Monday 8:00PM June 23rd, 2025

Former Falcon Junior Tennant came out to watch, and didn't leave embarrassed as the Falcons edged out Greenthumb 18-16 on Monday evening.

Junior's regretted coming to watch in the past.

With a nearly barren sign out sheet, that meant the Falcons dugout was bursting at the seams with FOURTEEN players attending, and making it look like a Hanet playoff game. You'd have needed a program to identify who was playing where on defence, so that everyone got equal playing time in this one. Teets made his debut on the mound, and threw almost half his pitches for strikes. The biggest deal of all, especially if you're SLF, is that all 14 Falcons were in the new uniform. It was a beauty to behold, and definitely the reason we won.

Greenthumb, however, could only muster eight of their own, plus Scott Sonley, dressed in a Chris Bassitt camo giveaway shirt. They were surely trying to channel the Falcons from last Friday who, it must be repeated, beat Storm even though only 7 Falcons attended. I'm glad I won't be at next year's rule change meeting. Look at me, I digress...

So, getting on with it: With almost everyone in attendance, ABs were going to be scarce, so you had to make the most of the ones you got. This memo was not sent to Barry Guerrero Jr, who went 0-for-3, ending his 95-game on-base streak. Pour one out for that streak! Cowboy led off the game with a triple, and was scored two batters later by a Grahambo "rarity" (a home run with runners on base). Beatty, who hit four balls over the fence on the night, hit his first of only two that actually counted right after. The Falcons scored 3, and shut down Greenthumb in the bottom of one.

In the second, the bottom half of the dictionary made themselves known, with six hits, including a Miner Leaguer two-bagger, to score four. Greenthumb came right back with four of their own in response. After two, Falcons led 7-4.

Greenthumb narrowed the lead in the third, holding that Falcons scoreless but putting up a singleton of their own. In the fifth, the visitors scored five on five hits including two on Bill's fielder's choice (something I wouldn't typically believe, but here it is on the scorecard). Greenthumb, angry, came right back with five of their own to keep it to within two runs. After four, it was 12-10 Falcons.

The Falcons offence didn't quit. In the fifth, Beatty highlighted a 3 run effort with his second homer of the game that actually counted. Greenthumb answered with two. Going into the sixth inning with the clock ticking, the Falcons were up three, 15-12.

Three more for the uniformly-dressed visitors in the sixth on three hits. Greenthumb closed the gap, again, winning the inning and scoring four to bring it back to a two run margin. In the top of the seventh, the Falcons went Cowboy triple, Barry Guerrero Jr single, Grahambo single, and Beatty's fourth ball over the fence to start the inning. The clock struck midnight (well, 9:25), so none of that counted. Not the triple that would have given Cowboy the team lead by himself, not Barry's single to keep his on-base streak alive, and not what would have been Beatty's third home run of the game. It's as if we dreamed it all.

Falcons win, 18-16 in a great game by both sides.

Game Notes: Miner Leaguer scored once for Shohei... Teets' pitching line, in his season debut: 2.0 IP, 7R, 6H, 4BB, but he did eventually find that magic release point... Taxman quietly had a great game in his return, with two doubles and 4 RBI... It was hot.

BOXSCORE

BATTING:
2B: Taxman (2), Poutine (2), Shohei, Miner Leaguer
3B: Cowboy, Grahambo
HR: Beatty (4, but really 2), Grahambo
HR-OUTS: Beatty
RBI: Taxman (4), Beatty (3), Shohei (2), Grahambo (2), Million Dollar Bill (2), Miner Leaguer, Poutine, Teets

FIELDING:
DOUBLE PLAYS: None

PITCHING:
BATTERS FACED: 43

GAME INFORMATION:
STADIUM: K1 FIELD
ATTENDANCE: 3 (15% FULL) - % is based on regular season capacity (Falcons' side only)

Boxscore:

Statistical Highlights

Friday 8:00PM June 20th, 2025

A depleted Falcons squad held off a late Storm comeback attempt to secure an 18-16 victory on Friday night.

The story of the night differed, depending on who you asked. For everyone except Joey, the game result was secondary to the main event: Would Duran be able to go yard off of his buddy Shohei, the Falcons ace? Both beers AND pride were on the line. In the end, Duran hit 3 balls out of the infield. Two went for doubles, and he flew out to right-centre once. But to finish off his night, he popped up to Shohei to seal Shohei's pair of cold post game beers. What of Joey, you ask? Well, without having actually spoken to him, I can only imagine his internal monologue: You're not supposed to win if you're short! Dr J takes personal offence to this mantra, but that's PROBABLY not what Joey means. If, in this league, you can't get at least HALF of your 15-man roster to come out to a game, you probably have no business winning the game. This, of course, is why we play the games.

Only seven Falcons were able to attend this one, so just slightly over 50% of the roster was signed out. Thankfully, Mike and Darren from Triple Play were able to step up to fill out the batting order, and Mike made the most of it going 3-for-4 with two doesn't-count-in-the-league-totals home runs.

Falcons-Storm is always must see TV, and this game was really no different. The teams each scored three in the first inning to break the ice, and you could taste the tension. The Falcons put up another three in the top of the second inning, with the third run scoring during Chad's 10-4-1-3-9 rundown when he tried to take second on a throw from the outfield. Storm answered with a deuce and after three the Falcons led by one.

After doughnuts by both sides in the third, the visitors squeaked across another couple in the fourth. Storm tied the game up in their half, scoring three. Triple Play Mike (the third Mike in the batting order for the Falcons. The late 20th century was wild, man. Everywhere you looked, it was either Mike or Jenn, but I digress) led off the top of the fifth with a Duncan to re-take the lead, and Poutine Mike's single scored Cowboy's double to round out the scoring. The WMSPL's #1 defence held off Storm in the fifth and sixth, while the offence tacked on a run in the sixth, and four more in the seventh (highlighted by Triple Play Mike's second dinger of the game).

Going into the bottom of the seventh up by seven, previous versions of this team would have been nervous. Not in this #WIFB season though. Joey led off with a single, but Bob and Sam (how is he not "Joey's Joey" on the Storm website? Inquiring minds want to know, and I digress yet again) each flied out. With two down and Joey standing on first, it looked like the Falcons might actually end the game comfortably. A couple hits and a 3-run double later Storm was only down three. Brian's liner found it's way into a glove, however, to end both the threat and the game.

Game Notes: Miner Leaguer did not score for Shohei in this game... Miner Leaguer DID, however, hit a legit inside-the-park home run, though the league totals don't reflect such feats... Miner Leaguer was a triple short of the cycle, while SLF only missed the dinger... Big thanks again to Triple Play's Mike and Darren for coming out and helping us not only avoid the default loss, but actually win... A diving snag by Handsome Jer would be great to watch again on replay, right Storm?

BOXSCORE

BATTING:
2B: Cowboy, Miner Leaguer, SLF
3B: SLF
HR: Miner Leaguer
HR-OUTS: None
RBI: SLF (5), Miner Leaguer (3), Shohei (2), Million Dollar Bill, Poutine

FIELDING:
DOUBLE PLAYS: None

PITCHING:
BATTERS FACED: 44

GAME INFORMATION:
STADIUM: K1 FIELD
ATTENDANCE: 4 (20% FULL)

Boxscore:

Statistical Highlights

Tuesday 8:00PM June 17th, 2025

With the first, second, and third string shortstops all signed out, Dunner stepped up and blew right past his goal of "not terrible" making play after play and cementing his status as Certified Fourth String Shortstop in an 18-6 weekday night win over Glorious Dan and the Inglorious Batters.

At least we didn't need to borrow a catcher.

Coming off a pretty good offensive performance to close out the Sunday doubleheader, the Falcons hoped that momentum carried into Tuesday. Because the line up was crafted by SLF, it didn't. It never does. Every time. It's the fifth bloody inning AT LEAST before anything happens.

And so it was: the Batters and Falcons exchanged deuces for the first couple innings with neither team really able to get anything going. No one came within a sniff of a dinger all game. The balls are anti-juiced. Are these the ones that sat in Joey's trunk all winter? Investigate?

The story of the night was Dunner at short, gobbling up anything that came close and only showing off the outfield arm once, and even Greg "Bird" Elcich wouldn't have been able to grab that one. He even turned a double play by himself, corralling a ground ball before stepping on the bag at two and firing to first for the twin killing. The future is bright at short, if the unfathomably unlikely carpool of Handsome Jer, Grahambo and Poutine drove off a bridge at some point.

Game Notes: Dr J is batting .706 over the last six Falcons games, and will bat leadoff for the Falcons on Friday against Storm... Shohei, batting .640 over that same period, will bat second...

BOXSCORE

BATTING:
2B: Miner Leaguer (2), Million Dollar Bill, SLF
3B: Cowboy
HR: None
HR-OUTS: None
RBI: Cowboy (4), Dunner (3), SLF (3), Goliath (2), Million Dollar Bill (2), Miner Leaguer, Teets, Barry Guerrero Jr, Dr J

FIELDING:
DOUBLE PLAYS: Dunner-Barry Guerrero Jr

PITCHING:
BATTERS FACED: 40

GAME INFORMATION:
STADIUM: K2 FIELD
ATTENDANCE: 2 (10% FULL) - % is based on regular season capacity (Falcons' side only)

Boxscore:

Statistical Highlights

Sunday 9:30PM June 15th, 2025

The Falcons somehow maintained the momentum established in the top of the seventh inning from the game before, when they put up 6 runs, and beat Broadway decisively 19-1 to close out their Father's Day doubleheader on Sunday night.

Much like very soon after a drunken midnight trip to Taco Bell, the runs came early and often for the Falcons in this game. They got the bats going in the top of the first inning, scoring three highlighted by Dunner's $5 contribution to the pizza fund with an FK. In the second, the visitors put up another two runs with Dunner again providing the highlight, but this time it was positive: an RBI double.

The Falcons scored one in each of the next three innings, while keeping the home Broadway bats ridiculously quiet. Broadway managed only 8 hits in this game, three of them coming in the third where they scored their run.

In the sixth, the floodgates opened. The Falcons sent all of their players, and Glorious Dan, to the plate plus a couple more for good measure in a bat-around inning in which they scored six. As in the first, this inning was highlighted by an FK by SLF to add to the kitty. The Falcons didn't let up in the seventh, scoring five more.

Game Notes: Kudos to Homie for keeping track of the ball on Miner Leaguer's 6-3-4-1 rundown in the first inning... Thanks again to Dan for playing in his ninth and tenth games of the weekend...

BOXSCORE

BATTING:
2B: Cowboy (2), Poutine (2), Shohei, Dunner, Miner Leaguer, SLF, Barry Guerrero Jr
3B: None
HR: None
HR-OUTS: None
RBI: Barry Guerrero Jr (5), Dunner (3), Shohei (2), Cowboy (2), Miner Leaguer (2), Poutine (2), Million Dollar Bill

FIELDING:
DOUBLE PLAYS: Cowboy-Barry Guerrero Jr; Million Dollar Bill-Poutine-Barry Guerrero Jr

PITCHING:
BATTERS FACED: 27

GAME INFORMATION:
STADIUM: K2 FIELD
ATTENDANCE: 2 (10% FULL)

Boxscore:

Statistical Highlights

Sunday 8:00PM June 15th, 2025

A short (very short) Falcons squad's lifeless bats came up short in the opener of Sunday's doubleheader, losing 18-10 to Triple Play.

Father's Day, celebrated all over the world (except at Poutine's house), is a difficult day to find on the calendar. It's only been the third Sunday in June for over a century, so honestly figuring out when Easter is every year is a cakewalk compared to setting aside time for dear ol' dad.

So it was that Arbour awoke at 8am on Sunday to pour a tasty coffee, and get to setting out the batting order and defence for the Falcons' two games later on that evening. (Who are we kidding? There's no way Mike was awake at 8am on a Sunday, but I digress). At the same time, homes all over Durham Region were stirring, wives and children rubbing the sleep from their eyes and looking at the calendar on the kitchen wall to discover HOLY SHIT IT'S FATHER'S DAY TODAY WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING.

At 8am on Sunday, the Falcons not only had enough players to play their upcoming games later that day, but they had enough that one player could sit on the bench each inning. A fitting rest for any dad. By 10am, however, Arbour was spamming the WMSPL equivalent of Craigslist looking for a spare body just so we wouldn't default.

With the help of Glorious Dan from Inglorious Batters, the Falcons were able to take the field for their 8pm game versus Triple Play, but still not have enough bodies that they didn't have to beg the opposition for a catcher.

The Falcons went down in order in the top of the first inning, almost as if SLF had written the lineup. They only sent 5 batters to the plate in the second, and by the top of the third, they were staring down the barrel of a 6-0 deficit. It got worse from there.

Glorious Dan led off the top of the third with a single, and was eventually cashed by a Barry Guerrero Jr single. A pathetic display that ended appropriately with an SLF FK. Triple Play responded to that outburst with a MAX6, and led 12-1 after three innings.

The Falcons bats didn't even really show up until the top of the seventh inning, when they were already down 18-4. The Falcons had seven hits and put up six runs, but that was only good enough to lose by eight.

Game Notes: Homie's scorecard notes: MIKE [Poutine] WAS EARLY *THAT'S SHOCKING*, and she isn't wrong... A tip of the hat to Triple Play's catcher playing for the Falcons making the catch on Cowboy's bullet from left-centrefield to put out his own teammate at home... Not sure how we're going to keep track of this, but we're now counting whether Miner Leaguer scores more runs for Shohei -- thanks to the league's bionic pitcher rule where you can sub out the pitcher with two out without burning a courtesy runner, as long as they have protective equipment to don -- than Shohei scores for himself... It deserves a mention that in the top of the fourth inning, Cowboy hit an inside-the-bigtop-run-home, the Little League-est Little League home run you've ever seen, and a perfect example of why the WMSPL doesn't count inside-the-parkers on the home run leaderboard tally anymore. But it counts in our books!

BOXSCORE

BATTING:
2B: Miner Leaguer, SLF
3B: Barry Guerrero Jr
HR: Cowboy
HR-OUTS: None
RBI: Barry Guerrero Jr (3), Shohei (2), Cowboy (2), Miner Leaguer (2), SLF

FIELDING:
DOUBLE PLAYS: None

PITCHING:
BATTERS FACED: 45

GAME INFORMATION:
STADIUM: K2 FIELD
ATTENDANCE: 2 (10% FULL)

Boxscore:

Statistical Highlights

Wednesday 9:30PM June 11th, 2025

Wednesday night was all business, as the Falcons rode an early wave of runs and topped by a Dunner cycle to beat Surge, 23-7.

No need for a play-by-play on this one. The visitors scored early and often, 5 of the 7 Surge runs came courtesy of a couple of bombs to the playground, and somehow 7 innings got played with a bonus 20 minutes to spare.

GAME NOTES: Dunner filled the stat sheet, resetting the cycle clock and, being the absolute team player that he is, added a delicious foul K pizza donation to the team fund… Dunner would have had more XBHs if it weren’t for some station-to-station work in the last two innings… in the 7th, with the team also adopting a first-pitch-swing-so-we-can-go-home-faster plan, Shohei apparently didn’t get the memo and, inexplicably, took a walk. The baseball Gods said nope, Million Dollar Bill hit a liner to 2nd for an out and Shohei got picked off at first, but not before arguing with the ump while UP 20 RUNS. If the umpy threw Shohei out, the Falcons would not have heard from all the laughing in the dugout. Beatty politely told Shohei Bruce Wayne to get back to the dugout, put his Batman gear on and live to fight injustice another day… On that note, handing MDB a pizza fine for hitting into a DP when this one was on Shohei seems especially cruel… Barry Guerrero Jr and DC stayed hot, batting 1.000... Walk-up music innovation alert: Surge mixed in some tunes with pre-recorded "Now batting, #19, so-and-so" and we are here for it... Welcome back outfielders! Cowboy and Miner Leaguer (who, to be fair, did show up on the weekend) had multiple highlight reel full sprint catches… Dr. J climbed half a pizza box to catch a mid-air liner up the middle… speaking of pizza, I think we earned another large 3-topping tonight! Good job fellas!

BOXSCORE

BATTING:
2B: DC (2), Grahambo (2), Dunner, Barry Guerrero Jr, Cowboy
3B: Dunner, Miner Leaguer
HR: Dunner, Beatty
HR-OUTS: None
RBI: Dunner (5), DC (4), Beatty (4), Barry Guerrero Jr (3), Grahambo (3), Cowboy, Million Dollar Bill, Shohei, Dr J

FIELDING:
DOUBLE PLAYS: None

PITCHING:
BATTERS FACED: ?

GAME INFORMATION:
STADIUM: K1 FIELD
ATTENDANCE: 0 (0% FULL) - % is based on regular season capacity (Falcons' side only)

Boxscore:

Statistical Highlights