The Chicago Hounds beat the 96 degree heat today at Winnemac, and beat the Yankees 15-5 as well. It was a hot one, I mean, a really hot one, and the game lasted nearly 3 hours, so it was also a tough one. The Hounds only had 9 players today, so no subs, everybody bats, and your humble 45-year old reporter made a mistake with the lineup putting the catcher first and the pitcher second and me last, as I had to be a courtesy runner for what seemed like half of the game. I just left a wedding early as I was too tired to stay out considering the game tomorrow.
In any event, Tim Riggenbach (#8, P), or “Cy Young” as the Electrons now refer to him, pitched all 7 innings and was strong on the mound. The Hounds are knee-deep in a 5 games in 7 day stretch, so having Riggenbach complete the game was huge for the Hounds pitching staff. Riggenbach struck out 10 and only gave up 1 earned run. He then jumped the fence twice to get materials to fix the mound, such a perfectionist!
The Hounds were led at the plate by none other than Matt Burch (#6, 1B), who apparently has been doing this his whole life. Burch singled in the first, driving in 2 runs; walked in the 3rd, stole a base, and scored; singled in the 4th; walked and scored in the 7th; and then hit a grand slam bases clearing monster home run bomb (also in the 7th). What? Who knew? (He did.)
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Nolan Bielinski also crushed the ball today, tripling twice, singling, scoring 2 runs, and had an RBI. TJ Rinaldi (#1, CF) singled 3 times and scored all 3 times; Keith Richardson (#17, LF) singled three times and scored 1; Max Kiefer (#21, RF) singled and was hit by a pitch and scored twice and had 2 RsBI. Tony Correa (#13–recognize this?, 2B) reached safely on 2 errors, scored a run, and drove in a run. In fact, everyone but Joe Wietecha (#19, 3B) and Matthew Steffens (#5, SS) scored, but Steffens reached base safely 3 times, and Wietecha walked and drove in a run. Oh yeah, and Riggenbach helped himself with 2 singles, a walk, 2 RsBI, and 2 runs. A total offensive explosion, despite the stifling, no-wind heat that took its toll on umpire Scott. The Hounds now have the second highest runs per game average at 7.83 (league average is 6.21, the Aviators average a whopping 11.4 in only 5 games played).
The Hounds have now won 3 in a row and 8 of their last 9. They hope to continue the winning streak tomorrow at Southwest Park in Park Ridge v. the Marlins (game is at 10:00 am) in front of more of their great fans (today we saw Trey Clark, Annie, Annie’s sister, Laura (for 2 games in a row!–that must explain Burch’s hitting prowess), TIm’s parents, Cheryl, and a few others who all braved heatstroke to watch the Hounds win). Hope to see more fans tomorrow morning!