No Romero, No Calderon, but Huerta Fills in Nicely
Without hearing any word from their star pitchers, the Wild Cards look like they were going to have a tough night. However, like a super hero, Mark Huerta came in as the emergency starter to save the day. Huerta was impressive, giving up only an unearned run in the entire game. Not only pitching and defense shut God Squad down, but the Wild Cards offense was blazing hot as they scorch the opposition with 38 runs.


PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Shawn Palmer
5 for 5, 5RS, 2-2B, BB, HR, 5 RBI

Mark Huerta
5 for 6, 5RS, 2B, 3B, HR, 4 RBIs

Jordan Richard
4 for 6, 3RS, 2-2B, 6 RBIs

Raul Narez
4 for 6, 5RS, 2B, 4 RBIs

Josh Babauta
3 for 6, 2RS, 3 RBIs

Sal Gonzales
3 for 6, 3RS, 2-2B, HR, 3 RBIs

Matt Palmer
3 for 4, 4RS, BB, 3 RBIs

Jaime Rabago
3 for 5, 3RS, 2 RBIs

Matt Fenton
5 for 6, 3RS, 4-2B, 4 RBIs

Virgil Tomas
3 for 5, 3RS, HR, 3 RBIs

411: Sal Gonzales had his consecutive hits snapped at 15.
Mark Huerta not only came close to pitching a shut-out, but hit for the cycle on offense.

Wild Cards' Pitching and Defense lead to 4-0 start
What kept this game from being a slugfest between the Wild Cards and the Beechwood Brawlers, was that the Wild Cards showed up to play. By soundly defeating the B-Brawlers, they sent a message to the other teams in their league on why they are in first place, undefeated. They can take on any newcomers or any arch rivals they face and send them home disappointed.

Despite late player arrivals from work, the Wild Cards still got off a huge jump right off the bat, Mark Huerta led off with a walk, then a double by Raul Narez which led to Sal Gonzales' single that drove in 2 runs. Back to back singles by Shawn Palmer and Matt Palmer, followed by a walk Raulo Romero which helped set up a Sac Fly RBI by Jordan Richard to make it 3-0. Then came Matt Fenton's double that drove in 2 more runs. After a walk and a Fielder's Choice out, Huerta batting again and single again to drive in the 7th run in the inning. However, in the bottom of the 1st inning, the Beechwood Brawlers got off to good start with a 2 out rally, by scoring 3 runs.

Only leading 7-3, the Wild Cards came back with a run in the 2nd inning to lead 8-3. However the B-Brawlers answered back with a 2 out home run to cut the lead to 8-4. After giving up the HR to the Brawlers, the Wild Cards settled down and made adjustments to shut down the hi scoring Brawlers who scored 27 runs the last 2 games. With the Wild Card pitching and defense, shutting down the Brawlers to only 4 runs, the offense took over and deflated any hopes of a late come back from the Brawlers. They scored another 2 runs in the 3rd inning on a home run by Virgil Tomas and another RBI single from Huerta. In the 4th, a double by Gonzales and one out later another double from Matt Palmer made the score 11-4. Two innings later, the Wild Cards put the nails in the coffin and just buried the Brawlers with a big 4 runs including another home run by Virgil Tomas who drove in 3 RBI's that inning. Wild Cards win the show down over the Beachwood Brawlers 15-4 and go 4-0.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Mark Huerta
3 for 5, 1RS, 2 RBIs

Sal Gonzales
5 for 5, 3RS, (3) 2B, 4 RBIs

Virgil Tomas
2 for 3, 2RS, BB, (2) HR, 4 RBIs

Raulo Romero
* PITCHING - Shutdown the high scoring Beachwood Brawlers by only allowing a total of 4 runs in the entire game again. 3 runs in the 1st inning and and only 1 in the 3rd inning.


411: 12 straight wins dating back from the 2008 Fall League.
Last lost was against
Swinging Bunts 12 Wild Cards 10
September 11, 2008 (Game #2)

Unlucky Night for Yard Dogs
Just the night before Friday 13th, the Short handed Wild Cards came through with a little luck on their side as they defeat the Yard Dogs 17-8. Having a little luck is good, but having superb pitching and defense to go along with the high scoring offense. Thats always great to have also.

However It look a little bleak for the Wild Cards earlier in the game, as they were short of players. Seven players not even the minimum 8 to start with and on the verge of forfeiting the first game of the season. Just then Josh Babauta came in a few minutes before game time. With just 8 guys, the Wild Cards were able to start the game. During the first 4 innings, they stalled for time waiting for a couple more of their team mates to show up. Thanks to great pitching and defense led by Raulo Romero, the Wild Cards were up ahead 5-0 going to the 4th inning. After 4 solid scoreless innings, the Yard Dogs rallied with 5 runs on 3 hits and 2 errors to tie the game, 5-5. Finally another player, Matt Fenton showed up before the top of the of the 5th inning to help his short handed compadres making it 9 players. Unfortunately the Wild Cards wound up with only 9 guys for the night. With the score 5-5 in the top of the 4th inning, Jordan Richard and the Wild Cards answered back with 7 runs and batted around with a lot of doubles and triples to take the lead 12-5. The next inning they added 1 more run in the 6th and 4 more runs in the 7th inning to shut the door. The Yard Dogs tried to make a late rally but can only muster up 3 runs. Even though Wild Cards were shorthanded, they had their game faces on and won convincingly 17-8.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Mark Huerta
4 for 5, 2RS, 3 RBIs, SAC

Josh Babauta
3 for 4, 2RS, 3 RBIs, SAC

Jordan Richard
3 for 5, 2RS, (2)2B, 2 RBIs

Raul Narez
3 for 5, 5RS, 2B, 3B, 3 RBIs

Raulo Romero
1 for 5, 1RS, HR, 2 RBIs
* PITCHING - Shutdown the another big team this time against the Yard Dogs by only allowing 8 runs in the entire game again. 5 runs in the 5th inning and and only 3 in the 7th inning.

Late grand slam all Wild Cards need vs. Last Ones
Wild Cards rips Last Ones, 30-16 making it 2 wins in a row this season. 10 straight wins dating back from the 2008 Fall League. Wild Cards both got huge offensive performances from Sal Gonzales (5 for 5, 2B, 2HRs 8RBI's), Jordan Richard (Grand Slam HR, 4RBIs), Josh Babauta (5 for 6, 2B, RBI), Raul Narez (HR 4RBIs) and Shawn Palmer (3 for 4, 3 RBIs). All 5 players had big a night. As always, the Wild Card defense and pitching shut down Last Ones late inning rallies by only allowing 5 runs in the last 2 innings. It was a good effort for Last Ones to rally back but it wasn't enough innings to erase the 14 run deficit. For the Wild Cards, it was an illustration of this team's versatility.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Mark Huerta
3 for 5, 3RS, Sac, 2 RBI

Josh Babauta
5 for 6, 2RS, 2B, 1 RBIs

Raul Narez
3 for 5, 5RS, 2B, HR, 3 RBIs

Sal Gonzales
5 for 5, 3RS, 2B, (2) HRs, 8 RBIs

Bobby Rodriguez
3 for 5, 3RS, 2B, 2 RBIs

Shawn Palmer
3 for 4, 1RS, SAC, 2 RBIs

Jordan Richard
3 for 5, 2RS, GS HR, 4 RBIs

Wild Cards Blast JOBU, 22-8
In their first game of the 2009 season, the New Look Wild Cards came out victorious with a rout over JOBU 22-8. With new players filling up the roster spots, and the remaining veterans as the foundation, they were able to fight off the 3 month league layoff and rally from a 4-1 deficit. With 2 out in the bottom of the 3rd inning, the Wild Cards erupted with 10 runs to take a commanding 11-4 lead. They scored 4 more runs in 4th and 5th innings and another 3 runs in the 6th inning to complete the rout. Despite the rust in the first two innings and trailing 4-1, the Wild Card's revved-up offense not only produced, but the defense came up big. Only allowing a total of 8 runs in the entire game - 4 runs in the first 6 innings another 4 runs in the 7th inning.

411: * Since 2005, the Wild Cards are 9-0 in League season opening games.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Josh Babauta
3 for 3, 2RS, 2B, 3 RBIs, SAC

Mark Huerta
4 for 5, 3RS, 2-2B, 1 RBI

Raul Narez
3 for 5, 2RS, 2B, HR, 2 RBIs

Shawn Palmer
3 for 4, 3RS, 1 RBIs

Matt Fenton
2 for 3, 2RS, 2B, 1 RBIs, SAC

Jordan Richard
2 for 3, 2RS, 2B, BB, HR, 3 RBIs

Virgil Tomas
3 for 4, 1RS, HR, 3 RBIs

Raulo Romero
2 for 4, 2RS, 2 RBIs
* PITCHING - Shutdown the Big Bats of JOBU by only allowing 8 runs in the entire game. 4 runs in the first 6 innings and 4 in the 7th inning.