Andrelczyk goes yard, knocks in four. Defense shines as "The Wall" stands tall. By Bob Loblaw, Voice Staff Writer June 16, 2009 LOS ANGELES, CA. — The Marauders have finally found their form. After two years of struggling in the IMREC summer leagues, the pirates have earned the franchise's first winning record (2-1) by drubbing Student Affairs Division (SAD) 12-3.
Now, let's see if they can keep it. If the past two games have been any indication of the Marauder's ability to win (and win big), they should be able to run away with their division.
"It's not going to be easy to win-out, there's no question about that," said team manager Neil Teixeira. "But, I really think this team can do it. The bats are on fire and our defense has been lights-out!"
One of the team's best gloves this season has been Nadia Barosy's. The veteran 2nd baseman has been playing with a palpable intensity ever since proclaiming herself "The Wall" following the Marauders' victory over the Urban Sprawlers.
After taking down SAD Softball, Barosy was asked if she believed that the Marauders had turned their fortunes around and could win the rest of their games.
"I know we can win out. We're a solid team and we're playing with a lot of swagger right now. Our defense was incredible tonight." Asked about her nickname "The Wall" and her recent defensive play, she was quick to praise her teammates saying, "I wouldn't be playing like this if it wasn't for Billy [Schwerin] at shortstop. I can only hope that my performance has validated the new name."
Barosy wasn't the only one who flashed some leather against Student Affairs. Teixeira, playing in deep left field to protect against one of SAD's heavy hitters, had to get on his horse for a quickly dropping line-drive that was scorched over the infield, and made the shoestring catch. The lanky outfielder made the final out of the 5th inning on the play, preventing at least two runners from scoring.
But the web gems are just icing on the Marauders' defensive cake. Consistency from new-comers Schwerin at shortstop and Mike Andrelczyk at first base, along with workman-like performances by the veterans are what's keeping the team's season alive.
And let's not forget about Sara Rosenzweig who, playing her first game with the Marauders, made a critical catch on a pop-fly to end the game. The newly-minted 3rd baseman played incredibly well considering that she was asked to take over the hot corner only minutes before the game.
While the 3rd baseman certainly caught the attention of her teammates during pre-game warm-ups with her rocket arm, the biggest eye-opener of the evening was the incredible power-swing of Andrelczyk who missed out on a double to come just short of hitting for the cycle. The 1st baseman ended the night going 3-4 with 4 RBI, 2 runs and a homerun that looked like it may have gone into orbit.
"I was just trying to hit the ball as hard as I could," Andrelczyk said with a chuckle. "My first hit of the evening was a single and I wasn't satisfied with that. So, I just pulled the trigger on the next ball that came my way."
And, with a picture-perfect swing, there was no doubt about where that ball was headed: the stratosphere.
"It was a big-league cut, that's for sure!" said Teixeira after watching the slugger round the bases. "He's a pure hitter with a sweet swing. I'm just not sure what we'll do when he's gone." Rumors have swirled that Andrelczyk's season might be cut short as he will be leaving the Marauders to attend to family matters in Pennsylvania.
"It's a tough decision for me," Andrelczyk said. "I love it here and I've really felt welcome at MAPP. I wish I could stay here longer but there are things that I need to take care of back home."
The decision comes at a time when the players were starting to feel very comfortable with each other around the baseball diamond.
Catcher Juli Legat felt that the team had really come together over the past few weeks. Asked if it was the reason for the great defensive displays on Monday she said "Well, it can't be the practice" very tongue-in-cheek.
"But honestly, I think we're getting used to each other and I've learned a lot of things from others, especially how to be a team player. We haven't had many big plays, but we've all done the little things to make contributions to each victory."
With the return of August Cockroft and Brooks Horn to the line-up this coming Monday, June 22nd, the Marauders might be primed to extend their winning streak.
There's a lot of confidence in the clubhouse, unlike at any point in the franchise's young history. Let's see if the Marauders can stay hot and make a run for first place.
Photo Gallery - MAPP Marauders vs. SAD Softball: click here. Special thanks to Chuck Hall for his photography of the Marauders. Stats through Monday, June 15th --- SAD Softball vs. MAPP Marauders
Slumping slugger rehabs with Class AAA affiliate 'Sandlot Crew'. Calls out reporters during news conference. ESPN.com News Services June 9, 2009
LOS ANGELES, CA. — Dominic Lau's vision has checked out very well as the MAPP Marauders try to help him out of his early-season slump.
The designated hitter received drops for dry eyes Monday, team spokesperson Candace House said. 'Big Papi', as he's referred to by teammates and fans, has no homers and no RBIs with a .197 batting average to start the year.
He has dropped from the third spot in the lineup all the way to the Glendale Leagues, where he has had some promising rehab starts. Lau has a six-game hitting streak with the Sandlot Crew (Class AAA) going 7 of 25 with 4 RBI and 1 HR.
Lau says no one should be writing him off but he acknowledged in an interview that his struggles have been literally keeping him up at night.
"My body is resting every night," Lau said this weekend, "but my mind is spinning with all of this stuff. It's hard to sleep. I've never been through something like this. But when you have a bad start, you never know what can happen. A lot of times, they don't let you come back."
Lau doesn't believe his slump has anything to do with his eyes, and Marauders manager Neil Teixeira said recently that the team just wants to put the issue "to rest."
"There's a lot of talk out there about Dom's struggles at the plate on Mondays," the skipper said. "But I've seen him play on Sundays [in class AAA] and let me tell you, he's crushing the ball."
Fans of Big Papi have been restlessly waiting to see their slugger break out in a big way. Social media sites like YouTube have been lit afire with creative discussions and parodies centering on Big Papi's perpetual slump.
Lau indicated that he hasn't seen any of those fan videos (one sample is provided below), but pointed out that he didn't quite care for some of what the press had to say about his offensive drought.
"You people keep writing and saying all this stuff," he told reporters. "You say I can't hit no more. That I'm done. What, I have one arm now? I'm not 45. I never struggled like this, but I'll be back. Then what are you going to say?"
Despite Lau's struggles, the Marauders are at .500 and sit only 1 game behind the Annenberg All-Stars. Lau said it's a credit partly to the man who hits in front of him, first baseman Mike Andrelczyk, who leads the team in extra-base hits, batting (.1000) and slugging (1.667) percentages.
"If he's not doing what he's doing right now, we'd be losing more games," Lau told the Voice. "And when we lose, you know where the blame goes. It goes on me. But this guy [Andrelczyk], he's got no fear. He might be the biggest reason we haven't fallen apart."
Rookie Graves goes 4-4, Schwerin and Horn touch 'em all. By Bob Loblaw, Voice Staff Writer June 9, 2009 LOS ANGELES, CA. —It didn't take long for the MAPP Marauders' bats to come alive this season.
In just their second game of the season the guys 'n' gals in gray found their swings, banging out 20 hits en route to taking down the SPPD Urban Sprawlers 10-2 and earning their first win of the year.
Monday night's hitting was a stark contrast to that of the first game when most of the Marauders were shaking off the rust from the off-season. MAPP's consistency up and down the line-up was the key to beating SPPD for the first time in 3 seasons.
Rookie Samantha Graves set the pace for the ladies going 4-4 with two RBI in her first game. A trend she hopes to continue.
“Finding the right bat was key - we probably should have it checked to make sure it’s not corked," the bandanna-wearing Graves remarked after the game. "But seriously, whose ever 'Easton' bat that was - please, please bring it next week. I’ll fork over half of my contract extension money for that bat!”
It would be a small price to pay to keep the Marauders hitting the way they did on Monday.
Playing on Cromwell Field, with its cozy dimensions, the men aimed more for power than average, slugging 6 extra-base hits including homers by Brooks Horn and Billy Schwerin. Horn belted an opposite-field homer deep to right-center in his second at-bat bringing in 3 RBI, while Schwerin followed as the next male batter with a scalding hit down the 3rd base line that was legged for an inside-the-park-er. The two sluggers batted in 5 of the 8 runs scored in the 3rd inning. "Once we got the rally going in the 3rd inning," said Horn, "nothing could really stop us. The team just really came together this week. Personally, I'm a little disappointed in my hitting consistency, considering I could have taken advantage of the small outfield, but I think my one hit was the right hit to get."
The playing field certainly had drawbacks to go along with its hitter-friendly aspects. First baseman Mike Andrelczyk was very disappointed with the playing conditions.
"It's a dumb place to play softball," he said flatly. "Come on, joggers on the warning track and soccer players in deep center?! We might as well have played on the street! I mean, this isn't stickball."
When asked if he thought his ground-rule double in the 2nd inning would have been caught by the Sprawlers had their right fielder not have been bumped by a jogger on the track, Andrelczyk was unquestionably honest.
"He probably would have caught it, so thank God for the jogger that time! I usually try to hit the ball hard on the ground, but that short porch in right was so tempting. I just wanted to crush one into the grandstands!"
Others were happy to just get any old hit. Laura Hartman was all smiles after the Marauder's victory, in which she contributed 3 singles and scored a run.
"Personally," she said "I'm just excited to see my batting average go up from triple zeros. As a team, we're very improved. I feel like we've turned it around and people should be afraid of us. The girls on our team rock! We're not just fillers." Hartman concluded by gritting her teeth and growling a salty pirate's "Arr!"
The Marauders certainly seemed relaxed and calm as they went about their business and there was a noticeable chemistry amongst the players throughout the game. That may explain why they were so successful offensively and defensively.
Second baseman Nadia Barosy remarked, "No one was tense. We all seemed relaxed. I like being on the winning side, so let's keep that going. I understand now why everyone who beat us last year was so happy."
Asked about her individual performance on the field she said, "I was happy with my fielding, since my goal is to eliminate all errors from my game. You know, I wanna be 'The Wall'. Nothing gets by 'The Wall'!"
Center fielder Andrew Burnop echoed Barosy's words on the easy-going feeling, saying "Playing out on the track made it feel like practice. Like it wasn't even a real game. No one seemed worried about messing up and I think, because of that, we made all the easy plays."
But not everyone felt relaxed during the game.
Rookie Billy Schwerin, despite hitting a home run and scoring two, felt like he made some misplays in replacement of starting shortstop Binh Tran.
"The things that I don't do right," referring to a missed flare over the infield, "just eat me up! I should have had that ball! It was off the tip of my glove!"
Showing his competitive nature, Schwerin continued to grumble about missed opportunities. "Fouling out in my last at-bat really killed me. I won't let that happen again. Ever. But, you know, that wasn't even the worst of it. I can't believe I struck out my boss, Laura!"
And finally, for players like Jairo Delgado, it was just good to get back on the field and play hard.
"Stepping back into the batter's box was just what Jairo needed," said the 2007 Muscle Milk® Home Run King, referring to himself in the third person. "Everyone better watch out for Jairo this year. Jairo is carrying a big stick."
Stats from Monday, June 8th --- SPPD Sprawlers vs. MAPP Marauders
Pitchers' duel runs away from Marauders in 3rd inning. Bad blood continues on field. By Bob Loblaw, Voice Staff Writer June 1, 2009
LOS ANGELES, CA. — From the look of the first three innings of play at Dedeaux Field, you would have thought that it was Spahn and Marichal on the mound.
For those readers who are not familiar with baseball history, Warren Spahn and Juan Marichal matched each other pitch-for-pitch over 16 innings one blustery San Francisco evening at Candlestick Park in 1963.
Monday night, pitchers for the Marauders and All-Stars retired the first 6 batters they faced in what started out as a classic pitching duel. Too bad each team was pitching to itself.
But, what started out as a couple of 1-2-3 innings ended up as a grudge match with the All-Stars running away with an 8-4 victory.
Annenberg's starting pitcher Ben Chase came out of the 1st with a pair of strikeouts against his own teammates. But that didn't stop the All-Stars from putting up 4 runs in the 3rd and 2 in the 4th, including a pair off of a home run by Chase.
"Man, that was tough," pitcher Neil Teixeira remarked after the game. "Our defense was playing well and their pitcher was helping us out. Too bad I couldn't help us out. I pitched a lousy game, pure and simple. Lobbing balls at the ankles and then flinging 'em past the eyeballs. Dumb."
Some batters were particularly affected by the inconsistent pitching. Designated hitter Dominic Lau went 0-2 with a groundout and a strikeout.
The DH was not at all pleased with his foul ball strikeout saying, "I'm a klutz. I need to get my eyes checked because all the pitches looked good to me. I just had a bad game."
Rookie 1st baseman Mike Andrelczyk, who came away with a single and an RBI in his only plate appearance, felt differently about Lau's at-bats. "The guy has so much power it's tough to lay off those slow, lobbed pitches." Andrelczyk added, "As long as "Big Papi" doesn't get down on himself and get into a real slump, we'll be fine. Dom's gonna be hitting dingers in no time."
But even when the Marauders hit the ball, Annenberg was there to make the outs. The All-Stars were undoubtedly impressive on the defensive side of the ball, playing extraordinarily well with as few as 7 players on the field, and holding the Marauder's offense to 4 runs scattered over 7 frames.
"You've got to give them credit for fighting through a shallow roster," outfielder Westley Nguyen remarked, "but they were also trying to get away with 5 guys and 3 girls in the 5th inning."
Nguyen pointed out that IMREC rules state: "7 players are required to start a game" and "40% of fielders must be women." That prompted the Marauder's skipper to remind Chase, the All-Star's manager, that they could only field 7 players in the 6th.
Unfortunately, tensions between the teams had already been stoked over a base running mistake at 1st base and a close call at 2nd.
Chase was not pleased when Teixeira approached him between innings. "He basically told me that if we were going to pick on their roster issues, then they would be happy to call our players out when they round first base."
Things took a turn for the worse when Teixeira's repeated calls for "time" in the outfield were not heard by Annenberg's pitcher and batter. The subsequent pitch was hit and snared by shortstop Binh Tran for an out.
When the All-Star's sent the batter to the plate again, the Marauder's skipper argued that the batter should be out since the call for "time" was ignored until after the hitter made the out.
"To be perfectly honest," an irritated Teixeira grumbled, "if you're pitching to your own team and you ignore repeated calls for "time", then I'm not going to care when you line out. Every pitch, you're supposed to check the outfield to see if the other team is ready."
Teixeira added, "I can only get so mad at the All-Star's. I hate IMREC for putting us all in the position where we have to argue every call because they're too cheap, too lazy or too full of themselves to hire umpires. I mean, they're not all too busy playing softball, I hope. I know for a fact that one IMREC staff member was a scab for Annenberg tonight, so it just goes to show that they don't care about rules."
But once the clouds of anger and frustration passed overhead, you could definitely see some bright spots.
Third baseman Jared Laux went 2-2 with a single, a double and a run scored. His production was a major turn-around from his slumping finish last season.
"I was happy with my hitting," Laux said with a straight face, "but, I was pretty upset about my base running error. I cost us a chance at keeping the inning alive."
Asked about his hot bat to start the season Laux credited a special conditioning regimen. "Basically, a power-lunch at McD's and about 7 sodas throughout the day propelled me through the game." The third baseman sarcastically added, "It really showed on the bases."
Kevin Chan, who played center field, also went 2-2, slapping a pair of singles and collecting an RBI and a run. Chan smiled after the game and said, "It's nice to start the season off batting .1000. Too bad we couldn't pull out the win."
The ladies had a solid showing as well, with rookie right fielder Juli Legat knocking two base hits in her three plate appearances and 2nd baseman Nadia Barosy collecting two singles and scoring a run, despite playing through an injury suffered during a collision at first base. "Even when I'm not right," said Barosy, "I get hits. So, you know, I just go to battle, and keep preparing the way I'm preparing. Because I never go down. That's me, man."
The second baseman added, referencing a certain former Red Sox slugger, "I guess, you know, when you don't feel good and you still get hits, that's when you know you are a bad Mamma Jamma."
Let's hope Barosy's swagger rubs off on the rest of the Marauders team and that they take that confidence and tenacity into their next game against the SPPDSprawlers.
Stats from Monday, June 1st --- Annenberg All-Stars vs. MAPP Marauders
Rivalries with Annenberg All-Stars and SPPD Sprawlers Renewed. E-tickets Available to Public. Al Koholik, Voice Sports Information
IMREC recently released the 2009 summer softball schedule to team managers, announcing a split C0-Ed league with two sub-divisions.
The Marauders, along with the other teams in the "B" sub-division, will play all of their games at 6:30pm on Monday evenings between June 1st and June 29th. Teams in the "A" sub-division, including Rec Sports and Keck School XXYs, will play at 5:30pm.
Teams in the "B" sub-division will play on Rod Dedeaux Field primarily and on Cromwell Field additionally.
The Marauders start of their season tonight with a rivalry game against the Annenberg All-Stars, a team with which the Pewter Pirates have developed an acrimonious history. One or two "friendly" bets have been known to depend on the outcome of this classic match-up. Fans who are in search of tickets for what will certainly be a heated contest, can download a 5-ticket family pack from the Pillage Voice. This is the first year that the Marauders have made E-tickets available. New 5-ticket family packs will be available for each game.
Tickets will feature a different MAPP Marauders player for every game. Fans are encouraged to collect all five.
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LOS ANGELES, CA. — The Marauders have finally found their form. After two years of struggling in the IMREC summer leagues, the pirates have earned the franchise's first winning record (2-1) by drubbing Student Affairs Division (SAD) 12-3.
But the web gems are just icing on the Marauders' defensive cake. Consistency from new-comers Schwerin at shortstop and Mike Andrelczyk at first base, along with workman-like performances by the veterans are what's keeping the team's season alive.
And, with a picture-perfect swing, there was no doubt about where that ball was headed: the stratosphere.
Catcher Juli Legat felt that the team had really come together over the past few weeks. Asked if it was the reason for the great defensive displays on Monday she said "Well, it can't be the practice" very tongue-in-cheek.
