Baseball@Murakami 2020-03-07 [Les Buzzin']

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GoBows2014
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Baseball@Murakami 2020-03-07 [Les Buzzin']

Post by GoBows2014 »

The Les was buzzing tonight!

It has been many years since Murakami stadium has had a crowd like this--so many people, soo loud and so much into the ballgame. The bottom of the 9th had everyone on their feet whooping, whistling and cheering. The clapping cadences for the the last couple outs to win the game were as loud as Aloha Stadium back in the day when we used to stomp the steel and make the whole stadium vibrate!

But let's back up a few. This is the third of four against Oregon, we won on a soggy Thursday night on a come from behind win. We won Friday with a good old-fashioned butt-whupping! So came into tonight with lots of confidence, but things went south in a hurry. Brandon Ross, starting pitcher for Hawaii, had an off night, to put it mildly. Out of the first 16 pitches, 15 were balls which amounted to three walks, a beaned batter, and a run walked in with the bases loaded. This is the top of the first inning!

Trap had seen enough, Cade Smith to the rescue! Three strikes in a row for the first out. Two more strikes, one ball, then another strike for the 2nd out. Long story short we get out of the first with only one run for the Ducks, what a save with bases loaded and no outs. Second inning for Cade was just as good, nine out of his first ten pitches were strikes. Ducks up and down in short order. Cade had a rougher 3rd inning, some bad pitches plus a few passed balls by catcher Tyler Murray didn't help. Ducks were up 3-0 early then added 2 more in the top of the 5th.

UH was not hitting their pitcher very well. Other than a few stranded runners, we weren't hitting much and were putting nothing on the board. Trap puts in Dallas Duarte as catcher, but it was a really rough night for Dallas, he was getting beat up behind the plate. Twice in the next several innings Dallas took fastball hits to sensitive parts of the body, down and in pain, and nearly out of the game. Amazingly he played on, and even batted well later when we really needed the runs, but he'll be feeling it tomorrow for sure.

Bats for Hawaii, tho, usually so strong? Weren't there tonight for most of the night. And defense? Also was a bit soft. Baeza, usually a guaranteed golden glove at first, had an error last night fielding a one hopper, and had another one tonight. (it would really help if his infield could make a throw to first without bouncing it). And Alex was a bit slow beating out a hit in the middle innings and got thrown out on what should have been a sure single. Not the best outing for Alex for the last 2 games up to this point but he had the final say when he smoked one down the first baseline, just inches from 1B's glove and only a few inches fair, with men on, to tie the game 5-5. It was that smokin' double by Alex that got UH back in the game, and the crowd came to life! Next batter up was Matt Wong who stroked a three bagger that scored Baeza and put the 'Bows up 6-5. The crowd WENT OFF!

The next couple innings were constant buzz, constant noise, intense clapping, even the Basebow starters were on the top step of the dugout encouraging the crowd, but the crowd needed little help making noise. The hometown support for our guys was off the scale and it was great to feel such love in the ballpark again for our 'Bows!

Nice touch on a fun night was a local boy out of Kamehameha/Kapolei, Hunter Breault, pitching for Oregon the last several innings. He did well at first, but then the crowd, the noise, and the pressure started getting to him. He was bouncing pitches, and had a few passed balls, hometown crowd just kept getting louder and louder. Trap had brought in Vince Reilly in the top of the 8th with UH up 6-5, but Vince struggled a bit and pretty soon the Ducks had tied the game and still had men on base. So we ended up going to the bottom of the 9th in a tie game, 6-6. Then the buzz, the passion of home town fans, intensity factor, and sheer energy put this game off the scale. In the bottom of the ninth, in a tie game, Oregon let us get one man on, then two, then bases loaded. And got behind on the count when a walk would end the game. If there was any rust or dust in the rafters at Murakami, the ground shaking fan intensity ended all that tonight.

A little cool at the Les this evening, with light to medium breezes during the game, and no rain at all. Huge turnout (over 3,000) and it was little league nite, so the termites were out in force! Beer lines were long early and stayed long all night (30 to 40 guys waiting in line for 2 innings for a brewski!) Crowd was so big, most lower section seats were filled and mezzanine had several hundred just watching from the railings. Final score 7-6 'Bows, but this win was special, best buzz at the Les in many, many years, and *another* come from behind win against the Oregon Ducks. Fans are thinking sweep for tomorrow's 4th game of the series. Would bringing a broom be in bad taste? Go Bows!
Last edited by GoBows2014 on Sun Mar 08, 2020 11:40 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Baseball@Murakami 2020-03-07 [Les Buzzin']

Post by Irse »

Nice to see the BB team do well. I remember when it was like this all the time.
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Re: Baseball@Murakami 2020-03-07 [Les Buzzin']

Post by shrek2 »

Nothing beats a beer, hot dog and a great game.

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