I Post Losses Too

Bad Inning Dooms Bombers

BY SPARKY CHALMERS



PARK RIDGE, NJ: It was all too familiar for B&E (1-1) yesterday. When the mighty squad has fallen there have been a couple of constants in the equation. Their own mental lapses opened up room for their opposition’s big inning – and their opposition is usually USCG.

Yesterday was no different as B&E surrendered a 13 run inning in the bottom of the 5th and fell to USCG (2-0) 16-11.

The Bombers looked like themselves in the first inning, taking advantage of mistakes and driving in runs. They plated five runners in total, highlighted by a line-drive two run homer off the bat of Steve Sartori. Sartori had the only wall-clearing home run of the day.

They resembled like themselves in fact all the way until the bottom of the 5th - strolling into the half-frame with a 10-3 lead. The heart of the order went 11-15 in building the advantage and Elisabeth Scarpa and Eric Svendsen used their speed to cause havoc on the base-paths.

“The wheels really fell off there,” outfielder Mack Patterson said. “I don’t know if we got comfortable, or if it was a lack of concentration. But we should never watch 13 runs cross the plate in a game – let a lone one inning.”

Up until the point of destruction, the Bomber defense looked air tight. On a hot and humid day the outfield managed to play the ball in front of them and get the ball back in quickly. The infield was sound and exhibited the type of range that forces B&E fans to show up in droves. The highlight of the day – and maybe the year, was a catch at short by Jason Calcano.

With runners on second and third, USCG brought up one of their top RBI men. On the second pitch of the at bat he hit a missile in between third base and short. Or so he thought. Calcano used every ounce of his enyay to lay out to his right and snare the ball about 10 inches from the ground. Both teams stopped play to simply clap and remind their lower jaw to return back to normal.

“He is just an amazing shortstop,” his boss and Bomber third baseman James Heine said. “The plays he makes in the field really save our team, and make me proud. The fact that my leadership and guidance is creating such a player is a real credit to my leadership and guidance.”

The Bombers don’t have to wait long to shake off their loss to Corporate Accounting. The squad will be back in action this afternoon against HR and Legal in Park Ridge.