Baseball Review // Record-Journal Expos Fall to Phillies on Tuesday, Beat Bankers on Thursday (GHTBL)

 

Expos - Phillies official box score :::

https://ghtbl.org/event/south-windsor-phillies-record-journal-expos

Expos - M&T Bank official box score :::

https://ghtbl.org/event/mt-bank-record-journal-expos-3

Additional photos can be found in albums over on Facebook at these links :::

https://www.facebook.com/media/set?set=a.1794558254607721&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set?set=a.1794574554606091&type=3

For the first time this season, the Record-Journal Expos faced off against the South Windsor Phillies and it was at home in Meriden, at Ceppa Field.  This game really had a lot of offense in the top of the first from the Philies.  Aedin Wadja singled on, then stole second base.  Back to back doubles by Steven Kozak and Zac Dalton put the Phillies up 2-0.  Another double by Spencer Azzara and it was 3-0.  My notes began to feel like they were glitching because it was just double after double.  

With runners on second and third, a ground out to first brought in the fourth run for the Phillies.  Another ground out and the fifth run came across the plate, though the top of the first inning did end with an attempted steal of second base.  But, the Phillies went up 5-0 early on and that would prove to be enough for them to win the game. 

The next few innings went by quickly, with a runner on here and there or even the three up three down formula.  Charlie Hesseltine would leave the game after the fifth inning, with the Phillies up 5-0, and then Dmitri O'Donnell would immediately give up a huge triple to deep right/center by Steven Kozak.  Kozak would score on a wild pitch, putting the Phillies up 6-0 after six innings.  O'Donnell would get out of the inning by striking out two batters and one ground out.

With bases loaded for the Expos in the bottom of the sixth inning, Griffin Papallo drew a walk to make the game 6-1.  A sacrifice ground out to first base would make it 6-2 but that was all of the offense the Expos could muster to score.  In the top of the seventh with bases loaded and two outs, Steven Kozak would drive in three more runs with a triple.  Kozak was clearly a star of the game for the Phillies, with new faces on the team perhaps making them the sleeper team of this season.

Worth noting: On Tuesday we were in the midst of a heat wave where the temperature was predicted to be in the 90s but I'd see it hit over 100 while out during the day.  This heat really felt unbearable just being in the stands on Tuesday night, so I cannot imagine what the players were going through.  Alternatively, on Thursday it had cooled down nearly 30 degrees and as the game began with some light rain I had to go into a sweater to stay warm (and go for a walk because doing that also makes me warm up)

Before any runs were scored in this game, it's worth noting that Expos' Jack Dunaisky was on first base, attempting to steal second base, and then apparently Jon Remillard (who was at bat) was in the way of the catcher so he couldn't make a proper throw.  This had the umpires rule that the batter- Remillard- was out and Dunaisky went back to first base.  This was a weird call and something I've never seen before so I don't know what the rules are and most everyone else didn't seem to either.

Jack Dunaisky would eventually steal second in the bottom of the second inning and then AJ Hendrickson would hit a two run homerun deep over the left field fence.  The Expos went up 2-0 early on and all of the offense they seemed to be missing on Tuesday, seemed to find its way there on Thursday.  

"Superstar" Luke DiMauro would single in Javon Malone in the third inning and Luis Delgado would bring home Tyler Casey in the bottom of the fifth with a single up the left side to make it a 4-0 game.  In the top of the sixth inning, Max Giacco would walk in the first and only M&T Bank run, making it a 4-1 game, and that was as far as Giacco would let the leash stretch as he held it together for the rest of the game, shutting down the Bankers offensively.

In the bottom of the sixth with bases loaded, AJ Hendrickson would fly out to right field to bring in the fifth run of the game.   A base hit by Tyler Casey would bring in the sixth and final Expos run of the game.  M&T Bank was shut down rather quickly in the top of the seventh, and the Expos won with a final score of 6-1.

The Record-Journal Expos return to Ceppa Field tonight at 6:30pm to welcome the Vernon Orioles.  The second place Orioles defeated the first place Middletown Mets last night at Frank J McCoy Field in Vernon, so this will be a tough game for the Expos.  This will also be the twelfth and final game of the first half of the GHTBL season for the Expos, with a win putting them at an even .500 going into the second half.