Wood Ravages Pirates

June 15^th, 2013

WOOD 13

Pirates 2

WOOD 18

Pirates 4

On an afternoon highlighted by swirling 40mph winds, shut down pitching, and an offensive smorgasbord, WOOD dry humped its way into a pair of mercy rule wins Saturday.  The valiant Pirates managed to hang with WOOD for the first half of game one, but the veteran teams' depth, experience, and talent eventually won out.  

Dad-to-be Steve McDevitt got the start for WOOD in game one.  Steve's presence alone was a pleasant surprise for the squad, as his wife's water was ready to break at any minute.  McDevitt, armed with his normal arsenal of changeups and ephus pitches, then hung his cell phone from the dugout fence and set the volume to "earth shattering".  While maintaining a supreme level of alertness should the phone ring while he pitched, Steve  cruised through six innings of two run baseball.  Grant Bledsoe closed out the mercy rule game one, throwing a scoreless seventh and striking out the side.  

Offensive stars for WOOD in game one included Kevin "when I get really upset, I scream into my glove and go on a ram"Page.  Page ended up 4-5, shooting his season batting average up to .372 in the process.  Cam Weissensee added a handful of hits, as did Ryan Tovani, Rick Roitenger, Grant Bledsoe, and fan favorite Jevon Mattiassi.

The afternoon not only brought hours of scintillating WOOD baseball, but also tied a family together from the far reaches of the bay area.  In the first inning of the game one, WOOD all-star Ryan Tovani read the opposing lineup card....initially confusing it for his own team's.  

Distant cousins get reacquainted....for the first time

"Hey!   Why the F@#& am I hitting 8th?  I went 4-4 last game!"  Tovani ranted.  "Oh wait this is the Pirates' card.  They have a Tovani too.....and he's a catcher just like me!  This motherf&%$er's goin' down!"

The Tovani family competitive juices flowed like a thick sicilian red sauce.  It was on.  WOOD's Tovani responded by having a monster day both at the plate and in the field, including his first career NABA home run in game two.  

 Game two brought another onslaught of WOOD offense beyond Tovani's contributions, as well as a quality start from Kevin Page.  Page ended up exiting after four smooth innings, yielding to ace Chente Lopez (and heckling him along the way).  Grant Bledsoe finished 3-3 with 3 doubles and 4 RBIs, and Matt Moyer shook off the mid-game Cheerios to collect several hits (and begged his way into 2 RBIs).

Nearly every WOOD starter added hits in game two, including Rick Roitenger, Jevon Mattiassi, Will the Tong, and Cam Weissenssee.  While star center fielder Alex Weber-Shapiro went hitless in the contest, he smoked no less than five balls directly at the second baseman. 

By the day's end, WOOD ended up chalking two in the wins column and improving to 9-5 on the year.  WOOD's next game will be this Saturday against playoff rival Tsunami.  Great seats still available.