| sbl 2004, week 9 july 25 the sucka free outdoor sports complex PJ & THE LADIES 4 XDEATHX/WSAC 16 (8 INNINGS) as usual, the xdx defense dominated the game from the beginning, limiting the sporadic ladies to 5 hits over 8 innings, most of which came after the game had been decided. after a hitless first, rando knight's double gave the ladies hope in the second. unfortunately, a jon biddle double play quickly ended any rally, and the ladies found themselves without a baserunner again until 2 outs in the seventh wih knight's triple broke the skid. x meanwhile, seemingly trying to shake the can't score mentality that has plagued them from the season's onset, put on another game full of offensive fireworkd, plating a runner in every inning after the first. jon biddle, looking to lock up his second straight all-star start, continued his defensive mastery with a 5 double play performance. he also was the offensive catylyst for his smokers, hitting 7 of 10 shots with a homer and five driven in. rookie of the year candidate billy picciotto hit 3 homers and drove in 4. big rando's 3 for 8, 5 double play, 1 assist line was tops for his team, but it was lenny crist who collected all 4 of his team's rbi. the win vaulted xdeathx into a tie with donkey punch for the third seed and a first-round playoff bye, while the ladies loss secured them the 6th playoff seed and a series with short bus. THE SHORT BUS ALL-STARS 8 HOOSIER DADDY 9 short bus captain ted gilliland's blatant assault of seth salcedo, who is roughly 1/10 his enormousness, earned him a two inning trip to the sin bin in the bottom of the eight and effectively erased any chance of a comeback for his all-stars. trailing 9-3 and in the midst of a hoosier daddy 7-run eighth inning, ballgame snapped, picking up salcedo and depositing him on the s.f.o.s.c. floor. he was fedexed to the penalty box, and one bryan frankovich miss later, short bus stepped up to the plate in the top of the ninth needing 6 runs to keep themselves going. it was gilliland, however, who was to bat first, and his team found themselves with one out before anyone actually stepped to the dish. second batter bill weisberg swished thru a solo shot to bring his team within 5, and as chris mclaughlin attempted the ridiculous grand slam, jon olsavsky whistled hoosier daddy's dennis lackey for an encroachment violation, and the grand slam was counted. gilliland was called out for the second time in the inning, leaving all the pressure on young weisberg, who hasn't exactly made a career out of hitting big shots. and he didn't add to his legacy, rimming out a solo homer that would have tied the game and giving hoosier daddy a huge win. for the victorious hoosier daddy, who climbed out of a hole they spent most on the game in to pick up the "W", bryan frankovich hit 3 of 8 shots and drove in 3 while tipping in an assist and 2 double plays. jeremy battyani came off the bench and hit all three of his shots and drove in 3 runs. for short bus, chris mclaughlin came up huge, collecting 6 hits in 10 at-bats with 2 homers and 7 rbi with 3 double plays. gilliland finished with what may be the worst game ever, 0 for 10 with 2 dumb things. JUKEBOX HERO 11 THE SERBIAN JEW DOUBLE BLUFFS 24 (8 INNINGS) what looked to be a decent game over the first two innings turned into the blowout most expected as the double bluffs rolled to their 17th straight win and completed the season sweep of jukebox. the bluffs came out as expected, even without leadoff hitter extraordinaire shelly goodpastor, crossing the plate 3 times in the first and five times in the second. what wasn't expected was jukebox's keeping right with them, as the yellow mesh army plated 7 runs in the same time span, and finding themselves right in the game with one of the best teams ever. the magic did eventually wear off, as greg lackey, kassy brown, jason biddle, and lenny crist finally cooled down, allowing the bluffs to pull away in the middle innings. even the addition of rookie of the year candidate brandon mckendry to the jukebox mix in the 5th wasn't enough, tho he did hit two solo shots. matt mcclelland's 2-run jack in the bottom of the eight gave the bluff the 12-run cushion they needed, and the game was called. for the winners, ben smith hit half of his 12 shots, all homers, and drove in 13 while turning 2 double plays in the field. nate tomko chipped in with a 9 for 12 ouing with 2 homers, 7 rbi, 4 double plays, and 2 assists. mcclelland and jon olsavsky knocked down 8 hits apeice. in a losing effort, jason biddle hit 4 of 8 shots and lenny crist drove in 4 on a pair of 2-run homers. THE SHORT BUS ALL-STARS 17 XDEATHX/WSAC 16 (11 INNINGS) chris mclaughlin's walk-off, two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th ended what was by far the best game of the day and gave his team a bit of momentum heading into their epic clash with pj & the ladies in next week's opening round playoff series. after falling into an early hole, x scored 8 times in the third to take an 8-7 lead over teddy ballgame and co. short bus answered right back in the third as ballgame himself hit a two-run jack to gran the lead right back from the yellow fingertips of the smokers. in the fifth, x again went off, hitting 3 consecutive doubles followed by a pair od dank elly 3-baggers to score 4 more and take a two-run lead, one which they padded in the next inning as elly hit another run-scoring triple. the defenses took over in the late innings, collaborating for 6 double plays in the next three innings, and the score remained 13-10 in favor of the black shirts. short bus called timeout, regrouped, and in the bottom of the ninth, got a three run homer from mclaughlin to knot the score at 13. kip corbett's double play capped the regulation scoring and sent the game into penalty time. after ted gillilan'd double play quickly ended the 10th for xdeathx, short bus got a leadoff triple from mighty mouse mclaughlin. but with no outs, neither gilliland or weisberg could hit a single to end the game, and billy's miss was tipped in by jon biddle to send the game to the 11th. in the top of the 11th, x seemed to secure the win as biddle, billy picciotto and corbett nailed run-scoring hits. but mclaughlin had the last laugh, marking the second time in three weeks x has been beaten by a walk-off homer. for short bus, who finish the season at 8-12, mclaughlin hit 9 of 16 shots with 2 homers and 8 driven in with 4 double plays. weisberg drove in 4 and tipped in 3, and teddy ballgame hit in 9 of 15 at-bats and drove in 5. xdeathx got an 8 for 12 performace with 5 rbi's from dank elly, and a 5 rbi, 6 double play outing from jon biddle. TEAM DONKEY PUNCH 5 THE SERBIAN JEW DOUBLE BLUFFS 17 (7 INNINGS) for the second time in three tries this season, the serbian jew double bluffs got a severely undermanned version of a donkey punch squad that was supposed to be their biggest competition. and for the second time, they made short work of a team playing without it's captain and top draft pick. though jamie moroco, pat lackey, and jason biddle played with tremendous heart, they were outgunned by the league's top team and the game was called after 7 innings. donkey punch actually led after the first inning thanks to lackey's run-scoring triple and solid defense in the bluffs half of the frame. they couldn't keep the pace up in the second, and the bluffs blew it open with an 8-run explosion and never looked back. 5 innings later, nate tomko tipped in a ben smith two-run homer miss, extending the lead to 12 and ending the contest prematurely. for donkey punch, who haven't won since week 7's 33-32 victory of hoosier daddy, pat lackey led the charge with 1 5 for 10 outing with 3 rbi. jason biddle tipped in a pair of double plays. for the winners, who wrapped up the season at 19-1, the best mark ever, and ride an 18-game streak into the championships, ben smith's 5 homer, 9 rbi game sparked the win. danielle hennon contributed 8 hits and 3 rbi, and tomko tipped in 3 double plays and 2 assists. jon olsavsky hit 6 of 11, drove in 2, and collected an psyche out and 2 double plays. 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