Friday 9:30PM May 1st, 2026

The best team in the league (only one game had been played and they won it, thus best) won again, squeaking out an 11-9 win over the Crew to cap off the 2026 WMSPL opening day.

For the first time since 2021, the Falcons are 2-0. And for the first time EVER, they won both on the same day to open the season.

The Falcons offence picked up where they left off in game one, a welcome change to the historical Waiting For Godot-style offence we're used to. Speed Bump opened the the bottom of the first after the Falcons had held the Crew to no runs in the top half, with a single. Grahambo followed with a double that somehow didn't score Speed Bump from first... I guess no one can run from Father Time. No matter, though, Beatty (Mr Positivity!) brought them all home with his second home run of the season to stake the home Falcons to a 3-0 lead after one.

The Falcon defence held the Crew to no runs through three innings. In the second, though, they put up another 3-spot highlighted by John's first home run as a Falcon, a Duncan that had better not become habit. One doesn't want bad things named after you, right? We already have a guy who has three types of "bad" homers named after him.

In the top of the fourth, the Crew put up 4 to close the gap, but the Falcons matched it in their half, on three doubles and a couple singles.

Up 11-5 in the top of the seventh, the Falcons allowed a 4-run rally by the Crew to turn up the proverbial temperature (because the ACTUAL thermometer sure as hell didn't go up) but shut it down in time to preserve the victory.

GAME NOTES: A tremendous showing by our draft picks in the opening doubleheader: Matt is batting .857; John is .714 and each socked a dinger. Kevin, on whom we used our pick-a-friend, is batting .286 and only made two plays in the field over the first two games. Speed Bump's ringing endorsement is now in question... Grahambo lit up the stat sheet in this one, going 4-for-4 with four two-baggers... Contributions to the pizza fund slowed down, with only Shohei contributing a $5 FK... If you were paying attention in the third inning, you'd have seen the most casual 5-4-3 double play in the history of sports, with John knowing EXACTLY how much time he had to twist it.

Boxscore:

Statistical Highlights

Friday 8:00PM May 1st, 2026

The Falcons won the opener of the 2026 season 17-5 behind strong premieres from their 3 rookies.

After not making it to Sunday in the 2025 playoff tournament, it was the longest offseason for the Falcons since 2010. A few roster changes gave the team a bit of a different look: Teets and Dr J won't be with the team in 2026, and new rookies Kevin, John and Matt came ready to play.

But Falcons are always going to Falcon, so the season began in the top of the first going 4-up, 3-down highlighted by a Beatty whiff to prime the pizza fund to the tune of $15. The girthy Falcon D held the Crew to a doughnut of their own in the bottom half.

It took until the third inning for the Falcons to get all the way through their 11-man line up, obviously with nothing to show for it. The Crew squeaked a run across in the second, thanks to non-consecutive doubles. After three, the Crew led 1-0, and the score was reflected in the enthusiasm of the assembled crowd of 2 supporters.

In the top of the fourth, the Falcons finally got something going. Grahambo led off with a double, and was promptly scored by Beatty's 2-run home run. The Falcons loaded the bases with one out, but were unable to cash any of them. Speaking of cash, that's $5 to the Taxman for stranding Barry on third with less than two out. The Crew tied it right back up in the bottom of the fourth, scoring Shannon's leadoff triple two batters later. After four, all tied up at two.

If you've been following this team for any length of time, you know the Falcons offence doesn't bother showing up until late. Early leads are for the try-hards, the keeners, the "good" ball teams. The rookie of the year race started in the top of the fifth: consecutive singles by John and Matt were scored promptly by a Speed Bump (formerly Cowboy) two-bagger and a Grahambo sac fly. Speed Bump himself was scored on a glacial double by Beatty. The Falcon D held the Crew to another doughnut in the bottom of the fifth. 5-2 good guys, after five.

In the sixth, MDB led off with one of his four singles in the game, but after the Taxman popped up to the catcher, Bill was scrubbed by a fielder's choice by Kevin. No need to worry: John singled, and Matt parked a dinger oppo-taco to score three. The Crew scraped one back in the bottom of the sixth to close the gap to 8-3 Falcons after six.

In the seventh, the floodgates opened for the visitors. After Grahambo grounded out to the pitcher to lead off the inning, the Falcons went single, double, triple (ha), single, single, single, single, single, single, single, grand slam home run out (a Grahambo by the man himself), single, groundout. No one had seen that many singles since Poutine used to visit the Brass Rail in the 80s as a 15-year-old. All said, the Falcons put up 9 in the inning to put this one to bed.

GAME NOTES: The tally for the rookies: 8-for 12, a homer by Matt, and eight runs scored. Sometimes, you draft well... The pizza fund got a good start with Beatty's $15 K, and two $5 contributions for stranding runners by Taxman and SLF.

Boxscore:

Statistical Highlights