Hounds win a squeaker behind 1-hitter

Alec Reinke (#14) completed a 7 inning winning affair on Saturday against Ramirez baseball with not-zero hits, thanks to an obvious jinxing by his manager. The only opposing hit came on a first-pitch swing to a pitch hitter in the top of the seventh. The 2019 Hounds Cy Young, in tandem with fellow Charlie Arron Kruse (C, #11) in his catching debut, nonetheless gave a masterful performance, confusing batters en route to a 10 strikeout day.

The successful Saturday morning contest was witnessed by 4 dads (Misters Kiefer, Kruse, Zelenka, and Oweimrin), the Kiefer father, accompanied by wife and daughter (and Charlie schoolmate) Ali. Rounding out the Hounds supporters were Marissa, love interest of Brad Halperin (3B, (+sister and new competing love-interest puppy Alba), and Amanda Mordacq, occasional Hounds practice aide and sweetheart of the starting pitcher.

The Hounds had 8 hits on the day, led by Brad Halperin (2 hits +RBI) and 6 other Hounds with 1 hit apiece, culminating in 2 runs. Other offensive highlights included a double by TJ Rinaldi, a Nick “Gumby” Schmidt (CF, #23) RBI triple, and a ground-rule-triple by the catcher Arron Kruse. Brian Lehman (SS, #2) made a spectacular play in the middle infield, ranging for a would-be-groundball-gapper and muscling the ball to first for the 6-3 out, having time to only stick out half his tongue on the play.

At the end of the day, the Hounds took care of business, seizing the win and bringing their record to 9-1. The Hounds look to bring the win total to double digits against the Vikings at 3PM at Maywood on Sunday.