Nate went 6-for-7, hitting for the cycle for the first time in is career in an Eastbound & Dahn blowout win
Nate hit for the cycle, Morrison continued to swing a hot bat, and Christian did enough on the mound, as Eastbound pulled away from the Ham Slams in a 14-7 win.
Tim led off the game for the Ham Slams, and in a rare lefty-lefty matchup, Christian fanned him for the game’s first out. The Slams would get on the board, however, when Steve followed with a solo homer, making the score 1-0. Josh followed with a one-out double, but Christian stranded him to minimize the damage.
Tim also made his first career start on the mound for the Ham Slams. The game’s first batter, Nate, hit a single off the wall, but was caught out trying to extend the hit into a double. Morrison followed with a double, but Tim retired Helal to end the inning, and the Slams remained ahead 1-0.
Dan led off the top of the second with a double, but Christian stranded him at second for a scoreless inning.
Eastbound would pull ahead in the bottom of the second. Christian led off the inning with a triple, and Nate followed with an RBI triple, tying the game at 1-1. Morrison followed with a deep fly ball out to left, but Nate tagged and scored on the play, and the sacrifice fly made the score 2-1. Helal followed with a double, but Tim stranded him to end the inning.
The Ham Slams bounced back in the top of the third to regain the lead. Steve hit a double to lead off the inning, but was caught in between second and third trying to extend the hit into a triple for the first out of the inning. Josh followed with a one-out solo bomb, tying the game at 2-2. After Adam hit a one-out double, Dan drove him in with his second double of the game, and the Slams were ahead 3-2. Alan got the first hit of his young EWL career, an RBI single which scored Dan, putting the Slams in front 4-2.
The back-and-forth battle continued int he bottom of the second when Eastbound would even things up. Nate led off the inning with a double, and Morrison followed with a two-run bomb, tying the game at 4-4. Helal would then double, but Tim stranded him to maintain the tie, striking out Christian and retiring Nate for the first time in the game.
Christian got back on track in the top of the fourth, retiring the side in order. With the game tied at 4-4, Eastbound would pull away in the bottom of the fourth with a historic inning.
Christian scattered 7 runs and had more than enough run support to move Eastbound to 5-1 on the year
In one of the most unusual sequences in EWL history, Eastbound started the bottom of the fourth inning with 7 consecutive singles, which were followed by 2 consecutive homers. The 9 straight hits accounted for 9 runs, and the big inning essentially put the game away. For the second consecutive week, Eastbound had scored 8 or more runs in a single inning late in the game to pull away.
Morrison led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a Helal single. Christian loaded the bases with a single, and Nate drove in two runners with an RBI single to make the score 6-4. Morrison then singled to load the bases, and Helal’s single scored two runs to put Eastbound ahead 8-4. Christian followed with yet another RBI single, the seventh consecutive single, and Eastbound led 9-4. Nate then came to the plate and capped his cycle with a three-run bomb to left-center, clearing the bases and giving Eastbound a 12-4 lead. Morrison put the icing on the cake with a solo homer, and the score was 13-4. Tim would retired Helal and strikeout Christian for the second time in the game to end the inning, but Eastbound’s offense explosion gave them a 9 run lead through four innings.
The Ham Slams chipped away at the lead in the top of the fifth with some singles of their own. Adam led off with a single and moved to second on a Dan single. Alan then singled, scoring Adam to cut the score to 13-5. Tim grounded out to deep center for the first out of the inning. Dan scored on the play, but after the run scored, Alan was caught in between bases for the second out of the inning, and the score was 13-6.
Eastbound would add one more in the bottom of the fifth, when Nate capped his already stellar game with a solo homer, his second bomb of the game, to make the score 14-6.
Christian remained on the mound to close out the game in the top of the sixth. Josh hit a one-out homer to cut the score to 14-7, but the rally ended there, as Christian retired Adam to end the game.
Josh went 3-for-4 with a double, two homers, 2 runs scored, and 2 RBI in a Ham Slams loss
The win moved Eastbound to 5-1 on the year and into sole possession of first place for the first time in franchise history. The loss dropped the Ham Slams to 0-6.
W: Christian (1-1)
L: Tim (0-1)
Game Notes:
– Christian pitched the complete game win for Eastbound, giving up 7 runs on 12 hits and striking out one in 6 innings.
– Tim took the loss for the Ham Slams, giving up 14 runs on 18 hits and fanning 2 in 5 innings pitched.
– Nate led Eastbound & Dahn at the plate in the best game of his career, going 6-for-7 and hitting for the cycle. He had 2 singles, a double, a triple, 2 homers, 5 runs scored, and 7 RBI.
– Morrison also had a big game on offense, going 5-for-7 with 2 singles, a double, 2 home runs, 4 runs scored, and 4 RBI.
– Josh led the Ham Slams on offense, going 3-for-4 with a double, 2 home runs, 2 runs scored, and 2 RBI.
– Dan also went 3-for-3 for the Slams with a single, 2 doubles, 2 runs scored, and an RBI.
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