Actually, he
was talking to Cooper’s “summer coach” and was giving him a scouting report on
his son. He probably won’t be playing in
the Cape Cod League this year, but elsewhere.
I made a Jessica Biel comment and Trey said he loved that movie with her,
A Summer Catch, and had seen it on a
date with his future wife.
Yarc
gave way to Carson Timmons in the
third. He worked a scoreless
inning. That was actually quite an
accomplishment. Matthews noted that the
Pilots had scored for 9 straight innings going back to yesterday. The bottom of the inning ended on a strikeout
and delayed steal double play.
Another
Trey baseball story came up. He was, I
think, working in the press box at his son’s high school game and taunting the
opposing team with a Milli Vanilli song whenever they changed pitchers. The other team was waiting for him to come
out after the game. He had to wait his
son’s team to come over to escort him out.
The
Softball game was going into their fifth-inning Stretch. Timmons had two strikeouts in the top of the
fourth of the baseball game.
Unfortunately, he also gave up a 2-run homer to Brady Bean that hit the scoreboard.
We were tied at 7. The Aggies had
2-out rally in the bottom with a pair of singles. Pilot Jonas
Salk at short made a great play on a ball that hit the mound to end the
inning and this was after inventing the polio vaccine. (I’m sure he’s heard that joke before.)
Another
story from Trey from working in the press box.
He would play a salsa song for a Puerto Rican player whenever he hit a
home run. Another Puerto Rican on the
team, who seldom hit, hit a home run in a game and circled the bases in
silence. He proceed to run off the
field, through the dugout, out on to the concourse, and then up the stairs to
the press box. He barged in shouting,
“What the hell! Why aren’t you playing
the song for me!” I’m not even telling
half the stories I’m hearing. This is
like sitting next to a baseball story goldmine.
Saul Soto came in for the
fifth. Both sides would work 1-2-3
innings. After a scoreless top of the
sixth, Mitch doubled in Tariq to give the Aggies an 8-7 lead. By the top of the seventh, Softball was
done. The Aggies won, 5-4.
Trey had left and came back with a corn-in-the-cup, which I’d been
recommending. He poked at it
apprehensively before taking a bite.
After a few more bites, he pronounced it, “The best thing ever.” Michael was still not convinced to try
one. Michael did tell a great joke from
Rodney Dangerfield. “I went to the
doctor with a pulled groin. He put my
arm in a sling.” Enough frivolity, Zach Toglia jacked out a 2-run homer to
give the Pilots a 9-8 lead.
The
top of the eighth saw a marked decline in the crowd’s relationship with the
home plate umpire. The ump warned Soto
about quick pitching. The batter and
pitcher must be looking at each other before the pitch. This set off a chorus of jeering with lines
like, “You want them to take a long walk on the beach, too!” Soto, not liking the call or the batter,
stood at the set position for a full 10 seconds before delivering the next
pitch. Soto did get into further trouble
in the inning. Cooper began warming up
in the bullpen and Trey became highly agitated, but Soto worked out of the jam.
Landwehr
gave up a walk to start the bottom of the eighth, but got his final batter of
the game with a looking strikeout. Solo
greeted the new reliever with a 2-run homer on his first pitch. Mitch was caught stealing to end the inning,
but the Aggies were now up, 10-9. Trey
was really hoping to not see his son come into this tight a game. Trey couldn’t take the pressure.
Soto
was back out for the ninth. He gave up a
leadoff walk that was then doubled in to tie it at 10. Confusingly, we were hearing a cowbell ring for
Portland runs. I guess there was a
Portland fan in the crowd that was trolling the rest of us. Coach
Angier came out for a talk after a successful bunt, but didn’t make a
move. Soto was charged with an automatic
ball for quick pitching again, as he’d already been warned before. This didn’t endear the ump to the fans or the
coach, however Soto finished the inning without giving up the lead.
Trey Swgart came in for the
Pilots for the bottom of the ninth. By
odd coincidence, Swgart had played against Cooper in high school. Cooper had tried to greet him earlier in the
series and was rebuffed. Trey was not
only concerned about his son having to pressure pitch in extra innings, but was
also bearing a grudge against the opposing pitcher.
Swgart
gave up single to begin the inning and a walk.
He got a looking strikeout on a failed bunt attempt. This was the eighth looking strikeout of the
game. The players didn’t seem to be
complaining about it, though. Austin Corbett, getting his first at
bat as an eighth inning defensive replacement, didn’t waste any time. On the first pitch, he singled in the winning
run. Go crazy, folks! Aggies
win, 11-10!
A
bunch of kids went out to run the bases after the game. That was cute. Let’s hand out a bunch of gameballs. For Portland, Doyle Kane went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI’s and a home run. Zach
Toglia went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI’s including a home run and a clutch hit in
the ninth. JT Landwehr probably saved the Pilots’ bullpen with 6 innings of
relief giving up only 2 runs.
With
his nearly typical 5 innings of relief, Saul
Soto is basically a starter, who doesn’t start the game. He got the win. Mitch
Namie was 3 for 4 with 2 RBI’s. Bryce Campbell was 3 for 5 with an RBI.
Tommy
Meluskey had a big 3-run homer. He
should keep playing baseball. Austin Corbett saw 1 pitch today and
made the most of it and was mobbed out on the field.
Well,
I was in a good mood and it was about to get even better. Three hours at the park had given me an
appetite for a Grilled Cheese Hamburger,
which just came back on to the menu at Freddy’s. Every bite was ecstasy. It’s a hamburger that melts in your
mouth. After that, I finally picked up a
bag of tangerines at the fruit stand on the corner. I kept wanting to do it, but I was always on
the wrong side the street to pull in.
Finally, I stopped by to see dad right before the NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection show. I guess my only rooting interest left is the UNM Lobos. We’ll see how they do. In the meantime, I’ll have a weekend off from
Aggie Sports to watch some basketball games.
(Too bad Softball isn’t scheduled to play with Baseball out of town.)
