'Rakers deflate Air Pro, win second in a row

CONCORD -- The first frame continued to be the Inning of Irritation. And the first sack became the Base of Bother. But somehow it all worked out for the good, as the Muckrakers prevailed in an 18-9 romp over sometime-rival Air Pro on Thursday on Field 2.

The rascally ‘Rakers, as is their wont, were torched in the early going, yielding eight runs to Air Pro in the first inning. The last-place ballclub blooped, dinked and dunked their way to the early eight-spot, yet were able to tack on just one run after that. Such is the lot of an 0-6 team.

Meanwhile, the Men of Muck rolled up their sleeves and went at it in that persistent way of theirs. Your Royal Muckmen scored at least two runs in each of the six frames, including four-run bursts in the second and sixth. It’s no wonder, then, that the Muck-N-Ators picked up their second victory in a row after starting with season with four consecutive losers.

The Muckrakers offense continued to branch out, as nine of the lil’ darlins’ had multi-hit games. Mike Yurkus continued his dream season by going 4-for-4 and Brian (Rock-N-) Kroll had a breakout game (3-for-3, one run, two RBI). Randy Striegel continued to be a contender for the league RBI crown by plating five of his teammates, and Rockin’ Rick Hurd did nothing to damage his shiny stats by going 2-for-2.

Even Ben Enos, making his ‘09 ‘Raker debut, got in the fun, going 2-for-3 and driving in a couple from the 13-hole.

As much as the offense enjoyed going off on Air Pro, the defense had much to say about this one. Once again, Rover Power proved to be a savior, as Matt Knauff and Luke (ROVER) Abbott made the defensive strategy work. An Abbott to Striegel force play at second base proved the Rover could stifle an opposing offense in multiple ways.

But it was tough going for some, there’s no denying that. The ‘Rakers suffered a blow when manager Chris Wagnon collided with Air Pro’s first baseman and suffered what was thought to be a sprained wrist in his first at-bat of the game. At least first indications were that it was just a sprain, but a visit to the hospital the next day revealed the injury was a broken left wrist. Wagnon was forced to don a cast, and it very well could be he’ll be strictly a bench manager for the rest of the season.

Unfortunately for Wagnon, his adventures with first base weren’t done. On his last at-bat, Wagnon was ruled out at first after a crisp single by our favorite umpire after he was found to have carried his bat to first base (after being warned earlier about bat-throwing). It just goes to show you that you go to Willow Pass Park every day, you see something new.

Lately, fans have seen the winning side of the Muckrakers. It’s been quite a sight to behold.

Note: Modifiers were misplaced and metaphors were mangled in the creation of this story. I'm Dave Taxier and I approved this grammatical monstrosity. You can certainly do better and I wish you would. All contributions to the blog are gratefully accepted.