In the fast-paced world that is the Backyard Baseball universe, the reviews were in after my coaching debut. I had many viewers chirping at my inability to generate offense without the benefit of the screaming line drive. The euphoric feeling of my first victory as manager fell by the wayside as we geared up for game 2. Before we get into the contest, check out how I fared in Game 1 here.

Game Summary

Angela Delvecchio (1-0) toed the rubber again, in a matchup against opposing pitcher Julie Dunker.

The Twins shot out to an early 3-0 lead off of a Veronica Lee HR in the first inning. For those keeping track at home, every run allowed by Angela has come in the first inning. Pablo Sanchez cut into the deficit just a little bit with a solo shot of his own in the bottom half of the first.

The game remained scoreless until yet another screaming line drive power-up in the bottom of the fourth got the offense rolling. Angela Delvecchio gave herself some insurance runs following a hard hit 2 run double. Jason Giambi followed her up with a screaming line drive that barely cleared the short porch left field.

Angela was a little low on juice and instead of finding her replacement, I decided to keep her on the mound. After giving up 2 hits, a costly error from Marky Dubois caused one run to come in. Add in another base hit and yet another error, this time from Pablo Sanchez. Two runs come in to score pushing the Twins into the lead.

After two scoreless half innings, the Wombats were trailing 6-5 with one more shot to get a run on the board. The 7-8-9 hitters were up and following two quick outs, Marky Dubois singled and gave the team some life. His speed was key and he took second and third and Dunker took Stephanie Morgan to an 0-2 count. Morgan held off on a pitch that narrowly skimmed the corner for the third and final out.

The feedback on Twitter was merciless. I got some flak for leaving Angela in the game, but it was nothing compared to what Stephanie received. The buck stops with me and I want to do the best I can to make sure she is not put in that situation. In only a 10 game season, every win matters. Which means we cannot dwell on this moment and gotta get focused for the next contest. In the Backyard Baseball world, having a short memory is key to the success of any team.

Game Notes + Stats

• Despite the loss, Angela tossed 7 k’s
• Marky Dubois had a career-high 3 SB’s in this game also went 3-3
• Angela has allowed more runs in the first inning (7) than the rest combined (3)
• One of seven teams in the league to not have a triple in the BBL
• Only one run scored this game outside of the screaming line drive power-up