Idaho Falls Travis Hackett

Sunday, June 9th, 2008

There Was o Joy in Mudville For the Jackson 9 This Weekend “The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day; The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play.” Giants Line-up1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Charlie Wild Grant Smith Charlie Keegan Sky Garnick Carlos Toledo Bryn Windle Ethan Moulder Ian Chapman Robbie Caesar

3rd Base Designated Hitter Shortstop Center Field Catcher Right Field 2nd Base 1st Base Left Field

SubstitutesCameron O’Donahue Colter Huhn

Lucas Moulder Bryan Weber

Robbie Caesar returns to baseball after the high school track season

The Hometown Hero Jackson Giants squad took the field licking their collective wounds after getting whipped by the Upper Valley club in the first game of this sunny Sunday morning at Giants Field. The Giants, now 3-7 were desperate to do whatever they can to keep from being swept in their own home tournament but they took the field with seeming confidence against a young Idaho Falls Rangers ballclub. Patrick Renz (0-2) took the mound for the Giants and with a need for Renz to get a win behind him, the Rangers looked to be a good bet to get a win under his belt. Renz started out strong against the Rangers throwing nothing but strikes to the Rangers lead-off hitter Braxton Herrick who grounded out routinely to Charlie Keegan at short. Colby Tidwell did the same only to rookie 2nd baseman, Ethan Moulder who also relayed the ball to Ian Chapman at 1st for out number two. Renz then delivered a strike after a 2 and 2 count to #3 batter Riley Barr who like Herrick tried to test Keegan at short but alas, to no avail.

The bottom half of the first inning was a squirrelly one for the Giants as Charlie Wild hit a base hit past the Rangers shortstop. With Grant Smith at the plate, Wild breaks for 2nd on the steal but the catcher, Travis Hackett threw the ball into center field. Smith had 2 strikes on him and looked at the 3rd as Hackett then redeemed himself and threw out Wild attempting to steal 3rd base for a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play. Charlie Keegan then hit a ball to 3rd for the routine out to 1st to end the threat. Top of 2 and the question on everyone’s mind was “could Patrick last more than 1 inning and get deeper into the game?” At this level it is a hard thing for a rookie to come up from Babe Ruth and perform at a Legion level. Coach Euart has given Renz a lot of great opportunities in hopes of dialing in his Patrick Renz pitched his best game of the season confidence and attention span. Renz started the 2nd by hitting Ranger 2nd baseman, Brian Duffy with a pitch and the worry on Patrick’s face was apparent. But the Giants field behind him did not let him down as they made short work of the Rangers offense as Carlos Toledo and Charlie Wild recorded another kill at 3rd as Duffy tried to steal and Toledo unloaded on him, and the following outs were recorded by Charlie Keegan and Ethan Moulder pulling in fly balls at their respective positions. It was a 1-2-3 inning for our Heroes as Sky Garnick flew out to left, Carlos Toledo grounded out to 2nd, and Bryn Windle powered a pop-up to 2nd, Yawwnn. “ And then when Cooney died at first and Barrows did the same, A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game. A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast.” The top of the 3rd was kind to young Patrick Renz as the Giants defense again supported the Giants pitcher by grabbing 2 fly balls from the Idaho Falls bottom of the order, before Braxton Herrick after loading the order, whiffed on a fastball from the more confident and focused Renz to end it for the Rangers. The home half of the 2nd was a mixed bag of strike outs by Moulder and Ian Chapman, a single by Robbie Caesar who then advanced to 2nd and 3rd on wild pitches to the backstop by the Ranger pitcher, C. Mckitrick. Charlie Wild walked to put runners on the corners, and then Smith dribbles the ball to 2nd for an easy out to 1st. Another scoring opportunity snuffed out.

The 4th inning was trouble for Renz but he continued to mix his pitches enough to only allow the Ranger offense to pop-up the infield but not before Riley Barr who reached base on an error by Charlie Wild at 3rd and then marched himself to 3rd on 2 consecutive wild pitches by Renz and finally scoring on a fielder’s choice throw to second to keep Travis Hackett from stealing after reaching 1st base on a free pass by way of balls. Renz then settled down and struck out Dillon Tew after loading the count. The Giants started the bottom of the 4th strong as Charlie Keegan walked and then, hold the phone, stole another base! Garnick uncharacteristically whiffed, and then Carlos Toledo hit one back up the middle for a clean hit advancing Keegan to 3rd. With runners at the corners the Torpedo broke for 2nd and was uncontested as Idaho Falls catcher, Travis Hackett knew there was point to attempt getting out Toledo. Byrn Windle walked to first loading the bases bringing the imposing left handed hitter Ethan Moulder to the plate. Moulder after giving the pitcher, McKitrick the hairy eyeball, slashed the ball the opposite way to shortstop Jared Johnson who could only make the play at 2nd to get the on-coming Windle. Speed on the bases proved to be too much for the Rangers as both Keegan and the Torpedo scored on the fielder’s choice hit from Moulder who recorded 2 RBI’s. Ian Chapman again had trouble putting a bat on the ball as he went down swinging. Carlos Toledo hit .750 against the Rangers

“But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake, And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake; So upon the stricken multitude grim melancholy sat, For there seemed but little chance of Casey’s getting to the bat. But Flynn let drive a single to the wonderment of all, And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball; And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred, There was Johnnie safe at second and Blake a-hugging third.” The Idaho Falls half of the 5th saw a tiring battery of Renz and Toledo as lead-off batter, Danny McCarthy singled to left and then decided to challenge the delivery of Renz and the arm of Toledo by stealing both 2nd and 3rd. Jared Johnson walked and then stole 2nd, Austin Whittle, IF’s #9 hitter popped out to a waiting Charlie Wild, Patrick Collected himself and focused on the top of the order hitter Herrick and sat him down looking at 3 and then Colby Tidwell dribbled a

ball back to Renz who made a quick toss to Ian Chapman at 1st for the third Ranger out. The Giants half of the 5th brought the rookie Robbie Caesar to the plate who after fouling a couple

Charlie Wild gets ready to drive one up the middle at his first at bat

off, popped-up to the 2nd baseman, Charlie Wild popped-up to the first baseman. With 2 outs and no one on, Grant Smith finally got the monkey off his back and drilled a long line shot to right center field. Sky Garnick managed to get hit by a pitch, setting the stage for Carlos Toledo who slapped on the other way down the 1st base line into right field, scoring both Smith and Garnick. Bryn Windle walked again resulting in McKitrick getting the hook from the Idaho Falls coach. Brett Martinez stepped in for relief of McKitrick and forced Ethan Moulder to ground out to 1st baseman, Riley Barr who touched first for the unassisted out. With Renz obviously fatigued after the last inning, Coach Euart replaced him on the Colter Huhn delivers from the mound

mound with Colter Huhn in an effort to hold on to the 4-1 lead over the Rangers. Huhn who has good speed and a hard breaking curveball looked confident as he got Riley Barr to ground out back to the mound for an easy out, then things started to erode. Brian Duffy reached base on an error at short, Travis Hackett doubled, scoring Duffy, Dillon Tew drew a walk, Danny McCarthy also drew a walk to load the bases and Jared Johnson came up swinging as he hit a double into right center scoring everyone previously on base. Now with the lead gone 5-4 in favor of the Rangers rally, Huhn launches one to the backstop advancing Johnson to 3rd while #9 batsman Whittle took one for the Charlie Keegan boots one at short team and walked to first. Coach Euart made the long trip to mound to pull Huhn and replace him with Sky Garnick who popped-up Braxton Herrick to 1st for only the second out. Zack Black replaced Tidwell at third and hit a sharp hit to Keegan at short who couldn’t field it cleanly for another Giants error. Johnson and Whittle both scored on the error. Mercifully, Barr popped-up to Ethan Moulder at 2nd to stop the bleeding.

Keegan redeemed himself hauling in one of many infield flys

Ethan Moulder sets himself while chasing down a pop-up

The Giants walked off the field completely confused and deflated as to what had just happened and the lack of energy seemed apparent as they stepped to the plate as Chapman struck out for the 3rd time, Robbie Caesar walked and advanced to 2nd on a long fly ball out to right field by Charlie Wild and then advanced to 3rd on a wild pitch. Colter Huhn who stepped in for Grant Smith got on base by an error from the 1st baseman and here we go again, with runners at the corners and down by 3, Keegan hits one back to the pitcher for an easy 1-3 put out to end the inning.

Sky Garnick lets one fly at Giants Field

JacksonGiants cub reporter Chris Moulder spots a running error and alerts the Giants dugout.

Garnick continued into the top of the 7th as Brian Duffy hits a line drive into left center field. Duffy rounded 1st and sprinted to 2nd when a keen eyed Jackson spectator noticed that Duffy failed to step on 1st. As the runner was standing proudly and confidently on second, Jackson Faithful and cub reporter for the Jackson Giants Chris Moulder, yelled to Cameron O’Donahue who was sitting on a bucket of balls in the Jackson dugout to appeal to first base. O’Donahue yelled to Ethan Moulder who was holding the ball as it was delivered to him by Colter Huhn from center who relayed it to Chapman at first. The infield umpire was also aware that Duffy missed the bag and confidently punched Duffy out. Much to the enjoyment of the Faithful, it was debated as to how to score a bleachers to dugout to 2nd to 1st recording of the out. Officially, it went down as a 8-4-3. Moulder was heard saying;

”Once a coach, always a coach”. The next batter Garnick faced was the Rangers catcher Travis Hackett who doubled in his last at bat, but Sky managed to get him to pop-up to Ethan Moulder who made a nice basket catch while chasing the ball down behind 1st base. Dillon Tew was up and after a 2 and 2 count from Garnick hit a laser toward a diving Ethan Moulder at 2nd who knocked the ball down and recovered in time to throw out the charging Tew from his knees to end it for the Rangers. Technically speaking, it is in my best judgment to say that all outs for the Rangers were recorded by Moulders. The bottom half of the 7th had no love for the Jackson 9 as Martinez continued to deliver from the mound against our Hometown Heroes despite a high chopper off the plate from Carlos “the Torpedo” Toledo beat feet to first in front of the throw from the pitcher Martinez for an infield hit, following a ground out from Garnick to short. Bryn Windle and Cameron O’Donahue who entered the game to bat for Ethan Moulder, both grounded out to the infield to end the misery for the Giants. Box ScoresPlayer

AB

R

H

RBI

SO

BB

E

SB

B.AVG

Wild Smith Huhn Keegan Garnick Toledo Windle Weber Moulder O’Donahue Chapman Caesar

3 3 1 3 3 4 1 1 3 1 3 2

0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

1 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1

0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0

0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 0

1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1

0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

.333 .333 .000 .333 .000 .750 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000

SO

BB

Team Batting Average-

.214

Jackson Giants (home) Idaho Falls Rangers (visitors)

Game Score-

4 7

Pitcher StatisticsPitcher

W/L/S/T

IP

AB

R

H

HB

Renz Huhn Garnick

--(0-3-0-0) L(0-1-1-0) --(0-0-0-0)

5 20 1/3 7 1 2/3 6

1 4 2

1 2 0

3 0 0

3 3 0

1 1 0

“ There was ease in Casey’s manner as he stepped into his place; There was pride in Casey’s bearing and a smile on Casey’s face….. And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air, And Casey stood a-watching it in a haughty Grandeur there. Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped‘That ain’t my style,’ said Casey. “Strike One,” the umpire said….. With a smile of Christian charity great Casey’s visage shone; He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on; He signaled to the pitcher and once more the spheroid flew; But Casey still ignored it and the umpire said “Strike two.”….. The sneer is gone from Casey’s lip, his teeth are clenched in hate; He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate. And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go, And now the air is shattered with the force of Casey’s blow. Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright; The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light. And somewhere men are laughing and somewhere children shout: But there is no joy in Mudville--- the mighty Casey has struck out.” Ernest Lawrence Thayer The View From the Cheap SeatsIt was hard to get these lines of the classic poem; Casey at the Bat by, Ernest Lawrence Thayer out of my mind as the Jackson Faithful watched in disbelief as our lead was squandered away in a short 1/3 inning. Our men started well holding the Idaho Falls team to 1 run until that fateful 6th inning when an error, walks, a double, a wild pitch and a hit batsman all combined for a 6 run rally by the Rangers to not only pull ahead of the Giants but also break their backs. Offensively, the Giants did OK hitting 7 for 28 as a team for a .250 team batting average, out hitting the Rangers who only hit .111. Carlos Toledo shined this game as he went 3 for 4 with 3 base hits, 1 run, 2 RBI’s and a stolen base. Charlie Wild, Charlie Keegan and Grant Smith all went 1 for 3 hitting .333 and Keegan with a stolen base. Ethan Moulder also had 2 RBI’s on a fielder’s choice to help with the Jackson scoring.

On defense, Patrick Renz had his best outing of the year going well past his previous endurance marker and pitched through the 5th. He faced 20 batters and struck out 3 while only walking 3. Colter Huhn proved that nothing can ever be taken for granted as the strike zone eluded him and he quickly became distracted. Huhn is a good pitcher when focused but his mind seemed to be somewhere else during that 1/3 in the 6th. Sky Garnick pitched well holding the Rangers to no more runs after relieving Huhn. 3 errors crept onto the field for the Giants but only 1 resulted in a run for the Idaho Falls team. The Rangers couldn’t really hit the ball past the infield and for the most part, the combined efforts of Wild at 3rd, Keegan at short, Ethan Moulder at 2nd and Chapman at first was solid. The outfield didn’t see much action other than an occasional fly ball and backing up the infield on throws.

The Jackson Faithful watch from the concession stands

The Jackson Booster Club

The Ian Chapman fan club showed up dressed for a nice June game