May 2 & 3, 2009

Leff's Lucky Town 4 Varsity Club Bulldawgs 3
In a game where the pitchers were ahead of the hitters all day, Leff's prevailed over the Varsity Club 4-3. Varsity Club pitcher Travis Rose held Leff's to 3 runs over 5 innings but left trailing 3-1, as Leff's starter Rob Tschimperle (pronounced like it is spelled) worked his way out of trouble twice with minimal damage. In the fifth, Leff's reliever Mike Schroeder walked two leading to Varsity Club tying the game 3-3. Greg Ketz drove in Jeff Sohns in the bottom of the 5th to take the lead again for Leff's.  Schroeder then settled down and allowed only one more baserunner, a double to the track in centerfield by 2008 Co-league MVP Mike Beringer, otherwise dominating the rest of the 6th and 7th innings by getting all six outs via strikeout to secure the win in the opening game of the 2009 MBL season. 

South Shore All-Stars 7 St. Francis A's 3
The Southshore All-Stars, were led on the mound by Brian Curran in a hard fought game against a tough St. Francis A’s expansion team. The A’s, in their inaugeral game, got out to a 3-1 lead until the Allstar’s rallied in the 5th to take the lead. The Allstar’s added a few insurance runs in the 6th to go on to a 7-3 victory.

The Steakout Black Sox 32 Milwaukee Titans 4
Recent expansion franchise The Steakout clubbed the current expansion franchise Titans 32-4.  The Titans in their first time playing together were still searching for the right combination in the field as they commited multiple errors.  Jeff Michor had a monster day at the plate going 4 of 6 with 2 doubles and 7 RBI. League officials are looking at adopting a PED testing policy after concerns of Jason Manske's new hat size and his 400 foot bomb in the 4th.

Supreme Builders 12 Jimmy B's 4
The Supreme Builders jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after the first inning with a 2 RBI double by Colin Moser. However, Jimmy B's manufactured two runs in the top of the third inning to tie the game up at 2 to 2. In the bottom half of the inning, Moser came through again hitting a 3 RBI single, which allowed the Builders to take a comfortable lead for the remainder of the game. Brian Rennicke earned the win giving up no earned runs. Ryan Diaz gained a save allowing only 1 earned run. Supreme Builders bats were extremely patient drawing 9 walks. They were led by Moser going 3 of 4, with a double & 5 RBI, Sean Carolan going 3 of 4, with 2 runs, & Chad Olson going 2 of 3, with 3 runs & 2 RBI. Jimmy B's offense was lead by Joe Cefalu going 2 of 3.
 
O'Brien's/Milwaukee Harley Davidson 8 Town & Lake Realty Braves 4
O'Brien's/Milwaukee Harley Davidson Orioles scored all eight of their runs in the sixth inning to overcome a three run deficit and beat Town & Lake Realty/Greco's Braves. The Braves scored one in the fourth and two in the fifth to give Braves the 3-0 lead. Braves starter Steve Thompson no hit the Orioles through four innings until Jon Stocks led off the fifth for the Orioles with a single to right to break up the no hitter. Thompson left the game after loading the bases in the fifth with soreness in his pitching arm and reliever George James struck out the final batter to get out of the inning with no runs scored. The Orioles offense finally broke through in the sixth highlighted by a two run double from Tim Heling and a bases loaded double from Chris Sanders that scored three. Dan Wilfrath pitched the last two innings for the Orioles to get the win. Losing Pitcher for the Braves was George James.
 
PJ's Tigers 6 Brew City Indians 3
Defending Champions PJ's Tigers kept their winning streak going as they picked up where they left off from last year defeating the Indians in a close game all the way to the end of the game. PJ's Tigers scored in the 1st inning off of Indians starting pitcher Justin Karpinski when 2008 Co-league MVP Andy Monigal led the game off with an infield single which he beat out to 1st base with his blazing speed. Then Monigal proceeded to steal 2nd & 3rd base. Then Cory McEwen had an RBI single to center field which made it 1-0. This score would hold up until the bottom of the 6th inning when PJ's scored 5 runs off of relief pitcher Chris Behling. Leading the hitting for PJ's Tigers in the 6th inning was Kevin Tapper with a warning track double earning him 2 RBI. Next batter Corey Sumner then hit a double earning an RBI scoring Tapper. Then Andy Monigal earned an RBI after this. Jason Maaske then had an RBI after this making the score 6-0 after 6 innings.
Starting pitcher for PJ's was one of their only new players this season in Justin Gelhausen who threw excellent working 6 & 2/3 innings only allowing 3 runs with 2 runs being earned runs while only allowing 4 hits the entire game & with 5 strike outs & 9 Walks. Andy Monigal came in to earn the 1 out relief Save by striking out the only Indians batter he faced to end the game when the Indians had the bases loaded after scoring 3 runs in the top of the 7th inning mainly due to walks & a hit Indians batter. Tigers Pitcher Justin Gelhausen earned the victory for the Tigers. Justin Karpinski took the loss on the mound for the Indians.

Johnny V's 6 Club Paragon 5 
Johnny V's beat Club Paragon 6-5 in a nail biter. Johnny V's took a 5-0 lead after 3 innings capped by Eric Lubarsky's 2-run Home Run. But Club Paragon chipped away and tied the score at 5-5 in the 6th inning. Johnny V's Dan Goral double and Paul Lennart RBI single in the bottom of the 6th inning proved to be the winner. However, Club Paragon put up a fight in the 7th and the game ended with the bases loaded. Mike Gramarossa picked up the win by going the distance with 7 strikeouts. Tony Lubarsky had 3 hits while Lennart and Eric Lubarsky had 2 hits for Johnny V's. Jimmy Kuriatnyk had 2 hits for Club Paragon.