Day one of the World Series in Beaumont, Texas was pool play.  With 17 teams at the Series and the Renegades getting the 4 seed, the opponents would be the 17 seed Braille Bandits of Palm beach, the #14 Long Island Bombers and the #7 Gateway Archers.

Renegades Roll Over Braille Bandits 14-2

The Renegades first ever win under coach Weissman came in 2003 against the Florida Sand Spurs.  That was the last time they played against a team from Florida, till today.  The Bandits had made a bunch of recent series and had not finished higher than last place.

Day one of the series was all about making sure players got rest.  With a Braille Bandits game and a rumor that Long Island had their flight cancelled…everything was about planning for the Gateway Archers, the last day of the game.

Boston would be the home team and were looking at it as a way to get some players warmed up and a way to get others a lot of playing time.  The game plan was to get Guy Zuccarello, Luis Soto and Elana Regan to play the full game and rotate others into the game.  Gina Devenish would be getting her second start of the season as a caller as well.  The expectation was this would be a game where the opponent may strike out about 50% of the time.

With the league having issues with bases, third base was removed from action for the first inning. The K’s started early as the Bandits struck out three times in the first.  In fact, the leadoff hitter, Jake McEntyre did something very rare, taking strike four for a called strike out.

Boston did not fare much better in the bottom of the inning.  Trying to get timing down for Joe Mac and Shawn Devenish, they were the 1-2 hitters.  McCormick had one foul tip and whiffed.  Devenish fouled off the first two pitches and also whiffed. Luis Rodriguez, the DH, fouled off the first two pitches.  He then hit a bouncer up the middle past the first layer which died before the second layer and scored running to first.  The Gades first run of the 2022 World series!  Guy ended the first, striking out as there was a combined 6 strikeouts in this first inning.

The whiffs would continue for the Bandits as Zephryn Victor struck out to start the second.  That made 7 outs in this game by way of a whiff as the defense was getting a big break on both sides of the ball.  The first defensive play of the game would come off the bat of Romano Blake, who hit a dribbler up the middle.  Joe McCormick flew in and slid past it into the 40 foot arc…recovered and came back to make the play for the first out of the 2022 World Series.  Ralph Smith whiffed to end the inning as Boston led 1-0 after 1.5 innings.

Peter Connolly would start the next inning on the bump, as he would be facing Luis Soto.  Boston had a rotation in this series where Connolly would face 4 of the 13 hitters on the Renegades all week including Soto, Ivan Rodriguez, Shayne Cantan and David Sanchez.  Soto and Connolly had been facing each other for the past few seasons as they had developed a great relationship that stretches beyond the field as well.   Soto hit a line drive up the middle on the first pitch as Connolly got things going quicker than Cochran. Elana Regan became the first female to start a world series game since Kae Rausch.  She hit the first pitch she saw into left field, but she missed third base and was stopped before she could get back.  McCormick then came back up and hit a ball shorter than Regan, but his speed was too tough and he scored to make it 3-0.  Devenish hit a hard grounder right through the legs of the right front man past everyone in “Bill Buckner “form to make it 4-0.  Luis Rodriguez then hit a hard chopper changing the pitch of the ball for his second run of the game.  Zuccarello checked in with his first run of the series on the very next pitch on a weak pop up that landed just past the 40 foot arc to make it 6-0.  That would be six hitters, 8 pitches and six runs.  Much improved from the first inning.  Soto could not maintain the pattern, going down on strikes on five pitches.   Elana Regan then hit the fourth pitch she saw down the third base line and after the umps conferred to check the play, was awarded her first run of her World Series and her second run of her career to give Boston a 7-0 lead.  Weissman would start resting people as Chris Kimball replaced McCormick.  He started like many of the others with four swings and misses to end the frame.  Five of the six outs for both teams were whiffs.

Boston sent in the subs and moved things around defensively, as Regan got her first inning at mid field, Thayer moved to third and Kimball moved to right shorty for the Renegades.  McEntyre and Salmon whiffed to start the third,  Jeff Tyler then laced a ball up the middle to Elana Regan, while his catcher was yelling “go…go..go”.  One would think the hitter would be called out as the catcher can’t talk during the play.  However, the ball was not beeping and the play would be called a dead ball.  He then hit the second pitch on a weak pop to the left side.  Zuccarello charged it and went into a late slide and hit the ball with his ankle.  He had no time to recover with Tyler’s speed as the Bandits got on the board for what may have been Tyler’s first career run.  Zephryn Victor then laced a line drive to the left side as Rob Thayer, playing third crashed into the ground like an airplane making a crash landing.  The inning would end with another whiff and Boston led 7-2 as the Bandits had whiffed 8 times in 11 trips to the plate.

Thayer would strike out to start the bottom of the third.  David Sanchez would then enter the game, hitting for Lrod as a way to get his timing going.  He hit the first pitch hard to the left side and scored with ease off Connolly to make it 8-2 as the Bandits caller called three different numbers on the play.  Zuccarello then laced a line drive up the middle and something very rare happened.  Guy broke the ball with his explosive power.  Many jokes ensued, and we though it may have been just the second time he had ever broke a ball (it was actually the third time as he broke two balls against the New Jersey Lighting in 2015). He would eventually ground out to Tyler on a bang-bang play as Tyler would own Guy in this inning.  Soto hit a bouncer up the middle right at Peter.  Connolly arched his back to avoid getting hit and Soto beat it out as Tyler missed the play.  Elana Regan then laced a hard grounder to the left side past the first line of defense and scored her second run of the game.  This marked the first time; a female Renegade had ever scored multiple runs in a game!  Another Renegade rookie got started as Kimball laced a line drive into left for his first World Series run.  Thayer, then hit a weak grounder up the middle and after a step to the wrong base, took about 8 seconds to get to first for his first run of the series. This brought up our third rookie of the inning as Ivan Rodriguez, who started the game as a designated fielder, laced a nice hit into left but was put out quickly by Victor.  This was a five run third as Boston led 12-2 after three and a half.

The fourth inning was a good defensive inning for Boston as the Bandits started to enter their bench.  Kathleen Trueschel started things off with a weak flare to the right side as Chris Kimball raced in to make his first World Series stop on defense.  After another Bandits whiff, Douglass would come off the bench and hit a coffin corner to the left side as it landed right in the intersection of the arc and the line as Guy raced in to make the call before Douglass even got to the 40 foot arc.  After 4 innings, this game was over with Boston in command at 12-2.

Guy, who at this point in the game, was the most tenured player in the game, with his 18 years of experience, laced a shot into left on the first pitch to make it 13-2 as Boston inched to a 12 run game.  After a Soto whiff, Regan strutted to the plate looking for a three run game but was stopped just short of her crashing into first base by Zephryn Victor.  Chris Kimball was then involved in a weird play as he hit a flare down the third base line.  Kimball was in fair territory, Victor was in foul territory, so the umpire stopped the play and called for a do over.  He would then ground out to Romano.  After four, Boston lead 13-2.

Two more whiffs for the Bandits and a defensive stop by Guy Zuccarello off the bat of Zephryn Victor may have been the defensive play of the game was all the Bandits had in the fifth.  Boston was just trying to get rest for players and get experience for others.  The plan was working.

In the bottom of the frame, Thayer grounded out to third.  Ivan Rodriguez struck out which brought the defensive whiz of earlier in the inning to the plate.  Guy laced a shot into left that would give the Renegades a 12 run lead and Zuccarello, his third run of the game.  Soto would be stopped on a grounder up the middle and the Renegade offense was done for the day.  The 12 run rule would go into effect after five, but with the Renegades being the home team, they just needed three outs.

The first Bandit up was Kathleen Trutshsel, who whiffed.  It would be the 12th strike out for the Bandits.  It was pretty much what the Renegades expected.  The next batter was Kathryn Jeydnak who the Renegade had never seen put a ball in play with her time with Rochester, New Jersey and Long Island.  A weak grounder to the arc was a result.  Zuccarello and Kimball converged and Guy differed to Kimball to give him the out and build Kimball’s confidence.  Douglass was the last hitter of the game.  He hit a ball to the right side that slid past a charging Chris Kimball.  Chris got to his feet and stood there wondering if he had help.  Guy yelled at him from across the field, showing the leadership skills he has in the field.  He implored Kimball to go get it.  Kimball listened, attacked and made the stop.  Ball game!

For Boston, Zuccarello paced the offense with 3 runs scored.  He also was a defensive star with two stops and two assists in the field.  Yes, we know there is no such thing as a beepball assist…but in this case, watch the sixth inning in how he coached Chris to his two outs, and you will agree.  The story of the game though was Elana Regan scoring a pair and just missing a hat trick because of a missed base. This was the first ever game, a female Renegade had plated a pair of runs (and she may have had three if she did not miss a base).  In fact, after the series, it was determined that this game made Elana Regan the all-time female Renegade leader in runs scored at three passing Melissa Hoyt and Kae Rausch.  Boston got to stay on the field without moving for the first time all year as the Long Island Bombers limped over to play for the third time of the year.

Renegades Cancel the Long Island Bombers 18-4

Right before game 1 of the series, Boston caught up with Long Island and learned that most of their team was not in Texas due to flight cancellations.  A fear many have these days with all the trouble the airline industry was having.  They would have just 4 players and a sighted player playing for them.

Before the game even started, we asked them if they wanted to just forfeit so they would have gas in the tank to play their last game.  They wanted to play.  The available players were all of Long Island’s out-of -towners coming from Jersey, Pennsylvania and California.  They even asked Weissman to catch two batters in their lineup so their catcher could hit.  This also meant the last spot in their lineup was an automatic out.  This game was over before it started.

For Boston, we had rested players in game one and wanted to get timing down to prepare for what many in the league was calling an upset waiting to happen.  The upstart, Gateway Archers and Renegades were voted in as the game of the day and would be televised by the league.  Some of Boston was sadly going to take BP on the Bombers because they sat out the previous game.

Our pitching plan for this game would be the same for the week.  Peter would face David Sanchez, Shayne Cantan, Luis Soto and Ivan Rodriguez.  Cochran would get the rest.  On the defensive side, Peter would start the game on the right side with Jason Lenicheck on the left side.

This game started off in odd fashion.  Joe McCormick led off the game and fouled off 6 pitches in a 9 pitch at bat.  He then laced a shot into left field by everyone.  There was no base set off and Mac took off toward third base assuming it was just a low base.  He hit the base without it ever buzzing and scored.  This is the third time in team history a Renegade has scored a run to a base that was not buzzing!  We learned in this at bat that a player can run to any base they want and score, it does not need to be the one that is buzzing!  An odd start to this game.  Shawn Devenish would go down swinging.  Then Boston would have one of their biggest innings in team history.

Sanchez would score on a grounder down the third base line in the first pitch he saw  Cantan would hit a line drive into left for the third run of the game on the second pitch he saw.  Rob Dias would hit his first pitch of the week down the third base line for the third consecutive run.  Chris Kimball would find that left side again on a hard grounder and scored on the second pitch of his at bat.  McCormick then hit a grounder into left center on the second pitch.  This meant the Renegades had scored five straight runs on less pitches than McCormick had in his first at bat.  Devenish then got on the board with the best hit of the inning for the 7th run of the frame.  Weissman went to the bench and brought in Luis Soto to hit for Sanchez.  Soto kept the party going with a fly ball to left field for the 8th run of the inning.  Elana Regan came off the bench to hit for Cantan.  She hit a fly ball to the center of the field where Damien Gonzalez stopped the bleeding for the second out of the inning.  Rob Dias laced a fly ball into left for the 9th run of the inning.  Thayer would end the inning with a dribbler up the middle to Casey Bahn.  It was an inning that lasted nearly 25 minutes.  The Bombers were gassed but not giving up. It was the 12th time in team history the Renegades had scored at least 9 times in an inning and the 5th time it was done in the first inning of a game!

For Long Island, the out-of-towners made this lineup less familiar, even to the Bomber pitcher facing many of them for the first time.  Damien Gonzalez struck out to start things off.  John Cruz hit a bouncer to the left side.  The ball kicked off a diving Shawn Devenish in the 2nd layer and Joe McCormick, playing 3rd base, recovered in time for the stop.  Hussani Hill then hit a grounder up the middle that Devenish fielded clean.  After one full inning, Boston led 9-0

McCormick would stay hot scoring his 3rd run of the game to start off the 2nd inning.  Devenish hit a dribbler off the bottom of his bat by Casey Bahn.  Soto would repeat the act and also hit a dribbler that Bahn would charge in in for an easy out.  Elana Regan hit a pop fly, but it fell near the forty foot arc and Hussani Hill made the stop.

Due to the shortage of players and the flight cancellation, Weissman would start the second inning as the catcher for Long Island.  Casey Bahn would hit a grounder to the left side past Guy Zuccarello who called for help and Joe McCormick would charge the play to make an out while playing third base.  This would bring up the head coach/pitcher for the NJ Titans, a sighted player.  He hit a dribbler to the left side and took a step to first base before correcting himself.  Guy Zuccarello had all day to make the play and that would end the inning because the 6th slot in the order was an automatic strikeout due to the fact the Bombers had only five players.  After two innings, Boston led 10-0 on the way to a 12 run rule game.

Drew Crook came off the bench to start the third for his first appearance of the week.  Drew laced a grounder that rolled close to 180 feet and score easily.    Luis Rodriguez was next as the 11th hitter in the game.    He struck out on 4 pitches.  The Red Hot McCormick would go deep into the count again.  On the 4th pitch he saw, he hit a dribbler of the bottom of his bat to the right side.  Bahn charged it but it got by him and Mac’s speed was too much.  Mac had 4 runs in the game and the Gades led 12-0.  Bahn stopped Devenish and Soto would strike out to end the inning.  All Boston needed to do was get three stops and they would not bat again.

The 14 year old left Gonzalez went deep in the count then hit a line drive oppo.  It got by McCormick who could not get up and run back in time to pick it up.  The long island Titans were on the board.   John Cruz then went back-to-back hitting a grounder past a non-committed Shayne Cantan in the middle of the field.  Husanni Hill then laced a hard grounder to the left side, Zuccarello dropped to the ground and made a great play on a hard hit.  Nestor Gonzalez then stepped to the plate with Weissman doing the catching.  He ripped a line drive into left field past a diving McCormick and Luis Rodriguez.  He scored.  This may have been the first time this father/son duo had ever scored in an inning.  They avoided the 12 run rule as they closed the deficit to 12-3.

Boston would have Elana Regan up to start things off  in the 4^th with her confidence building.  She laced a line drive into left and scored her third run of the series and fourth of the year.  Shayne Cantan stepped to the plate for his first at bat of the game and scored easily as dust kicked up from his Godzilla footsteps when he ran to first base.  That brought Ivan Rodriguez to the dish.  On the first pitch he saw, he hit a dribbler up the middle but no base went off.  Ivan called for the late base and was awarded a new at bat.  He then laced a line drive up the middle but struggled to get out of the box and was stopped before he ran into the long island bench.  McCormick was next and looking for a five run game.  For the third time in the game, he worked the count to a full count, taking the third pitch of the at bat.  He then caught a ball off the bottom of the bat, raced to first and blew up first base for the third run of the inning and a 15-3 lead.  It was just the 4th time he scored 5 runs in a game in his career. Chris Kimball laced a shot foul down the left field side and hit it hard enough that the ball needed to be replaced (not bad for a kid weighing less than 120 pounds). On the 6th pitch of the at bat, he pounded a line drive into left and scored with ease.  Luis Soto then had a marathon at bat as well.  In the middle if the at bat, Husanni Hill needed to come to the bench as he was suffering from heat issues.  On the 8th pitch, he connected with Peter and sent a hard grounder into the outfield for a run.  Regan would not have lady luck this time around and went down on 4 pitches.  Shayne would put the nail in the coffin and score on a line drive up the middle for the 18th run and the 6th of the inning.  Ivan would strike out to end the Renegade offensive attack.

For Long island, they would quickly go into the 12 run rule.  Rob Dias would make three stops.  Joe McCormick and Shayne Cantan would also make stops and this game would be over.  This 14 win Run differential was the third biggest margin in team history and the only time the Renegades had ever won by 14 runs.  Boston would have to pack its stuff up and head to a new field as they would play the Gateway Archers in the game if the day on a league stream.

 

Renegades come out swinging and defeat Gateway 25-15

Game number three of the first day of the World Series.  Everything the team was working for over the past two weeks was geared to being ready and rested for this game.  Sadly, Luis Soto would be ruled out in this match as he was experiencing headaches due to the heat.  Everyone else was ready to go!  Though the Gateway Archers are a “new team”, Boston was extremely familiar with Johnny Walker and half their starting lineup which had played on other teams over the years.

To say the Renegades were fired up for this game may be an understatement.  The league voted for this to be the game of the day because so many teams felt Gateway could upset the Renegades.  What was on the mind of the Renegades was excitement and the desire to just play their game.

Boston’s plan from a pitching standpoint would remain consistent for the week.  Peter would have Shayne Cantan and David Sanchez in this game.  Ron Cochran would have the rest of the lineup.  Bryan Grillo would call the left side with Jason Lenicheck calling the right side.  Weissman would behind the dish.

Right out of the gate, there was not enough umpires on the field as each team needed to supply a volunteer to man the bases.  Weissman complained to the league to no avail that the “game of the day” had to use team’s coaches to umpire the bases.  If there was any close play, would everyone be honest?

1st inning

McCormick would lead off and stay red hot with a laser into left field.  It was his 7th straight run in the World Series.  Shawn Devenish then hit a fly ball to the right side that shot past all three layers of the Archer defense.  David Sanchez hit a hard grounder that rolled over 170 feet down the third base line.  Sanchez actually missed the base but it was hit so hard and far that he had time to come back to score.  It was a great start, but that would be all as Shayne Cantan and Rob Dias went down on strikes and Drew Crook would be stopped by Richie Krussel on a short pop fly to the left side.  Not quite the start Boston was looking for as they had a chance to do more damage but gave two gifts to the Archers.

Chris Kimball would sub in for Crook to play defense in the bottom half of the inning.  To start things off for the Archers was Richie Krussel who the Renegades had seen for years playing with the Colorado Storm and Indy Edge.  Johnny Walker would toe the rubber and he had been pitching to three of the top four hitters in this Gateway lineup for years.  Boston had a lot of respect for this pitcher as their lifetime record against Walker was only 5-9.  Behind the dish was the actual home grown pitcher for Gateway, Mari Blumenthal.  She would be catching Walker and letting this out of town all-star lead her team. Krusell hit the first pitch off Walker’s body to start the game.   He then was able to make contact and hit a bouncer up the middle.  Devenish over ran it and missed it; McCormick dove and missed it and Kimball was late to the spot as the Archers were on the board.  During the play Dias, spiked Devenish and bruised him up a little bit.  Devenish, tough as nails, would be ok after a minute.  Boston then got their first look at Kyle Borah, a big Right handed bat with pop to all fields.  He hit a pop fly that landed in front of Rob Dias.  By the time Dias could find the ball, he dove at it and kicked it with his knees and Borah was safe with a defensive blunder.  That brought Demetris Morrow to the plate, another long time Colorado player.  He hit a grounder down the third base line.  Rob Dias made a great play running hard to the line and stopped it nicely.  Ethan Johnston was next; another longtime staple of Johnny Walker’s lineups would be in his first series with Gateway.  Wearing cleats, because the league would not allow him to play barefoot, Johnston struck out. This brought Chad Dillon to the plate.  Dillon had been very vocal on social media over the years that he felt Boston was over rated.  This 2nd year left handed hitter had a lot to say during the pandemic that Boston was not a good team.  Strong words for someone who had never seen the Gades play.  His words were heard by the Renegades.  He hit a grounder to the right side.  Zuccarello came in and laid out but he kicked the ball about 5 feet away from him and could not recover in time.  This tied the game at three.  Sean Borah would end the inning on a weak grounder to the left side that scooted past Rob Dias.  Dias collected himself and went back after it. He had enough time to make the play as Borah didn’t have enough foot speed to score the run.

2nd Inning

Joe Mac led off the inning and again hit the first pitch on a line.  Krussel got in front of it but it bounced off his body and was out of reach for the speedy McCormick.  Devenish also hit the first pitch he saw, this time up the middle.  Ethan Johnston was playing in the deep middle.  He hit the ground and lined it up perfectly making it look easy.  Sanchez then hit a slow grounder to the left side.  Krusell dove and it went under him for a run.  Shayne Cantan lofted the first pitch to him to left field that landed and escaped three defenders for the third run of the frame.  Dias struck out for the second time of the game and the second out of the inning.  Kimball hit the first pitch he saw down the third baseline.  Krussel ran to the line and dropped to his knees and kicked it away.  The ball actually ricocheted off the base and back to a surprised Krussel who actually made the play.  However, Kimball was too quick for it to matter.  That was the fourth run of the inning.  McCormick then hit a hard grounder that bounced over Krussell, under a diving Johnston and under Morrow for his third run and the 8th run of the game.  Devenish lofted a fly ball to deep right that bounced over Sisson in deep right for the third straight run with two outs.  Sanchez then launched a bomb into center field past everyone that rolled past the 170 line for his third run of the match and the fourth straight run.  The Archers called for a defensive timeout.  This was just the second time in Sanchez’s career he had ever had a 3 run game and the last time was in 2018!  Coming out of the timeout, the Archers were trying to stop the rally and the Renegade Mojo.  Cantan popped the ball up in the air, but Krussel booted the ball again with his knees.  Looking to get going, Dias then launched an absolute bomb into left field.  However, the ball was dead.  He then hit a bouncer to the right side.  Kyle Borah slid to his right and made a nice stop as Dias made two outs in the inning.  Boston plated 8 runs and took an 11-3 lead heading to the bottom of the inning.  A half inning that took about 21 minutes.  This was the 2nd inning in two games which Boston plated at least 8 runs.  This was only the 24th inning in team history they had achieved this feat!

The Archers needed an answer.  Richie Krussel would lead off for the Gateway squad and hit a weak dribbler to the left side that would only get out to Dias because the fields were fast.  Dias crashed in on it on his knees and made the play.  Borah then hit a weak grounder to the left side that Dias played poorly.  He never laid out and stayed on his knees and the ball rolled by him slowly giving Borah time to score.  Morrow hit a grounder up the middle that just got under a diving Dias but Devenish was there to make the stop for the 2nd out.  Johnston then lofted a fly ball up the middle.  Devenish took a stab at it as he crashed to his left and McCormick took a shallow angle and they both missed the ball on another collision where Devenish got banged up. Chad Dillon struck out to end the threat as Gateway pulled within 6 runs down 11-5.

3rd inning

Chris Kimball would stay in the game and lead off the 3rd inning.  He would hit a sharp grounder into left and Kyle Borah was there to make an easy stop as he was moved from the right short spot to a deep left field role.  A nice defensive adjustment for the Archers.  The scorching McCormick lofted a fly ball that landed near Borah and rolled by Morrow for his 4th run of the game and his 10th run in a row.  Devenish hit a hard shot up the middle which Ethan Johnston knocked down with his hand and scrambled to pick up the ball on a bang-bang play.  Sanchez would strike out to end the inning as Boston gave the Archers some hope with just a six run lead.

Gateway had the door open for them.  The Archer response would not be what they needed.  Sean Borah would lead off for the Archers.  The left handed Borah hit a weak pop fly to the middle of the field which Dias and Zuccarello both raced in on.  Dias called Guy off and make the play quickly.  Krussel would go down on strikes.  Kyle Borah then hit a grounder up the middle of the field.  Zuccarello slid to his right, laid out and stopped the ball quickly for a 1-2-3 inning and a donut for the Archers.

4th inning

Momentum was shifting to the Renegades and the hope was to put the foot on the throat of the Archers squad.  Shayne Cantan would foul three balls off and laced a line shot into left field that rolled way past the 170 foot line for an easy run as the spotters stopped their defenders from running into a ditch.  Dias would get on the board in this appearance with the confidence of the crushed dead ball he had in his last at bat.  He fisted a pop up to the left side that landed in front of Kyle Borah but spun away from him for the second run of the game.  Weissman went to the bench and Drew Crook re-entered the game.  He would go down on four straight swings.  McCormick would not need 4 pitches.  In fact, he had scored 4 runs on just 6 pitches coming into this at bat.  He hit the first pitch off the bottom of his bat at Krussel, but it rolled up his body and away from him as McCormick scored his 5th run of the game and 11th in a row.  Devenish then lofted the first pitch he saw into deep left field.  Morrow slid over, laid out and picked up the ball on a bang-bang play.  Sanchez lofted a fly ball to the left side but this time Morrow laid out and the ball rolled by his feet as Sanchez scored his 4th run of the game,  a career high for him.  Shayne Cantan laced a line drive into left that was hit hard enough that it bounced off Kyle Borah and Cantan had his 2nd run of the inning, 4th run of the game.  The unlucky Dias then got another ball off the handle and fisted it in the air to Richie Krussel for the last out of the frame.  Boston put up 5 runs and took a 17-5 lead.  If they could hold the lead, this would enter a 12 run rule.

Things were about to get worse for the Archers.  Demetris Morrow would lead off the 4th and hit a ball off the feet of Johnny Walker.  On his way to third base before he stopped, he came up lame.  He decided to continue but that decision may have been costly.  He lofted a high fly ball to the center of the field and Shawn Devenish made a nice play on the hit but Morrow was down with a possible quad injury.  His game was over, and possibly his series.  Ethan Johnston would hit a ball equally as high but not as far as the ball landed right in front of Rob Dias. He bobbled it as he tried to pick it up but Ethan was too fast and the run was awarded.  Chad Dillon hit a flare up the middle of the field.  Devenish took a step in the wrong direction, recovered and dove late as the ball arrived the same time as he hit the ground at and it deflected off his hands for a run.  Henry Allen came off the bench to hit for Sean Borah.  He hit a hard grounder up the middle.  McCormick slid to his right and made a perfect play on the ball for the second out of the inning.  Krussel hit a nice line drive to the right side, McCormick could not come up with it and the Archers had their 8th run of the game.  Kyle Borah hit a hard grounder up the right middle, McCormick laid out for it in deep right but did not line it up well as it rolled by his feet.  Liam McCoy would come off the bench for the injured Morrow.  He would hit a ball to the left side on the ground that got past a diving Dias, but Shayne Cantan lined it up perfectly for the stop.  The Archers had their best inning of the game with 4 runs.   The Archers avoided the 12 run rule, but in the process lost one of their starters.  The score was 17-9

5th inning

During the break, Shawn Devenish was experiencing heat symptoms.  Because the team reviewed the symptoms to look for, he knew he needed to come out of the game.  Disappointed, he sat under the tent with a cooling towel on his head as the medical team was called for assistance.  His day was over going 2-5 in this game with 2 stops on defense.  Luis Rodriguez, who entered the game on defense earlier would lead off for the Renegades. He hit a hard ground ball that bounced by Krussel, Johnston and McCoy as the ball rolled over 170 feet.  McCormick would end his run of scoring with a ball off the bottom of Joe’s bat, Krussel stopped McCormick.  Chris Kimball would hit for the heat exhausted, Devenish.  Kimball hit a line drive to left and flew down the line as the ball kicked off Borah’s legs to make the score 19-9.  David Sanchez then hit the first pitch he saw right to the left side coffin corner and raced to first to beat Krussel to the ball for his first career 5 run game and a 20-9 lead.  Cantan struck out.  Dias then laced a hard grounder to the left side that eluded Krussel, Johnston, Borah and McCoy for his second run of the game.  Luis Rodriguez would end the scoring with a hard grounder that Krussel stopped on the dive to his left.  Boston put up 4 runs in the inning to cancel out Gateway’s big inning in the 4th.  Boston lead 21-9.

Colorado was down 12 again and if they went scoreless would avoid having to go back into the field.  Ethan Johnston hit a hard bouncer up the middle.  McCormick was playing a new spot in the middle (for the tired Devenish) dove to his right and missed it, Luis Rodriguez lined it up but bobbled it and Johnston was safe.  Dillon hit a line drive up the middle on the first pitch he saw.  McCormick dove to his right and the ball bounced off him, but he quickly picked it up and he had his second stop of the game in different positions (a McCormick staple…making outs at multiple spots in the defense).  Rookie, Henry Allen would go down on strikes.  Krussel would hit a high fly to the right side.  Chris Kimball, playing first base would hear the ball land over Zuccarello’s head, but as he dove to make the play, he hit the ball with his knees and the ball squirted away.  Krussel had his third run of the game.  Kyle Borah would end the inning with a strike out.  This was the first time all game, Walker would have 2 K’s in an inning as he only had 5 on the day.  Boston led 21-11 as the Archers avoided the 12 run rule.

6th inning

Boston would not quit.  Walker had beat them too many times and there was too much respect for the Archer pitcher. Memories of Walker coming back to beat the Renegades in 2009 flashed through Weissman’s head.  The team needed to keep the pedal to the metal.  Mac had seen 8 pitches all game, but in this at bat, he would work a full count and take a pitch with three strikes.  He hit a weak grounder up the middle that got by Krussel and slowly rolled to Johnston but by the time he picked up the ball, McCormick had scored, his 6th run of the game and his first ever 6 run game.  A feat only accomplished by Christian Thaxton.  Kimball then hit a grounder to left field, Kimball called for a late base.  Kyle Borah made the stop and the late base was not awarded.  Drew Crook came into hit for David Sanchez.  Crook hit the first pitch he saw into deep centerfield for his first run of the game and became the 8th Renegade to score a run in this contest.  Shayne then laced a hard line drive into the outfield for his 5th run of the game, the first time he had ever scored that amount in a game in his career.  Dias then hit a hard grounder on the first pitch to the left side by a diving Krussel, Johnston and Borah, but McCoy made a nice stop as the 4th body on the ball as the Rob Dias luck continued at the plate.  Luis Rodriguez then hit a very hard bouncing ball that went by 4 defenders and past the 170 line as he scored his second run of the game.  That brought up McCormick for the 8th time.  The team record for most runs in a game was 7 by Thaxton in 2018 vs Philly.  He would be put out by Kyle Borah in deep left field.  Boston had set a team record scoring 25 runs in this game.  This surpassed the 23 runs scored against the New Jersey Titans in 2019.

As the Renegades took the field in the bottom of the 6th, Chris Kimball came out of the game as there was concerns about how he may have been handling the heat and there was no need to push him.  Elana Regan would take the field at third base as Shayne Cantan would move to first for the Renegade defense.

Liam McCoy struck out to start the 6th.  Ethan Johnston was next and had scored three straight runs.  He lofted a fly ball to the center of the field; McCormick missed it and Luis Rodriguez tip toed after it for Johnston’s fourth run of the game.  Chad Dillon then hit a bouncer up the middle.  Zuccarello tracked the ball and called for McCormick to make the play.  Mac laid out but the ball went by his feet and then Rodriguez did not lay out and the ball rolled under him.  Dillon had his third run of the match.  Allen, looking for his first run then hit a bouncer to the left side that got by Dias easily.  Elana Regan laid out and the ball went off her hands.  McCormick flew over and just missed it as Allen scored the third straight run.  Krussel hit a line drive that skipped off Walker, the fifth time he had been hit in this game.  On the very next pitch, Krussel hit him for a sixth time.  He then hit a weak ball to the right side as Zuccarello dove to his left and made a nice stop as Boston needed just one more to get back to the hotel.  That out would not come from Borah.  Borah would be the second player to get to four runs for the Archers as he hit a short fly ball to the right side which Guy just missed on a bang-bang play.  Sean Borah would re-enter the game and go down on strikes.  Boston would win 25-15.

For Boston, Lots of great things happened including the following:

• McCormick had the teams 5th ever game with 6+ runs, and the first player not named Thaxton to achieve the feat
• Sanchez had his first ever 5 run game
• Cantan had his first ever 5 run game
• The Renegades set a team record with 25 runs
• Boston scored 8 runs in the 2nd inning
• Peter Connolly became just the third pitcher in team history to have 10 runs scored off him in a World series game as his hitters were 10-13

The Renegades finished day one with a 3-0 record and would next enter double elimination as the 4 seed.