MATTAPAN – If ECABL games were only four-innings long, the Prohibition Pirates might be sitting atop the league with a sparkling 8-0 record. Alas, the other teams insist on playing seven, and for the second straight game, the Pirates were unable to hold a lead. The Phillies once again rebounded from a rocky start to eclipse the Pirates, 9-8.
Despite jumping out to a seven-run lead, the Pirates found themselves up by only two runs heading into the sixth inning. Manager Jake Walter pointed to Jeff Francis for a two inning save, unfortunately, Francis was all out of Bruce Sutter and overstocked with Calvin Schiraldi.
With the lead-off man on by an error, Francis faced Brian Wilbanks. With a 1-0 count, Francis tried to get a fastball in on the hands. Unfortunately, the pitch floated up, out over the plate and Wilbanks crushed it over the left fielder Chris Bettano’s head for a triple.
“When he hit it, I thought he went bridge. It is never a good thing to see the outfielder’s numbers,” said Francis. “It was just a bad piece of cheese. Sometimes they foul those straight back…not tonight.”
Francis then walked the next two hitters to load the bases with no one out. After falling behind 3-0 to the leadoff hitter, he battled back to get a strike out. It was only a momentary sigh of relief as the next batter put a clothesline to left to score the the tying and go ahead runs.
“It is frustrating because I felt pretty good on the mound,” said Francis. “But I left a couple of pitches up and lost the strike zone for a touch. It is a tough outing especially since Bennie [starting pitcher Paul Benson] deserved better for his efforts.”
“His location was a little off in his first inning of work,” said Walter. “He was falling behind hitters and couldn’t mix up his pitches. When you get predictable with your fastball and don’t locate well, you’re going to need a whole lot of luck to survive.”
Luck, however, can be a foul temptress. On this night, she flirted with both teams like a girl with cruel intentions at the bar, snuffing out rallies and dashing visions of grandeur before finally going home with the Phillies at “winning time.”
In the first inning, the Pirates were able to load the bases with no one out on three consecutive walks. However, what should have been an early rally quickly turned into a harbinger for the Pirates fate as Francis lined an 0-2 pitch right at the second baseman who was able to double off Max Bogaert from first. A punch out followed, and the Pirates went back to the dugout empty handed.
As frustrating as the first inning was for the Pirates, the second inning was an ill-deserved embarrasment of riches. After a couple of hits and a walk, the Pirates had the bases loaded with two outs. Evan Adair battled to drive a two-run single up the middle on a full count. After an infield-single by Jay Kreisberg, the Pirates had the bases loaded again for Bogaert.
Bogaert hit a grounder to second, which appeared to be the final out of the inning. But as the Phillies second baseman wheeled to throw to first, a turf monster cropped up, taking him down flat on his back. From the seat of his pants he tried to roll the ball onto first, but Bogaert was able to beat it out plating Justin Tullo from third and a hustling Adair from second.
“There must have been a sniper in the woods somewhere,” commented starting left fielder Gino Beniamino.
Next up was Francis looking to atone for his first inning failure. Using the dusk as an ally, he skied a ball to medium to deep center, which was immediately lost by everyone on the field including the Phillies center fielder, Ben Maki. Maki did pick up the ball at the last minute and made a valiant attempt to recover, but it was too late as Francis jogged into second with a double and another run scored. Cliff Goodband finished off the inning with a more convential two-run single, and the Pirates were off to a 7-0 lead.
From there on, lady fate turned a cold shoulder to the PPoP bench and sat idely by as they self-destructed.
Pirates starter Paul Benson did his best to keep the Phillies hitters of balance for most of the game. For five innings, he gave up nary a hard hit ball, but his defense was not up to the task and helped the Phils back into the game in the fifth.
With two men out and the bases empty, Benson induced a weak grounder that found every bump on the way to third base keeping the inning alive. After a couple of flares, a chopper to short kicked off the lip and clanged off a glove allowing more unearned runs to score.
“This whole game was about missed opportunities, both on the bases and in the field,” said Walter. “It’s easy to justify everything by saying they gifted us a few runs, but good teams take advantage. They gave us a few runs, it doesn’t mean it’s OK to give them back.”
And so it was that a game in hand slipped away into the night. The PPoP were not able to make the plays down the stretch, while the Phillies were flawless retiring the last 10 batters of the game in order.
The Pirates made the long drive home trying to figure out how they coughed up another game.
“It is tough knowing that we could be 8-0 right now and in the driver’s seat,” said Francis. “Hopefully, we can learn from this and stop beating ourselves.”
Photo Credit: The Lil General
2009 Season, Game Recap baseball, Boston, ECABL, Game Recap, Gino Beniamino, Jeff Francis, Parkway Pirates, Paul Benson, PPoP, Walter Jacobson
Again though, the risilient Pirates’ bats managed to come right back the next inning. Beniamino sparked the rally with a Hit-by-pitch. He then stole his way around to third, where Benson was able to plate him with a sacrifice fly to right field.