Dallas Orioles Game Recaps
Your place to read about each and every game.
Caddo Reds - 2
Dallas Orioles - 16 WP: Craig "Pecos" Jaquez (1-0) 3B: Preston "PCB" Cole, Josh "McEasy" McEachin Your Dallas Orioles were all over the base paths in their sound win against the Caddo Reds on Sunday afternoon. Lead by two hits a piece from Boston Coppedge, Nick Bird, Josh "McEasy" McEachin, and Preston "PCB" Cole, the O's offense came alive, scoring at will it seemed. The game started out with Craig "Pecos" Jaquez on the hill and he did not disappoint. Scattering three hits, Jaquez hit a nice groove to start off the game by just working on different placement for his fastballs. Yes, that's plural, not a typo. Throwing the four seamer on the corner and then busting in the two seamer on the hands, he had it working on both sides of the plate on Sunday. He only had one tight spot on Sunday, with runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs. He responded with a big strikeout to end the inning and dash any hopes of the Reds scoring on him on this day. Craig was followed by solid outings by Alex Faught and Jeff "Sweetbeard" Lunsford. Faught has been a mainstay to the rotation for the past few years, continuously pounding the strike zone to get ahead. Faught has averaged around 75% first pitch strikes in his O's career and he bested that mark on Sunday by throwing an incredible 87% first pitch strikes. Just remember kids, strike one is the most important pitch in baseball. Sweetbeard made his spring O's debut on the mound as well and had a nice and tidy 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout. Overall, the O's have given up six runs. All have been unearned. The pitching staff is once again the dominate force in the league. But enough of pitchers, let's get to the fun stuff... Hitting. We've had many names for the Orioles offense over the years. Hitters Union. '27 Yankees. Unfair. Take your pick. Today was one of the reasons why. After a few departures from last year's squad, the media had been questioning if the O's would still have the most explosive offense in the league. Frenchie, a long time mainstay in the O's lineup, had moved on to Vegas, followed by Tanner Stevenson, who will always be designated reverend. Last year's batting average champion Justin Soto had moved on to California. How would the offense cope? What the media seemed to forget is the O's don't rebuild, they reload. Returning players Kevin Simmons and Nick Bird have added some nice dimensions to the O's attack and the O's also brought on another bopper in the form of Lyndon "Pee Wee" Britt, who has slid in nicely in the middle of the order. All three were involved in the bottom of the 1st, which saw the O's take a 3-0 lead. After Carlos Colon reached on an error, Coppedge singled through the hole on the right side on a 3-2 hanging curveball. Pee Wee also reached on an error to load the bases for the moment. Nick Bird decided he'd like to wipe a couple of them clean, singling up the middle to score Colon and Coppedge. Sweetbeard followed up with a single of his own to push the score to 3-0. After scoring another one in the 2nd, the Reds managed to cut the lead down by half to 4-2. That's when the offense really got cooking. O's started to reach base left and right, scoring 4 times in each of the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings. I would go into each and every detail but honestly, it was a lot of baserunners, and I'm pretty tired. Pretty sure I'm hitting my word limit. Curious to see if anyone points this out at tomorrow's game. Preston Cole and Josh McEachin both laced triples to the right center gap for the only extra base hits of the game ironically. Even though those were the only ones for extra bases, the O's put on 21 baserunners on their own in the game, scoring 16 of them. They also left the loaded in the first, so it really could have gotten out of hand early. Overall, the O's are just happy to be back playing baseball and man, it feels good. The #getyourfix Player of the Game: Preston "PCB" Cole Presented by: Chop Shop Sports Garage PCole had himself a day with a couple of hits, a triple, 3 RBI's and a sweet snow cone catch out in left field. I'm guessing his arm workout from Saturday night will be catching on with the rest of the boys. Boobstick (near) Transfer: While he won't get it this time, he really did deserve it. While McEachin might have had a triple, he did have one terrible lapse of judgement as he just assumed he was out. Without consulting an umpire, McAssuming just talked to walk away from the bag and head to the dugout. Silly McEasy, always stay on the bag until they throw you off. If the pitcher had just played it cool, he would have had him out easily. You're saved this time, but next time, we won't be so generous. Next Game: Tuesday night vs Pirates, Carpenter Park #8, 7:00 PM Probable Starter: McEasy Orioles - 10 Braves - 4 WP: Josh "McEasy" McEachin (1-0) 2B: Aaron Slazer, Carlos Colon, Jeff "Sweetbeard" Lunsford 3B: Carlos Colon After a long winter break and an extended delay from weather and the City of Dallas, your Dallas Orioles were finally able to start their 2018 Spring season with a comfortable win on Tuesday night over the Braves 10-4. McEasy got the start on the bump and continued his dominance over his former team. Working on a new two seam fastball, McEasy cruised through three innings in efficient fashion (37 pitches), striking out five. He was followed by Cody Gladney who threw two no-hit innings, along with innings from Preston Cole and Timmy "The Cannon" Hanan. With all runs being unearned, the O's pitching staff is back to their dominating ways early. The offense also came to play and the scoring got started in the 2nd. After a one out walk from Gladney, Sweetbeard singles to left to have runners at 1st & 2nd. After a passed ball which moved up both runners, McEasy hit a sac fly to score Gladney and put the O's on the board 1-0. After a passed ball and steal from Colon, Preston Cole stepped in a delivered a single to left, scoring both runners. After PCole moved up from another passed ball, Jake "Jameson" Bellington lined a single through the left side, moving PCole to 3rd. One more passed ball in the inning scored PCole, giving the O's a 4-0 lead. The 3rd inning was more of the same. Aaron Slazer leads off with a double and scores on two wild pitches in a row to make the score 5-0. Coppedge walked, advancing to 2nd and 3rd on wild pitches. After a couple of strikeouts, Kevin Simmons and Gladney walked to load the bases. Jeff "Sweetbeard" Lunsford doubled to left, scoring Coppedge and Simmons easily. Gladney, unfortunately, was sent by an overly aggressive 3rd base coach (Carlos Colon) and was thrown out by a good 10 feet at the plate. While Jeff might have lost out on a 3rd RBI, he did push the lead to 7. The Orioles tacked on three more runs to reached double digit scoring and cruised home to a nice victory on opening night. The team ended up with 11 hits and looks to be in midseason form already. New additions Tristian Cummings, Lyndon "Pee Wee" Britt, and Kevin Simmons all contributed and have fit in nicely. The #getyourfix Player of the Game: Carlos Colon Sponsored by: Chop Shop Sports Garage While mentioned briefly above, Colon reached base three times, scoring three times, and threw in a double and triple for good measure. I'd call that a pretty good day. Boobstick Transfer: None, though we did get close. Tristian was picked off of 1st and that usually ends poorly for most Orioles. Tristian is new and doesn't know that he should have been out. After staying in a rundown long enough to score the runner from 3rd, he managed to draw an interference call to stay in the game and avoid the dreaded Boobstick. She currently resides with last year's title holder, Timmy Hanan. Next game: Sunday, Home vs Reds, Jesuit HS, 4:30 PM Probable Starter: Craig Jaquez We've hit the turn and are headed for home in the spring season which means it's time for updated stats. Below are the top 3 (and ties) in the major categories.
Hitting Batting Average Justin Soto - .477 Aaron Slazer - .435 Boston Coppedge - .378 Team Average: .296 *Note: Alex Faught doesn't have enough PA to qualify for leaderboard. He is batting a perfect 1.000. RBI's Justin Soto - 14 Boston Coppedge - 13 Josh McEachin - 10 Hits Justin Soto - 21 Boston Coppedge - 17 Cody Gladney - 13 Hits/Game: 9.1 Runs Justin Soto - 13 Boston Coppedge - 11 Luc de la Soujeole - 10 Carlos Colon - 10 JP Weber - 10 Runs/Game: 9.1 Walks (includes HBP) Cody Gladney - 8 Jeff Lunsford - 7 Boston Coppedge - 7 BB/Game: 4.9 On Base Percentage (OBP) Aaron Slazer - .552 Justin Soto - .521 Boston Coppedge - .462 *Note: Rolando Villa and Alex Faught don't have enough PA to qualify for leaderboard. They have a .500 & 1.000 OBP respectively. Team Average: .392 Stolen Bases Carlos Colon - 9 JP Weber - 9 Justin Soto - 6 Total Bases Justin Soto - 33 Boston Coppedge - 22 Josh McEachin - 15 Cody Gladney - 15 Home Runs Justin Soto - 2 Josh McEachin - 1 Pitching (Min. 5 IP) Wins Josh McEachin - 6 Vinnie Pokornowski - 3 Tim Hanan - 1 Cody Gladney - 1 Alex Faught - 1 Craig Jaquez - 1 Saves Tim Hanan - 2 Vinnie Pokornowski - 1 ERA Tim Hanan - 0.00 Craig Jaquez - 0.00 Josh McEachin - 1.063 Team ERA: 1.445 K/9 Ratio Tim Hanan - 15.98 Josh McEachin - 12.12 Craig Jaquez - 9.00 Team K/9: 9.583 WHIP (Walks + Hits/IP) Craig Jaquez - 0.400 Cody Gladney - 0.891 Tim Hanan - 1.102 News and Notes
Your favorite team takes on the Old Fashioneds on Tuesday, June 14th at Prestonwood Christian Academy at 8:45 PM Come on out and support your O's! Orioles - 12
Tube Sox - 1 WP: Josh "McEasy" McEachin (4) 2B: Aaron Slazer, Justin Soto, Jeff Lunsford O's take down rival Tube Sox with excellence in all three phases: offense, defense, and pitching. Over the years, the Orioles and the Tube Soxs aka Nationals aka Sky Sox have had epic battles with sides playing for championships against each other. Most all the games have been close affairs. This was not one of those games. The O's started off fast against Scates, the Tube Sox starting pitcher. With one out, Aaron Slazer hit a double down the left field line to continue his strong season. Slazer is hitting .421 on the year and has been especially good as of late, hitting .625 and an OBP of .667. He's being on fire as of late. Boston Coppedge followed that with a 1-2 single to left-center, scoring Slazer and giving the O's a 1-0 lead. After a SB from pinch runner JP Weber to get to 2nd and advancing to 3rd on a balk, Tanner Stevenson lifted a ball to shallow center which the O's tried to sneak another run across. Unfortunately, the ball was probably a little too shallow and JP was thrown out at the plate to keep the score to 1-0. McEasy started on the bump and started off in dominate fashion, striking out two in the first inning and continuing his stellar season. With a 1.64 ERA on the year, McEasy has crushing opponents left and right and this night was no different. McEasy allowed four hits over five innings and kept the Tube Soxs off the board, only allowing one runner to reach 3rd. Between McEasy, Gladney, Hanan, and Pokornowski, the O's starters have been on fire and are clearly the deepest staff in the league. The O's broke it open in the 3rd by batting around, scoring six times and missing the opportunity for more as they left them loaded. Cody Gladney started it off with a walk, followed by a single by Preston Cole. After a infield fly to 2nd, the top of the lineup got to work with four straight hits (JP Weber, Slazer, Coppedge, and Tanner Stevenson) and each getting an RBI out of the deal. Soto followed up by reaching on an error and McEasy was hit by the pitch, keeping it at one out and five runs in. The O's made it six in the inning with a sac fly from Jeff "Sweetbeard" Lunsford and gave the O's a 7-0 lead. Another three shutdown innings after the offensive outburst completed McEasy's night: 5 IP, 4 hits, 4 BB, 6 K. While McEasy's night was done on the bump, the O's offense was back at it with another big inning in the top of the 6th. Coppedge leads off with a HBP but is forced out at 2nd on a fielder's choice by Stevenson. The O's bats picked it up from that point with a double from Soto, single from McEasy, a double from Sweetbeard, and a single from Original Frenchie, Luc de la Soujeole. Cass gets hit and has a large bruise to show for it and that's followed by another hit by Gladney, who's also been hitting the ball at .500 clip the past five games. PCole came up with bases loaded and also grounded into a fielder's choice but beat out the throw to 1st, allowing the 12th run of the night to score and effectively end the game. We did have a new sighting on the mound with Tanner Stevenson seeing his first action of the year on the bump. His fiance' Lacey was in the stands and was asking "So what exactly are you doing?" to Coppedge behind the dish, who was coming in to replace Sweetbeard. Coppedge had no solid answers but just a smile and said "You'll see". Stevenson, throwing mainly a two seam fastball, struggled to find the zone at first and walked his first batter of the year. He did run into some good luck with a soft pop-up was caught by Jake "Jameson" Bellington and ended up doubling off the runner at first. Ironic that Jameson helped out Reverand Stevenson as they enjoy having back and forth exchanges about how one or the other doesn't show up. They're the worst of friends and best of warm-up partners with their beloved pennyball. Stevenson did allow the Tube Sox to get on the board with another walk and two straight singles but ended the game with a K and closed down a game the O's needed to create some separation in the top of the standings. Spirits - 2
Orioles - 3 WP: Craig Jaquez (1-0) *Snake win* 3B: Alex Faught 2B: Alex Faught, Boston Coppedge Behind some strong pitching and a little timely hitting, the O's took the first of many battles with the Dallas Spirits in walk-off fashion. Cody Gladney got the start and go the first couple of batters to fly out. He wasn't so lucky with the next three batters as the three hole lined up the middle, just out of Gladney's grasp. The 4-hole hit a liner to left that was knocked down by Frenchie at short and nearly gloved as well. A bloop single over 1st base drove in the first run of the game for the Spirits, which seems to be the only way people can score on Gladney this year. Gladney escaped further damage by getting the first of seven groundouts to end the inning. The O's got started quickly themselves with Carlos Colon reaching on an error and stealing 2nd base. After a groundout from Gladney, Boston Coppedge came up and hit the first pitch he saw for a double down the line that one-hopped the wall, scoring Colon and tying up the game at 1. Advancing to 3rd on a passed ball, Coppedge scored on a sac fly from Justin Soto to take the lead 2-1. The Spirits hit back in the 2nd, leading off with a double to the right center gap and using some fundamental baseball to advance the runner to 3rd and eventually scoring him on a weak ground out to 3rd. After getting out of the 2nd, Gladney and Coppedge figured out some things and started up a new strategy. This strategy worked out well with Gladney throwing four no-hit innings after the 2nd and only allowing 3 baserunners (walk, HBP, error). Another stellar start for Gladney, who now sports a 1.68 ERA on the year. The old warhorse can still get it done. The Spirits starter was just as good though, shutting the O's down every time they threatened. The O's had a runner at third multiple times with less than two outs and couldn't get him in. Alex Faught, in his first game back this year, lead off with a triple in the 6th but the O's couldn't find a way to score him. The 8th saw multiple hits and also multiple runners thrown out my the Spirits catcher. That guy can throw the pill and made sure we knew it. The O's waived the white flag on running the bases after that. In relief of Gladney was Faught, who lead the team with a 1.23 ERA last season. He faced four batters and allowed just one walk. We're glad to have him back in the fold going forward. Sunday was also the debut of Craig Jaquez, a pitcher just brought onto the squad. We can thank Justin Soto for the pickup. Jaquez stands about 6'6" so putting him on the mound makes him over 7' tall and it's pretty intimidating. Jaquez threw the 8th and 9th innings, striking out 4 and only allowed one HBP. He's definitely a useful weapon for the O's going forward and he will be striking fear into many opponents this season and beyond. After Jaquez shut down the top of the 9th, the O's went to work in the bottom. With one out, Alex Faught doubled down the right field line and set the stage for Preston Cole. Batting right handed for the first time all day, PCole lined a ball over the short stop to the left center gap, easily scoring Faught and giving the O's a big victory over a solid opponent in walk-off fashion. The Spirits are for real and will be a threat going forward this year and many years to come. Next game: Away vs Old Fashioneds, 7:30 @ Carpenter Park We've hit the halfway point in the spring season which means it's time for updated stats. Below are the top 3 (and ties) in the major categories.
Hitting Batting Average Tanner Stevenson - .462 Justin Soto - .455 Carlos Colon - .381 Team Average: .312 RBI's Justin Soto - 10 Josh McEachin - 9 Boston Coppedge - 8 Hits Justin Soto - 15 Boston Coppedge - 11 Cody Gladney - 9 Hits/Game: 10.4 Runs Justin Soto - 10 Boston Coppedge - 8 Luc de la Soujeole - 8 Carlos Colon - 8 Runs/Game: 8 Walks (includes HBP) Jeff Lunsford - 6 Carlos Colon - 6 Aaron Slazer - 4 BB/Game: 4.6 On Base Percentage (OBP) Carlos Colon - .519 Aaron Slazer - .500 Rolando Villa - .500 Team Average: .396 Stolen Bases Carlos Colon - 8 Jeff Lunsford - 4 Justin Soto - 4 Luc De La Soujoule - 4 Tim Hanan - 4 Total Bases Justin Soto - 23 Boston Coppedge - 15 Josh McEachin - 12 Home Runs Justin Soto - 1 Josh McEachin - 1 Pitching (Min. 3 IP) Wins Josh McEachin - 3 Vinnie Pokornowski - 2 Tim Hanan - 1 Cody Gladney - 1 Saves Vinnie Pokornowski - 1 ERA Tim Hanan - 0.00 Cody Gladney - 1.174 Josh McEachin - 2.015 Team ERA: 1.746 K/9 Ratio Tim Hanan - 16.714 Josh McEachin - 11.687 Cody Gladney - 6.457 Team K/9: 9.659 WHIP (Walks + Hits/IP) Cody Gladney - 0.978 Tim Hanan - 1.143 Vinnie Pokornowski - 1.286 News and Notes
Your favorite team takes on their rivals, the Tube Soxs, tonight at Carpenter Park at 7:30 PM. Come on out and support your O's! 2014 Champions: Dallas Orioles
2015 Champions: Oak Cliff Pelicans 2016 Champions: Dallas Nationals 2017 Champions: ????? The American League Division has seen some serious growth not only in the number of teams but in amount of quality in the past few years. The New Guys Texas Renegades: This is an offshoot of the A's who we were able to scrimmage against this past weekend. They definitely have a few bats who can swing it, but the issue might be their pitching and having enough of it. We all know this is a major problem in any league but having enough arms to make it through the dog days of summer is rough. We've been there. We played a 9 inning scrimmage and they said they were running out of arms already. Maybe they were missing a few guys? Good group of guys and we actually get to face them next week so we're looking forward to that. Dallas Spirits: This group was in the upper echelon of the 35+ group along with Chris Cec and his Modoc crew. It seems they'd like to try their hand at a higher level of competition and I'm happy to see them come down. They clearly know how to play and should be a fundamentally sound team, as much as you can be at our age. I've heard from others in the league that they'll be a tough out come playoff time. Last Years New Guys Dallas Pirates: They had a bit of a tough year last year but the first year in the division usually isn't very pretty when you're starting from scratch. The O's were that team back in 2012 when we went 3-18, which is what the Pirates did last year I believe. I believe that they'll be better this season after a learning year last year and should make some strides towards moving up in the division. Athletics: This was another group who had a bit of a tough time last year learning the league, though they seemed to improve later on in the year. They did have a tie against the O's and a win against the Oak Cliff Pelicans so there is definitely some talent in there. They'll be another team to watch this year as they try to move up the standings. The Old Guard Braves: This squad has been around for the past few years and has been one of those teams that can sneak up on you if you're not careful. The O's swept them last year behind the strength of former Brave McEasy who tallied 20K's in 12 innings pitched. Could they be a surprise team this year and move up to compete for home field advantage in the 1st round? Do they have enough pitching to make that move? We'll find out soon enough. Indians: One of the few teams actually older than the Orioles themselves, Vincent and his Indians have been a solid member of the American League for as long as I can remember. Always ready for a laugh, Vincent is one of the best guys in this league and if you don't know him, you should. They've kept the basic same core together for a while now as well and just beware if you let PeeWee get a hold of one. Let's just say it won't come down anytime soon. Dustin should be back as well and I look forward to him starting Opening Day against us. Always fun to go against him. Look for this team to surprise a few people and fight for home field advantage in the 1st round. The Rivals Old Fashioneds: Mark Shonka and his 'Neds joined the league a couple seasons ago. They started pretty roughly as most new teams do but they've steadily moved their way up the ladder, finishing 4th in the regular season and 3rd in the playoffs, defeating the O's in the 2nd round in a entertaining back and forth game. It looks like they'll return their top two pitchers in McKinney and Shonka himself but do they have enough relief to cover those late innings? They definitely have the pieces to be a top tier team and should be fun to play them again as we have some revenge on our minds. Shonka, I'm going to make this plea very public. Throw Boston a fastball just once this year. Just once! Oak Cliff Pelicans: Patty and his Pelicans came onto the season a couple years ago and made an immediate impact, taking out the Orioles in the 2nd round before moving on to win it all. They're a great group of guys who can definitely play and have become one of my favorites to play against. They've got all the pieces you need and will be a force to reckon with this year. I'm also glad to see Langley didn't retire after all. You're going nowhere Randy! This team will be in the hunt come playoff time and not one to ever sleep on. Tube Soxs: First off, what kind of name is that? Tube Sox? Horrible. Moving past that, the Tube Soxs aka Nationals are last year's champions and the team to beat at the moment. While the O's took them down 2 of 3 last year, we never got to faceoff in the playoffs which is when you need to win. This group was the original rival to the Orioles, way back in 2013 as the Sky Sox and have been our favorite to play year in and year out. They've got talent all over with Scates, Reid, Austin, Gary, Karl, Kam, and they've added an old O's nemesis to the mix in Wyatt "Holliblaze" Holiday of old Marlins fame. Don't think I didn't see that addition, Karl! For those who don't know, Holliblaze was a top 3 pitcher in the league for a couple of seasons before the Marlins disbanded. Let's just say that Chong will be ready to talk smack to the Pelicans all over Facebook again if Wyatt still has his stuff. Orioles: Oh, don't think I can't write about my own team in this league write-up. The O's have been a great regular season team the past four years, being either the 1 or 2 seed every year going into the playoffs. Even though they owned a 16-3-1 record last year and held head to head advantages over every team in the league, they've run into a couple teams at the wrong time in the playoffs the past couple of years. Manager Tony Cass and the O's are hungry to climb back to the top of the mountain and look forward to another solid year at the top of the league. Adding some new blood and return to health for some veterans should help the squad reclaim the title of American League Champions. I don't know about you but I'm ready for Sunday! Next Game: 3/26, Home vs Indians Lake Highlands HS, 1:00 PM SP: Timmy "The Cannon" Hanan |
AuthorDallas Orioles Baseball Club Archives
March 2019
Categories |