For the first time in 10 years the Bats were victorious in the season opener as they edged the Lightning, 7-5, at the American Legion field in Gurnee, Ill. on Sunday.  The last time the Bats won the opening game in 2007 they were known as the Diamondbacks and they trounced the Mariners that day, 31-7.

The Bats (1-0) notched 11 hits with Matt Weiss and newcomers Kevin Molbeck and Earl Blankenship leading the way with 2 hits apiece.  Weiss, a hard-throwing right hander, also pitched the first 4 innings holding the Lightning to just 1 run.  Molbeck finished the game on the mound to earn the 2-out save in the seventh inning.

Both teams remained scoreless through 3 innings until the Lightning (0-1) struck first with 1 run in the fourth on an RBI single by Tom Behringer.  It was only one of 2 hits allowed by Weiss in his four innings of work.

The Bats came right back in the bottom of the inning with 5 runs of their own.  After John Moulchin walked to lead off, consecutive one-out singles by Earl Blankenship, Bill Quoss, and Weiss gave the Bats a 2-1 lead.  They added 3 more runs in the inning with a hit batter a walk and two errors by the Lightning defense to surge ahead, 5-1.

Quoss, a crafty southpaw, came on to pitch the fifth inning and quickly retired the first two batters he faced.  However, a double followed by a single and 3 uncharacteristic walks left the bases loaded with 2 runs to cut the Bats lead to 5-3.  Manager Rich Skibski opted to bring in John Moulchin who surrendered a seeing eye hit through the hole between third and short to knot the score at 5-5.  Moulchin got the next batter to end the fifth to preserve the deadlock.

The Bats scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to take a 7-5 lead.  Singles by Ron Skrabacz and Molbeck and a Don Gragnani walk loaded the bases with nobody out.  Skrabacz scored on a wild pitch and Gragnani eventually scored on the front end of a double steal. 

Moulchin worked an easy 1-2-3 sixth and went back out to pitch the seventh with a 2-run lead.  After surrendering a one-out single he left the game with back stiffness giving way to the newly acquired Molbeck who quickly induced a pop out for the second out.  A single to center put the tying runs on first and second before retiring the last batter on a ground ball force out at third to preserve the game for the Bats. 

The Bats next game will be on Sunday, April 30 at 10 a.m. against the Marauders at Plote Field in Lake in the Hills, Ill. 

BATS DROPPINGS

The Bats drew 7 walks in the game, the most walks they had since inducing 9 against the Grays on Aug. 23, 2015. ....... The Bats left 10 runners on base, 5 in scoring position. ...... The Bats defense had only 4 assists, 1 each from the pitcher and catcher positions and 2 from second base. ...... When Tony DiBlasi took over left field in the second inning it marked the start of his 20th season with the Bats (aka the Diamondbacks from 1998-2008).  He is the last remaining member of the original team known as the Algonquin Diamondbacks in 1998. ..... DiBlasi was also hit by a pitch in his second time up to bat.  Since the D'Backs/Bats joined the over-50 league in 2004 he has been hit 35 times.  Randy Harris is a distant second on the all-time HBP list with 12.