Victory! Wood Clinches Bay East

Wood: 3
Blue Claws: 2



Wood Baseball Club eked out a win versus the Blue Claws on Saturday, clinching the Bay East division title in the process.  Wood outlasted the Claws in the ten inning marathon with the help of solid pitching, unflappable defense,  and a 10th inning, 400 foot, big balled piss rocket off the bat of newcomer Alex Webber Shapiro.  The division title is the first in team history, as is Webber Shapiro's dinger (although it appears he commonly swings the bat with extreme prejudice and furious anger). 

The rookie's shot was hit so hard the ball nearly knocked down a giant redwood beyond the right field fence.  One Woodette even said she hadn't seen that many leaves come loose since her last Phish concert.  Webber Shapiro's production was not however limited to offense.  The center fielder made a diving catch in the bottom of the inning to help preserve the win, and threw out a would-be go ahead run at the plate earlier in the game.  Needless to say, Alex's presence was felt.  In a good way.

Brandon "Sometimes when I get nervous I stick my hands under my armpits, then put them up to my nose on both" Sides could not have been happier about the division title.  While the head coach is looking towards the playoffs to compete for the SFNABA title (and ultimate and everlasting glory), the division win is a feather in the cap of the Wood skipper.  The thought of a potential SFNABA title may have had Sides distracted during the game though.  One of his middle inning at bats ended oddly after a called second strike, when he abruptly turned around and walked back to the dugout.  The Blue Claws' confused catcher showed gamesmanship by keeping the actual count to himself, and an equally confused home plate umpire took an opportunity he'd never had before: ring a hitter up on strike two.  We can only imagine what was going through Sides' head at the time....but my money's on some combination of the SFNABA trophy, a wrestling singlet, and several gallons of olive oil.

Adam Fong added an excellent offensive performance as Wood boiled and cracked the Blue Claws.  The outfielder's multiple hit game included an RBI single that brought in Wood's first run, and a ringing double to left center.  Chants of "Fear the Fong" were heard from the stands in the later innings, although they could have been misinterpreted for teammate Will the Tong who equally deserves the praise.  Tong's pace setting in the leadoff hole was again a boon to Wood's offense.  The second baseman worked deep at bats, hit line drives all over the yard, and made nifty plays all game defensively.  Dave Aubuchon also added a multi-hit game, while splitting time defensively between third base and catcher.

Ely Alexander worked another strong outing on the mound for Wood.  Re-armed with a split finger fastball, the right hander threw five innings and allowed only one run.  Alexander also racked up five strikeouts and soiled a season low zero shorts on hit batsmen (SSHB if you're scoring at home).  Wives and family members of Blue Claws players thanked Alexander after the game.


Chente Lopez earned the win after relieving Alexander in the sixth inning.  Lopez has been a crutch on the mound all year for Wood, and continued his winning ways Saturday.  Mixing speeds and locations and holding runners close comes second nature to Lopez.  Wearing conventional baseball apparel does not though.  Lopez's white and green turf shoes and dark sunglasses are anything but normal, but seem to distract opposing hitters enough to win.  The righty has seven wins on the season, which is more than eight entire SFNABA teams have all year.

This author even earned a new nickname during Saturday's contest.  "Barney Rubble" was uttered from Wood's dugout after a haphazard trip around the bases early in the game.  Before Saturday no one knew it was possible to take a four foot lead and still require seven steps to get back to first base.  Now you know.  I think the great Billy Madison put it best.



Shoutouts:

Jevon Mattiassi - for catching the first half of the game in the hot sun despite having a wedding to
attend less than an hour later.

Dave Aubuchon - for catching the second half of the game in the hot sun, while spending nearly every offensive inning running the bags and repeatedly diving back to first base.

Ely Alexander - for spending all his energy shutting down the Blue Claws in the first five innings, then hanging on to man third base on nothing but fumes.

And as always, a BIG shoutout to the Woodettes and other Wood faithful who came out to support their Wood.

Wood looks to carry Saturday's momentum through its final three regular season games and into the playoffs.  The team can capture the #1 playoff seed by winning all three contests, but can do no worse than the #2 seed otherwise.

Wood laces up the cleats twice this weekend, against the Heroes at 7pm Friday, and against the Red Giants at 3pm Saturday.  Both games are at Albert Park and as always, great seats are still available.