Opening Day owned by Rogers yet again
April 9,
2005 | By Justin Hastings
Once again, Fred Rogers owns Opening Day.
Rogers was the only player of the six to participate in the 2006 kickoff to win both games. Additionally, he won both of those games from the hill.
"That was a great early statement for the Error Boy Award," said Justin Hastings.
Despite walking the first four batters of game 1, Rogers escaped a bases-loaded jam yielding only one run. Fred would finish off the game without allowing a hit.
After yielding the bases-loaded walk, Rogers would get all the runs he needed in the home half of the first. There, both Will Kenney and Justin Hastings took Craig Hastings for a 3-1 leade. Both players went the opposite way when taking Craig deep.
Kenney was no stranger to hitting home runs, as he blasted three long balls in the 2005 Playoffs. But Justin hadn't hit a round-tripper since May of last year.
"Anytime you can combine a home run with Opening Day, it's a good feeling," said Hastings.
Craig Hastings would yield an additional two runs in the third, where Kenney walked in a run, and Fred's fielder's choice did the same. Rogers calmly struck out Craig and induced Chris Palmquist into a groundout to lock up a 5-1 victory in the season's opening game.
Game two brought two of the league's pitching giants (the aforementioned Fred Rogers and 2005 HMWL Champion Justin Hastings) to the hill in yet another one-run duel between the two.
The game, scheduled for three innings, was scoreless until Justin busted out the long ball for the second time on the day. His solo homer to left field seemingly locked up the game.
However, Fred Rogers's double and TJ Collins RBI-single forced the game into another frame.
Two innings later,
the home team strung together a walk, a double, and Fred Rogers's walk-off single to win the game 2-1 in six innings.
Just like in 2005, Rogers ended the day on top of the HMWL world, boasting two victories from the bump and a walk-off hit.
After another solid Opening Day, the 2005 MVP Fred Rogers hopes to ride his successes all the way to another championship appearance.
|
 |
| Game
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
R |
H |
| » Craig/Chris/TJ |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| » Justin/Will/Fred |
3 |
0 |
2 |
- |
5 |
8 |
W:
Fred (1-0) L: Craig (0-1)
HR: Will (1), Justin (1) |
| Scoring
Summary |
Top
1st: Craig walks in a run
Visiting team leads, 1-0 |
Bot 1st: Will hits solo homer, Justin hits 2-run homer
Home team leads, 3-1 |
Bot
3rd: Will walks in a run, Fred's fielder's choice earns a run
Home team leads, 5-1 |
| Stats |
Batting |
Pitching |
| Player |
AB |
H |
BI |
R |
K |
R |
H |
K |
BB |
IP |
| Craig |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
8 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
| Chris |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| TJ |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Justin |
6 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Will |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Fred |
5 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
6 |
4 |
| Game
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
R |
H |
| » JRH/Chr/Will |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
| » Craig/TJ/Fred |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
W:
Fred (2-0) L: Justin (0-1)
HR: Justin (2)
|
| Scoring
Summary |
Top
4th: Justin hits solo homer
Visiting team leads, 1-0 |
Bot
4th: TJ hits RBI-single
Game tied 1-1, goes to extras |
Bot
6th: Fred hits RBI-single
Home team wins, 2-1 |
| Stats |
Batting |
Pitching |
| Player |
AB |
H |
BI |
R |
K |
R |
H |
K |
BB |
IP |
| Justin |
6 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
8 |
1 |
5.5 |
| Will |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Chris |
6 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Craig |
5 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| TJ |
6 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Fred |
6 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
10 |
1 |
6 |
|
|
