When you play for 1st place in your division, and they throw their best guy and you throw your best guy, you can only hope that the game lives up to its billing. This game did and then some as the Stonemen win a close game against the Bulldogs by a final score of 5-3.

Scary moment in the top of the 2nd, as their batter sends a rocket shot into the home dugout, catching Joe Erd right square in the side of the face. After trying to tough it out, his mother finally convinced him to go and have it looked at. He was diagnosed with a contusion to the face, a sprained ligament near the temple and a mild concussion. He is home resting, and mom is able to breathe again.

Back to the game. Troy went all 9 innings against a great hitting team and finished with the following line. He gave up 3 runs earned on 10 hits with 2 walks and 12 strike outs. I'm still trying to figure out how iScore, which is the scoring system put into place this year, had 3 earned runs when 1 seemed to score on an error. All of that aside, he pitched a fantastic game. In the bottom of the 8th with the score tied, Troy was on deck. I asked him how he was feeling, as Nick was warming up in the bullpen. He said he was starting to feel tired, and thought Nick would close. We scored 2 runs, and he went out and struck out the side in the 9th. He got outs when he needed to, and was really tough in tough spots.

Defense was very good today. Donnie and Brett were gone, so Nick started in center, JB was in left and Adam was in right. Brodie Engle came down to play 2nd, and made some very nice plays. In the top of the 7th, they had runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Hitter drives 1 into the gap in right center. Nick goes and gets it, and without squaring up, he throws a seed to home. Runner tags, and Dean, being the veteran that he is, stands in front of the plate with his hands at his side like the ball isn't coming. At the last second, he reaches up and slaps the tag on the sliding runner, just a split second late.

Their pitcher was equal to the task, as we managed 8 hits on the day. Brodie had 2 hits, stole a base and scored a run. Ty had a hit and a walk. Adam was on 3 times and scored 3 runs. Dean had a double, scored a run and drove in a run. Dan had 2 hits, including a double, and drove in 3 runs. Troy had a hit and drove in a run. JB had a hit and played a nice left field.

A nice win against a quality team. No rest for the weary, as we host the West Bend Lithia on Monday with a 1 pm start time. See you around the ballpark.