“The great thing about baseball is that there’s a crisis every day.” – Gabe Paul

In a three game series against the Sussex SkyHawks on the road, the Surf was up against two of the biggest offensive threats in the league, DH Walter Young and Jorge Moreno. The Surf’s pitching has been outstanding so far, but fell apart against Sussex in the first game of the series. They played good enough to win on Sunday, but fell short when they were unable to get timely hits to tie the game. Sussex completed the sweep and the Surf went back on the road traveling to Nashua where they broke out of their slump and got a win they desperately needed.

While the Surf’s pitching is second in the league in ERA with 3.82, hitting has been a problem. The numbers tell a story of guys who can hit well, but up against other teams’ offense it’s not been enough. Anthony Granato, Brad Thoma, Eddie Kim, and Joe Burke have all been very productive. The Surf knows, however, that they need a little something extra to go up against teams like the Worcester Tornadoes and the Quebec Capitales.

I was in the Surf coach’s locker room interviewing one of the coaches, when third baseman Carter McQuigg arrived and looked ready to play. While “the new guy” (as he was dubbed even after giving his name), has had limited opportunities, he’s not been able to make anything happen just yet. The soft-spoken, polite Southern twenty-three year old was signed by the Surf after his release from the Wichita Wingnuts of the American Association.

Granato leads the team in OBP with a solid .434. Thoma is second with .385 and DH Eddie Kim rounds it out at .373. They have good speed in Granato and Lucas Taylor, who tie for the league lead in stolen bases; the team leads in walks as well with 136.  But in team batting the Surf trails four other teams: Sussex SkyHawks, New Jersey Jackals, Worcester Tornadoes, and the Quebec Capitales. It’s a fiery league for hitting and every team must be at the top of their game to compete. They say pitching wins, but in this league you gotta hit.

After getting swept three games on the road against the Sussex SkyHawks, the team traveled to Nashua to play the Pride, a team they just took three out of four from at home.

While the series sweep by Sussex lowered team morale, they must have gotten their inner fire up.

In game one the Surf blew away the Pride’s pitching with timely hits and took advantage of their poor defense. Surf won 11-6, scoring five runs in the fifth inning. Granato and Thoma each scored three runs in the game. The team’s pitching was also stellar as Kyle George picked up his first win giving up just four hits; Jim Wladyka and Derek Duclos (earning his fourth save) gave up three runs combined.

At one point Wladyka argued vehemently about a pitch he thought was a strike. Wladyka was not going to fall apart this time. He had something to prove and he came out with guns blazing. It was an overall team effort to hang their hat on. They would go on to sweep the three game series before coming home to face the New Jersey Jackals.

But the Surf bats must keep their fire up to have any chance to overtake the teams ahead of them and make the playoffs.