*Hounds MVP Matt Burch (#6) – 1B/P/2B*
Played in 28 games, batted in the 3 or 4 spot every game. Tied for the team lead in HRs (with 2), likely led the team in extra base hits and RsBI. Pitched 3-4 times when we needed him to. Played a solid 1B replacing Keith Richardson who had played there for years. Tried stealing home in the bottom of the last inning against the Red Sox when we were down 1 with 2 strikes on the batter, ending the game and starting our 6 game losing streak–but he got props from the team for being aggressive. Nearly unanimous MVP winner, helped that he voted for himself, but he didn’t need the vote.
*Hounds Cy Young*
The Hounds have a 3 way tie for our Cy Young candidate, which makes sense as we had no one player totally dominate with 3 strong starters and several others who helped eat innings. So, the Hounds candidate this year is the Hounds pitching staff.

The Hounds defeated the Vikings 16-2 in a 6 inning slaughter today. The Hounds batsmen used a mix of aluminum and wood to knock out 17 hits, while walking 6 times, and reaching safely on 5 Viking errors. The Vikings were not sharp, as they had a total of 8 errors on the day.
On the other hand, Brian Hearns (#30, P) looked quite sharp on the hill on his way to his 3rd win of the 2017 campaign, pitching 5 solid innings, giving up 2 earned runs as the Hounds played error free baseball today. Hearns struck out 7 on the day, and only allowed 6 baserunners.
Keith Richardson (#17, LF/P) made a 1 game return to the Hounds after moving to Cleveland in the offseason. Richardson was flawless in left field, had a double, a stolen base, and scored a run, and closed the game with a 1-2-3 inning on the mound.
Matt Burch (#6, 1B) reached safely in all 5 plate appearances, with 3 singles, a walk, and he reached base on a strikeout/error–he also had an RBI. However, he used an aluminum bat. Kyle Hanson (#2, 2B) singled all 4 times with a wood bat, stole 3 bases, scored three runs, and had an RBI. Matthew Steffens (#5, SS) returned to the team after a 2-game vacation in Cape Cod and had a single, double, triple, and reached on an error (all with a wood bat). Steffens scored all 4 times and had 4 RsBI.
TJ Rinaldi (#1, CF) also tripled with a wood bat, and added a single and 2 walks. Tim Riggenbach (#8, RF) tripled, singled, reached by an error, and scored a run (aluminum Tim). Alex Garcia (no number, EH/LF) tried both wood and aluminum, but didn’t need either as he walked 3 times, stole 2 bases, and scored 3 runs. Nolan Bielinski (#4, C) singled twice, reached on an error, and scored 3 runs (all with wood). Brent Schoenbach (#7, 3B) used a wood bat, as did Tony Correa (#13, DH). Mitch Gauen (no number, DH) used aluminum.
The Hounds took the season series from the Vikings today (2-1), and look to sweep the Red Sox at their next game on Thursday July 6 at Winnemac at 5:50 pm. Hope to see you there, and have a great Fourth of July!

The Chicago Hounds defeated the Marlins 12-9 tonight at Southwest Park, coming back from a 9-1 deficit, but lost a doubleheader on Sunday to the Electrons 12-6 and 8-6 at Winnemac.
Outback steakhouse after the win tonight.
Full writeups later.
Next game is a full week away–we play the Pirates at Maywood on Thursday 6/15 at 5:50. A rare Hound summer weekend off.
Enjoy the time off and see you next Thursday!

The Chicago Hounds lost 8-7 v. the Vikings at Winnemac Park on Thursday night, and then beat the Astros 17-1 today at Maywood Park.
The Vikings loss was a “should have won the game” type of situation. The Hounds gave up a lot of errors and put themselves in a position to lose in the first 5 innings. But the Hounds scored 4 runs in the 5th inning to tie the game at 7-7 as Nolan Bielinski (#4, C), Tim Riggenbach (#8, RF), and Matt Burch (#6, 1B), and Alex Garcia (#32, 2B) all reached safely and all scored, with Joe Wietecha (#19, P), Nelson Bowers (#27, DH/RF), and Max Kiefer (#21, LF) driving in the runs (Max with 2).
But the Vikings catcher hit a solo shot to right field over the track in front of the school to take the 8-7 lead, and the Hounds were unable to score in the 6th and 7th for a Hounds loss.
Today the Hounds were down 1-0 for the first 2 inning v. the Astros–the newest team in the CMBA. The Astros were 1-10 going into the contest, having secured their first ever victory against the mighty Marlins. The Hounds scored 2 runs in the 3rd to take the lead as both TJ Rinaldi (#1, EH) and Matthew Steffens (#5, SS0 walked and scored off of Tim Riggenbach’s (#8, CF) two RBI double off of the wall in right field at Maywood (he missed a home run by a mere 4 feet).
The Hounds blew the game open with 8 runs in the 6th and 7 more in the 7th, with the biggest blast an infield park home run by Matt Burch (#6, 1B), who hit a ball 50 feet over the head of a bewildered center fielder for the Astros.
The Hounds were very pleased to see the 2017 return of umpire Cooper, who had a heart attack in 2014 and has not umped in the past 3 years. Alex Garcia (#32, P) took advantage of Coop’s classic strike zone, and after allowing the first batter of the game to score–simply never allowed another. Steffens closed the game in the 7th.
Every single Hound in attendance scored today, and every Hound (save Nolan Bielinksi (#4, C) also struck out today.
The Hounds have a doubleheader v. the Electrons tomorrow at 12:15pm and 3:00pm at Winnemac. We hope to see you there!

The Hounds are now 5-3 after losing to the Aviators by 20+? runs in only 4 innings. It was a rough one today as we couldn’t do much right. The highlight of the game was the Aviators catcher stealing both second and third base while up 11 runs, spiking Brent Schoenbach (#7, 3B) in the leg, but this did not prevent Schoenbach from making a diving play later in the contest, seemingly the only defensive highlight on this hot windless day at Winnemac.
When I was a kid we would play “running bases” where you had a runner in the middle and a fielder at each base, practicing run downs. My cousins from Boston called it “pickle.” Well, whatever you call it, the Aviators bested the Hounds in that game 4-0 today.
But have no fear, the Hounds have 5 games in a stretch of 5 days coming up, including a double header v. the Electrons on Sunday, so this is the time for the Hounds to bounce back and win a lot of games. Hope to see you there.
Upcoming games over the next week:
*G#*
*Date*
*Day*
*Time*
*Opponent*
*H/V*
*Field*
*9*
*6/7/2017*
*Wednesday*
*5:50 PM*
*Red Sox*
*V*
*Winnemac Park*
*10*
*6/8/2017*
*Thursday*
*5:50 PM*
*Vikings*
*H*
*Winnemac Park*
*11*
*6/10/2017*
*Saturday*
*9:30 AM*
Astros
*V*
*Maywood *
*12*
*6/11/2017*
*Sunday*
*12:15 PM*
*Electrons*
*H*
*Winnemac Park*
*13*
*6/11/2017*
*Sunday*
*3:00 PM*
*Electrons*
*V*
*Winnemac Park*

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!

I apologize for the lack of updates, I know I have failed you. I have heard the complaints. I will do better.
After the first month of the season the Hounds are a respectable 4-2.
We lost a close one tonight, 6-4 v. the newly revamped Yankees (many old players but also a new contingent from the DePaul club team). Despite only having the “sounds of the game” to support them, as neither Max nor “Fern” unclasped their boomboxes, the Hounds played error free ball and the 3rd scheduled pitcher (Joe Wietecha, #19), after 2 late cancellations, pitched a whale of a game, throwing 108 pitches for the first time since high school. In short, the Hounds played a fine game, but just came up short. Speaking of short, the Hounds shortstop struck out to end the game with the bases loaded. And struck out 3 times on the day, for maybe the first time in 15 years. Embarrassing. Yes, I am referring to myself. Matthew Steffens (#5, SS, Manager).
The Hounds hit into 3 double plays v. the Yankees–who seem to really struggle to find a store that sells Yankees hats–how hard is that?–two on lineouts in the infield, I blame the manager again here for not instilling the “freeze on a liner mentality” and the Hounds also had a rare runner interference play on a clear hit. These baserunning plays (mental/physical erros) did not help the Hounds’ cause at the recently revamped Winnemac Park (much thanks to the Cubs for funding the infield renovation!).
What did help the Hounds’ cause? Max Kiefer (#21, LF) walked twice and scored twice. Hounds rookie Alex Garcia (#9, DH) walked and scored, and singled in the final frame. Hounds veteran (and original 2007 player) TJ Rinaldi (#1, CF) reached on an error and scored, and Hans Hetrick (#18, 2B) had three singles–shockingly, including 2 to the 3rd base side of the diamond–and 3 RsBI. Rookie Nelson Bowers (#28, RF) also reached twice on an error and a single. Steffens also had a single and 4 chances at short (in between picking rocks the entire time on the new infield “dirt”).
So, not enough for a Hounds win tonight, but again, the Hounds are 4-2 on the young season (with 4 rainouts) and look to sweep this weekend as we play the Pirates on Saturday at 9:30 at Winnemac and the Aviators on Sunday at 9:30 at Winnemac. Hope to see you there!

Hounds, if the rains hold off, and the field dries, we will play the Electrons tomorrow morning at 9:30. Please be there by 8:30 am.
Tim will start on the hill (he has to leave the game early), and I will do the rest of the lineup before the game.
I am heading there before 7 am to check the field. If you don’t hear from me, it means the game is still on. I will let you know if it is cancelled.
Thanks! –Matthew