Local 302 organizes win over Muckrakers

CONCORD -- And in the fifth week, they rested.

“They” being your humble Muckrakers, who earned a well-deserved bit of rest in the form of the first of two bye weeks after dropping their fourth ballgame of the season, this one a 22-8 setback to C-team Local 302 on Thursday, May 7.

Perhaps the furlough comes at a good time for ‘Raker Nation (0-4), which hasn’t played all that poorly the first month of the season yet still has squat to show for it. That’s how tough a loop the Men of Rake find themselves in, and that’s the challenge the team faces when it kicks back into gear on May 22 vs. Super Crew.

Things started out semi-hopefully against Local 302, with the 14-strong Muckrakers using a four-hit first inning to take a 2-0 lead. But Local 302 flexed their C-league muscles to score 11 runs in the first and second frames, and the ‘Rakers played catchup from that point on.

Yer Rakers did make things interesting in the middle stanzas, scoring six times in the third and fourth. Randy Striegel’s triple plated Matt Knauf and Mike Yurkus in the third, and in the fourth, Bob Brindley and Kyle Bonagura both singled and scored, with Rick Hurd driving in one run with his base hit.

But the Muckinators failed to put up runs in the fifth and sixth as Local 302 coasted to the finish line. All that was left for the Muckrakers to do was to head into the bye week, then roll up those sleeves and come out ready to do some heavy lifting on what figures to be an eventful next portion of the schedule.

Just you wait.