Jays Survive Scare, Win Game One

Baseball really is a
fickle thing. For all the flak umpires took online over the past week
and the stream of humorous or serious playoff prognostication, the game
still has to be played between the lines. The first contest between the
Bardo Athletics and the Holden Blue Jays veered off the projected
course, as a sloppy first foreshadowed a barnburner before two aces
righted the ship and turned in a quick evening. Upon completion, the
5-3 Jays win fulfilled nail-biting predictions with the caveat of a wild
opening inning. 

An important pregame ceremony kicked
the night off, as the Jays honored Pat Kawaliuk with a plaque at the
diamond and a speech from manager Art Micklich. Heartfelt and true to
Pat’s memory, Art asked both teams and fans alike to value their time at
the ballpark and take nothing, not a bad at-bat or a great July
evening, for granted. The team still remembers everything Pat did for
the club, and wouldn’t be in their current position without his
guidance. 

Grayson Soprovich, normally solid, took the
hill for Jays and was immediately met with an Athletics onslaught of
timely hitting, patience and Holden errors. Giving up three runs – none
earned – Soprovich appeared rattled. Despite booted balls, a missed
pop-up, and the second delayed steal in two games for the Bardo’s Ryan
Olsen, the Jays shockingly responded with their own big opening frame.
Olsen himself faced a slough of Bardo errors around the diamond, as four
unearned runs would come around to score on a single Holden hit.
Tempers flared early as Bardo third baseman Ken Braget and Soprovich
exchanged pleasantries over an interesting interpretation of the
hit-by-pitch rule. The combined seven runs of the first frame provided
the majority of the evening’s offense, as both pitchers quickly settled.

Moving forward Soprovich only allowed three more
baserunners in the following six innings and cruised to another complete
game win. Aided by a clutch double play and a massive outfield assist
from CF Randall Ziegler, Soprovich avoided any substantial trouble after
the first inning. While Olsen ceded one more run in the second, he too
would go the distance while only allowing three hits in the entire
contest – two to catcher Dylan Boyko and one to second baseman Logan
Skori. While the Jays made the most of walks and errors in tonight’s
contest, the offense necessarily needs a little more punch coming into
the Thursday night tilt. A betting man would assume Skori starts on
Thursday, although a side-session with a certain lefty after the game
provides at least an exciting decoy from the Holden bullpen. 

After
the game, the playoff predictor struck (kind of) true again, as some
Jays were tossed from the Holden bar for a lack of ID. Hopefully the
Jays can contradict the pundits in one sense, and close the series out
in two games on Thursday in Bardo.

—- Dylan Boyko