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On Friday evening your Cardinals played the Braves at Ireland Park and won the game 5-1. The team got excellent pitching as Steve Maher, Jason Saker and Tom Robertson surrendered just two hits in the game. The offense looked anemic for the first five innings only registering one hit themselves. Credit to the Braves pitching and defense for keeping a powerful line-up at bay for so long. That said, the Cards were able to get the runs they needed to secure the victory and they came in great fashion. Andrew Schwalm deposited a 3-run HR deep to left-centre field in the top of the 6th to get the Cards going. It was Schwalm’s first HR in his two years of BVB and saved the Cards the horror of his baserunning. Russ Pereira followed that up in the following inning by hitting a 2-run HR to left field to increase the Cards lead… It was a tight game for the first five innings, but fortunately the Cards bats woke up enough to earn the win. It was also the 2nd lackluster offensive performance in a row for the Cards, so hopefully they will come out swinging better on Sunday night.

Next up for the Cards will be a game against the re-vamped Giants squad on Sunday. This writer will not be in attendance for that game or the teams next game on August 6th vs the Red Sox. The matchup vs the Giants will be the teams last game prior to the August long weekend. However for several Cardinals that will not mean a break in baseball action as several players will be participating in the National’s tournament in Vancouver. Jay Hodgson, Mark Thomas and Jason Saker are all returning to the National’s team and they will be joined by fellow Cardinal players Vaughn Wamboldt, Steve Maher and Pat Mastrogiacomo. The Burlington Black 49’ers will look to recapture the Championship form they displayed in winning the 2008 and 2009 crowns. Burlington will play host to the National’s in 2011 so there is some pressure on this years team to give next years squad the chance to defend their title on home field. Good luck to all the Cardinals and indeed to each player representing the BVB. We know you’ll do the league and yourselves proud.

This past weekend the Cardinals had games against the Hobo’s and X-Men respectively and earned victories in both with an 11-2 win over the Bo’s and a 7-2 win over the X-Men.

Friday’s game against the Hobo’s was a battle of teams tied for 2nd place going into the night. The Hobo’s looked to have gone down in order in the first inning but a strikeout and passed ball allowed what would have been the 3rd out to reach first base. The next batter capitalized on the opportunity by depositing a HR deep to left field to give the Bo’s a 2-0 lead after the top half of the 1st. However the Cardinal pitching was outstanding on this night. They only allowed one other hit the rest of the way in keeping a powerful, albeit shortened Hobo line-up off the basepaths and scoreboard. Vaughn Wamboldt made 3 excellent plays in the shortstop position and Jay Hodgson made a critical throwout at 2nd on a would-be base stealer early in the game to aid the Cards hurlers. Credit to Billy Lawrence, Tom Robertson and Chris Cooney for going the 7 innings only surrendering those two hits.

On the other side of the ledger the Cards batters made it two games in a row with every player registering at least one hit. Wamboldt hit his 7th HR of the year by crushing a ball that Pearson Air Traffic Controllers estimated to have landed somewhere in the Peel Region. The win coupled with a Mudhens loss moved the Cardinals to first place in the league. The highlight of the evening however was the return of former Cardinal Dave Kerr to the bench. Although not suited up, Kerr a former player of 5 years and original Cardinal was a welcomed addition to the bench and post game festivities. Hopefully that will be the first of a few more visits from Davey as the season carries on.

Sunday’s game vs the X could affectionately be called the ‘Hobo hangover’. The X-Men played a very solid game getting effective pitching from all three of their hurlers and several highlight reel defensive plays, including a few from their 3rd baseman and a nice over the head running grab from their first baseman. Fortunately the Cards got enough offense, and the pitching of Steve Maher, Jason Saker and Russ Pereira limited the X-Men to just the two runs. Credit to Saker for throwing 2 scoreless as he had to step in after an injury suffered by Rob Whitteker on the basepaths. Also Russ looked great in closing out the game with 3 shutout innings to earn the save. Russ didn't look nearly as good however when he decided to retrieve a ball that had been hit for a ground rule double to left field that necessitated him to scale the fence. He chose the point at Nelson field where the softball and hardball fences meet, meaning that he held up two games as his struggle was something that you simply couldn't take your eyes off of. Woman and children were crying and screams of 'KONG' echoed throughout the park. City Engineers will now be in to test the fence for structural damage.

Next up for the Cardinals are the Braves who the Cards edged 12-11 in their only other matchup a couple weeks ago.

On a muggy Tuesday evening the Cardinals faced off against the Cubs in action at Nelson field. The Cubbies, despite their record have always shown the ability to give any team in the BVB a tough game when they put all the parts together. Last night was unfortunately not one of those nights. The Cardinals hit the ball all over the park and took advantage of some early control problems from the Cubbie pitchers all en route to a 17-2 mercy after 5 complete. There were no homeruns on the evening, however a slew of doubles were hit by a variety of players. Pitching last night were Steve Maher, Andrew Schwalm and Tom Robertson who collectively only surrendered a few hits.

The team decided after the game to look into the legitimacy of Pat Mastrogiacomo’s high school and post secondary designations. Coach Russ Pereira noticed that Pat (who was on beer duty) seemed to have made an egregious counting error. Pereira’s own math had been called into question recently by a variety of teammates for other reasons so no one paid much attention. However the counting error was confirmed by others which lead to tears, jeers and an earlier trip home. Good thing it wasn’t a hot night or anything. There’s nothing worse than cold beer on a hot night.

In Tuesday night action your Cardinals faced off against the expansion Braves at Nelson field and edged the upstart squad by a run in earning a narrow 12-11 victory. The Braves amassed more hits and runs against the Cards pitching than any other team yet this year so full credit must be given to them. Their offense included a mercy 6 run inning in the 5th that gave the Braves a 9-5 lead at the time. While they only had one extra base hit on the evening, the team got a lot of bats on balls and put the ball where the Cardinals defense wasn’t. The old adage “hit ‘em where they ain’t” rang true all night for the Braves as they kept the game close and nearly earned what most would call a big upset against the Cardinals.

Offensively though the Red Birds were able to get enough big hits of their own to earn the victory. The Cards extended their league lead in team homeruns to 16 with another two this evening. Tom Robertson hit a 2-run shot in the 3rd inning (his first in the BVB) and Russ Pereira lead-off the bottom of the 5th with a solo dinger that kickstarted a Cardinal mercy in response to the Braves top half efforts. This writer admits to sounding like a broken record by saying that it was a complete team effort on the offensive side of things. Multiple doubles were slashed by a variety of players and the team got production from top to bottom. The Cards admittedly could have been accused of taking the expansion Braves lightly, but every time it looked like the game was sealed the Braves put their rally caps on and made it a close and entertaining game. It was great to see an expansion team jump into competitiveness so quickly yet also be a team that appears to have some great chemistry.

Next up for the Cardinals is a rematch with another expansion team the Yankees this coming Friday night. This writer will not be in attendance though as he is being photographed for People magazines 50 Most Beautiful People in the World 2010 edition.

On Friday night your Cardinals faced off against the defending Lutz Cup winning Brewer squad and made winning look easy against a very tough team. The final score was 15-1 and it was once again a complete team effort that contributed to the offense. The Cards also hit 3 3-run HR’s in the game. Vaughn Wamboldt homered for the 3rd consecutive game improving his league leading total to an extraordinary 6 at just the halfway point of the season. A urine sample was requested by the league after the game and the results were exactly as suspected… That he has dangerously high cholesterol and Crown Royal levels in his system, but nothing in the way of anabolic steroids or HGH. Fortunately for the Cards, Wamboldt’s hand-eye coordination is better than his foot-3rd base coordination. Jeff Gilleland temporarily delayed a trip to the Opthalmologist and showed some signs of breaking out of an otherwise embarrassing offensive year as he went 4-4 with two HR’s himself. And as you may suspect to hold the bats of the Brewers to just one run there was some outstanding pitching. Chris Cooney threw the first two, Billy Lawrence went 3-4, Andrew Schwalm went 5-6 and Tom Robertson went the 7th. All were outstanding as they surrendered only a handful of hits to an offense that rarely gets stymied.

In Tuesday action the Cards faced off against the Marauders and continued their hot hitting, coming away with a 17-6 win. The offense was spread out again with almost every player collecting at least one hit. Highlights were several doubles being hit by a variety of players and Bryan Pereira going 3-3 with a walk. On the mound were Russ Pereira, Steve Maher, Mark Thomas and Jay Hodgson with the first two likely having their best outings of the year. Thomas got in some work after an otherwise long layoff for him, and Hodgson shattered his innings pitched record by throwing his 2nd inning of the year.

The Cards play again next Tuesday night as they get set to face the expansion Braves for the first time this year.

The Cards went 1-1 this past weekend with a win over the Tigers on Friday night and yet another disappointing loss to the Mudhens on Sunday night.

On Friday the Cards continued to show disdain and anger for every white thing marked ‘Rawlings’ as they pounded the ball all over the park against the solid pitching of the Tigers. When it was all said and done the team had amassed 20 runs which included two HR’s off the bat of Vaughn Wamboldt and another one from Brian Pereira. Billy Lawrence started and got the win and looked terrific again as he K’d 5 in his two innings of work. Russ Pereira came on for the 3rd and 4th and gave way to Tom Robertson who shutout the Tigers to close out the game.

In their Father’s Day game against the Mudhens, the Hens pitchers continued to throw kryptonite at the Cardinals bats. With all due respect to everyone they’ve thrown the past couple years, they don’t exactly instill fear in the Cardinals batters. What they do accomplish though, is to completely shut down an offense that has been battering the ball around the park against almost everyone else they’ve seen in the past little while. They pound the strike zone, give very few free passes and induce ground ball and fly ball outs leaving virtually every Cardinal batter shaking their head in frustration as they head back to the bench. The Cards did get yet another HR from Vaughn Wamboldt – his 5th (no typo – his 5th!) in the 1st inning. Brian Pereira also chipped in with a couple big hits but it wasn’t enough as the Cards lost again to the 1st place Hens. The loss spoiled some great pitching from Rob Whitteker who threw the 1st two innings only surrendering a sac fly. The Hens have a very deep hitting roster and proved that in scoring 4 runs in the 4th which included several hard hit balls in a row off the Cards pitcher at the time. The Hens also got a solo HR in the top of the 6th to give them a little extra cushion that they ultimately did not need as the Cards bats whimpered in the bottom half of the 6 inning game. The frustration and disbelief at another poor hitting performance against the Hens was apparent after the game. We can only hope that the Hens don’t lend their secrets to the rest of the league! The Cards schedule doesn’t get any easier as they face the Brewers next in action this coming Friday at Ireland field.

The Cardinals came away with two wins this past weekend, earning them over the X-Men and Red Sox respectively. On Friday against the X the team got a well balanced attack from everyone, while the pitching of Steve Maher, Rob Whitteker, Jay Hodgson and Russ Pereira combined to pitch a shutout as the Cards walked away with a 13-0 win. It was Hodgson’s first trip to the hill this year and if he’s not careful he may get the call more often than his current ‘one inning per year’ frequency!

Sunday night saw the Red Sox in town and the true emergence of the Cards offensive attack as they laced the ball all over the field and from top to bottom in the lineup. The big hits came from back to back bombs from Tim Barnes and Pat Mastrogiacomo in the 2nd inning. Tom Robertson, Steve Maher and Vaughn Wamboldt also came up with some big doubles but it was nice to see everyone ripping the ball at some point throughout the night. Billy Lawrence started the game and looked fantastic in two shutout innings of work. Tom Robertson came on for the 3rd and 4th innings and continued to look very strong in his rookie season as he struck out the side in the 3rd and got another K in the 4th in keeping the Sox off the scoreboard. Andrew Schwalm and Steve Maher went the 5th and 6th respectively and when it was all said and done the Cards ended up taking a 6 inning win by an 14-3 score. The team resumes action this coming weekend with big games against the Tigers and Mudhens respectively.

The Cards earned a win and a tie this past weekend over the Cubs and Hobo’s respectively. On Friday night they faced a shortened Cubbies bench and walked away with a 12-2 win that was just barely made official. Full credit and respect must be paid to the Cubs who completed the game despite very heavy rains that could have caused a stoppage in play and ultimately an unofficial game. It was a great example of true sportsmanship. The Cards threw Jason Saker, Rob Whitekker and Tom Robertson over the 4 innings and all pitched very well. Offensively Vaughn Wamboldt demolished a ball for his 2nd homerun of the year and second in as many games as he also homered against the Yankees in the previous game which this writer was unable to attend.

Sunday night saw the Cards square off against the defending Champion Hobo’s. The Cards drew first blood in the 2nd inning with a 4 run outburst that included a solo HR off the bat of Tim Barnes and a 3-run bomb off the bat of rookie Brian Pereira. Unfortunately the offense was stymied the rest of the way by some great Hobo pitching. On the other side of the ledger the Bo’s pecked away at the Cards lead and finally tied the game with 2 out in the 7th inning. The pitching of Billy Lawrence, Andrew Schwalm and Mark Thomas was nothing short of outstanding all night as the ball only left the infield a few times. But even when they don’t knock the cover off the ball the Hobo’s are a team that can find ways to manufacture runs… And that is just what they did in coming back to tie the Cards at the 11th hour. Next up for your Red Birds is a Friday night matchup against the X-Men.

On Friday night your Cardinals squared off against the tough Brewers squad and ended up on the losing end of a 4-3 decision. It was a close game that was well played and well pitched by both squads.

Steve Maher pitched the first two innings and surrendered two runs before giving way to Rob Whitteker who pitched his first two innings of the year, also giving up two runs. Mark Thomas came in to pitch the final 3 innings and kept the Brew Crew off the board and the Cardinals in the game in his typical fashion. All three pitchers benefited from some great Cardinal defense which included three double plays, including an outstanding 4-6-3 play by Jay Hodgson, Vaughn Wamboldt and Chris Cooney respectively.

Offensively the Cards bats were held in check nicely by the Brewers pitchers who were stingy with the number of hits they gave out. The Cards only mustered one run in the first 6 innings, that courtesy of a Chris Cooney double that cashed in Jeff Gilleland. A rally of sorts was put together in the 7th inning as the team strung together a few hard hits and brought in 2 runs, but with a runner left in scoring position the Brewers closer sealed the game with a strikeout, moving the Cardinals to a 2-2 start to their season. The loss was disappointing but with the pitching and defensive performances that were put forth the team is certainly not hanging their heads. The offense has been what has held back the team thus far. Credit the pitchers they’ve faced and the inevitable timing adjustments that need to be made as the season progresses. Next up for the Cardinals are the Yankees on Tuesday. This writer will not be in attendance for that game but will return next Friday when the team faces the Cubs.

On Tuesday night the Cardinals faced off against the Mudhens with the Cardinals hoping to avenge their first round playoff loss from the 2009 season. Both teams came to the field well prepared, but unfortunately the Nelson lights weren’t quite as ready. A technical problem ended up delaying the start of the game until after 9:00pm which came in to factor later in the evening.

The Cards have struggled with the Hens pitching over the years and last night’s affair was no different. The Hens hurlers induced pop-up after pop-up and kept the Cards off the scorecard until the 3rd inning when a sharply hit groundball and a Card friendly bounce off the bat of Tom Robertson cashed in two runners to give the Cards a slight 2-1 advantge. The Hens responded in the bottom half with a 3-run HR to give them a 4-2 lead after 3 complete. In the 4th, 5th and 6th innings the Hens pitchers continued to give the Cards bats fits keeping them off of the scoreboard and basepaths for the most part.

An alarm finally sounded for the Cards in the top of the 7th. Vaughn Wamboldt started by lacing a triple to centre field, followed nicely by a double off the bat of Tim Barnes, and singles from Jay Hodgson, Russ Pereira, Jeff Gilleland and Billy Lawrence. That gave the Cards a modest 6-4 lead. Unfortunately the length of the rally and the shortened time from the light delay meant that there was no time left to close out the 7th inning. No sooner did the Cards enter defensively then they were called off the field due to the curfew. It should be noted that neither team was happy with the way the game ended. The Cards were hopeful to have Mark Thomas close out the game as much as the Hens were hopeful to take back the lead they held most of the game in their at bats in the 7th. Unfortunately neither team got their wish.

On a positive note, Billy Lawrence and Russ Pereira both pitched very well in their first innings of the year. Mark Thomas continued to pitch well, going back to 2007 when he entered the BVB! And in a rare night, Andrew Schwalm managed to go the entire game without getting picked off or making a catastrophic baserunning error. The Cards now have a long layoff before facing off against the very tough Brewers squad next Friday night. Enjoy the long weekend everyone!