The Pirates once again came through with some clutch late inning hitting to win another close game against the Barnstormers 3-2. Also, once again, we faced another lightning rain delay that can only be explained by us having the Hurricane Twins from Florida, Ian MacGeorge and Drew Dades, even our Pizza Party Game was rained out! We welcomed back First Team All-Met Matt Murakami and he made his presence known immediately by driving in the tying run with a base knock to right and making two of his trademark defensive gems, one so good it surprised his fellow infielder. Matt Snyder picking up where brother Mike left off last game, sent a shot over the 25 foot deadaway centerfield wall for the game winning RBIs, scoring Murakami with him. MacGeorge, lightning rod aside, continued his terrific season with two crisp hits and stole third. Tim McCormick blasted a double, just feet away from leaving the park and Ryan Thomas lined a hit with a quality at bat. Mike Snyder contributed a key double play, third to first, rifling a strike to first to edge the runner.

This game highlighted two very distinct points: 1) the talent of this team and it’s tremendous potential 2) the need to enhance focus at all times to maximize that potential. Several plays showcased these points, but none better than ‘the big plane in the sky’ play, where a little league soft liner fell safely to the infield ground due to the distraction, only to result in a putout due to the superb athletic ability of the talented, but distracted athlete. Tyler McElhenny again dominated in pitching three innings, allowing only one run with that run coming through some uncharacteristic altruism by McElhenny. Tyler who had gassed everyone (striking out the side in the first) walked the #8 hitter on an off speed, who was then sacrificed to second. Facing the leadoff hitter who he k’ed without contact in the first, he quickly smoked him with two fastballs. An offspeed pitch was then poked into center for the first run of the game. Other than that, Tyler continued to dominate as he has all summer. Matt Crouse came in and threw effectively, starting to get back into his peak form prior to graduation ceremonies. Bart Reese had another quality outing and George Piccirilli got to throw an inning, finding the range that will make us more competitive in Atlanta at the end of the month. This team is extremely talented, but will need all of it and focus while in Atlanta, facing equally impressive athletes.

The guys got a treat as they got to meet surprise visitor Jack Carney. The young men would have made all parents proud as they individually and sincerely spent time with Mr. Carney and expressed their appreciation for his support. Jack had a terrific evening and several times commented on the good manners of the young men who play for his namesake team. Saturday’s game is another gas guzzler, a doubleheader starting at 1:00pm at Gaithersburg High, where no doubt it will rain by the sixth. See you there, fellow Seattle-ites.

Visit Our Photo Gallery

We’ve got pics! Doug Carneal was our shutterbug for the evening and collected a nice batch of photos for your viewing pleasure. Click here to see the new photo set at Flickr.com – or you can click this to see the photos in our Gallery page.