It's that time of the year again everyone….…..It's the SLAM LEAGUE PLAYOFFS…..yes WE TALKIN PLAYOFFS Ladies and Gentleman!….
…..We are finally here after a long season in which Team TPG has had its fill of ups and downs. It has been a tumulus journey for the new TPG 3-headed management group, as this co-manager admits that we have had growing pains as a team. However... ultimately all our hard work and dedication has proven with some positive results. I can honestly say that the management group is very proud of the team to be where we are today. The team at the beginning of the year was made up of rookies that out numbered the veterans of the team and so team chemistry was a big concern. However at the end of the day Team TPG showed that no matter who puts on that uniform, Team TPG puts it all out on the field and win or lose…..We play as a team.
TPG headed into today's playoff game in a bit of a slump as the #6 Seed playing against arch rival and #3 Seed, Gensler. TPG had played Gensler in the regular season finale with results not favoring this side of the plate. Maybe it was nerves, maybe it was inexperience but Game 1 of the playoffs found the TPG team with the same results as the last match up in an 11-0 slaughter at the hands of the mighty Big Red Machine. This would mark 14 consecutive innings that TPG has not scored a run at the hands of Gensler's starting pitcher, Joe.
Now with our backs to the wall….Game 2 was win or go home for Team TPG. However this team still had some fight left in them and Team TPG regrouped and made some adjustments. The first inning was promising as lead off hitter, Norman "Still the best Aussie in the game" Ha (3-3, RBI, 2 runs) and rookie SS, Joe "The energizer bunny" Carretta (2-3, RBI, 1 run) began the game with back to back singles but much like the past two games found ourselves without a run scored and that followed with another zero in the second inning which meant 16 scoreless innings for this slumping line up.
That's when Chase "The Mack Truck" Hodge decided that enough was enough and in the bottom of the 3rd inning lead off with a rally beginning single….followed by Steve "I found the ballpark" Dargo with another single. So with two on and Norman "the best Aussie in the game" Ha up, drove in the 1st run in 17 innings for Team TPG which opened the flood gates of scoring for TPG as then Joe "the energizer bunny" Carretta followed suite with another RBI single. Ed "The skyscraper" Baust (2-3, 3 RBIs, 2B, 3B, 2 runs) then flexed some 6'-10' muscle by following with a 2 run triple to open up the game. FINALLY some life into the lineup in which TPG scored 5 runs.
TPG added 4 more runs in the bottom of the 5th lead by LF, Hernan "The marathon man" Graziano (2-3, 3RBI, 1 run) who showed some endurance after pitching an exhaustive 5 games in 3 day while giving birth to his second child then running into a burning building to save a cat, dog, 3 hamsters and the baby's crib.
Heading into the top of the 7th, TPG up 9-5 had some scare put into them as the big red machine rallied and showed that they weren't just going down so easily and scored 3 runs to make the deficit just one run. At the end of the game, team TPG prevails 9-8 and pushes the series to a 1-1 tie.
Solid pitching from Steve "the Greek Freak" Aspiotis, Great defense by Chase "where did we get this guy" Hodge and our super 2B, Allison "the real deal" Stadnyck.
Hats off to the team for showing resiliency, heart and for fighting back after some rough beginnings…..Game ball goes to everyone on Team TPG… Also special Thanks to TPG partner-in charge, Jim Doherty for showing up and always supporting the team....….See you all on thursday - Game 3!
