Sunday, May 4 (WEEK 2)

      

BATS FALL, 10-5, TO LIGHTNING; BLANKENSHIP SETS NEW IRONMAN RECORD

 

 

LAKE IN THE HILLS — The Bats wooden bats were a little sluggish in the chilly Sunday morning air at Plote Field as they managed only 5 hits in a 10-5 loss to the Lightning (2-0).  The Lightning scored 3 runs in the top of the first inning off Joe Nebel making his first career start for the Bats after having just one two-inning appearance on the mound last season.  Nebel was lifted with one out in the fourth after surrendering 1 run in the third and being responsible for 2 more unearned runs in the fourth.  Greg Kaczmarek finished the game for the Bats allowing 4 runs in 3 2/3 innings on 4 hits and 3 walks.

 

Although the Bats (0-2) answered the Lightning’s 3-run outburst in the first with 2 runs in their half of the inning they were never really able to solve Lightning starter Jimmy Romano much after that.  In the first, Nebel helped his own cause with a 2-run single plating Tom Klauba and Paul Abbinanti.  The Bats scored a run in the third on an RBI single by Klauba to drive home Mark Bianchi and added 2 more unearned runs in the sixth when Kaczmarek and Peter Choe scored.  Choe also collected 2 of the Bats 5 hits.

 

The Lightning failed to score only in the second and fifth innings en route to their 10-5 victory while the Bats had three 1-2-3 innings and never more than 1 hit in an inning.

 

One bright point for the Bats was their defense killing a rally with a double play for the second straight game.  In the second inning, with Lightning runners on first and second, Klauba snagged a screaming line drive at short and quickly fired the ball to first baseman Bryan Albers to double up the runner before he could scamper back to the bag.

 

THERE'S A NEW IRONMAN IN TOWN

 

A Bats record that had stood since 2017 was broken on Sunday when Earl Blankenship extended his Consecutive Games Played streak to 114 games, surpassing the old mark of 113 games held by former Bats catcher Don Gragnani.  Ironically, Earl’s first season with the Bats ended up being Gragnani’s final season.  Little did anyone know at the time the ironman baton was being handed off.

 

Gragnani set the bar very high as the team’s only catcher used for the first 107 of his 113 straight games played.  He caught every inning of those 107 games which included 9 double-headers and covered nearly 700 innings and 4,000 batters.  He refused to sit out and continued to produce offensively, batting a solid .379 with 118 hits including 27 for extra bases, during the streak.

 

Earl’s production during his 114 games has been equally impressive batting .350 with 128 hits including 22 doubles, primarily as the team’s leadoff hitter during his first three seasons.  His 10 doubles in 2018 still stands as the single-season record for the Bats.

 

As with any lengthy streak, Earl’s run to 114 games wasn’t without it’s share of jeopardizing moments.  In his first year with the Bats, just 10 games into the season, he was involved in a run-in with an opposing player and the home plate umpire, which resulted in his being tossed from the game.  Consequently, a league fine was mandatory and a suspension was also possible.  The NIMBL voted to levy just the fine with no suspension and games missed.

 

Then in 2021, the first year back from 2020’s No-Season due to Covid, Earl contracted Covid during the season with his streak standing at 51 straight games.  The league’s guideline mandated if you contracted Covid you had to sit out a weekend before coming back.  Fortunately, for Earl and the Bats, the weekend he had to sit out was the weekend of May 9 — Mother’s Day.  Since no games were scheduled that weekend, he did not have to miss a game and the streak stayed intact.

 

Since then, Earl has had a few spills and boo boos, but nothing that has kept him out of the Bats line-up.  His dependability and loyalty to the Bats has served as an inspiration to his teammates and one less headache for his managers when making out the lineup card week in and week out.

 

Next in line behind Blankenship and Gragnani, is Bats manager Tom Paul who extended his own consecutive games played streak to 82 games.  He could become the third Bats player to reach 100 straight games played early next season.

 

 

                               

                                   

                                           Earl Blankenship holds game ball after playing 

                                         in his 114th consecutive game for the Bats.

 

 

The Bats (0-2) next game will be at 10:00 AM on Saturday, May 17 against the Fab 50 Grays (1-0) at Thelen Park in Spring Grove, Ill.  

 

BATS DROPPINGS

Since 2004 the Bats have opened the season with an 0-2 record 13 times.  In nine of those seasons, they fell to 0-3, including last season (2024).  The best the Bats have ever finished following an 0-2 start is 6-7 in 2005 ….  The Bats have now lost 4 games in a row to the Lightning and are 9-28 all-time against them since the Lightning entered the league in 2013 ….  The Bats have scored 2 runs in the first inning in each of their first two games this season.  Last season the Bats scored in the first inning only 3 times — a total of only 7 runs — in 14 games ….  The Bats are 1-6 in their last 7 games dating back to the 2024 season.  The best 7-game stretch the Bats have ever had is a 6-1 mark across the 2005-06 seasons, then in 2021 and again in 2022 …. Leadoff hitter Mark Bianchi tweaked his right calf while rounding third base in the third inning and will be out indefinitely …. The Bats entry in the newly formed NIMBL 58s division won their first game, 16-10, at Plote Field following the Bats 48s game.  Earl Blankenship picked up the victory with 6 1/3 innings of relief pitching.