Saturday, June 7, 2008

Jackson Giants Fall to AA Aztecs Despite Strong Showing

From Keegan
JACKSON, Wy. (JHYB)
By, Chris Moulder

Giants Line-up-

1. Charlie Wild Catcher

2. Charlie Keegan Pitcher
3. Grant Smith 1st Base
4. Sky Garnick Center Field
5. Colter Huhn 3rd Base
6. Bryn Windle Left Field
7. Patrick Renz Shortstop
8. Robbie Caesar Right Field
9. Cameron O’Donahue 2nd Base

Substitutes-

Ian Chapman Lucas Moulder

Carlos Toledo Ethan Moulder
Bryan Weber Starting pitcher Charlie Keegan unloads on a fastball
during the showdown against Smithfield

Our Hometown Hero Jackson Giants took the field for the first of two for a 5:30pm game
at Giants Field in Jackson, Wyoming this chilly late afternoon to face a solid AA ball club from
Smithfield, Utah.
Returning from a much celebrated high school baseball season pitching and playing
shortstop for the Westminster School Martlets, Charlie Keegan took the mound for the Giants to
start the game. Keegan got right down to business in his debut outing for the Jackson squad
sitting down the lead-off hitter and 1st baseman Kaden Barr on 3 straight pitches. The hard
hitting Aztecs came back swinging with Trevor Gardner singling and Danny Nevling hitting a
double. Tyson Thompson reached base on a fielder’s choice as he hit a weak ground ball to the
3rd sacker Colter Huhn who scooped the ball up and threw home to Charlie Wild to tag out the
advancing Gardner at the plate. Smithfield 3rd baseman Jordan Hansen followed with a routine
grounder to 2nd baseman, Cameron O’Donahue who threw out Hansen at 1st to end the visitor
half of the first inning.
 The Giants lead-off batter, Charlie Wild had no intention of letting the Aztec fireballer,
Tyson Thompson get ahead in the count as Wild tee’d on a first pitch groover past the shortstop
for a lead-off single. Charlie Keegan followed with a textbook sacrifice bunt to advance Wild
to second. #3 batsman, Grant Smith advanced Wild to third while grounding out to short and it
seemed sure that Wild would score off of a laser shot toward shortstop, but Danny Nevling made
a spectacular grab to end the inning for the Giants.
Keegan took the mound in
nd
the 2 and although he walked the
lead-off batter and hit the 3rd in
the order, the Jackson infield
relieved Keegan of 2 outs and
Charlie settled down and struck
out the top of the order during the
Aztec offensive.
The home half of the 2nd started
off flat as Colter Huhn was fooled
on a 2 strike count looking at a
breaking ball, Bryn Windle was hit
by a pitch and despite having a
runner on base, the Giants couldn’t
Keegan keep an eye on the Aztec base runner move him as Patrick Renz hit a fly
ball to center, and Robbie Caesar fresh off of the
Jackson Bronc track team, grounded out to short in his
first at bat of the season.
The top of the 3rd started with a hard hit ground
ball to 1st baseman Grant Smith who in typical fashion,
fielded it cleanly and got the unassisted out. After
delivering an outside pitch to Danny Nevling, Charlie
Keegan threw a fastball over the plate where Nevling
took him deep for a solo homerun. Colter Huhn let the
pitcher Tyson Thompson on base with an error but was
nailed at second on a fielder’s choice off the bat of
Jordan Hansen. Justin Crosbie was then whiffed by
Keegan on a 2 and 2 count.
The Giants couldn’t seem to get their acts
together despite some opportunities with 2 base on ball
allowances as Cameron O’Donahue was standing on 3rd
due to being advance by Charlie Wild’s sacrifice bunt
and a wild pitch from Tyson Thompson. Charlie
Cam O'Donahue digs for 3rd Keegan who walked to 1st, was caught napping as he
Cameron O'Donahue ( on 3rd) and Charlie Keegan (on 1st) apply pressure to the Aztec pitcher Tyson Thompson
wound up in a pickle before getting tagged for the out. O’Donahue did not take the opportunity
to score. Grant Smith hit a grounder to 2nd to end the inning leaving another man who was in
scoring position on base.
The top of the 4th was not easy on our Giants as Kohn Thedell singled and then Bobby
King reached base on an error by 2nd baseman, Cam O’Donahue which allowed Thedell to score
from 1st. Keegan struck out the top of the order batsman for the Aztecs, Kaden Barr for a third
time in three at bats and forced another pop up out to end the visitors. The bottom half of the 4th
had no love for the Giants as despite hard hits from Sky Garnick, Colter Huhn and Bryn Windle,
the Smithfield infield was airtight, particularly at shortstop where Danny Nevling continued to
prove he had a golden glove as he webbed a screamer from Huhn.
The 5th and 6th innings was an absolute pitcher’s duel as Charlie Keegan dealt a fantastic
mixed bag of fastballs and curves to keep the Aztec offense off balance forcing them to either
ground ball into routine outs or get the ball in the air for a easy out in the 5th. The 6th was
Keegan’s best inning as he sat down Justin Crosbie swinging on a beautiful inside fastball, and
after forcing Darin “Tiny” Toone to ground out to shortstop Patrick Renz, Keegan got back at
Thedell for scoring on the Giants earlier by faking him out of his shorts with a devastating letters
to belt curveball. On the Aztec defensive side however, the Giants had no offense as our bottom
of the order looked like babes in the woods as Thompson sat down Renz, Caesar and O’Donahue
all looking. The 6th was only better by virtue of the fact that Wild who did get on base with a hit,
was followed by Keegan who hit a pop up to Hansen at 3rd and although Smith hit the ball, it was
just to a strong defensive infield wall who turned a made to order 5-4-3 double play.
 The wheels fell off for
Keegan and the Giants in the top of
the 7th as the Aztecs #9 hitter
Bobby King doubled into left,
Kaden Barr finally hit one at 3rd to
a befuddled Colter Huhn for the
error, Trevor Gardner doubled off
of Keegan, King scored on a
throwing error by Renz, Nevling
popped out to Renz at short, the
pitcher Tyson Thompson doubled
to right-center scoring Barr, Jordan
Hansen singled, Crosbie was
caught looking at 3 for his 3rd K of
the game, before Darin Toone Grant Smith amost gets Jordan Hansen in a pick-off attempt from Keegan
nd
popped up to O’Donahue at 2
thereby stopping the merry-go-round. The bottom ended as sadly as the previous innings with
Sky Garnick getting a lead-off single only to be the first out of a nicely executed 5-4-3 double
play ball hit by Huhn. Bryn Windle manned up and took one for the team in a last ditch effort to
get something going only to have Renz pop up to 1st.

Box Scores-

Player AB R H RBI SO BB E SB B.AVG

Wild 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .666
Keegan 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Smith 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Garnick 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .333
Huhn 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .000
Windle 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .000
Renz 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .000
Caesar 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .000
O’Donahue 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 .000

Team Batting Average- .150

Game Score- Jackson Giants (home) 0

Smithfield Aztecs (visitors) 6
Pitcher Statistics-

Pitcher W/L/S/T IP AB R H SO BB HB

Keegan L ( 0-1-0-0) 7 34 6 8 7 2 1

The View From the Cheap Seats-

It seems that the Giants are still need to work some bugs out of their infield as fielding
and throwing errors still seem to be flagging our guys. Defensively, Charlie Keegan pitched
well from the mound throwing 7 strong innings striking out 7 Aztecs and only walking 3 with
one of those being a hit batsman. The hard hitting Smithfield club who plays in a AA regular
season was only held to 8 hits and 6 runs by Keegan who along with Charlie Wilds’s pitch
selection kept the Aztecs off balance.
Offensively however, our lads could still use more time with a bat in their hands as they
were not able to connect squarely with the ball. The Smithfield pitcher Tyson Thompson
pitched a full game of only 2 hits against the Giants and in all fairness to the Jackson Squad, they
had not seen pitching of that calibre yet this year. The only shining star from the plate for the
Giants was Charlie Wild as he went 2 for 3 both hits being singles collecting 2 of the only 3 hits
for the Giants in the match-up. Sky Garnick went 1 for 3 with a single in the 7th. Collectively
the Giants hit a meager .150 from the plate. Bunting attempts in an effort to move men over
once they reach first has not been working against these polished AA teams as the sacrifice
doesn’t always work and you give up an out. Hitting is contagious but if your men can’t catch
up with a fastball, other measures must be taken.

“ You cannot hit a homerun by bunting. You have to step up there and take a cut at the
ball. ever be more scared of the enemy than you think he is of you.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
And Let Us 6ot Forget Our Ground Crew-

Mike Keegan waters in vain as he tries to get grass to grow where it isn't supposed to
 Tom Wild giving the foul line a final check

Todd Smith sprints down first laying chalk only to be blocked by an

errant hose from Keegan

But in an act of true teamwork Dan Weber comes to his

assistance in Smith reaching first safely

Here’s to those hard working men and women who make our home tournaments a success both
on the field, in the concession stand and in the scorer’s booth.