In only his second career at-bat, John hit his first home run in the EWL, a walk-over solo shot that gave the Porkswords a stunning 7-6 win over Loss Mitigation.
Loss Mitigation led 5-3 when their week one game with the Porkswords was resumed, and they had taken an 8-4 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning before the Porkswords mounted a dramatic and stunning rally. The Porkswords scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth, culminating in John’s walk-off solo homer, to win 9-8 and send Loss Mitigation to 0-2 on the season. Every Porksword reached base or drove in a run during the rally, and the first walk-off win of the 2018 EWL season moved the Porkswords to 1-1 in the standings.
Dustin took the mound for the Porkswords when the game started in week one, and he fell behind early. Bob led off the game with a solo homer, putting Loss Mitigation ahead 1-0. Two batters later Nate doubled with one out, but Dustin stranded the runner, retiring Norris to end the inning.
Nate started for Loss Mitigation, and after giving up a lead off single to Josh, he retired the side, and the score remained 1-0.
Mike makes yet another incredible one-handed catch for Loss Mitigation, as his teammates watch in awe.
Mike continued to swing a hot bat for Loss Mitigation, and in the top of the second, his one-out solo homer extended the score to 2-0. Nate retired the Porkswords in order in the bottom of the second.
Loss Mitigation added several insurance runs in the top of the third. Norris led off the inning with a triple, and Bob drove him in with an RBI double that made the score 3-0. Mike then doubled, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Dustin got Nate to ground out to left for the first out of the inning, but Bob scored on the play, extending the Loss Mitigation lead to 4-0. Mike moved to third on the play, but Dustin stranded him, retiring Norris for the second out of the inning.
Nate continued to roll in the bottom of the third, and Loss Mitigation led by four runs through three innings.
Mike kept punishing the Porkswords in the top of the fourth, hitting another one-out solo homer, making the score 5-0.
Down five, the Porkswords cut into the Loss Mitigation lead in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Josh hit a solo homer, putting the Porkswords on the board at 5-1. Dustin followed with a homer, making the score 5-2. When Miller also homered, the Porkswords’ back-to-back-to-back homers had cut the deficit to 5-3. Nate finally recorded the second out of the inning, and the game was postponed due to darkness with the score 5-3.
The game was resumed in week 2, with Loss Mitigation returning the same lineup, and the Porkswords inserting Steve and John into their lineup, each making their 2018 EWL debuts. Norris led off the top of the fifth with a single, but Dustin stranded him, and the score remained 5-3.
Josh went 4-for-5 for the Porkswords, with two singles, a double, a homer, and three runs scored.
Josh started the bottom of the fifth with a double, and he moved to third on Dustin’s sacrifice fly. Miller followed with an RBI single, cutting the score to 5-4. Norris then retired Steve to end the inning with the Porkswords trailing by a run.
Loss Mitigation would add a few more insurance runs for Nate in the final frame. Nate led off with a solo homer, making the score 6-4. Two batters later, Bob doubled, and Mike followed with his third homer in the contest, a two-run bomb to left that extended the Loss Mitigation lead to 8-4. Dustin retired Nate to end the inning, and the Porkswords trailed by four runs heading into their final at-bat.
Nate delivers a pitch to Dustin, who connected on an RBI single to score John (on third) during the Porkswords’ amazing sixth inning winning rally.
John, making his first career EWL appearance, doubled in his first at-bat, and he moved to third when Josh followed with a single. With no outs and two runners in scoring position, Dustin singled, scoring John and cutting the score to 8-5. Miller came to the plate as the tying run, and he hit an RBI double to score Josh, making the score 8-6. Steve then came to bat as the tying run, with runners on the corners. He grounded out to deep right-center for the first out of the inning, but both runners were able to score on the play. The two-RBI groundout tied the game at 8-8, and the Porkswords had drawn even with Loss Mitigation. Norris remained on the mound, and John came to the plate for his second career at-bat. He looked calm and collected, and he raked a solo homer to deep left-center, ending the game. The walk-off homer was the first ever by an EWL rookie, particularly a rookie in their first career game. The Porkswords had rallied from four runs down to score five in the bottom of the sixth, beating Loss Mitigation in an epic week one (and carry over to week two) game.
The win moved the Porkswords to 1-1 on the season, and the loss dropped Loss Mitigation to 0-2.
W: Dustin (1-0)
L: Nate (0-1)
Box Score
Game Notes:
– Josh led the Porkswords on offense, going 4-for-5 with two singles, a double, a home run, three runs scored, and an RBI.
– Dustin also went 4-for-5 for the Porkswords with a single, a double, a solo homer, two runs scored, and two RBI.
– Mike carried Loss Mitigation on offense, going 4-for-6 with a double, three home runs, three runs scored, and four RBI.
– Dustin earned the win for the Porkswords, giving up eight runs on eleven hits in six innings, and striking out two.
– Nate took the loss for Loss Mitigation, allowing nine runs on twelve hits in 5.5 innings.
Tags: 2018, Loss Mitigation, May, Opening Day, Porkswords, Week 1
