Newcomer of the Year

This was a very tough decision because there are many deserving candidates. Coming in 4th place:

Skyler Ence- Skyler was here for one weekend, but he really left his mark. He batted .515 with 7 HR's and 13 RBI. It is too bad that he was not here for longer because he would have contended for many awards. Skyler also made his presence felt in the outfield on defense by robbing many hits and throwing out runners at bases. Biggest strength: His bat. He had a lot of pop and was able to hit the ball in the gaps and over the fence. Weakness: Doesn't have enough at bats with only 33, it is tough to gage what he would have done over a full season, for this reason he finishes in 4th place.

3rd Place- Elizabeth Stuart Pugmire Thompson. What a surprise she was! Coming from the same high school where high school musical was filmed, there was not much expected from this girl. However, Liz batted .263 with 3 RBI and 38 Plate appearances. Liz had one game winning hit and was a force to be reckoned with. Biggest strength: Hitting. Liz did a great job all year of hitting the ball to all parts of the field. One time, Poon was talking trash to her in the outfield and she laced one over his head for a double. Weakness: Attitude and defense. She was not the best at judging a fly ball and also did not demonstrate the best arm for team Under Armour. She also complained about batting down in the lineup and could have been better in the clubhouse.

2nd Place- Brad Schuster. Brad has been a great addition to the league. Brad batted .350 with 20 RBI and 7 HR's. He was an everyday player for team Under Armour and a great teammate. Brad was a late addition to the roster, but once he came on the scene he was an instant staple for the team. Biggest strength: Versatility. Brad was the best court player and one of the best centerfielders. He could also bat anywhere in the lineup for UA and his power numbers really went up towards the end of the season. He was always very aggressive on the base paths earning him 5 stolen bases. Weakness: Late start. This really isn't his fault, but Brad was introduced to TBB about halfway through the season so his numbers are down a little bit. If he would have been here from the beginning, he would have had higher numbers. He had many 1st place votes for the award, but fell just short of the winner.

1st Place- Mike Obermeier. It is hard to find something wrong with Mike. He is one of the best outfielders and also the only power hitter consistently for team Pony. Mike had a brief stint with the league before we kept stats back in 2006, but this is his first full season. Strength: Where do I begin? A great outfielder. Mike has robbed numerous hits off the bats of team UA. Hitting, Mike hit .411 with 5 HR's and 20 RBI. He seems to always square the ball up at the plate. Even when he gets out, he hits the ball hard. His batting average moved him ahead of Schuster and that is why he is the 2010 Newcomer of the year.

End of Season Awards

Stay tuned for TBB awards for the 2010 season. Sorry that there have not been updates, but we will have an update about once a week so make sure to check back frequently. Thanks for all your efforts this season.

Judd

TBB Commissioner

UA Takes Set Two!

UA gets timely hitting to take the deciding series 2-0. Adam Rife, once again, was great on the mound and kept Pony off balance all afternoon. Chirs Berens won the series for UA with a walk off single of the monster in left field after Judd Thompson led off the inning with a triple. "I couldn't be happier for my guys." Judd said, "Chris had a couple of huge hits when we needed them, and Adam played his heart out. After a disappointing season last year, We really needed to prove something this year and I think that we did it." The two team managers will meet this weekend to discuss what to do with the remaining week of the season. 

UA gets huge win to set up a game 7

UA got the bats started right away on Friday night. They started off with five consecutive hits and 4 runs to put Pony in a big hole right from the beginning. Game 2 was scoreless going into the 3rd inning until UA broke the tie with 2 runs. Pony came right back with a solo homerun by Shane Thompson. Clay Thompson and Drew Gripentrog lined out to end the game and the series for Pony, and the two teams will meet tomorrow at 11 am to decide the winner of set number two. "Tomorrow will be huge." Judd Said, "We scored just enough tonight, and we set up for a big series tomorrow. Chris Berens had some timely hitting and Adam Rife did a great job of keeping them off balance all night." Andy Thompson and Drew Gripentrog only had one hit a piece for Pony, they have been the spark plugs for the team for the past couple of games. If they do not find their bats, then tomorrow might be another long day for Pony.

 

Pony can win set two tonight at 5pm

Chadd Watson will make his appearance tonight for UA while they look to even the series at 6-6. Pony will also have a new face on the diamond when Clay Thompson suits up for the first time. "This is obvoiusly a must win." Judd said, "We have a great lineup tonight and I know that UA will be ready to play. Pony is going to score their runs and we need to keep pace. I expect a great series." 

Pony Gets Much Needed Win

Lawson Dees returned to the lineup for Pony and batted 7-15 with 5 RBI to lead the way. Pony relied on timely hitting by Drew Gripentrog to edge UA in a heated series. Chris Berens was back in center for UA and make some great defensive plays to keep them close all night. Andy Thompson had this to say after the series, "Drew came through huge finally, he started to bat like a captain. He had a huge homerun in the 3rd. Dees pitching was off the charts." The quote refers to a solo homerun in the top of the 5th inning that broke the spirits of UA. "That was devastating." Judd said, "Drew hit a big homerun in a big spot. Berens played excellent defense all night, and Rife did a great job on the mound all night. We did not get hits when we needed them, and we cannot say that we didn't have our chances to win that one." The two teams will meet again tomorrow evening where Pony can win the set with a win. Chadd Watson made his first appearance for UA going 0-2 at the plate. He should add a lot of pop to the UA lineup. Clay Thompson also will make his first plate appearance for Pony tomorrow night. 

Photographs courtesy of Liz Pugmire. Camera courtesy of Chris Berens

Game Time set for 6 pm

UA looks to win its 4th series in a row tonight at Thompson Ellis Park. First pitch is set for 6:05. Pony manager Andy Thompson has this to say about the series tonight, "We had a tough loss last night, but the night is darkest before the dawn." The teams are currently in the 2nd set with the series tied at 5 a piece. UA won the 1st set 7-0. UA manager Judd Thompson adds this about the upcoming series, "We have been playing very consistent this week, and it is important for us to swing the bats from the beginning. Sometimes we are slow starters, and with Pony's new lineup, we are going to have to score a lot of runs." Both teams understand the importance of the series tonight, which should make for a highly competitive couple of games in Prairie Grove. 

UA Escapes with series win

On a balmy night in Prairie Grove, the balls were flying out of the park. Shane Thompson made an immediate impact for team Pony batting 8-12 with 3 homeruns and six RBI. Pony got out to a very quick start scoring 7 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning in the 1st game. The went on to win the game 7-1. 

Under Armour's bats came alive in game two scoring 6 runs in the top of the second inning. Billy Rinn, and Adam Rife had key homeruns for UA in that inning. Justin Pugliese tripled and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Judd Thompson. Pony scored four runs in the bottom of the inning off homeruns by Drew, Andy, and Shane. UA put the game away in the top of the 3rd by scoring 5 more runs in the top of the inning. UA won the game 11-7. 

Adam Rife took the mound for UA and did a good job of quieting the hot bats of Pony in the rubber match. Sean Bachmann hit a 3 run homerun in the top of the 2nd inning to give UA a comfortable lead. Pony added two runs of their own off a 2 run homerun by Andrew Thompson. UA scored 2 more runs in the top of the 3rd and then Adam Rife shut the door on Pony and UA won the series 2-1. 

Manager Judd Thompson had this to say after the series, "I am very proud of our team tonight. I did not play particularly well and we had big hits by Adam, Billy, Sean, and Poon. Everyone of them stepped up and had a great series. I was very nervous after the first game, because Pony was swinging the bat very well. Rife came in and did a great job of keeping them off balance and our defense made some plays. It is a great win for UA and we will look to build on it tomorrow. We are looking forward to Q showing up tomorrow night, he will be a big addition to our lineup."

Updated Stats

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UA Wins Second Straight

Jason Oomens made the first appearance for team Pony last night, but it was not enough for them to beat Under Armour. UA won a thriller in game won with a walk-off homerun by Judd Thompson in the 6th inning. Game two was all team Pony. Andy and Drew both homered for Pony in game two and UA never got the bats going. Lawson Dees did a great job of never letting UA get comfortable in the batters box. Pony took game two 5-0. Game three was put to rest rather quickly when UA scored 4 runs in the first inning with big hits by Adam Rife, Chris Berens, and Justin Pugliese. Pony got on the scoreboard in the top of the second inning with a solo homerun by Lawson Dees. That would be the only run scored by Pony, and UA took the series 2-1. Tonight the two teams will meet again at 5:30 at Thompson Ellis Park. Shane Thompson will be in the lineup for the first time for team Pony as they look to break a two series losing streak.