Baseball Review // South Windsor Phillies vs. Record Journal Expos @ Legion Field (Meriden) 7/26/19

Official Box Score here :::

https://hartfordtwilight.sportngin.com/game/show/25513896?subseason=564508&referrer=4591727

More Photos can be found in a Facebook album here :::

https://www.facebook.com/pg/raisedbycassettes/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2960891103952444


I've never been to Legion FIeld in Meriden before so not only was this my first time seeing baseball here, it was my first time seeing the South Windsor Phillies because for some reason they played in the final games at both Hardball For Heroes and the MS4MS events.   From what I understood, a few weeks back, the Phillies were a good team.   I even feel like at one point they were in top three or four teams in the GHTBL.  I'm not sure what happened to them though, as they now have a losing record.    Perhaps it is because players like Brody Labbe (who leads the league with a .556 batting average) was not at this game, so maybe he hasn't been playing, but then there is also Shane Bogli who leads the league in innings (49) and I believe pitched on Sunday at the MS4MS game but yet isn't a part of the Phillies roster anymore.

You can never underestimate any team on any given day though and a lot of the Phillies players were quite tall.   This was a pitcher's duel for a while, as Jack Rich struck out two in a row to get out of the 2nd with runners on first and second.   The Phillies would score in the third inning though as a throw to third on an attempted steal went over the head of Jason Sullivan.   Somehow, the Expos also got out of the 3rd inning with two strikeouts and runners on 2nd and 3rd.   It seemed like whenever runners were in scoring position or Jack RIch got into a bit of trouble, he'd strike out the next batter (or two) to get out of the inning.

With a 1-0 game anything felt possible but when the Expos made contact with the bat they'd often hit these long shots (usually near center field) which would be caught.   There were only a few of those hits which dropped down and could get a single or double, which it feels like the Expos are best at putting together to form runs.  In the fifth, the Phillies managed to put together three runs and that would be something which the Expos just couldn't come back from (again)

Yes, going into the fifth inning down 4-0 brought up flashbacks of Tuesday's game.   The Expos wouldn't score until the bottom of the seventh when they managed to get three runs and everyone began thinking walkoff, like Wednesday night, but it was not to be.   The Expos took their second loss of the season and I thought going into this game that the Phillies would be a tough team- because as I said, a month or so ago I thought that they were a solid team- but then when I saw their record and how they seemingly switched places with the Jets I thought "Their good players are gone, this won't be a tough one"

The Expos did have Tanner Raymond for this game, as he came in to strike out the side in the 7th, which is definitely something that any team can benefit from having.   The Phillies kept Jack Moileur in for the complete game (I question whether they had anyone else there who could pitch though, outside of moving someone already in the game because their dugout was pretty empty) and he did a great job as well.   On a field full of random piles of wood behind home plate and giant buildings and such in the outfield, this was a nice night for baseball even though the Expos lost.