September 15, 2013
NWAMSBL Championship Game @ Arvest
Ball Park
White Sox 5 X-Tinct 12
Sunday, it was the Brett Reynolds show at Arvest Ball Park in
Springdale, AR. These two teams did not have a chance to meet in
the regular season so it seemed fitting that they meet in the final.
The X-Tinct had dominated league play from start to finish posting a
14-1 record going into the championship game. The White Sox on
the other hand, had struggled at times in the latter half dropping 4
out of 5 games down the stretch, but managed to muster up the
personnel and wherewithal to avenge an earlier loss to the Dodgers to
advance to Arvest Ball Park. The White Sox started their
hard-throwing guy, Matt Mozzoni. Mozzoni kept things in relative
reach with the score 5-2 going into the 5th inning when the wheels
started to come off a bit with X-Tinct 3-hole slugger, Eric Smith
roping a triple in the first at-bat of the inning. The White Sox
thought they would get out of the inning on a circus-type double-play
started by second baseman, Phil McClure, pickling the runner at home
which ended in the first out and then catcher, Jason Christner,
relaying back to second starting another pickle on the runner at third
for the double-play. Unfortunately for the Sox and Mozzoni, the
next 5 batters reached resulting in three more runs and a big deficit.
In the top of the 6th, the White Sox were down 8-2. Seth White
and Brad Hughes both reached on singles. White scored on Tim
Hooper's RBI single and Andy Miller followed up with a walk. It
looked like the White Sox were going to have "their" inning with a
chance to plate three more runs on Chris Huebner's line shot to right,
but as fate would tell, the X-Tinct right fielder, who took his first
two steps in, somehow turned and leapt for the snow-cone catch to out
Huebner and double-up Miller who was running on contact. It
figured to be the last hope for the White Sox despite plating two more
runs in the 8th...Reynolds proved too strong striking out the side in
the top of the ninth. Reynolds' winning line was 9inCG, 5R, 5ER,
11H, 3BB, 11K. Mozzoni's line was 5in, 8R, 5ER, 9H, 4BB, 4K in
the losing effort. Andy Miller, who came in to relieve the last
three innings: 3in, 4R, 3ER, 4H, 2BB, HBP, 3K.
Offensively, the X-Tinct were led by Eric Smith (3-4, 3R, 2B, 3B,
RBI), and Kasey Campbell (3-4, 2R, 3B, HR, BB, 4RBI). The White
Sox were led offensively by Seth White (3-4, 2R, RBI), Brad
Hughes (2-3, R, BB), and Albert Swann (2-4, R, 2K). --Stephen
Boudreaux, White Sox
September 8, 2013
2013 NWAMSBL Playoffs
Rd1 Cardinals 5 White Sox
18
Rd 2 White Sox 6
Dodgers 2
The White Sox and Cardinals
had just played each other a week ago and each knew the others'
strengths and weaknesses. We knew the Cardinals could hit and
gave up 10 runs to them the last time. What we could not
guarantee is whether we could just simply out-score them to emerge
victorious. The Sox offense has been up-and-down this season.
Fortunately, the offense showed up again in fine form led by
old-school new-comer, Brad Hughes (3-4, 2R, 2RBI), and work-horse,
Albert Swann (3-3, 4R, 2B, 2BB, 4RBI), and Seth White (3-4, 5RBI, 2B,
BB, K), and Jason Christner (2-4, 3R, 3RBI, HR, HBP). Maybe most
importantly was the work of starting pitcher, Chris Huebner and
reliever, Dustin Wilson. Combined their line was pretty solid
(7inn, 5R, 4ER, 9H, 0BB, 3K, HBP...only 31 total plate appearances.)
The Dodgers beat the White
Sox on a make-up Wednesday night game and as they were the #2 seed, we
were quite a bit nervous going into this one. Mostly in the form
of our pitching and the Dodgers middle-of-the-order which featured
Matt Garza who is one of the most pure hitters the league has seen in
some years. The last time we faced the Dodgers, we spotted them
6 runs in the first third inning of the game. Seth White stymied
the Dodgers in his 2 2/3 innings that previous game, so we thought it
best to give him the start. Seth proved stellar on this day as
well (3inn, 1R, 1ER, 4H, K, BB) but left the game with the Dodgers up
1-0. The White Sox left the bases loaded in the first with no
outs and failed to score. Two runners left on in the second.
One runner left on in the third...something had to give. It was
a "Sox inning" in the fourth with a single by Brad Huges, a rare walk
by Stephen Boudreaux, and then a RBI double by Chris Huebner to tie
the score at 1. Mike Lopez scored Boudreaux on a single and
Jason Christner drove in Huebner and Lopez on his base hit to the gap.
The Sox tacked on two more runs in the 5th and 6th frames to push the
final score to 6-2. Andy Miller, who has turned into this
season's "ace" took it the rest of the way the last four innings with
a great effort to keep that dangerous middle-of-the-order to only two
meaningless hits (an RBI single by Eric Exner in the fourth and a
double by Sergio Hernandez in the sixth) to earn the win. Miller
gave up only one other hit in four innings which was an infield pop
fly in the 7th that landed between three fielders who all thought they
"had it" for the final out of the game. This was unfortunate for
Dustin Wilson as the next batter fouled off his first pitch over the
back stop and directly into Wilson's windshield shattering it like it
seemed the Sox hopes were given the nature of it all. As fortune
goes, the fielder who made the deciding call on the dropped fly ball
(Albert Swann) stayed true to his otherwise great defensive form and
completed the 6-4 play on the batter's next pitch to end the game.
Offensive highlights from game 2: Mike Lopez (2-3, R, 2RBI, BB,
K), Tim Hooper (2-4, R), and Brad Hughes (3-4, R, RBI).--Stephen
Boudreaux, White Sox.
August 28, 2013
White Sox 18
Cardinals 10
The Sox hadn't figured out
how to rebound until tonight. Got some of our regulars back
despite still missing a couple and I think that helps. Having
Tim Hooper and Seth White in the lineup shores up our outfield by tons
and they both contribute at the plate. Pitching has been suspect
lately in the Sox skid, but things settled down a bit tonight despite
giving up a collective 10 runs to the solid-hitting Cardinals.
Most of the damage came early against starter, Chris Huebner, who gave
up 5 runs in the first and left with the score tied. Huebner has
been worn to bits lately trying to carry the pitching load. He
will get some much needed rest this next week and a half. Seth
White came in for the next three innings holding the Cardinals to just
two runs, but it was Matt Mozzoni who came back to true form over the
next 5 innings with a line: 5inn, 3R, 2ER, 6H (scattered), 1BB,
0HBP, 10K. Offensively...Andy Miller (3-3, 1R, RBI, 3B, BB),
Matt Mozzoni (2-3, 1R, 2RBI, 3B), Tim Hooper (2-4, 4RBI, K), Jason
Christner (3-4, 2R, 2RBI, BB), Brad "Sleeves" Hughes (3-5, 1R, RBI),
and Matt Villines making a cool comeback at the plate (2-2, RBI, SB).
The White Sox face these same Cardinals in the first round of the
playoffs and had better keep their dangerous bats cold or the outcome
could be much different.--Stephen Boudreaux, White Sox
August 24-25, 2013
White Sox 16
Wingnuts 3
Wingnuts 16 White
Sox 8
August 17-18, 2013
Browns 9 White Sox
8
White Sox 12
Browns 18
The White Sox have lost
three straight for the first time since 2009. The White Sox
scored 24 runs in three games and still lost. One common
denominator in those three losses is that starting pitchers only threw
a total of 2 innings in three games (1/3, 2/3, and 1). Going to
have to get these guys healthy if the White Sox stand ANY chance of a
playoff run... The Browns can hit the ball for sure and so can
the Dodgers with balls compelled to the middle of the zone, but
equally important to fix are some untimely errors or misplayed balls
on defense. Even a couple of base-running gaffs can kill
rallies. There were a few bright spots like Seth White's 5-7 day
at the plate and Chris Huebner's continued offense (3-4, 2R, 2B, 2RBI,
BB, SAC). The Sox used 7 pitchers on the day (a new record) and
only Andy Miller seemed to have much success (4in, 1R, 1ER, 3H, 1BB,
3K), but still was saddled with the loss in game one giving up the
tie-break go-ahead run in the 6th. Most important for the White
Sox is that we have to fix our attitudes down to the player. As
my wife reminded me today after I called her moping following the
loss, "You got to play baseball today, didn't you?" She's
absolutely right. Losing always sucks especially when you are
competitive, but the sheer joy of having the opportunity to (still)
play the greatest game outweighs any of that pain. Even writing
this report at 1:00am, her words are resonating and each soreness in
this old man's body is a "good-kinda-soreness." There is no
blame to be levied. The opponent won fair enough. It's not
BUNWA's fault, it's not my teammates' fault...heck...it's not even MY
fault. We lost. Shut yer mouth, kick some dirt and get me
back in that batter's box ASAP! --Stephen Boudreaux, White Sox
August 14, 2013
Dodgers 11 White
Sox 4
August 10-11, 2013
White Sox PP Dodgers
PP rain
Dodgers PP White Sox
PP rain
August 3-4, 2013
White Sox PP Cardinals
PP rain
Cardinals PP White Sox
PP rain
July 27-28, 2013
White Sox 9
Orioles 7
Orioles 2 White
Sox 4
Of course, I enjoy winning
as much as the next guy, but with regard to baseball, I am not a fan
of high scoring affairs and big blowouts. I love a close game
and tough competition. The White Sox/Orioles matchup this
weekend was good stuff. Despite a few errors scattered about,
there was great pitching and clutch hitting on both sides. In
game one, the Oriole middle-of-the-order was stellar going 8-14 with 5
doubles led by Lance Perrin with 3-3 3@2B! Going to have to put
a stop to that next time if the Sox stand any chance. The White
Sox were equal to the task with some key performances by Dustin Wilson
(2-4, 2R, 3RBI, 2 HR, 2K), Albert Swann (3-4, 2R, RBI, SB), and Jason
Christner (2-3, R, RBI, 2B). Chris Huebner got another start and
maintained the damage, but had to age out with the game still in
question. Phil McClure took over on the hill and despite the
Oriole onslaught, his numbers were good enough to hold on for the win
(4inn, 2R, 0ER, 5H, 2BB, 1HBP, 2K). Key moments of the game with
the White Sox with the game tied at 6 going into the 5th inning...Andy
Miller gets on with a single and Jason Christner moves him over to
third with a double. Stephen Boudreaux plates the go-ahead run
with a SAC fly to deep center. The Orioles plate an unearned run
in the bottom of the 5th to make it a one-run game. Dustin
Wilson closes the door on the Orioles with a two-run homer in the top
of the 6th. The Orioles threatened in the bottom of the 7th, but
Chris Huebner's stellar cross-body zip from third to first to get Mike
Cherry (who was 3-3 up to that point) to end the game was a dugout
clearer for the White Sox.
Game two was a different
sort of game with excellent pitching performances by both sides with
the White Sox staff of Dustin Wilson and Andy Miller besting the
stalwart Oriole aces, Lance Perrin and Trent Fonville.. Wilson
got the start and pitched a line; 4inn, 2R, 1ER, 3H, 5BB
(uncharacteristic), 1HBP, 4K enough to get the win leaving the game
with a 3-2 lead. But it was an astonishing power performance by
Andy Miller to get the save. Miller's line was 3inn, 0R, 0ER,
2H, 1BB, 0HBP, 6K. Reducing the doubles count by the Orioles
from 5 to 2 was a great improvement and the Oriole midde-of-the-order
this time was 2-13 with 0 doubles. That's a great adjustment for
our pitching staff. And 10Ks on a team like that is awesome.
The White Sox offense was lead by Chris Huebner (3-3, R, 2@2B), Brad
Hughes (2-2, R, 2RBI), and Seth White (hitting in the 11-hole!) (1-2,
RBI)--Stephen Boudreaux, White Sox
July 20-21, 2013
White Sox PP X-Tinct
PP rain
X-Tinct PP White Sox
PP rain
July 13-14, 2013
White Sox 19
Royals 2 (5 in)
Royals 8 White Sox
20
It was a stellar weather
day for baseball at the new Farmington Sports Complex. I really
like this facility and hope we can continue this relationship with
them and start to incorporate some field prep. Once we chewed up
the hardened infield a bit with our spikes, the playing surface was
pretty good. The porch and outfield are both short (in a typical
Farmington way), but it played well. The Royals pulled one of
our tricks and showed up a little short-handed, but we saw a lot of
familiar faces including a few of the old Cubs. Being the
returning league champions, the Royals commanded our respect
regardless and glad we got the games in. Chris Huebner got the
game one start as is becoming par and he did not disappoint going 3in,
2R, 0ER, 2H, 0BB, 2HBP, 5K good enough to earn a win in a run-rule
shortened game. The Royals sent Jacob Koch to the hill and he
has historically given the White Sox fits. Seth White set the
tone of the day by stroking a solid double to the fence on the second
pitch of the game. Phil McClure plated White on a SAC fly to go
up 1-0. I predicted a tough game the rest of the way until Andy
Miller started the 2nd inning with a home run, Stephen Boudreaux took
a rare walk and he and Jason Christner scored on Huebner's double and
by the third inning, it was over with the Sox plating the first 9
batters of the inning. Final 19-2. Phil McClure and Dustin
Wilson close out the game on the mound not giving up a run or walk on
only 2 hits. Stats get kinda gaudy from that point on so I will
move on to game two...
Rookie Caleb
Kelley gets the ball for the start of game two just as the Royals
started getting a little more comfortable at the plate. But
Kelley kept them at bay striking out 3 over 2 innings and only giving
up 2ER. The game was 5-3 White Sox after three innings, but the
White Sox onslaught was coming again as everyone in the dugout was
having a great time almost in spite of the game. It's the best
part about MSBL baseball and the real reason I show up for every game
despite the required sacrifices on time, energy, finances, and health.
The Royals started Tom Cisar on the hill and he pitched well until the
start of the second inning. Boudreaux (I'm using the third
person here) started it off with an even more rare double and after
the bases were loaded behind him, second year (ever) man, Nick Coe got
an HBP RBI which is awesome. Seth White also got an HBP RBI, Tim
Hooper followed with a fielder's choice and Jason Christner cleaned
the bases with a double. The Royals turned to old Cub, Justin
Ledbetter (who is a hard-throwing baller who plays a mean short stop
for a guy his size), but the Sox weren't done hitting and put up 11
runs on him before the day was done. Final 20-8. For this game, Seth
White (2-2, 3RBI, 2B, HR, 2HBP), Stephen Boudreaux (3-5, 3R, 2@2B),
Albert Swann (2-2, 4R, BB, 2HBP-a nasty hematoma on his forearm),
Patrick Taliaferro (3-5, 3R, 4RBI, 2@2B, K) and most impressively, on
the entire day, Chris Huebner (6-7, 2R, 11RBI, 2@2B, 3B coming off the
bench). I am fairly sure that the Royals, like last
season, will come back at the end of the year with a completely
different squad that we saw today and challenge for the title again.
Just hoping the White Sox keep up the fun and camaraderie.
--Stephen Boudreaux, White Sox
June 28-29, 2013
White Sox 12
Wingnuts 6
Wingnuts 1 White
Sox 8
I have no idea how it could
be sub 70 degrees on June 29th in Arkansas, but we will take it over
having EVERY weekend last season pushing 100 degrees. And
somehow, it seems on days as nice as this, we get a full roster to
show up. All 18 guys. I actually prefer it that way, but
dang...I wish we had 18 guys when it's 100 degrees and a
double-header. Maybe that might happen. The White Sox (who
only had 9 players by our second game last week) had an opportunity to
finally see all of our roster at work. We have seen most of the
new guys now, but some of our returning players are finally coming out
of the off-season. Seth White picked up right where he left off
from last year going 3-3 in the first game and logging a 9-3 put-out,
so we are glad to have him back. Matt Villines comes back in his
first at-bats and goes 1-1 with a BB. On the hill for game one,
starter, Chris Huebner didn't look his normal self giving up 5 ER on 4
hits, 2BB, HBP, and only one K in his three allotted innings.
However, newcomer, David Bodzin (who had a super shaky first outing
last week), started to live up to his billing by settling down the
Wingnut hitters the rest of the way with a line (4IN, 1R, 0ER, 0hits,
1BB, 1HBP, 5K) to earn the win. Besides the aforementioned,
Jason Christner continues his solid offensive performance by going
2-3, R, 3RBI, 3B.
By game two, the White Sox
were grooving a little easier. Rookie, Caleb Kelley took the
hill and looked solid (3IN, 0R, 0ER, 3hits, 2BB, 3K), but veteran,
Matt Mozzoni is continuing to impress on the mound. Matt was a
seldom-show in the past, but has committed to more field time this
season and it's a good thing as he is picking up veteran pitching
slack for us. Matt's fastball has excellent pop as witnessed
last week but it was the off-speed stuff that was shining today.
Matt's line: 4IN, 1R, 1ER, 2hits, 2BB, 6K and a win.
Offensively, the White Sox scattered things about, but Chris Huebner
shook off his mound performance from game one with a line of dueces:
2-2, 2R, 2B. Tim Hooper had a solid game, 2-4, R, 2RBI, 2B.
I'd like to note that 2nd year player...I do mean this is only his
second year EVER playing baseball at age 33...Nick Coe, got his third
RBI already this year tripling his output for the whole season last
year. Way to go Nick! --Stephen Boudreaux, White Sox
June 22-23, 2013
White Sox 14
Orioles 9
Orioles 17 White
Sox 11
It always seems that
hitting out-paces pitching early in the season and this season is no
exception considering the gawdy scores being posted after the first
two weekends. The White Sox had a great showing and equal
results in the first weekend, but with 7 fewer players this weekend to
try and tackle a double-header is a near-impossible task. Of
those 7, five are pitchers. I felt fairly confident that young
starter, Chris Huebner, would give us a solid three innings in game
one, but after that, it was a "sight-unseen" wonder. What we
also did not know is what sort of concoction the Orioles were...part
Tigers, Appleknockers, VB Hogs, and Rangers at least. What we
did know is that if the Orioles were the best 25% of each of those
teams, then they would be a force in the NWAMSBL. Even though
the Sox were without a full squad, it was apparent that the Orioles
are serious competition in this league in their "first" season.
Former VB Hogs pitcher, Kyle Cherry started game one for the Orioles
and proved to be a menace to parts of the Sox order. But the
meat of the Sox line-up eventually stymied Cherry when his control
faltered taking 8 walks and 4 HBPs and ultimately rattling off 12 hits
including home runs by Tim Hooper and newcomer, Jason Christner along
with a rare double by "The Front Office." Chris Huebner gets the
short-inning win and last season's rare show, Matt Mozzoni, gets the
long-inning save with some power pitching that some of us forgot
about.
Game two saw the effects of
having only 9 left at the ball park for the White Sox when Tim Hooper
had to depart. New pitcher, David Bodzin, had a manic tough time
finding the strike zone, and when he did, the Orioles made him pay
giving up 9 runs in the first two frames alone. Spotting a team
9 makes for a long day trying to even think about a
come-back...especially when Bodzin gave up another 6 runs in the 4th
before Andy Miller came in to try and salvage anything. Down
15-6, the Sox did all they could to plate a few more runs before the
dreaded "baseball clock" came into play, but it was pretty fruitless.
Given the Sox numbers, I was actually kind of happy with a split.
On the day: Jason Christner (4-9, 4R, 5RBI, HR, 3@2B, K),
Stephen Boudreaux (4-7, 2R, 2B, BB, HBP), Tim Hooper (2-2, 2R, 4RBI,
HR, 2B, BB (see why we missed him in game two...), Andy Miller (5-8,
2R, 4RBI, BB)--Stephen Boudreaux, White Sox
June 15-16, 2013
White Sox 16 Red
Rockets 3
This has been the strangest
off season in my recollection over 18 years in the NWAMSBL.
Normally, the Sox would have a half-dozen practices and as many
scrimmage games by the start of the season. However, with the
paltry field availability this year, the first time to get the team on
a field since last September was today in our first game against the
18+ Red Rockets. To make matters even more awkward, I had only
SEEN 7 of our 17-man roster in person before today's game. Kinda
hard to get a team ready over the phone and email. However, our
core group that has been together since 2004 had my confidence.
It was the "rookie" group that was the big question mark. With only 12
players able to make today's game, I wanted to get everyone in and see
what they could do, so we batted 11 and planned on pitching everyone
that could pitch. Since the two full-time pitchers we
recruited in the off-season could not make the game, I chose to start
Chris Huebner on the hill. Chris is somehow still considered a
rookie even though he has been with the Sox for 5 years now because he
is still under 25. But he plays every game like a veteran.
Huebner goes a full 9 innings complete game (didn't have the heart to
pull him while he was rolling) for the win with a pretty sick line
including 14 Ks and giving up only 4 hits, 1BB and an HBP... The Sox
offense was alive probably thanks to Phil McClure's rag arm BP in the
dark mustering 22 hits led by new-comer, Brad Hughes who literally in
a quiet way, went 5 for 5 with 3RBI and a 2B. The only down-side
to the day was the loss of Dustin Wilson in the third who went down
with an ankle injury. Dustin is a critical component to the Sox
offense and defense. Hope the x-rays are negative.--Stephen
Boudreaux, White Sox
2012 Final Standings and
Summaries
2011 Final Standings and
Summaries
2010 Final Standings and
Summaries
2009 Final Standings and
Summaries
2008 Final Standings and
Summaries
2007 Final Standings and
Summaries
2006 Final Standings and
Summaries
2005 Final Standings and
Summaries
2004 Final Standings and
Summaries
2000 Final Standings and Summaries