... .--. .. .-. .. - / .-- .. -.

[The title is Spirit Win, in Morse Code. Get it? "MORSE" code? Ha, ha, I'm so clever.]

LYNN, MA- Bryan Morse pitched the Spirit to victory tonight, 5-2 over the Can Am Grays, in a game filled with passion and emotion, although it was in front of a crowd of less than 500 at Fraser Field. The Spirit's win continues their impressive start to the season, improving them to 8-3; at no point this year have they lost consecutive games- the only CanAm team that can make that claim. Morse (3-0) got the win, pitching 7 solid innings, giving up 2 runs on 10 hits, while Jodie Kennedy (1-1) got the loss for the Grays, tossing 7 innings and giving up 5 runs. The loss for the Grays drops them to 8-7.

The Spirit wasted no time by taking the early lead in the top of the 1st. Agramonte led off with a single but was caught stealing. Following that, Eric Storey grounded out and quickly there were 2 on and nobody out. The next man, though, Vic Davilla, laced a laser-beam double off the top of the wall to the deepest part of centerfield. Then Travis "Yee-haw I'm a Cowboy even though I'm from the decidedly liberal state of California" Oglesby absolutely demolished a Kennedy offering OVER the wall in center, one-upping Davilla and putting his team on the scoreboard.



Oglesby homers in the 1st, his 5th Home Run of the 2005 season so far**

The Grays responded in the bottom of the 1st. Keith Strickland tapped a leadoff single up the middle and then proceeded to steal both 2nd and 3rd base on two close calls which drew ire from the crowd. Mark Burke lined an RBI single with 1 out to cut the lead to 2-1. Francisco LeBron followed up with a single of his own, but Morse escaped the jam by forcing King to ground into a 1-6-3 double play to end the inning.

The Spirit got that run back in the 2nd as Fischer led off with a solo homer, his 2nd of the year, making it 3-1. The Grays threatened in the bottom of the inning, putting the first two men on base, but Brad Heargraves grounded into a double play on a nifty play by Eric Storey at 3rd; he moved to his right and made a nice stop, then spun and made a backhanded throw to 2nd to get the first out; Agramonte fired to Davilla to complete the double play. The inning ended with the return of Jason Startari, the 2003 Spirit 3rd Baseman, who grounded out to end the 2nd.

Jason Startari made his Fraser return to big cheers from the Spirit diehards in attendance**

The umpires became the story in the 3rd inning. Storey was called out on strikes by the home plate umpire, much to his chagrin; he voiced his concerns and was seen laughing on the way back to the dugout. Later in the inning, Oglesby was called out on a similar call; he, too, appeared none too pleased. In the bottom of the 3rd, with 1 out, Keith Strickland reached 1st on a very controversial play. He tapped it to the right side, where Vic Davilla made a very nice play to his right, whirling and firing to the covering Morse, who appeared to be clearly to the bag well before the runner Strickland, but the 1st base umpire called Strickland safe. This sparked a heavy protest from manager John Kennedy as well as Vic Davilla. Strickland went on to steal 2nd for his 3rd SB of the game but was caught stealing 3rd. The inning ended on a BJ Weed (semi Spirit alumni) flyout to the warning track in left on a ball that appeared destined for the clubhouse area til it died in mid air allowing Weir to corral it.

The umpires continued to be the story in the top of the 4th. With 1 out and a runner on 2nd (Alex Trezza led off with a double), Rob Fischer was called out on strikes on a pitch that appeared to be at the lower part of his shins. His dander was already up, as a few pitches earlier, he hit a ball that appeared to be fair down the line in left which would have plated Trezza, but the 3rd base umpire called it foul. Fischer, angered by both this and the strike call, got very upset at the home plate umpire and eventually was tossed from the game, prompting an argument from John Kennedy. Order was finally restored and Weir moved to centerfield while Stephen Carter came in to play left.

Fischer gets chucked by Slim Fast in the 4th**

The Bottom of the 5th ended on a nice play by Stephen Carter which could have been disastrous. With 2 outs and nobody on, Garcia picked up a single to extend the inning. This brought up the speedy Strickland, who hit a pop fly to left field that was mis-handled by Carter, as he dropped the ball which would have been the sure 3rd out. Garcia, however, overran 2nd and as he was turning back and diving toward the bag, Carter's laser throw got to Yuri, who was able to apply the tag and retire the Grays. More great defense saved the Spirit in the 6th. With 2 men in scoring position and one run already in in the inning after an RBI single by Willie King plated Mark Burke, Brad Heargraves laced one toward the gap in left center but Carter made the great diving catch to end the inning and save 2 runs, keeping the score 3-2 North Shore.

The Spirit finally put it away in the 7th. Garret Weir earned a TOMMY POINT by running out a bunt single to lead it off. Yuri's single sent Garret to 3rd. Agramonte hit into a fielders choice which scored Garret Weir, which was followed by an Eric Storey RBI double to make it 5-2, which would be the final score. Mark Comolli came in to pitch the 8th and 9th, giving up 1 hit but not allowing any runs to close out the victory.

The small but rowdy crowd thoroughly enjoyed the Spirit victory and about 90% of them were around til the very end, standing and stomping their feet in the 9th to cheer Comolli and the Spirit onto victory. The Spirit and the Grays do it again tomorrow night at 7:05 as John Kelly takes the hill for North Shore at Fraser Field.

SPIRITFANS.BLOGSPOT.COM PLAYER OF THE GAME: Bryan Morse (1)

Morse picked up his 3rd win of the year and earned player of the game honors, pitching 7 innings and giving up 2 runs.**
Player of the game Honorable Mention from Eric and Dave: Rob Fischer, for smacking a home run AND giving it to the ump.

**MANY THANKS to the great Dave Riley for the pictures. To quote Myron Noodleman, "you da man."

AROUND THE LEAGUE

The Rox continue to flounder as they lost their 5th straight game tonight. To make matters worse, the loss was at home- and to make it even more demoralizing, it was against the Cutters. Common sense dictates that the Cutters, who defeated the Spirit last night, were not supposed to win again for about 20 days, but that did not happen as they downed Brockton 5-4. The Rox entered the 9th down 5-1 but loaded up the bases with 1 out; a bases clearing triple made it 5-4 and put the tying run 90 feet away with 1 out but Saul Bustos struck out and Jake Daubert popped out to end it. The Rox are 7-8; the Cutters, 4-11. The Rox will turn to Rusty Can tomorrow night against the Cutters to be the stopper.

Speaking of hapless teams defeating powerhouses of the North division, in the greatest upset since Slimslow didn't order Biggie Size fries and opted for medium at Wendy's following Thursday's Spirit home game, The Elmira Pioneers defeated les Capitales de Quebec 4-2 at Le Stade, snapping Quebec's 28 game home winning streak not counting postseason games which goes back to the 2nd half of last season, in which the Caps took the division crown and on the last day of the regular season beat North Shore to earn the title of best regular season record of 2004. Now, in 2005, the Caps lead the division with an amazing start of 12-3 but they lose tonight as the Pios up their record to 5-10.

Elsewhere the Jackals *finally* got up off the mat, beating the Worcester Tornadoes 4-2 at Yogi Berra. The Jackals improve to a disappointing 6-9 while South-leading Worcester falls to 6-5. Those two teams will square off again tomorrow night.

STANDINGS
QUE 12-3
NSR 8-3
GRY 8-7
ROX 7-8

WOR 6-5
NJJ 6-9
ELM 5-10
NHC 4-11