Joey, Kevin, Courtlen, and Christian all went deep and had multiple extra-base hits, and Dinger delivered the strongest pitching outing of the early 2026 season, as Cheap Goats defeated Shady Characters 10-5 for their first win of the year.
Lucas started for Shady Characters, and he retired Joey and Kevin in order in the top of the first.
Dinger took the mound for Cheap Goats, and the first batter he faced, Zach, led off the inning with a solo home run, giving Shady Characters a 1-0 lead. Thomas and Billy both flew out to end the inning.
Courtlen led off the top of the second with a double before Christian drove him in with an RBI double, tying the game at 1-1. Dinger and Conor were both retired to end the inning, stranding Christian.
Tom K struck out to begin the bottom of the second before Lucas connected for a solo home run, putting Shady Characters back ahead 2-1. Nate struck out to end the inning, and Dinger had struck out the side.
Cheap Goats broke through in the top of the third. Joey doubled to begin the inning, and Kevin followed with another double. Courtlen grounded out before Christian hit a two-RBI double to give Cheap Goats a 3-2 advantage. Dinger followed with an RBI triple, scoring Christian and extending the lead to 4-2 before Conor grounded out to end the inning.
Zach and Thomas were retired in order in the bottom of the third.
Cheap Goats continued to add on in the top of the fourth. Joey led off the inning with a solo home run, and Kevin followed with a solo homer of his own to push the lead to 6-2. Courtlen then doubled before Christian connected for a two-run homer, making the score 8-2. Shady Characters turned to their bullpen, bringing Tom K to the mound, and he retired Dinger and Conor to end the inning.
Billy led off the bottom of the fourth with a triple before Tom K drove him in with an RBI single to make the score 8-3. Lucas later singled, and Nate added an RBI groundout to cut the deficit to 8-4. Dinger escaped further damage, getting Zach to fly out to end the inning.
Lucas returned to the mound in the top of the fifth. With one out, Kevin connected for his second homer of the game, making the score 9-4. Courtlen followed with a solo home run, and the back-to-back homers extended the Cheap Goats lead to 10-4. Lucas retired Christian to end the inning.
Thomas opened the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run, cutting the deficit to 10-5. Tom K hit a one-out single, but Dinger stranded him, getting Lucas to ground out to end the inning.
Dinger and Conor both flew out in a quick top of the sixth.
Shady Characters couldn’t rally, as Nate and Zach both flew out in the bottom of the sixth, and Cheap Goats secured a 10-5 victory.
The win moved Cheap Goats to 1-1 on the season while Shady Characters fell to 1-1.
W: Dinger (1-0)
L: Lucas (0-1)
Game Notes:
Dinger earned the complete game win for Cheap Goats, allowing five runs on seven hits and striking out two. He struck out the side in the bottom of the second. This was only the eleventh time the side has been struck out in EWL history, and the second time Dinger has accomplished this feat in his career, with the other instance coming in May of 2015.
Lucas took the loss for Shady Characters, giving up ten runs on twelve hits in five innings.
Tom pitched one inning of scoreless relief for Shady Characters.
Kevin, Courtlen, and Christian all went 3-for-4 to lead Cheap Goats. Kevin had a double, two homers, three runs scored, and two RBI. Courtlen had two doubles, a homer, three runs scored, and an RBI. And Christian had two doubles, a homer, two runs scored, and five RBI.
Lucas led Shady Characters at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a single and a solo homer.
Zach hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first, the second of his wiffle career.