Glenside Bible hosted the New Life Kings Wednesday for the two teams’ second matchup – the first being last Friday’s 5-4 victory for Glenside Bible. GB entered the game as the only remaining undefeated team in the league. Chris would debut for GB on the mound but also entered shorthanded, starting with 8 of their 9 players who would take the field.
The Kings took early advantage, as Seth plated the first three runners, followed by hits from Andy, Dan and Pete to take an early 5-0 lead.
Glenside Bible managed one hit in their half of the first, and the Kings scored 5 more runs in the second behind 7 hits. GB then killed the shutout with a sac fly following a leadoff triple. The teams traded two-run innings in the third, putting the score at 12-3.
After the Kings converted a leadoff double in the fourth inning, GB followed suit, and tacked on another run.
The fifth inning looked like it might slip by quickly for the Kings, but after two quick outs, Andy started a rally with a hit, and three straight run-scoring singles from Bret, Mark Dixon, and Pete extended the New Life lead.
Glenside Bible was not ready to go away without a fight, though. Andrew took a walk to lead off the fifth, then Eric crushed the ball to right-center. After a long run, Luke wasn’t quite able to get there, and both runners circled the bases. Ben would contribute a two-run hit of his own with a double later in the inning to round out the home team’s most productive inning of the night.
The Kings went down in order on three groundouts in the sixth; making it the only inning in which New Life did not plate a run. In the bottom frame, two GB doubles were surrounded by three flyouts, and the home team plated one run to cut the gap to six at 16-10.
Back-to-back hits by Seth and Andy set up men on second and third. Then Dan hit the ball through the middle of the infield and both runners crossed the plate, as Andy dove in around the tag at home. The Kings would take the field in the last frame up by eight.
As it turned out, the runs were not strictly necessary. A well-positioned diving out in the outfield was followed by two more quick outs, evening the season series with Glenside Bible’s first defeat. The Kings also returned to .500 on the season with the 18-10 victory.
The Highlights:
NLG: Andy set the standard, going a perfect 5-for-5. Seth led the offense in RBI with 5, with Pete contributing 4 and the Johnson & Johnson tandem (Dan and Bret) each adding 3 of their own. Luke, Tim, Seth, Andy, and Bret each scored three runs. Every Kings hitter reached base at least once.
GB: Despite being shorthanded, this game was a return to form for the offense, as last Friday was the only game Glenside Bible has not scored in double digits. Ben and Eric each batted in 3 runs, while Rob was tops in scoring with 3, and Russ led in the hits category, going 3-for-4.
Up Next:
The Kings (3-3) continue another two-game week on Friday, 5/17, as they host Calvary PCA (1-3 prior to Wednesday’s game) at Field 5. It will be the fifth of six games in an 18 day stretch for New Life.
Glenside Bible (5-1) still sits in first place, and will host Calvary Church (2-1 prior to Tuesday), who at that point will be finishing a stretch similar to the Kings’ – for Calvary, five games in 13 days.