A Memorable Night

North Coast 2, Chillicothe 1

For the record, it's unfortunate that the Chillicothe Paints lost to the North Coast Knights by a score of 2-1 on the last regular season home game, but in spite of that, this night was simply a memorable one. The events that played out during teh course of the game were just grand and smooth, nothing bittersweet whatsoever. V.A. Memorial Stadium was packed with fans who were happy and content with the fact that their hometown team officially qualified for the Prospect League Championship Series, beginning next week on Monday. The atmosphere was electric and fun. Even though there was a loss on the scoreboard, the night itself was a big win.

I'm not in the mood to act jumpy at all because I feel happy with the way our team is progressing night in and night out. There are no worries coming from this amateur article writer. If I could ever figure out what word defined the meaning "no worries" from the Disney movie "The Lion King", then I would have it out for you, the reader, but I forgot about that word. Sorry.

Anyway, aside from the extra fluff that I occasionally add into my reports, let's get to the game. Blake Mascarello took the mound for the start. He would pitch 6 innings deep in this game, giving up 5 hits and a walk, resulting in an earned run. He would come back to strike out four batters. I believe Blake did a good job and he gave it a solid effort. There's not more that you can ask from a starting pitcher when he's pitching very late into the regular season aside from just tuning up his arsenal for the postseason.

Tony Davey would put in one inning of work coming from the bullpen in this game, and he would only give up a hit. He struck out a batter to get out of the seventh inning, and he didn't give up any runs. Davey, in my opinion, looked pretty solid out there even though he may have shaky at some parts. Davey made fairly quick work of the Knights when he was on the mound. This was a good job done by him overall.

Chadd Steinborn pitched the last two innings of the ballgame, and he would give up two hits and eventually the winning run to the Knights, but I have to point out that those things are just going to happen. Tip your cap to the North Coast Knights, because they brung it to the Paints in this game even though there was nothing to play for from their perspective aside from team pride, which always matters. Steniborn would strike out three batters in his relief appearance.

For the offense, shortstop Ben Allen had a single and a stolen base. First baseman Kyle Gendron had a bunt single. Third baseman Zach Leonard had a bunt single. Left fielder Andy Brouse had an RBI single in the third inning. Right fielder Brandon White had a single. Center fielder Steven Mirizzi had a single. I do have to point out some blunders the Paints made, such as a bases loaded double play that Andy Brouse grounded into in the seventh inning that prevented a run from scoring, and one baserunning blunder by Brandon White in the fourth as he was trying to get back to first base.

However, let's note the absolutely solid defensive effort put out by second baseman Tim Krofcheck. All game long, Tim was simply all over the place. He was diving, hustling to the groundballs hit to him, picking up balls on tough bounces, the whole deal. He turned two incredible double plays that simply dazzled me, and I'm sure many other Paints fans were dazzled as well.

On a soft note, I want to say that a close friend of mine, named Rick, and myself went out to throw out the ceremonial first pitches of the game, and it was amazing to be out there once more. Last year, I was feeling the sting of the fact that the Frontier League Paints were leaving Chillicothe for good, and my first pitch at the end of 2008 sailed past its target and hit the net. This year, at the end of 2009, I was much more poised to properly throw out the first pitch, and from the mound, I threw a decent curveball at Rex Ingham, as it took one bounce to get to him. Rick was thrilled that he got to throw out the first pitch because through 17 years, he had never done it before, so this was a special first for my good buddy.