Renegades start 2021 with a 3-1 record

Game #1 Friday Night Lights and a Renegade 15-3 win!

Beep baseball was back.  More than 2 years after the Renegades walked off the field as the third best team in the world, they took the field again.  This time, it was the first ever night baseball game in the New England area on a perfect night for beep baseball.  After waiting about 45 minutes for a delay in getting the Long Island Bombers on the field, play would start with the lights on and the sun setting.  Most of the Bombers stepped out of the car and on to the field without any warm-ups. This game would be played on the Renegades practice field in Watertown, Mass.

The very first pitch from James Sciortino was lined up the middle by Matt Puvogel.  Rob Dias ranged up the middle and picked it up to make the first out of the 2021 Renegade season.  Pasquale Agnone then went opposite field to “Guy Zuccarello island”.  The ball was hit high and over Guy’s head and he could not chase it down in time.  Next, Edgar Erickson would hit a dribbler to the left side which Rob Dias would over run, but recover in time for the second out of the season.  Who needs warm-ups?

Guy Zuccarello would be called upon to lead off this game for the Renegades.  The thought process was he had some of the most consistent swings in practice and Weissman wanted the leadoff hitter to put the ball in play.  Guy did his job, sort of.  He hit a pop fly to the middle of the field and had a chance to score but he missed first base.  This bad base running would sadly become a theme for the Renegades.

Joe McCormick then lofted a bomb into left field and he slid by first base as well, but this time he finger tipped it and the run was awarded after an umpire discussion.  The base running would continue to be an issue.  Shawn Devenish would strike out for the first K of the 2021 campaign.  Dias would follow suit and after one inning, the game was tied at one a piece.

Long Island Bomber, legend Jim Hughes came out of retirement for this trip and would lead off the second.  He would start it off with a grounder up the middle.  Dias ranged to his left and lined it up but struggled to get the ball off the ground.  Hughes made it close but the out was made.  Alvin Suarez would then make his Bomber debut.  A resident of New York, he spent the 2021 World Series sitting on the bench for the Indy Edge.  His first time taking BP off the Bombers was this night with Weissman catching Sciortino while the Bombers found their way to the fields.  His debut would end in a whiff.  Puvogel then hit a slow grounder up the middle right at Shawn Devenish.  Shawn was late to the ground it and it went under him as the Bombers regained the lead.  Agnone then hit a line drive right back at the same spot Povugel did.  This time Devenish laid out and made his first stop of the year.

The bottom of the 2^nd would feature a start by Shayne Cantan for the first time since he started against Seattle in the 2017 World Series in Florida.  He would go down on 4 swings in an uneventful return.  Luis Soto earned a start at DH in this contest with some really consistent batting practices all year.  As Peter Connolly took the mound to face him, they would get five pitches and a second consecutive whiff to start the inning.  Zuccarello would end the inning with a fly ball stopped by Suarez.  After two frames, Long Island led 2-1.  The rust was showing for sure.

The third did not offer much for Long Island as Erickson and Gilroy struck out.  Hughes put another ball in play to the left side.  Dias charged and it rolled past him.  Hughes took off toward first base.  The buzzing sound cut out half way down the line.  Hughes was able to find the base and make contact with it while it was not buzzing.  He never called late base.  Hughes was able to run a perfect line but would have given himself another chance if he had called for the late base.  Some laughter amongst the coaches ensued as the Bomber battery found it funny he ran a better line without the base buzzing.

Joe McCormick would lead off the frame and on the third pitch, hit a blast to left field that continued to roll across the field long past the 170 foot line as Mac easily scored his second run of the contest to tie the game.    Shawn Devenish then hit a blast almost as far into left center for the first back-to-back runs of the 2021 season.  Rob Dias then smoked a line drive to the right side that may have been his best ever hit to the opposite field as he had been working to improve his swing during the season.  After a Cantan whiff, Soto stepped to the plate.  He hit the first pitch he saw into right field on the fly; however, he took 3 steps to first before cutting across the field to hit third base for a run.  Poor base running that was helped by the power he put into the ball.  This bad base running would continue to be an issue as the Renegades were knocking the rust off their game.  Leadoff hitter, Zuccarello would then whiff for the 2^nd out.  McCormick then hit a dead ball and by rule would return to the plate with an 0-1 count.  He then would hit a grounder off the bottom of his bat up the gut of the Bomber defense and beat it out with his legs.  Devenish lofted a fly ball to the center of the field and was able to beat the Bomber defense again with his speed.  That would be all for Boston as they took a 7-2 lead.

The fourth inning would debut Long Island pitcher, Ethan Schulman.  Schulman, a high schooler had been pitching to the Bombers at practice. After making contact with Alvin Suarez on the first pitch he saw for a foul ball, he would struggle to find bats.  Suarez would strike out .  Puvogel would hit a coffin corner shot on the right side.  Zuccarello would make the stop but the base was late and Long Island would get a second chance.  That chance had no change in result.

He would set the Bombers down 1-2-3.  Boston did not have much to offer either.  Cantan struck out to pick up the silver enchilada (3 K’s in the game).  Rob Thayer came off the bench to strike out and Zuccarello was stopped off a line drive that hit Pasquale Agnone in the face on a bounce.  The score was still 7-2 after 4 innings.

Schulman would get his first run of his career to lead off the fifth inning.  With Edgar Erickson switching to swing from the left side of the plate he would hit a weak grounder up the middle.  McCormick was now playing the right short position and the ball skid by him and Devenish could not get the ball in the air as the Bombers scored their third run.  That would be all as Schulman struck out the next three batters.

The bottom of the 5^th would be the end of this game.  For Boston, they would wake up.  Joe McCormick lofted another bomb into left field for his 4^th run of the contest.  Chris Kimball, a rookie who had just started less than a month before this game would get his debut and strike out on four pitches.  Luis Rodriguez then strode to the plate to hit for Dias.  In his first at bat of the year he hit a weak fly ball to the center of the field and took a banana line to first base but scored for his first run of the year.  Cantan would avoid the Golden Sombrero with a line shot up the middle on the first pitch he saw for his first run of the season.  Ivan Rodriguez, a 48 year old rookie stepped to the plate for his first career at bat.  He lofted a fly ball to the middle of the field.  The Bomber defense dropped to a few beached whales and struggled to find the ball, Rodriguez took a bad line and cut across the field almost hitting Cochran on his path to third.  Erickson would put the rookie out.  Zuccarello hit the first pitch he saw to the left side.  Erickson charged it and it went by him.  Guy would score on this dribbler for his first run of the game out of the leadoff spot.  McCormick would score again for a five run game to start the season.  Kimball would foul off two straight pitches and on an 0-3 count lift a pop up to the left side.  Erickson charged it – but it got past him and Kimball hit third for his first ever run.  Luis Rodriguez scored his second run of the inning on a grounder and Cantan scored on another blast into left field.   That would cap an 8 run inning and put the game into the 12 run rule after five.

Long Island had no answer in the 6^th as they struck out three consecutive times.  Boston had its first win of the season under the lights on their practice field.  It was a fun game for the Renegades after a two year lay-off and lots of players contributed to this game.  There would be a lot to clean up as the base running was one of the worst base running games in team history.  Those bad bases did not hurt as the Renegade speed was too much for Long Island.

 

Game #2 Boston Bombs the Long Island Bombers 17-4

The Saturday morning game of the Beast of the East would take both teams to another field in Woburn where the Beast of the East had been played every year but 2010.  It was decided that this game would be the one to count toward Beast of the East standings.   Both New Jersey teams dropped out of the contest, the Titans bailing on just a few week’s notice set this up to be a three team contest.  Could this game be any different with the Bombers getting some rest and a warm-up?  The Bombers would lose the coin toss and be awarded the away team (The irony here was we suggested we split the games so each team could be home once, but the Bombers wanted to leave it up to chance).  Their line-up would look different in this game with everyone there to start the contest.

This time, Alex Barrera would lead off the game for the Bombers.  He would lift a fly ball to the left side.  Dias ranged backwards and could not get the ball up on the first try and Alex scored to lead off the game.  Dias would get it back on the next hitter as Puvogel hit a grounder right at him that he stopped by lying out for the ball.  Agnone would whiff sending Erickson to the plate.  Edgar hitting from the right side hit a weak pop up into the coffin corner on the left side.  Dias took an odd line to the ball and got it up on the 2^nd try but Edgar had scored the second run of the frame.  Gilroy then hit another grounder to the left side.  Dias hit the ground early and the ball died in front of him.  He quickly scrambled on his knees to get Gilroy in time.  It was an all Rob Dias inning and he made 3 stops on 5 chances.  Every Renegade knew he was not happy with that stat.

Joe McCormick would start things off for the Renegades and pick up where he finished last night when the team walked off the field around 10:00.  He hit a line drive to the left side that bounced off a Bomber defender on the first pitch for his 6^th consecutive run on the year.  The Bombers were without Meghan Fink who is a Joe McCormick killer on defense and he was taking advantage of that defense for sure (and his new swing adjustment).  After a Devenish strike out , Rob Dias would then pop a high fly ball down the third base line to score the 2^nd run of the game.  After a Shayne Cantan 4 pitch whiff, Luis Rodriguez would hit a pop up into the right side coffin corner and score in his first start of the season.  That brought out Peter Connolly to pitch to Luis Soto who was starting again as the DH in this contest.  He hit a laser up the middle of the field.  The Renegade bad base running continued as he ran right at Peter into the middle of the field and a sure run was taken off the board as “stop” was called for safety.

There was not much cooking in the Bomber’s second inning.  Hughes whiffed to lead off the inning.  Alex Barrera (batting left handed) hit a grounder down the first base side.  McCormick ranged to the line and slid feet first.  He picked up the ball right as Alex hit third base and the out was recorded.  A Puvogel whiff would put the Bombers down 1-2-3.  The score after one and a half was Renegades 3 and Bombers 2.

McCormick led off the inning and laced another line drive into the deep layer of the Bomber defense and raced to third for the score.  With three strikes, Devenish lofted a fly ball into the middle of the field and scored his first run of the game.  Dias kept things moving with a line drive to the right side on the first pitch he saw.  Shayne Cantan also saw one pitch and he lofted a fly ball and scored the 4^th consecutive run for Boston.  Luis Rodriguez then it a hard grounder off the Long Island Bomber front man and raced to third to score the 5^th consecutive run.  Peter Connolly took the ball from Cochran and threw just one pitch to Luis Soto.  That was laced up the middle on the fly for the 6^th straight run on just 11 total pitches as the Boston bats were catching fire.  McCormick kept things moving on a ball hit off the bottom of his bat up the middle of the field.  That was Mac’s 8th straight run and the 7^th straight to score for Boston.   Devenish would then plate his second run of the contest on a smash up the middle of the field.  Rob Dias would keep the party going and score his 2^nd run of the inning.  That was Nine batters up and nine runs scored.  With the game at a score of 12-2, it was in danger of going to the 12 run rule.  Weissman started to bring in the subs to make sure people got playing time.

First off the bench was rookie, Chris Kimball.  He hit the first pitch he saw up in the air, but Edgar Erickson ranged to the 3^rd base line to make the first stop of the inning and stop the bleeding.  Next off the deep Renegade  bench was Drew Crook.  Drew had battled leg injuries all season had been feeling better.    He hit a smash down the third base line by everyone and stood in the box before he ran.  More bad base running for Boston, but on this occasion, the ball was dead and Drew had to do it over.  He returned to the plate with an 0-2 count and would eventually strike out.  Rob “Hot Tub” Thayer’s number was called to hit for Soto next.  He hit the ball down the third base line and he was stopped because the Long Island players were on the base line and Thayer was in fair territory.  He would have been out anyway and safety was important.  It was not lost on the team that the base running continued to be an issue for the Renegade bench as Soto, Crook and Thayer all had trouble running bases in the first two innings of this game.  This nine run inning was one of the most explosive innings in Renegade history.  The last time it was done was against Tyler in the 2019 World Series (when Boston scored 10 times in the second inning) .  It was just the 11^th time Boston had ever accomplished the feat and the second time it had done to the Long Island Bombers.

A defeated Bomber team came to the plate and Pasquale Agnone led off with a whimper and a strike out.  Edgar Erickson would hit a nice line drive to the right side and Rob Dias laid out perfectly to make the stop in a thing of beauty.   John Gilroy then laced a shot into left field, Crook barely moved for it and called for help to the rookie, Kimball.  Chris tentatively chased the ball but Gilroy would score the third Bomber run of the game.   Jim Hughes then hit a weak pop up to the right side.  Guy Zuccarello raced into the arc and picked it up with plenty of time.  After two and a half, Boston had a commanding 12-3 lead.

Weissman would continue to dig into the bench as Melissa Hoyt would hit for a red hot McCormick.  And the trend of awful base running continued.  She hit a weak grounder up the middle of the field.  She paused in the batter’s box and then ran up the middle of the field and the play was stopped awarding the out to Edgar Erickson.  Devenish would also be stopped by Erickson on a grounder to the left side for Edgar’s 4^th stop of the game.  Rob Dias would get the only Renegade run of the inning as his speed beat Edgar to the ball on this play.  Kimball would whiff to end the frame and it was 13-3 after three innings.

Long Island switched pitchers at this point and handed the ball to rookie, Ethan Schulman.   Boston would get a 1-2-3 inning highlighted by just one defensive stop off the bat of Matt Puvogel by Guy Zuccarello who chased into the arc to make his second stop of the game.

Boston would get bad news in the bottom of the fourth.  Drew Crook would lead off the inning and hit a deep drive to the right side.  Half way down the third base line, he came up lame and limped his way to third base.  A Hamstring injury would put an end to his day, a day he had worked so hard to prepare for.  Rob Thayer then laced a shot up the middle and tip toed his way down the third base line.  Nine seconds later he missed the base and it took him two seconds to recover.  That gave Alex Barrera a chance to get off the ground and chase down a ball that had gotten by him as the last line of defense.  More awful base running by the Renegade bench.  Weissman went to the bench again, this time for Cory Joseph, making his first ever appearance in a game.  Cory had announced to the team that he was moving out of Boston in September to help care for his sick mother.  This may be his only game he would play.  He would ground out to Edgar Erickson, his 5^th defensive stop of the contest.

Heading into the 5^th inning, Boston would send rookie Elana Regan into the field for her first ever appearance.  She had just joined the squad earlier in the month.  Regan was at third, Joseph went to first and Kimball was at rover as the rookie class was getting some action.  After two strike outs, Hughes hit a grounder that would get by Zuccarello on the right side.  Joseph would be called up for help and he would pick the ball up “Elephant” style without ever hitting the ground.  A stop in his first ever chance, a very rare moment in Renegade history.  Every renegade knew Cory would be leaving the team and everyone was chanting “Cory” as he jogged off the field.

Boston would have another big inning in the 5^th.  Devenish, Dias, Kimball and pinch hitter Luis Soto (who re-entered the game)  plated four straight runs.  It would be the first ever 5 run game for Rob Dias on offense.  That would give Boston 17 runs.

Alex Barrera would score the 2^nd career run off Schulman to lead off the last inning.   Devenish and Zuccarello would make stops and this game would be over.  Boston would get 13 players into the game.  The base running was still an issue, but mostly from the bench.  After this game, Boston would get a break.  The Philly Fire were going to take the field to play Long Island and Boston was going to have some lunch.  Rob Dias paced the offense with 5 runs and both he and Zuccarello each made 3 stops on defense.  The story of this game would be the stop by Cory Joseph in what would be his only game he would play in for the Renegades before having to  care for his sick mother out of state.  Watching him run off the field with everyone chanting his name will hopefully be a memory he has for many years.

Game #3 Boston does not have enough as the Fire prevail 6-5

It was decided before the game, that this game would count against the Beast of the East standings.  Philly brought a team very different than any team they had put on the field during the year as they pulled in players from three different teams to help fill out a roster that was banged up with injuries.  Scott Hogwood from the NJ Titans, Kiki Smith from Rochester and 2021 All-star Marvin Morgan from the USA Legends all joined the Fire.  On the mound was their #3 pitcher, Pat Krause.  Philly had just easily handled the Long Island Bombers and was eager to play the Renegades.  When you combine a bunch of new hitters with a new pitcher, that can be a recipe for strike outs. However, the Fire were launching hits all over the field vs Long Island and Boston took notice.

John Margist would lead off the game for Philly.  Captain Margist would catch the Renegades in a moment where they were not ready.  On the third pitch of the game, Margist launched a fly ball to deep left field.  Bryan Grillo was caught with his back to the play talking to some players when the pitch was delivered.  Without a call, Shayne Cantan lined himself up with the ball and on two bounces, the ball dropped right into his arms for the out.  This would be the most impressive stop for the entire weekend for the Renegades.  It was just Cantan’s 3^rd game with the team since 2017!  Two whiffs would end the inning for Philly.

After tearing it up and going 8-8 against Long Island, Joe McCormick was very comfortable.  After a 2 hour lay-off, he did not start this game hot and led off with a whiff of his own.  Shawn Devenish would see one pitch  and hit a weak pop up the middle.  Casey Krause would make his presence felt. The rookie made the play with ease.  Rob Dias then hit a grounder with eyes that alluded Krause, Natoli and Margist for the Renegades first run of the game.  Krause would then make an easy play on Shayne Cantan to end the inning.

The second inning was also hard for Phily as Krause whiffed, Morgan was put out on flare to the third base bag which Rob Dias ranged back on and picked up on 2 bounces.  Cesar Lezcano whiffed to end the frame.  Boston also put up a bagel for the inning – but they were stopped by Philly which started to get contributions from multiple players on defense. Luis Rodriguez hit a hard grounder to Margist and John made it look easy.  Luis Soto then hit the 2^nd pitch he saw on a line drive to the right side.  Marvin Morgan laid out and made a great stop as the ball hit him in the hands. McCormick then hit a ball off the bottom of his bat, Krause slid past it and Margist was able to make his second out of the inning.

The Fire would catch some heat in the third inning.  After a lead-off strike out, Scott Hogwood would hit to the right side and it would scoot under Guy Zuccarello.  Shawn Devenish would try to make a play but Hogwood would tie the game.  Justin Rhines then hit the first pitch he saw on the ground right at Rob Dias.  The ball hit him in the legs and somehow, rolled up his legs and into the air.  Rhines was able to get to the base before Dias could pick up the ball and Philly had a 2-1 lead.

In the third, Rob Dias would then come to the plate after a Devenish strikeout looking for redemption.  He would hit another bouncing grounder up the middle of the field that would scoot by Krause and Natoli to tie the game.  Dias had represented all the Renegade offense to this point.  That would be all the offense for the inning as Shayne Cantan would hit a weak grounder that just reached the 40 foot arc which Krause picked up with ease.  Rodriguez would go down on 4 pitches.

The fourth inning was quick for the Fire.  Two more strike outs and an ugly play off the bat for Hogwood would be it.  On the Hogwood hit, he hit a bouncer up the middle of the field.,  Shawn Devenish didn’t need to move for it and took a few steps to his left.  The ball got by Shawn, but Hogwood missed third base.  That extra time allowed Devenish the ability to get back to the ball and record the out.

Luis Soto would lead off the bottom of the fourth with a hard grounder to the left side. Margist misplayed it and it scooted by him to the deep man, Justin Rhines for the out.  Joe McCormick then laced a fly ball up the middle past two defenders and raced to first base for a run. Devenish caught the bug and on the first pitch hit a fly ball to left field that bounced over Rhines in deep left for a score.  Dias would then hit another grounder with less steam on it.  This time Krause was able to gather it easily for the out.  Cantan whiffed and Boston held a 4-2 lead after 4 frames.

Rhines led off the inning with a grounder to the right side that got past Zuccarello and McCormick for the Fire’s third  run of the game.  Krause then lofted a fly ball down the right side.  McCormick over ran it and Krause had too much speed to allow McCormick to coral the ball.  Tie game again.  Two more whiffs for Morgan and Lezcano brought the leadoff hitter, John Margist to the plate.  John hit a bouncer to the right side and again Zuccarello and McCormick could not come up with it as the fire took a 5-4 lead.

Luis Rodriguez would lead off the bottom of the fifth in a funk as he would foul off the first pitch and then swing In three different places for the first out.  Luis Soto then hit another great fly ball up the middle of the field, this time he was stopped by Gina Natoli (Soto would be the only Renegade all weekend to have three hits stopped by three different players on the defense).  Joe McCormick then laced another deep shot to left field to tie the game.  Devenish then laced the 2^nd pitch he saw on a line drive to right field.  Marvin Morgan was there again to make the stop in the 2^nd layer of the defense.  The game was locked up at 5 heading into the last inning.

With two more strike outs to start the frame, Marvin Morgan came to the plate and hit a grounder to the right side past a diving Joe McCormick.  Morgan missed first base as Mac lay on his stomach in agony calling for help that would not be there.  Morgan tripped over the wire and was able to get back to the base just before Joe could get to the ball and that ugly play would be the go-ahead run for Philly.  Philly would strike out a total of 15 times in this contest.

The Boston offense would offer just a whimper in the bottom of the 6^th as Rob Dias swung and missed four times.  Shayne Cantan hit a weak grounder that Krause would stop for his 5^th put out of the game.  Luis Rodriguez would also swing and miss 4 straight times.  Boston would be handed its first loss of the 2021 season and a wakeup call.

Game #4 Boston rebounds in a 4 inning contest winning 5-4

It was decided before the game that no inning would start beyond 5:20 because Philly needed to hit the road to be back home with some family members in the hospital.  Since Boston won the coin toss in game one, it was pre-determined that Philly would be the home team in this contest.  The game would not directly count toward Beast of East standings but would be used if a tie breaker was needed.  Before the game, Weissman had a talk with Shayne Cantan and Luis Rodriguez about their swing path.  They were a combined 0-8 with 4 K’s and 3 dribblers between them.  Could they make the adjustment in this contest? Both teams would start the exact same lineup in what was an equal match up in the first game of the day.

Boston would start strong.  After Joe McCormick grounded out to John Margist on the first pitch of the game Shawn Devenish would hit another grounder to Margist.  This time, he slid at it with his feet and he missed it.  Devenish took a bad line toward first base and finger tipped the base for the Renegades first run of the game.  Rob Dias hit a weak flare to the right side and was able to just get to the base before Hogwood could get the ball off the ground for the second run of the inning. Shayne Cantan actually hit a nice line drive with three strikes but Margist would make a tough play make easy.  L-Rod smoked a hard grounder to Margist which bounced off him but was able to pick up before Luis made it to first base.  It was three runs for the Renegades and 3 defensive stops for Margist.  Philly would go down on swings, striking out three straight in the bottom of the inning.

In the second, Luis Soto would lead off the inning with his personal pitcher Peter Connolly on the mound as he had done all weekend.  Luis hit two foul balls right out of the gate but then lost his balance with his last two swings breaking his streak of 7 straight balls put into play during the weekend.  McCormick laced another first pitch down the 3^rd base line.  Margist made a great play on the liner and was able to stop Mac for his 4^th stop of the contest.  Devenish would be stopped easily by Casey Krause on a dribbler up the middle to end the inning.  In the bottom half of the inning, Philly just mustered a flare off the bat of Morgan which Dias stopped on a few bounces and after two innings, Boston lead 2-0.

The third inning was not kind to the Renegades.  Ron Cochran would throw 12 pitches in the inning.  Each batter would have a foul ball and all of them would whiff.  This included Cantan and Rodriguez who had both showed promise in their previous trip to the plates.

Philly may have used that as a momentum shift.  After Margist struck out to lead off the inning, Scott Hogwood hit a weak fly ball down the third base line that froze the caller, Bryan Grillo, and Rob Dias.  By the time they figured out it was short, Hogwood won the foot race.  Rhines would hit a weak fly ball to roughly the same place and Dias could not get it up in time due to Rhines’ speed.  The game was tied.  Krause hit a grounder down the right side that McCormick could not stop for the go – ahead run.  After a Morgan whiff, Guy Zuccarello made a shoe string stop off of a Lezcano bouncer up the middle.  After three innings, Philly pulled ahead 3-2.

Boston would go to the bench to lead off the 4^th inning.  Rookie, Chris Kimball entered the lineup to hit for a red hot and possibly tired Luis Soto.  He would hit the first pitch right to Krause and be stopped quickly.  Joe Mac would then strike out for the first time in the game.  Shawn Devenish then hit a grounder with eyes as Krause slid feet first and Margist over ran the ball as Devenish scored down the first base line.  Dias then hit another grounder to the left side, this time Krause had no chance and Margist dove on his stomach with the ball bouncing off him.  His inability to pick it clean prevented the out as Dias scored the go – ahead run on a bang-bang play down the third base line.  Cantan stepped up and got two foul tips and he hit a dribbler to about 80 feet down the third base line and in Shayne Cantan style – stomped down the base line.  Krause dove head first and missed it.  Margist charged it but hit the ground too soon, Cantan scored for the first time on the day vs Philly.  Rodriguez would hit a weak grounder to the right side and Krause just got him before he reached first base.  The game would head to the bottom of the fourth and based on the agreed upon time limit – this would likely be the last half inning.

John Margist would lead off for the Fire and hit a hard grounder to the right side.  Zuccarello would not hit the ground and would miss it, but McCormick was in perfect position to make the play in plenty of time for the first out.  Scott Hogwood then hit a line drive into the Hogwood shift.  Dias had one chance at it and missed, Rodriguez also missed.  Cantan was there and picked it up right as Hogwood reached third base.  Boston clung to a one run lead.  Justin Rhines would whiff for the second out.  Casey Krause would swing and miss three times and hit a grounder to the left side.  Dias would miss it but Luis Rodriguez would find the perfect time to make his first stop of the 2021 season to clinch the game.

The game would be called because Philly needed to hit the road.  It was the end to a great day of beep baseball.  Great field conditions, a great crowd and amazing weather.  The Renegades were finally back after the COVID Layoff!