Milford Predators Softball: 2011 Season

Milford, CT (4/9/2011) The Predators held their first practice of the 2011 season on a cool but pleasent Saturday afternoon in April.  The practice opened up the Predators 28th year in the Milford Sunday Night League.

Taking advantage of the fine weather, those present participated in two rounds of batting practice and shagging drives to the rugged Platt Tech outfield.  With veteran 3rd baseman Rick Ruiz away on assignment, several Predators tried their hand at 3rd base in a bonus round of fielding practice.  

After softball practice on the field, the team promptly left Platt Tech field to practice their post-game beer and pizza consumption ritual.  Predator GM, Field Manager and Player Matt Kraynak declared this opening of Spring Training for the Predators an "absolute success that will be repeated again".

Milford, CT (5/1/2011) The Predators opened their 28th season in the Milford Sunday Night League with a 17-6 win over the Screaming Seagulls at Platt Tech Field.  It turned out to be an easy afternoon for the veteran Predators, as they came out swinging and never looked back against the youthful Seagull lineup.

The Screaming Seagulls, wearing their navy blue tee shirts adorned with oversized, spray-painted numbers on the back were held scoreless in the first inning.  The Predators wasted very little time getting on the boards.  In the bottom of the first the Predators scored 5 times on 5 hits including a double by David Weiss and a 2-run home run to right center by Daryle Graf.  In the second inning, the Seagulls squeezed across one to make it a 5-1 game.  In the bottom of the 2nd the Predators scored twice.  After Matt Kraynak reached on fielders choice and ended up on 2nd base on a Seagull throwing error, Tim Myers stroked a double to right to drive in Kraynak.  Myers later scored on an RBI single by Carl Malinosky, giving the Predators a 7-1 lead.

In the 3rd inning, the Seagulls scrapped for 2 more runs making it a 7-3 game.  The Predators responded with 8 runs in the bottom of the 3rd by stringing some walks, singles and extra base hits, including RBI Triples by Carl Malinosky and Mike Ranilla.  By the end of the 3rd the Predators held a commanding 15-3 lead.  The Seagulls and Predators each scored 2 in the 4th inning, and after the Seagulls only put one more run up in the 5th inning, the Predators were awarded a 17-6 win by the 10-run mercy rule.

Game Notes: Barry Kresen started the season on the DL, however manned the clipboard well.  Rick Ruiz drew 2 walks and scored 3 runs despite not getting a hit; Carl Malinosky, Daryle Graf and Fred Bialka combined for 7 hits in 9 at bats, collecting 9 RBI's and 5 runs scored.  11 of 12 Predators scored at least 1 run in this afternoon's game.

Milford, CT (6/5/2011) The Predators arrived at Platt Tech Field looking to bounce back from a tough loss to HGH Abusers in their previous game.  Facing another top team in the league - the Bulldogs, the Predators knew today it would be an uphill battle.  An uphill battle it was....  The Bulldogs and Predators go back several years in the Milford Sunday Night League.  In the earlier years, the Predators usually ended up on top, however in the most recent few years, the Bulldogs have turned the tables by significantly improving their offensive strength. The Bulldogs are now considered the Predators' number one nemesis.

The Bulldogs ran away with todays game scoring 22 times with 5 runs in the 1st, 3 in the 2nd, 10 in the 3rd, and 4 in the 4th inning.  The Predators simply did not answer the call, mounting only 9 runs over 5 innings.   For the Predators, highlights included David Weiss and Daryle Graf who each scored 3 runs, and accounted for 5 singles and 1 walk and 1 RBI in 7 plate appearances.  Dain Runestad and Todd Slade each drove in 2 runs each with 3 singles and 1 double in 6 plate appearances.  Other than that - the Predators offense was sparse and will need to step it up significantly in order to take on their next opponent - Custom Air next week at West Shore Field.

Milford, CT (6/19/2011)  The Predators celebrated Father's Day at Red Bush Field by crushing Discount Fence 17-1 in 5 innings.  Today's game was originally scheduled to be played at West Shore Field, however due to muddy conditions the game was shifted to the "woodsy" Red Bush Field.   

After holding Discount Fence scoreless in the first inning, the Predators came out swinging - scoring 6 times in the bottom of the first.  The Predators capitalized on fielding errors by Discount Fence with RBI singles by Matt Kraynak, Todd Slade, Rick Ruiz and Dain Runestad.  David Weiss also drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.  In the bottom of the second the Predators added 9 more runs to take a 15-0 lead.  The inning featured singles by Carl Malinosky, Daryle Graf, Kevin McTigue, Matt Kraynak and Dain Runestad; a double by Tim Myers and a bases-loaded triple by Todd Slade. The next scoring in the came in the top of the 4th when Discount Fence broke the shutout with a run scoring on a spectacular running stop drop and roll by Predator left-fielder Daryle Graf who received a 9.875 from a team of international judges for his artistic yet highly complex defensive play.  The Predators pushed across 2 more runs in the bottom of the 4th, the last run coming on a sacrifice fly by Fred Bialka.  Shut down by the Predators in the top of the 5th, Discount Fence was sent packing as the Predators won 17-1 with the game ending in the 5th inning by the 10-run mercy rule.

GAME NOTES:  Barry Kresen and Bob Paradis were both on the DL for today's game.  Kresen will assume bench coach duties for the remainder of 2011 while Paradis will be week-to week.  Five Predators scored twice in the first 2 innings of the game today (Myers, Malinosky, Graf, McTigue and Slade.) and 10 of 11 Predators scored at least once.  Todd Slade was the Predators offensive player of the week, providing 2 singles, a triple, 4 RBI's and 3 runs scored.  King Carl Malinosky registered the only strikeout of the day in the second inning.

Milford, CT (6/26/2011) The Predators won an ugly game this afternoon against the Beachcombers by a score of 4-3 at Washington Field.  Being one of the weakest offensive games in recent memory, the Predators were extremely lucky that their opponent also had a poor day at the plate as well.   

In today's game, there would be no score until the top of the 3rd inning when the Beachcombers took a 2-0 lead. That lead held until the bottom of the 4th when the Predators finally scored.  David Weiss singled and was driven in on a double by Kevin McTigue.  McTigue then scored on a single by Matt Kraynak making it a 2-2 game after 4 innings.  The game remained tied at 2 until the bottom of the 6th when the Predators pushed across the go-ahead run.  After Kevin McTigue reached on fielder's choice, Daryle Graf and Matt Kraynak each drew walks to load the bases.  McTigue scored when Predator rookie Jesse Daly hit the ball hard at the Beachcomber 3rd baseman who mishandled the ball allowing the Predators to kae a 3-2 lead.  In the top of the 7th the Predators failed to put the game away, allowing the Beachcombers to tie the game at 3.  The key play of the inning came when Daryle Graf fielded a single by the Beacombers then gunned down a Beachcomber at 3rd base with a frozen rope.  That runner was the potential go-ahead run for the Beachcombers in a game where every run came at a premium.  Instead, that runner became the second out of the inning, and skunked one runner on first base.

With the game tied 3-3 heading into the bottom of the 7th, the Predators needed to scrap for just one run, and scrap is exactly what they did.  With two outs and Tim Myers on first base reaching by fielder's choice, Carl Malinosky singled to keep the inning going.  Dave Weiss followed by reaching first on a walk to load the bases for Kevin McTigue.  McTigue hit a grounder to third base that was dropped twice by the Beachcomber 3rd baseman, enabling Myers to score and giving a 4-3 victory to the Predators.     

Milford, CT (7/10/2011)  The Predators suffered their most disappointing loss this afternoon after allowing the Sons Of Pitches (SOP) to get away by a score of 7-4.  For the Predators, it was by far their worst offensive effort having only 8 hits, 5 of which were collected by Daryle Graf and Matt Fleming.

In this afternoon's low-scoring event, the Predators fell behind 1-0 in the first inning, before taking a 3-1 lead after 3.  Dain Runestad and Mike Ranilla each drew walks and were driven in on a double by Matt Fleming and a single by Daryle Graf to highlight the inning.  After SOP made it a 3-3 game in the top of the 4th the Predators took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the inning after Matt Kraynak doubled and was driven in on a single by Rick Ruiz.  The Predators 4-3 lead held until the top of the 7th when Sons Of Pitches opened up for 4 runs which went unanswered in the bottom of the 7th.

Game Notes: The Predators were retired 1-2-3 in the 2nd, 6th and 7th innings, and had a total of 10 baserunners on 8 hits and 2 walks on a mere 30 plate appearances.  Today's poor showing was a complete reversal of 2010 when the Predators beat Sons Of Pitches by scores of 14-4 and 18-16.  Tim Myers missed today's game which is the first he has missed since joining the Predators in 2010.  Veteran players Carl Malinosky, Bob Paradis and Barry Kresen were also on the DL for today's game.

Milford, CT (7/17/2011) The Predators swept a split day / split venue doubleheader by knocking out Half Baked 15-9 at Foote Field, then taking down Clobber Rocking at Washington Field 13-8.  

In the first game at Foote Field, the Predators got off to a poor start defensively, making multiple errors on routine plays enabling  Half Baked to score a pile of runs.  Meanwhile the Predators offense was also playing down to Half Baked.  By the top of the 5th inning, the Predators found themselves down 8-2 and running out of time.  Matt Kraynak returned to the dugout and rallied the troops in a rare outburst that seemed to mark a turning point in the game.  In the 5th and 6th innings the Predators exploded for 13 runs to take a commanding lead and snuff out Half Baked.  With the win the Predators raised their season record to 4 and 3.

In the second game, the Predators once again started slowly on offense but did find their way against Clobber Rocking at Washington Field. Heading into the bottom of the 6th inning down 8-7, the Predators rallied for 6 runs and shut down Clobber Rocking in the top of the 7th to take the 13-8 win.  The Predators raised their season record to 5-3 with the win. 

Milford, CT (7/24/2011) The Predators avenged an early season loss to HGH Abusers by grinding out a 17-14 victory this afternoon at West Shore Field.  Coming into this afternoon's game, HGH had only one loss on their season at the hands of the Bulldogs.  The Predators stepped up their game this afternoon by outhitting and outlasting a very good HGH team. 

As the box score shows, the Predators and HGH scored in virtually every inning.  The Predators took an early 3-0 lead only to see it tied after one inning.  The Predators answered with 2, and HGH responded with 3 taking their only lead of the game after 2.  The game went on to be tied 10-10 after 3 and 11-11 after 4 until the Predators finally broke the stalemate with 4 runs in the top of the 5th - to which HGH only once in their half of the inning.  The Predators survived a last inning rally by HGH to take a well-earned 17-14 win.

Several Predators had solid performances at the plate this afternoon.  Tim Myers went 3 for 4 and scored 3 runs; Matt Kraynak 3 for 4 including a double; Dain Runestad 2 singles and 2 walks and scored twice; Carl Malinosky 3 for 4 and a walk.  Overall, the entire lineup contributed consistently and are looking good as the playoffs approach.

Milford, CT (7/31/2011) The Predators continued their winning ways by taking out Budget Fence at Platt Tech by a score of 11-6.  It was a game that the Predators in its entirety.

After holding Discount Fence scoreless in the top of the first, the Predators scrapped for 7 runs on just 4 singles and 3 walks.  Tim Myers, Daryle Graf, Kevin McTigue and Matt Kraynak each singled and scored, while Rick Ruiz and Dain Runestad each walked and scored.  Budget Fence responded with 3 in the second.  In the bottom of the 3rd inning the Predators retaliated.  After Daryle Graf and Mike Ranilla Walked, Matt Kraynak blasted a triple to left field driving in 2 runs.  Kraynak later scored on a single by Dain Runestad.  Later in the inning, Tim Myers walked and scored on a triple by Kevin McTigue giving the Predators an 11-3 lead.   The rest of the game the Predators coasted in for and 11-6 vistory over Budget Fence.