The Chicago Hounds defeated the Pirates 3-1 on a warm and sunny day at Winnemac Park this afternoon, before their largest contingent of fans this year. The fans–including family members of Matthew Steffens (#5, SS), Brent Schoenbach (#7, 3B), and Tony Correa (#13, C) all came to the bar at K’s after the game, even little Sylvia, who was all smiles after the Hounds’ win.
Rookie Alex Garcia (#32, P) had a complete game victory, defeating his former teammates and their coach Jeff Panadangagangalopololpolpolouse. Jeff would never pitch Garcia during his short tenure on the Pirates, which was the Hounds’ gain, as Garcia completely shut the Pirates down after allowing just 1 run in the first. Indeed, Garcia gave up 2 hits in the first, and then did not allow another Pirate hit for the rest of the 7-inning game. Garcia also comes from a long line of Hounds players from Dominican University, including Lucas McKinney, Robert Bavone, Alex Hernandez, and Adam Quinn.
The Hounds’ offense today was led by rookies Jacob Tedlund (#31, RF/CF) and Alexander Mora (#8, EH/RF). Tedlund reached on a fielder’s choice in the 2nd and reached second on a Pirate error, and Mora singled and drove in Tedlund. Joe Wietecha (#19, LF) singled and stole a base, Hans Hetrick (#18, DH) walked to load the bases, and then Correa reached on an error, scoring Mora. Tedlund also scored in the 3rd, reaching on a single, Mora walked, and Hetrick drove in Tedlund on a productive groundout.
Jeff P was thrown out by the ump arguing a ground rules call. On an errant Hounds throw to first, Correa–who lost 15 pounds in the offseason–sprinted down the line and saved the ball from going out of bounds with an impressive sliding stop. The ump originally gave the runner second base calling the ball out of play, but after a quick discussion reversed his call to the correct one, as Tony had made the save within our normal field of play. This drove the new league commissioner and manager of the Pirates mad, and he eventually was tossed from Winnemac.
The Hounds are now 5-2 and face the Aviators tomorrow morning at Winnemac at 9:30 am. The Aviators handed the Hounds their first loss of the year, so the Hounds look to exact revenge. See you there!