Fall Ball Photo Gallery Previous Image Next Image    Craig throws no-hitter; Palmquist homers November 22, 2005 | By Justin Hastings For the first time in almost two-and-a-half years, Chris Palmquist has hit the long ball. And that wasn’t the only first for the day. Fall Ball again returned to Hastings Park on Saturday, with six players making an appearance. Game one pitted the veterans of Rich McMackin & Justin Hastings versus Craig Hastings & Fred Rogers. Craig started off the festivities with a bang as he took a Justin Hastings offering for a quick 1-0 lead. Despite putting runners on second and third later in the inning, as well as in the second inning, that would be the only run the young guys would score. Justin struck out five through three innings. Fred Rogers pitched for the opposition, getting out of his own second-and-third jam in the home half of the first. However, Rogers let up five consecutive base runners (a walk and four singles) in the second, giving the lead to Justin & Rich at 2-1. The verterans would tack on an insurance run in the third, as McMackin singled home J.Hastings hit a lead-off triple. The veterans went on to win, 3-1. Game two began as a 3-on-3 contest with Craig, Chris, and Will hosting Fred, Rich, and Justin. McMackin started the game from the hill, but only lasted one batter after hurling a walk. From there, Justin calmly struck out Chris and Will to end the inning. That loud sound you heard sometime Saturday afternoon was the booming shot that Chris Palmquist (that’s right, Chris Palmquist) hit off Justin in the second inning. Justin, hoping to continue the trend of hanging sliders to Palmquist, tried to get another off-speed pitch by Chris. But to no avail. Palmquist smacked the pitch into right field giving his team a 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, Craig Hastings (who’s last win from the hill was Fall Ball 2004) had bombed through the first two innings in record time, striking out three batters. Craig then walked Rich in the top of the third. After that, he struck out two more players to complete a no-hitter, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished in the HMWL in over five years (when Craig threw a perfect game on June 18, 2000). So how’s that for your Fall Ball Saturday? Palmquist hits a homer for the first time since May 10, 2003 and Craig throws a no-hitter. Indeed, a great Fall Ball it was.

This year's day of Fall Ball brought back the Thanksgiving weekend tradition that began in 2001. There, Rich McMackin led his team of himself, Laura Hastings, and Chris Palmquist to a 7-5, extra-inning victory over Matt Cassaro, and the Hastings brothers after a walk-off, two-run homer. The 2002 game was also won in dramatic fashion as Chris Palmquist & Justin Hastings beat the team of Fred Rogers & Craig Hastings 2-0 on another walk-off homer, this time by Justin Hastings. Highlights of the game include Dad snowblowing the field before the game. Two games were played in 2004, with the young threesome of TJ, Craig, and Fred beating Rich, Chris, and Justin twice. On the day, TJ was the star hitting three homers and driving in eight.

Game 1 1 2 3 R H » Rich/Justin 0 2 1 3 8 » Fred/Craig 1 0 0 1 6 W: Justin L: Fred HR: Craig 1 Scoring Summary Bot 1st: Craig hits leadoff homer Home team leads, 1-0 Top 2nd: Rich walks in a run, Justin hits RBI-single Visiting team leads, 2-1 Top 3rd: Rich hits RBI-single Visiting team leads, 3-1 Stats Batting Pitching Player AB H BI R K R H K BB IP Rich 7 4 2 1 3 - - - - - Justin 6 4 1 2 2 1 6 5 0 3 Fred 6 3 0 0 2 3 8 5 1 3 Craig 6 3 1 1 3 - - - - -

Game 2 1 2 3 R H » Fred/Rich/Justin 0 0 0 0 0 » Craig/Chris/Will 0 2 - 2 2 W: Craig L: Justin HR: Chris 1 Scoring Summary Bot 2nd: Chris hits 2-run homer Home team leads, 2-0 Stats Batting Pitching Player AB H BI R K R H K BB IP Fred 2 0 0 0 1 - - - - - Rich 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 Justin 2 0 0 0 2 2 2 3 0 2 Craig 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 5 1 3 Chris 2 1 2 1 1 - - - - - Will 2 0 0 0 2 - - - - -