Best Batting Avg: Mike - 1.000 (13 for 13) and Troy - 1.000 (4 for 4)
Best Slugging Pct: Mike - 2.231
Most Home Runs: Mike - 4
Most Doubles: Mike - 4
Most Triples: Ben - 2
Most RBIs: Mike - 12
Most Runs Scored: Ball, Matt Mays, Mike - 9
Most Walks: Taki - 3

The Mutts battled hard but came up one game short in the tournament on Saturday, unable to beat Baybrook Baptist in 2 separate games.

The first game vs. Baybrook saw them steadily racking up runs while the Mutts were struggling at the plate. Then in their last at-bat of the game, The Mutts broke out and scored 11 runs to tie the game and send it to extra innings. The extra innings are played as follows - inning starts with a runner on 2nd. Batters come to the plate with a full count and the pitcher only gets one pitch.  Baybrook scored 6 in their half and The Mutts could only muster 3 to end up losing 22-19 and drop into the loser's bracket.

Game 2 vs. League City was a little more balanced for The Mutts in terms of scoring.  The Mutts came out firing with 6 runs in the first, followed by 6 more in the second.  They added 4 more in the 3rd before having a 1-2-3 4th inning in their final at-bat.  The defense was able to hold as The Mutts advanced with a score of 16-10.

Game 3 was a nail biter against Clear Lake.  The game was tight throughout.  Going into the 5th inning, The Mutts held a 12-7 lead. However, Clear Lake stormed back in their last at-bat to take a 14-12 lead going into The Mutts final chance. Taki leads the inning off with a single and Warren followed up with a single of his own.  Mason comes in to run for Warren.  Heath hit a sacrifice fly that advanced Taki to 3rd and Mason took second on the throw to 3rd.  Next up, Matt Ball drives a double that scores both Taki and Mason (running for Warren) to tie the game at 14.  JP stays hot and hit a single advancing Ball to 3rd. JP is able to take second when the throw came in to 3rd base.  With one out and men on 2nd and 3rd, Ben ripped a laser beam line drive double to score both Ball and JP and end the game 16-14!

This brought The Mutts back up to play Baybrook for the championship.  Since it was a double elimination tournament, The Mutts would need to beat Baybrook twice in order to take the trophy because Baybrook had not lost a game yet.  The Mutts continued their more consistent run scoring, but Baybrook had the hot hand and coupled with some defensive gaffes by The Mutts, they were able to score 11 runs in the second and jump out to a big lead. As if to punctuate it, Baybrook scored another 7 runs in the 4th to go ahead 20-10 and pulled of the victory by a score of 20-14.

As usual, the past 3 seasons were a ton of fun.  Thanks to everyone who played, special thanks to those who came out to watch the games and support us.  Also thanks to Danny and Rico for putting the league together for us every year.  See you next Spring!

The Mutts clinched the League Championship by trouncing Baybrook 23-14 in their second game of the night. It was a great win because in the first game of the night The Mutts got trounced themselves 22-7!

The Mutts came into the night needing to win a game to clinch. If they lost both, then they would need Clear Lake to lose in the final game of the season. The Baybrook game was a roller coaster ride. The Mutts jumped out to an early lead and played some great defense to hold a 9-3 lead going into the bottom of the 5th. However, in the home 5th, Baybrook scored 8 runs to take an 11-9 lead with The Mutts getting the last out with only 3 minutes left on the clock, giving them another chance on offense. They took advantage in a big way, scoring 14 runs in their half of the inning with everybody in the lineup getting to bat twice! Baybrook could only muster another 3 runs in their last at bat giving the Mutts the victory and the League Championship with a 9-3 record!

Stats Highlights for Week 7
Best Batting Avg: Greg and Mike - .833
Best Slugging Pct: Greg - 1.500
Home Runs: Mike, Ball, Ben, Matt Mays, JP
Most RBIs: Ball - 8
Most Runs Scored: Matt Mays - 6
Most Walks: Bruce - 2

Huge thanks to Bruce for coming out and playing a mean 2nd base for us tonight with several of our players unable to make it. Bruce made a great improv play to get an out against Baybrook when Greg found himself out of position at first.  Great job Bruce!

Also, many thanks to Cassidy from League City Church of Christ for playing right field for us in the Baybrook game and sacrificing his face on a diving attempt for an out. Tournament is Saturday 10/8, The Mutts will start the day at 9:50 AM vs. Baybrook Baptist. First game of the tourney will be at 9:00 AM pitting Clear Lake Baptist vs. League City Church of Christ.

Best Batting Avg: Matt Mays, Mason, Greg, Taki - 1.000
Best Slugging Pct: Matt Mays - 2.000
Most RBIs: Mason - 3
The Only Triple: Heath
Most Walks: Matt Mays, Taki - 2

Interesting Notes:
Each player had 3 plate appearances
We tied an FBCF record for most walks in a game with 8
The other 2 games with 8 walks:

10/27/2008 - Goodfellas vs. St. Mary's

7/30/2007 - Goodfellas vs. Gloria Dei

This is the second game FBCF has had vs. League City where the run count was  in dispute. In the other game, LC was keeping a "real" book vs. our simple stat tracker and the ump went with LC's run total from their book.

Last night was frustrating. The Mutts started off slow but then put up some runs in the last couple of innings.  How many runs?  Depends on who you ask.  The ump had us down for 12.  We actually had 13.  Usually they go with the team that is keeping stats and trust our numbers, but since we waited until after the inning was over instead of protesting it right after our at-bat, they did not give us the extra run.  That is on me....I should have protested as soon as it came up and I didn't.  So in the league, we are listed as 7-2-1, when in actuality we are 8-2 and should have clinched the league title.  As for this stats page, it reflects the truth.  As it is now, we either need to win one more game, or see Clear Lake lose next week.  Gotta take care of business!

Best Batting Avg: Heath - .800
Best Slugging Pct: Josh - 1.833
Most Home Runs: Josh - 2
Most RBIs: Josh - 6
Most Walks: Taki - 2
Most Outfielders Almost Beheaded: Josh - 1
MVP: Josh

The Mutts went against the odds in lots of ways Monday Night.  They lost a game even though they scored 10 runs.  Then they turned around and won a game where they only scored 8 runs!  The win was propelled by some excellent defense including 2 pop-up outs made by Warren at catcher - nice job Warren!

The Mutts were firing on all cylinders last night as they put together some good hitting with some excellent defense to win 2 games in 6.5 innings.

The first two innings against Baybrook were all about the two-out rally. Both innings started off with an out, then a double and then another out before everyone else picked up the slack and started getting base hits. After 3 innings it was 14-0, one run short of the run-rule. Since Baybrook was the home team, they were allowed to flop on the last inning and bat first. If we held them to 2 runs or less then we would win on the 12 runs after 4 innings rule. That is exactly how it played out. They scored 2 runs and the game was over 14-2.

Against Clear Lake it was just a steady stream of hits and then a few really good defensive plays. Even when we made mistakes, we had good recovery. For example, Matt Mays lost a ball in the lights in right center, but still had the presence of mind to pick it up and throw out the runner at 2nd base. In Clear Lake's 3rd inning, A base hit to left was looking like it was going to score a runner from 2nd base. However, Matt Ball fielded it cleanly and threw it in to Mike who gunned a laser beam in both precision and speed. Warren made the catch and the tag at home for the 3rd out. In The Mutt's home team 3rd inning, they put up enough runs to finish off the game at 19-4.

STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Best Batting Avg: Taki, Sumrall - 1.000
Best Slugging Pct: Ben Fultz - 1.750
Most RBIs: Mike Beck - 6
Most Walks: Taki - 2
Most Doubles: Greg - 3

Best Batting Avg: Matt Mays - 1.000
Best Slugging Pct: Ben Fultz - 1.800
Most RBIs: Matt Mays - 4
Most Doubles: Matt Mays - 3
Most Walks: Matt Ball, Troy Barnes, Leighton Poley - 2
Most Sacrifices: Josh Pavelka - 2

The Mutts were not firing on all cylinders tonight, but they had enough offense to squeak by both of their opponents.

In the first game, they were down 12-9 going into their final at-bat as the home team. Perry led off with a single, followed by a single from Ben. Troy was able to draw a walk to load the bases. Leighton then hit a fly ball that looked like it was going to be caught, but the two outfielders each ended up backing off and the ball dropped, scoring Perry and Ben. With Troy on 3rd and Leighton on 2nd, Taki ripped a shot in the hole between 1st and 2nd. The second baseman dove and made the grab, but in his haste to try and throw out the speedy Taki, he threw the ball into the dugout. Troy had already crossed the plate to tie the game and Leighton was awarded home on the dead ball for the winning run!

In game 2, The Mutts went up 10-9 in the bottom of the 4th inning. They were able to hold Clear Lake to 0 runs and time expired giving them their second tight victory of the evening.

Best Batting Avg: Matt Ball, Matt Mays - .800
Best Slugging Pct: Jonathan Sumrall - 1.666
Most Home Runs: Jonathan Sumrall - 2
Most Doubles: Matt Mays - 3
Most RBIs: Josh Pavelka, Mike Beck, Jonathan Sumrall - 4

TOP BATTING AVGS:
Mike Beck - 1.000
Matt Mays - .916
Nathan Lilley - .909

TOP SLUGGING PCT:
Nathan Lilley - 2.363
Aaron Cummings - 2.000
Matt Ball - 1.888

MOST HOME RUNS:
Nathan Lilley, Matt Ball - 4
Aaron Cummings - 3
Jonathan Sumrall, Mason Mays - 2

MOST DOUBLES:
Matt Mays, Nathan Lilley - 4
Kevin Davis - 3

MOST RBIs:
Nathan Lilley - 13
Matt Mays - 11
Aaron Cummings - 8

MOST WALKS:
Ben Forester - 3

The Fall Season kicked off tonight with The Mutts winning one and losing one. Statistics will be updated soon along with a highlights post.

The Fellowship of the Swing came out with guns blazing on Saturday and burned through the tournament bracket without losing a game. Congratulation to FOTS for their second tourney championship in a row!

Best Batting Avg: Josh, Matt M, Mike - 1.000
Best Slugging Pct: Matt M - 1.857
Most Home Runs: Greg, Matt B, Matt M, Cam - 2
Most Doubles: Bryant - 4
Most RBIs: Cam - 10

Best Batting Avg: Jonathan, Troy - 1.000
Best Slugging Pct: Jonathan - 2.333
Most Home Runs: Matt M, Josh - 2
Most Triples: Mike - 2
Most Doubles: Nathan - 3
Most RBIs: Josh - 8

The Posse and the Goodfellas were both in action last night with a couple of games each. In the Posse's first game against the visiting LCCC #1, after a slow couple of shutout innings from both sides, the Posse offense finally woke up and put up enough runs and allowed only 1 run to grab the win.

Game 2 proved to be a bit more challenging against the home Clear Lake Baptist. Clear Lake held the lead the entire game until the Posse's explosive last at bat, going 8 runs up while defensively shutting down the home last inning 3 up 3 down.

Thanks to help from a couple of FOTS players who were on BYE and the return of Ben and Bob, the Posse enjoyed an end to their 5 game skid.

Meanwhile over at the Baybrook field, the Goodfellas had an unprecedented night. In the double header against Baybrook, the Goodfellas outscored their opponent 41-6 over 2 games, including a 17-0 shutout in the first meeting. The stellar performance was highlighted by consistent hitting throughout the entire batting order as well as some pretty good defense including 2 double plays turned via Mike, Nate, and Troy going 6-4-3.

Best Batting Avg: Aaron - 1.000
Best Slugging Pct: Matt - 1.833
Most Home Runs: Matt, Jeremy, Carlos - 2
Most RBIs: Greg - 6

Best Batting Avg: Nathan, Brian, Carlos, Bryant - 1.000
Best Batting Avg for 2 Games: Dwayne, Cole - .857
Best Slugging Pct: Nathan - 4.000
Most Home Runs: Nathan - 3 for 3
Most RBIs: Cole - 10
Most Runs Scored: Scott, Dwayne - 4
The Only Triple: Brian
Most Doubles: Dwayne, Cole - 2

Best Batting Avg: Nathan - 1.000
Best Slugging Pct: Dwayne - 2.333
Most Home Runs: Dwayne, Dillon, Cole - 2
Most RBIs: Nathan - 9
Most Runs Scored: Nathan - 7
Most Doubles: Jeremy, Brian, Bryant - 2
Most Walks: Shane, Heath - 4

Best Batting Avg: Josh, Dees, Raul - 1.000
Best Slugging Pct: Raul, Nathan, Greg - 2.000
Most Home Runs: Raul, Nathan, Greg - 2
Most RBIs: Jonathan, Nathan - 8
Most Runs Scored: Raul - 7
The Only Triple: Ben

Best Batting Avg (2 games min): Josh - .923
Best Slugging Pct (2 games min): Nathan - 1.647
Most Home Runs: Greg - 3
Most RBIs: Raul, Greg - 12
Most Runs Scored: Josh - 10
Most Triples: Nathan - 5
Most Doubles: Dwayne - 5
Most Walks: Raul - 4
Most Unknown Phone Numbers: Shane - 1

After an up and down season for the FOTS the Spring Season Tournament held true to that theme. After playing their way into the #1 tournament seed they started off on the wrong foot getting trounced by the hot-hitting Goodfellas team, losing 15-3 in their first game. After 2 games off to think about it and lick their wounds they ratcheted up the defense and came back strong outscoring the opposition 45-20 in three straight games eliminating 2 teams from the tourney and handing Baybrook Baptist their first loss of the day. The "if" game finale against Baybrook Baptist was filled with drama and close calls as Baybrook jumped out to an early 11-2 lead, but in the end the FOTS outlasted the host church and scored the go-ahead run in the last at-bat to take the championship game 15-14. Big thanks goes out to Dwayne, Perry, and Matt for coming out to play with the FOTS! Congratulations boys!

The Goodfellas started off hot with a looooong 25-23 victory over Clear Lake Baptist. They kept the bats going and turned in some solid defense in their next game vs. FOTS as noted above. After that, they were scoring runs but the defense just made a few too many errors and gave away too many runs. They lost their next game against Baybrook 11-9 and then were eliminated by FOTS 12-11 to end up third place in the tourney.

Some FOTS highlights included a couple of fantastic plays by Carlos at shortstop. In one play he came shooting across the infield as a rocket shot ricocheted off the pitcher's glove. Carlos fielded the ball from practically deep 2nd base and made the throw at 1st for the out. he also made an awesome leaping grab in one of the chamionship games. Ben made a super sweet scoop at first to save an out early in the tourney.

Goodfellas highlights include:
Scoring 25 runs in one game
Taki with an inside the park 3 run home run
John Ellisor with a clutch RBI double in their elimination game (Ellisor also had a triple earlier in the tourney....all on a bad hip!)
Noel had a 3 RBI double in the elimination game
JP made an amazing catch in the outfield with full extension on a dead run toward the fence
Taki made a great running catch soming in from right field in the elimination game
Mike and Greg both had leaping catches in the infield (yes....Greg did get off the ground, barely)
"Does anyone have Shane's new phone number?"

Best Batting Avg: Josh, Matt, Raul - 1.000
Most Home Runs: Nathan, Greg, Raul - 2
Most RBIs: Jonathan, Nathan - 8
Most Runs Scored: Raul - 7
Best Slugging Pct: Nathan, Greg, Raul - 2.000

The Summer 2011 season kicked off last night with several good games! The Goodfellas got the season rolling with a nice little come from behind win against Clear Lake Baptist. FOTS followed it up with a come from behind win of their own against the Goodfellas! After that, FOTS capped the night with a 21-12 thumping of LCCC.

Tourney for the Spring season begins this Saturday at 9:00 AM at Baybrook Baptist Church. Come out and join us for a fun day!

Best Batting Avg: Greg - 1.000
Home Runs: Mason and Brian
Most RBIs: David - 5 (including walk-off game winner vs. Baybrook)
Most Runs Scored: Nathan - 5
Most Doubles: Dwayne - 2
Most Triples: Greg - 2

I have posted the potential scheduled start times for each team in the tournament on Saturday June 25. I say potential because there is a chance LCCC may not be able to field a team so I don't know if Danny will move some of the games up if that is the case.

We will email official game times as soon as we know what they are.

All 3 FBCF teams were in action last night and it turned out to be a good set of games!

Goodfellas got stomped by FOTS in the first game. But the second game was a doozy between Goodfellas and Posse. In the end the Posse came out on top 11-9.

After that, FOTS made a great comeback to win against Baybrook Baptist on a walk off single up the middle by Doc Thibodeaux. The night kinda fizzled though when LCCC could only get 4 players to show up, so Posse ended their season with a forfeit.

Best Batting Avg: Brian - .875
Most RBIs: Carlos - 11
Most Triples: Greg - 3
Home Runs: Raul, Heath, Taki, Zach

Monday night belonged to FOTS as they finally finished off two games in a row for a double victory. Not only that, both were run-rule games: 12-0 vs LCCC and 26-8 vs. CLB. Nice job!

Goodfellas could not find their bats vs. Baybrook but were able to score enough and play some good defense to take one from CLB for the split.