The Chicago Hounds defeated the Browns 7-4 today at Mt. Carmel High School, improving their record to 4-2. The field at Mt. Carmel was really nice, with a fast infield, a fence, and a quality mound. Felt like real baseball. The Hounds wore blue caps and blue jerseys again, as they have done for their 3 wins in a row.
As they used to say on the A-Team, I love it when a plan comes together. We had 3 healthy arms ready to throw today, and all 3 pitchers were outstanding. Jeremy Schmitz (#3, P) led things off on the mound with 5 strong innings. Schmitz was supposed to pitch on Saturday, but misread the schedule. He made up for it today, giving up only 1 earned run. The Hounds defense was good at times, spotty at others, and thus the Browns scored 4 despite Schmitz keeping them off balance all game. After 5 innings the score was 4-3 Browns.
The Hounds scored 1 run in the second, as Garrett Eddy (#22, RF) led off with a single and stole second. Brian Hearns (#30, DH/P) hit the ball the other way for a single, driving in Eddy. In the 4th Kurt Kerrigan reached on a fielder’s choice, and Hearns did it again, this time with a double to right, driving in Kerrigan. In the 5th, Tim Riggenbach (in front of his parents) reached base on a strikeout! The ball got past the catcher and no throw was even made to first as Riggenbach got there easily. Riggenbach stole second, TJ Rinaldi (#1, CF) walked, and then Eddy drove in Riggenbach with another single.
In the 6th the Hounds tied it up, as Keith Richardson (#17, 1B) led off with a double, Kyle Hanson (#2, 2B) kept the inning going with a walk, and Matthew Steffens (#5, SS) singled, driving in Richardson.
So Hearns took the mound with a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the 6th, and he quickly struck out 2 and had an easy 1-2-3 inning. The Hounds then scored 3 unearned runs in the 7th to take the lead. Riggenbach led off with a single, Rinaldi was hit by a pitch, and Eddy singled. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, Kerrigan hit a high fly ball to the right fielder, who simply dropped it, scoring all 3 baserunners.
Kerrigan then took the mound with the 7-4 lead and shut the Browns down 1-2-3 to close out the game.
A solid win, a nice winning streak, and the Hounds are looking good 6 games into the season.
No McDonalds by me this weekend (but Tim did have it today), but I am pretty sure I left my credit card at Ks Dugout after yesterday’s win, must have been too distracted by the Preakness.
Next 3 Hound games, hope to see you there!:
5/25 Wed – Red Sox – 5:50 pm – Winnemac 5/28 Sat – Aviators – 830 am – Winnemac (NOT 930, game is now 830) 5/29 Sun – Pirates – 930 am – Walther