“Let’s play two !” is the famous Ernie Banks saying–but not against St. Al’s. The Bruins lost both ends of a doubleheader 9-3 and 5-4 to a tough Charger ball club.   In game 1 the Bruins put themselves deep in the hole early and ran out of innings to work with. In game 2 the Bruins gave up 4-3 lead and were shut out for the last three innings. It may be sour grapes, but the ump’s strike zone in the first game was clearly not the same for the visitors as it was for the home team.   Otherwise, there were some close calls at the bases and it seemed like we could not get the important calls. The eight strikeouts in the first game and the six fielding errors in the two games didn’t help either.   

There was no question but that lead-off hitter Trey Dhabalt (a big Cubs fan) was the man of the hour for the Bruins. In game 1 Dhabalt walked in 3 of his 4 at-bats, scoring twice. Playing centerfield Dhabalt hauled in three huge fly balls. In game 2, Dhabalt went 2 for 3 at the plate, walked, scored the first run and again made a big out in center field. And if that wasn’t enough, game 1 saw a Dhabalt relay to shortstop  Tom Newell, who pegged the Charger runner at the plate.    (Oh and if that wasn’t enough, Mrs. Dhabalt made sandwiches for the team between games !!)  

Hats off in game 1 also goes to pitcher/then catcher David Wasser who went 2-for-4 and shortstop/then pitcher Tyler Casper who went 2-for-3.   Unfortunately the Bruins stranded Wasser twice, Casper twice and Newell, Joey Huddleston, John Von Behren and Grant Bitzer each once.     Tyler Casper’s bat remained hot for game 2 as he went 3-for-4 !!   Game 2 also saw some good hitting by Newell, Wasser and Huddleston land in the Charger’s outfield gloves.   And the Bruins were also stranding runners throughout game 2.