Tuff Nuts - Lyngby Jokers
With Sam on the bump for the first time this year – and also the first to try the portable mound – and a veteran infield with buddies Milan, Henry, and Louie in the outfield, the Tuff Nuts brought a solid majors squad to face off against those big 13-yr.olds from Lyngby.
Sam pitched well, striking out four over three innings, but the Jokers got a few seeing-eye grounders and a couple duck snorts to score a few runs. With some errors in the outfield combined with Lyngby's aggressive baserunning confusing our sleepy infield, the score was 5-0 in favor of the visitors, and eventually 7-2 after three innings.
The Tuff Nuts just weren't mentally sharp early on, which led to uncharacteristic errors in the field and low energy levels while batting. We huddled in the dugout together and agreed we'd try to screw our heads on straight and give it our best for the remaining 30 minutes. At the very least, go out there and have some fun!
Finn took the mound and was simply locked in, mowing down the Jokers' hitters one after another in a brilliant display of relief pitching.
Slowly but surely, the Tuff Nuts offense mounted another patented comeback, inching closer with every at-bat. The bottom half of the lineup, Henry, Milan, Jonathan, and Louie, were particularly effective, getting a few hits, drawing a few walks, and running the bases with their heads up, listening to their base coaches, scoring a few runs. Going into the fifth and final inning (due to tournament time limits), the Tuff Nuts were down two runs, 8-6, hoping for more late-game magic.
And the kids delivered.
Finn led off with a hard-hit single up the middle. August drew a walk. Skjold walked. Henry hit a comebacker to the pitcher, who tried to get the speedy Finn racing down the line from third, but his tag missed and Finn scored, making it 8-7. Lyngby got a strikeout, then Milan hit a dribbler up the third-base line where the pitcher, once again, tried to get the lead runner – this time at 3rd base – but Skjold (even with an injured ankle) was too fast and slid in safely! August scored to tie the game 8-8. Louie was then up with one out and runners at 1st and 3rd base. In his first league game, in a most critical moment, Louie hits the ball up the first-base line and Skjold races toward home. The first baseman fields the ball, touches 1st base for the second out, then fires the ball to home plate, but once again Skjold was too fast, crossing home plate to give the Tuff Nuts a walk-off, come-from-behind win, 9-8.
Seeing the kids run out of the dugout with pure joy in their hearts, hugging and mobbing each other at home plate is a rare and beautiful thing. Louie walked away the hero and got the game ball. His teammates, not seeing a giant gatorade bucket anywhere at hand, instead dumped their water bottles over his head for a Little League victory shower. Way to go, lads!
Final score: CPH Tuff Nuts 9-8 Lyngby
Game 2: Aarhus/DK West 5-4 Lyngby
I didn't get to see much of this game, but sounds like Aarhus's lefty ace was once again hard to hit, and despite not getting any clean hits in the game, Aarhus/DK West still managed to score 5 runs and hold off a late-game comeback attempt by the Jokers.
Game 3: CPH Tuff Nuts vs. Aarhus/DK West
With each team bringing a 14-player roster full of both minors and majors, this one was bound to be interesting. We even let Aarhus/DK West use our home dugout, as we instead occupied the smaller visitor's dugout, soaking up that afternoon post-rain sun.
The early innings in little league contests can really set the tone for the rest of the game. If mistakes are made and start to pile up, it's like an avalanche of errors can bury a team for several innings and, before you know it, the 90min are up and the game is over. Other times, when the defense makes the routine plays and the opposition fails to get an early run across, the momentum and energy accumulated in the field carries over to the offensive side. And that's just what happened in game 3.
With Ozzie on the mound and August once again behind the dish (exemplary catching for two full games), the Tuff Nuts battery was locked in from the get-go. Our lineup was long and pesky, with Felix hitting second, and Ivar making his Tuff Nuts debut in the 8-hole, at second base. As they say, "the ball will always find you", and indeed it did, as a blooper was hit by the first batter, right to Ivar who secured the routine play and sighed with relief. Well done! Ozzie then made a solid play, fielding a comebacker off the mound, setting himself, and firing a laser to 1st base to get the speedy runner by half a step. Inning over.
The Copenhagen hit parade started early and continued for the next three innings as Sam, Felix, Ozzie, Finn, Skjold, August, Milan, Ivar, Henry, Albertus, Asher, Magnus, Jonathan, and Flint all combined for a bunch of hits, walks, and runs. And with our solid pitching and defense, this one quickly turned into a blowout.
Final Score: CPH Tuff Nuts 13-1 Aarhus/DK West
Well done, Tuff Nuts!!
