Roll with the Grangers
Bay City hosts Rochester Hills
Carroll Park, Bay City, MI
July 18, 2010
Rochester Hills 12, Bay City 10
The weather was surprisingly good, as it was rumored to be a stormy afternoon, but the storms that followed on the day had nothing to do with the atmospheric conditions on the day and more to do with the thundering bats of the Grangers of Rochester Hills. The match began with a ceremonial pitch by the president of Financial Edge Credit Union, a fine banking institution that was celebrating their 60th Anniversary on this day, and was followed by the coin toss to determine the order of striking. The Grangers won the toss, and nearly everything else that followed on the day seemed to go the way of the Rochester gents.
After winning the toss the Rochester Hill boys chose to strike first, and neatly placed 5 runs on the board sending 10 strikers to the line, and placing 2 long balls into the garden that allowed Misters Grace and A. Prasatek to make their seconds cleanly. It was clear that the Grangers had come to play. The Bay Citys plated two runs of their own in the first innings after their first two strikers, the brothers LeRoux, each made their third on short field hits. It is said that speed is essential in this game, and the brothers LeRoux bring speed a plenty. Their tallies would be all the Independents would garner in the innings and the match would now stand at 5-2 in favor of Rochester Hills.
The Bay Citys would skunk the Grangers in the second, but would tally themselves with a single marker placed neatly in the ledger by Dean “Sawmill” Koch. Sawmill made his first in the innings and was then brought around to tally thanks to two successive safeties by Ray “The Banker” Banister and Dan “The Rainmaker” Decuf respectively. The tally now stood at 5-3, but still controlled by the Grangers.
In the third innings the Grangers would regain the tally they lost when Mr. Anthony Prasatek would again drive a long ball into the garden, and tally for his club. The Bay Citys would be whitewashed in the third and the score would stand as a three run lead for the Grangers again at 6-3.
The Rochester lads didn’t add a tally to their total in the fourth, and the Bay Citys took advantage by plating three of their own to tie the contest. The Bay City striking began with Adam “Little-Train” Johnson making his first and then taking his second on a daisy cutter to first, which lost the first hand in the innings. The Bay Citys appeared destined to be blanked again when the the second hand of the innings was lost on a bound out to the catcher, but Tom “Cat” LeRoux drove a safety into the garden which allowed Johnson to take third. The next striker Al “The Kid” Garcia then placed another daisy cutter into the long field which plated Johnson and moved LeRoux neatly to third. Justin “Doc” Garcia then stepped to the plate and fired a howitzer into the tree tops of Carroll Park that brought LeRoux and “The Kid home. Doc would make his way to third when Jason “Buttons” McInerney also made his first in the innings, but sadly the third hand was lost soon thereafter, and Garcia was stranded on third as were the hopes of Bay City taking the lead in the contest. It was now Bay City 6 and Rochester Hills 6.
The Grangers would quickly regain their lead by tallying two runs in the fifth innings, thanks to the fountain of youth. Ponce de Leon squandered his opportunity of discovery wandering the swamps of Florida, when all he needed to do was peer down to the bottom of the Rochester Hills line up to find the second generation of Grangers strikers. A young Mr. Walters, who is reportedly courting the daughter of the left fielder Mr. Grace, led off the striking with a clean single. After the next striker lost his hand and moved Mr. Walters to second, a familiar name appeared in the striking order A. Prasatek. This Prasatek however, was Ashton the progeny of Mr. Slappy Prasatek, regardless of age this Mr. Prasatek did the elder proud by smashing the apple into the garden and driving home the young legs of the aforementioned Mr. Walters. Prasatek the younger would later tally, and bring the contest to 8-6 in favor of the Rochesters.
The Bay Citys would answer in the fifth innings with one run of their own when Brandon “The Rope” Revette made his first and was brought to tally by a two hands lost smash to the long field that saw Ray “The Banker” Banister make his second. Banister would make his way to third on a safety by Dan “Rainmaker” Decuf, but would move no further, and the Independents’ chance at a tie would die there. The match was still a tight scratch at 8-7 for the Grangers.
The Grangers would then pile on their lead with three more aces in the sixth innings, and Bay City again could only tally two and the Granger lead would double at 11-9. In the seventh the Grangers lengthened their margin by tallying one more and skunking the Independents’ strikers. After seven innings the tally was now Rochester Hills 12, and Bay City 9.
The Bay City defense would stiffen and the Grangers were whitewashed for the remainder of the contest, but the Rochesters were also nifty in their gardening, as they held Bay City to only one more ace in the eighth innings, and the match would find the Grangers on top again by an identical score of their last meeting with Bay City at 12-10.
The match was followed with many congratulations, adulations, and of course a song, as the Grangers serenaded the Bay Citys and the crowd with their trademark ballad “For the Love of the Game.” Despite their harmonious melody, the Bay Citys still invited the Grangers to a fine feast hosted by Financial Edge Credit Union, and both clubs look forward to the Grangers next visit in the fall on September 25th.
