Blockheads knock off Muckrakers

CONCORD -- Let’s do a little creative accounting and see if we can finagle a victory for those earnest and deserving Muckrakers.

I know, I know, let’s throw out the first inning like a day-old newspaper. If we do that, it’s Muckrakers 9, Blockheads 6. There, see, Muckrakers win!

Well, since we’re not a mortgage company or in some big-wig’s back pocket, screwy accounting is not our jurisdiction, so we’ll have to play it straight. Try as they might, the ‘Rakers (1-1) could not overcome a first inning shakier than the Hayward Fault and the team fell for the first time this year, by a tally of 14-10 to the Blockheads.

The ‘Rakers were operating from a bit of a handicap even before the first pitch was thrown due to some regulars being unavailable. The Boys of Muck further dug their hole deeper by not playing the best first inning they’ve ever played, allowing eight opening runs to a very solid band of Blockheads.

But the busy Muckrakers brushed all that aside and started chipping away, like beavers in a Martinez creek. They plated one run in the bottom of the first and tacked on four more in the second to get back in it -- all coming with two outs.

The Rakers rolled again in the sixth by putting up four more runs, with Luke Abbott’s clutch hit plating two and bringing the Mucksters to within 12-10. But that was as close as the Muck-meisters could get, and then it was off to cheer J.J. and her band of merry cohorts.

It was nearly a night of great cheer for the Muckrakers, who can take pride in that they gave the undefeated ‘Heads (2-0) a good go for their money despite being in a somewhat weakened state.