Touching the Bases With Nate Eastman: Walk Off Win

Winding down our summer with our last stretch of games being four double headers in four days.  The next six games we will be playing the Oneonta Outlaws who are currently fighting for a first place spot in the division. We are currently fighting for the sixth spot and a birth into the playoffs. With a record of 13-19 we currently sit in the 9^th spot in the division. As of late we have been playing baseball as we try to go on a run like earlier in the year.

Yesterday we had a home double header against the Syracuse Salt Cats who currently hold forth place in the division. We jumped out to a one run lead, but could not hold on and lost 4-1 in the seven inning game. The second game was just as hard of a battle as the first. After seven innings the score was locked at zero as we headed into extra innings. Every inning was a battle, and every runner on base was a battle to keep from scoring.  With many questionable calls from the umpires, our manager was thrown out of the game in 5^th inning.  After our manager was thrown out our General manager, Matt Rafte threw on a pair of baseball pants and finished coaching our team through the game.  This sparked a fire in our team leaving us determined to win the game for our coach.

Finally in the bottom of the tenth the Salt Cats brought in Raymond Messener and our leadoff hitter Michael Bunal lead off the bottom of tenth with a double. Kessener was forced to walk the next batter to induce the double play. The third hitter Skyler Geissinger hit a shallow single to center and Bunal was held up at third. Then the clean up hitter came up needing only a sac fly to win the game. Kai’i  “Blaze” Tom hit a high fly ball, but instead of a sac fly, he hit off a walk off home run.  It was hands down one of the most exciting games we have had all year.   As he circled the bases, we were all ecstatic waiting at home to congratulate him at home.  Being apart of games like that make playing for this Silversmiths team an unforgettable experience for me.  With our next 6 game series against the Outlaws we hope to build off this win to achieve the goal of clinching a playoff spot.  Check out my next post to hear about all the excitement as we make a push for the playoff.