Game Summaries
March 30th, 2003
The Sac

Opening Doubleheader
Road Warriors versus Wiffolution

Game 1
The Sac opened its 2003 season in style, with the younger Road Warriors and the improved Wiffolution squad.

As is usually the case on opening day, the offenses stumbled out of the gate. Both teams failed to score a run in the first three innings and combined for only three singles. After rookie Curtis Henning tossed a 1-2-3 fourth for the Road Warriors, the power of the walk was brought back to Dean Evans' attention.

Dean walked three batters in the fourth and as a result gave up three runs, putting the Warriors on top for the first lead of the season. Curtis' single scored one, and his heads-up base-running scored two on Darnell's single.

Matt Plummer took Darnell deep in the top of the fifth, but no one else on the team wanted to hit, and the first game of the season went to the Road Warriors.

Final Score: 3-1, Road Warriors

Game 2
After Wiffolution fiddled a bit with their lineup, Game 2 began. Matt Plummer was now in the third spot, in front of Morrison.

Wiffolution struck first, picking up three runs off rookie Pat Plummer in the second inning. Casey and Dean both went yard in the inning. The Road Warriors would strike back though, picking up four runs off Morrison in the top of the fourth. Uhland, Cain, and Henning all hit their first homeruns of the year in the inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, Dean Evans saved his team, hitting a solo shot off Darnell to tie the game up and send it to extra innings. After a scoreless sixth, Darnell got revenge, hitting a two-runner off Matt Plummer to give the Warriors a 6-4 advantage. Dave then shut down the bats of Wiffolution to give the Warriors the sweep. Wiffolution out-hit the Warriors 14-9 in the series, but the Warriors out-walked them 9-1. In this league, walks truly are as good as hits.

Final Score: 6-4, Road Warriors

Nitecap
Wiffolution versus Playerz

What it seemed to boil down to in the nitecap was a battle of wills, and Wiffolution forgot to bring their equipment.

The Playerz, who had already picked up one more win then they expected, played to win against Wiffolution and did just that. It also didn't hurt that Holmberg started hitting after going 0-7 at the Byrd House.

The Playerz picked up three runs in the second off Dean Evans, thanks to a 2-run job by Holmberg and a solo shot by John Robins. They added another run in the third when Holmberg singled home an aggressive Matt Smith, who scored from second.

It didn't really matter though. Wiffolution was dead once Holmberg's shot left the yard. Dean was the only member to pick up a hit and he raised his average to a league-leading .438. The rest of the team looked ready to go home.

The most telling stat is the BB disparity between Wiffolution and their opponents. As a team, they combined to walk 14 batters on the day, which in itself is pretty bad. But on top of that, they could only pick up one walk themselves. Yep, you guessed it, Dean was the benficiary.

Dean himself was hgh on the team after the game, despite the obvious detachment from going 0-3.

"Yeah, we lost all three, but we were in all of them," said Dean, who is also high on new teammate Matt Plummer. "He's going to be good...assuming he keeps playing."

Final Score: 4-0, Playerz

Boxscores