Moe Joe’s had their mojo working on Monday night. Stomping Those Guys 22-12 in five innings. Moe Joe’s jumped off to a big lead in the first inning plating 9 runs, Those Guys defense did not help in the first inning as there were many unforced errors. Those Guys did answer back though behind the bat of Donnie Markus. Donnie had one of the all time best nights since he joined the team going 4-4 with 3 RBI’s, 1 triple, 2 doubles and a single, while also scoring 4 runs. Steve Maver and Bryan Kouba also did their best to contribute adding 3 hits each. Steve Maver also scored three runs. Those Guys have been a disappointment this season to this point, but look to get back at it after the break. The Joliet City tournament and a bye week leave Those Guys off until August 6th at 7:30 p.m. Enjoy the break!

It was not a good night on the diamond for Those Guys. After holding Seco scoreless for the first two innings, Seco exploded for 10 runs and never looked back in their 16-6 win over Those Guys (5 innings). The defense was looking sharp on both sides to start the game, and neither team really made a lot of defensive mistakes. Seco just came out swinging in the third and fourth innings. Those Guys did their part in the fourth inning to try and battle back, plating six runs. Jason Novak continued his hot streak at the plate adding 2 hits and 2 RBI’s. Other players adding multiple hits were Donnie Markus and Ben Knight. Those Guys need to bounce back or this season is going to be one to forget. Next week they have Moe Joes at 8:30 on field 5. They are then off until August 6th.

It was a hot night at the park and the scoring was even hotter! Those Guys started off the game by holding the Teeball All Stars to 1 run, Those Guys then began hitting in bunches! Steve Maver got the inning started off with a single, after a Donnie Markus flyout and Jason Novak walk, Dicky Barnes came up and roped a single plating a run. Ben Knight came up next and smacked a ball up the middle plating another run. Bill Moxley followed that up with another single this time plating two runs. After that the game took a weird turn as the score keeper and the umpire lost count of how many outs there were in the inning. This unfortunately negated a Todd Runkle triple and an Eric Wills single. The Teeball All Stars came up with 4 runs in the second and Those Guys did not score again until the 4th inning. Mike Hoyt started the inning off with a single, followed by Lenny Smith and Todd Runkle, Todd’s plating a run. Steve Maver came up again and hit another single plating another run and Jason Novak followed suit. Teeball All Stars then held Those Guys off until the 7th inning. The Teeball All Stars scored 6 runs in the 5th inning and 2 more in the 7th. Those Guys could only respond with 3 runs in the 7th. It was a tough loss for Those Guys considering the week prior they beat this team 17-3 in the second game of a double header. Those Guys look to bounce back next week at 8:30 against SECO.

It was a night of great defense as SECO edged out Those Guys 7-6. Those Guys scored three runs in the first inning with Steve Maver, Donnie Markus, Ben Knight, Bryan Kouba and Todd Runkle collecting hits. Donnie Markus smashed a triple to get the scoring started. Dicky Barnes grounded out and plated Donnie for the second run. Todd Runkle roped a double to add the third run and then was cut down at third base trying to stretch a triple. Those Guys held SECO scoreless for 5 innings of the game, unfortunately in two innings they scored all seven of their runs. Mario Jackson pitched a gem in his first appearance of the year. The defense was truly the story of the night though. Bill Moxley had numerous hot shot ground balls hit his way and converted almost all of them. Ben Knight turned a double play on a hard hit ground ball up the middle to keep SECO from scoring. SECO for their part turned a double play as well and the infield suffocated any ball hit on the ground. Donnie Markus lead the way with three hits on the night, five other players for Those Guys went two for three on the night as well. Those Guys have been in both games they have played, they look to bounce back next week as they take on Moe Joes in the 6:30 time slot.

The 2018 season for Those Guys got off to a decent start, they did not get the win unfortunately but they did play solid defense and the hitting did not look too rusty at all! Miles Construction got off to a hot start scoring 8 runs in the first inning, they simply put the ball wherever they wanted and just kept rolling. Steve Maver started the inning off for Those Guys with a triple and Donnie Markus knocked him in with a sacrifice fly. Steve Maver, Bill Moxley and Lenny Smith tallied 3 hits each. Donnie Markus, Ben Knight, Todd Runkle and Doug Schreiber added 2 hits each as well. There was a scary moment in the game as well, Todd Runkle took a line drive off of his left leg, leaving a very large contusion and almost forced him out of the game. Todd being an veteran of the United States Army, stayed in the game and finished strong. He is recovering now and will hopefully be set and ready to play his normal position of first base at the next game. In the end Miles Construction proved to be too much for Those Guys to handle, they look to bounce back next week at 6:30 against the Teeball All Stars.

We are officially being sponsored! Big thanks to Savarino’s Pizza and Happy Place Cafe for becoming our new sponsors for 2018!

Hey you guys……The new season is upon us and I wanted to let you guys know that the official start of the season is May 7th. I am working to get us some sponsors and as of now it appears that Savarinos in Shorewood is on board for a partial sponsorship. I am working on a couple of other venues to see if they would be willing to join in. As of this post all but one player has told me they are coming back, Jeff unfortunately will not be playing with us this year as he has a long drive from work to get to the games on a consistent basis and it was just too hard for him. I cannot wait to get this year started as I am sure you guys are as well. I want us to try and have some extra fun this year when playing so lets try to plan out some wacky stuff to do during the game. Thanks guys for being awesome teammates and friends and lets get some W’s this year!

What a night of softball! The season finale for Those Guys had it all; hitting, defense, base running and beer! Those Guys jumped out to an early 11-0 lead in the second inning tallying 12 hits in the second inning alone. Bill Moxley lead the way going 4-4 on the night with one RBI. Lenny Smith came up as the RBI leader with 3 for the night. After the second inning Those Guys only scored one more run for the entire game and the defense was able to keep Big Blue to 9 runs. Dicky Barnes pitched another great game and is proving to be the viable choice for pitching next season. The defense made some great plays on both teams. Jason Novak switched positions with Ben Knight taking over at short and letting Knight patrol the outfield. Mike Hoyt and Bill Moxley also made a switch, with Hoyt taking over at third base and Moxley taking over in the outfield. Ben Knight had a shallow pop up hit his way and was able to sprint in and make the sliding catch to end the inning. Ben Knight also made one of the gutsiest if not stupidest base running plays of the year. Tagging up from second base he advanced to third, the third baseman dropped the ball and Knight took off for home sliding under the tag and adding a run on the board (pinch running for Lenny Smith). Once the dust settled and the season ended, Those Guys tossed back some brews and enjoyed the evening.

2017 was a tough year for Those Guys. Going 4-8 is tough but the future looks bright for this team. Team Stats are as follows:

Shitty…thats the only way to describe the game. Go Gettas played like softball all-stars, Those Guys played like a team in the E League. The left center fielder for Go Gettas could catch everything hit within 100 feet of him, and he made it known with his cockiness. Those Guys only mustered up 9 hits in 5 innings. Jason Novak led the team with 3 RBI’s on a scabbed up leg (from sliding in a league that matters), Steve Maver pulled a hamstring during the game, hopefully a speedy recovery will follow for the last game of the year. Those Guys look to win the finale next week at 7:30 against Big Blue. Beers will be provided by Ben Knight at the end of the game.

Well that escalated quickly…Those Guys had one of the best offensive nights of their season (with 5 team members not in attendance) in a lopsided 22-12 victory against MoJoes. MoJoes put 5 runs on the board in the first inning and took their foot off the gas until the fifth inning. Those Guys tallied 6 hits in the first inning plating 4 runs. That was just the appetizer of what was to come. The second inning was a hit parade; Lenny Smith, Doug Schreiber, Steve Maver and Donny Markus had consecutive hits to jump start the inning. When the dust settled Those Guys scored 8 runs in the second to jump ahead by 7 runs. Steve Maver led the way with 5 hits on the night. Dicky Barnes, Jim Novak and Ben Knight each added 4 hits of their own. Donny Markus, Bryan Kouba and Ben Knight also added 4 RBI’s each. Jim Novak came in for an emergency start and pitched a gem, the defense behind him was a little shaky but there were no glaring errors that stand out as big inning mistakes. Jason Novak had the foul ball of the year last night, turning on the ball so much that he almost hit it directly into the opposing teams dugout, this ended up being a great strategy since the ball he hit was flat and didn’t have anymore pop in it. Doug Schreiber did his best Incredible Hulk impression mashing a long out over the fence for his first HR/O in the stat book. Those Guys look to keep the hitting alive next week against the GoGettas in a 7:30 matchup.

After a 3 week layoff from action, Those Guys and Miles Construction started off slow. Miles Construction unfortunately did not finish slow. Those Guys jumped out to an early lead and the game looked to be a low scoring affair, until the 5th inning when Mile Construction dropped 9 runs on Those Guys and never looked back. Leading the way for Those Guys was Steve Maver, who collected 3 hits (a HR shy of the cycle) and tallied 2 RBI’s. Todd Runkle also had a good night tallying 2 hits of his own with 2 RBI’s to match. The defense went from playing decent to awful in the blink of an eye. Those Guys look to bounce back in 2 weeks when they play The Creeps at 7:30. There is no game next week due to the City Tournament.

Anthony’s Restaurant and Pub played spoiler this week, ending Those Guys two game winning streak. The wind was blowing in for most of the night and an occasional rain shower would pop up, bringing thunder and lightning. Unfortunately for Those Guys the lightning stayed in the sky and not in their bats. Steve Maver, Donnie Markus and Dicky Barnes led the attack tallying 3 hits a piece, while also adding an RBI each. Jason Novak and Ben Knight tallied 2 hits a piece. Novak added 1 RBI and Knight added 3 himself. The game was never out of reach for Those Guys who trailed at one point by 4 runs. In the 7th inning Those Guys rallied back but came up short with men on base. There was a record crowd for the game, it was good to see some families came out for family night. Those Guys have Seco next week at 7:30.

Summer is officially upon us! Temperatures at game time were touching 90 degrees and Those Guys stayed hot winning their second game in a row! One common theme this year is you cannot get Donnie Markus out! He added 5 more hits to his total for the year (16-20, .800 BA) to go along with his 4 RBI’s! Jeff Biskupski made his season debut going 4 for 4 at the plate with 3 RBI’s! Dicky Barnes continues his hitting ways as well going for 3 hits and 4 RBI’s! Bill Moxley added 3 hits of his own and 2 RBI’s. Bryan Kouba also added 2 more hits and 2 RBI’s.  Those Guys jumped out right away to a 9 run lead and never looked back. Dicky Barnes pitched a gem in an emergency start and the defense behind him made some great plays of their own. Those Guys put the game away in the 6th inning scoring 2 runs to push the lead to 10. Moe Joes made a strong effort to come back and keep the game going, with one out and 2 men on, the Moe Joes batter hit a line drive at Ben Knight, who was able to catch the runner on first drifting too far for the double play to end the game. Those Guys look to continue their winning ways next week against Anthony’s Restaurant and Pub at 6:30. Since it is an early game, lets have a family night! Bring you family out to cheer on the team.

Some rivalries are cemented in time…Bears and Packers, Cubs and White Sox…Those Guys and The Creeps. These teams have seen each other twice a year for the better part of the past decade and one thing remains clear, the game is never boring when these teams play! The Creeps jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first 2 innings before Those Guys started heating up. Steve Maver lead off the third inning with a solo home run and that was the catalyst needed to get Those Guys back on track. Donnie Markus continued his dominance at the plate collecting one of his 3 hits in the inning. Jason Novak then followed up with a 2 run home run (at joggers pace) to keep the inning going. Ben Knight hit a rocket to left center field and legged out a triple. Bryan Kouba was the only player to go perfect at the plate collecting one of his 4 hits on the night. The defense was also on display for Those Guys, having 4 double play opportunities for Kouba and Knight to turn, and converting on 2 of them. Mario Jackson made his triumphant return to the mound, and even tallied back to back strike outs, one looking and one assisted by Jason Novak who is starting to give Marko Skubiak a run for his money as the best trash talker on the team! The game came down to the final at bat for Those Guys who were trailing 14-17, Todd Runkle making his return from surgery tallied one of his hits to lead off the inning, then Marko Skubiak came up with a triple to inch Those Guys one run closer. Donnie Markus and Jason Novak both added singles to keep the inning alive. Ben Knight came up with the tying and winning runs on base and hit a double to score one run and thanks to a little help from The Creeps the winning run was scored when the catcher missed the throw coming in and was unable to tag out the runner to end the game. Those Guys look to keep the momentum going next week as they take on Moe Joes at 7:30.

On yet another windy cool May night, Those Guys and Miles Construction put on a hitting display, only this time the wind was blowing out to right field which created havoc for outfielders! Miles Construction got off to a quick start dropping 5 runs on Those Guys in the first inning. Those Guys responded the only way they know how to…light the bats on fire and start hitting! Dicky Barnes started the inning off with a double (1 of his 4 hits for the night) Bryan Kouba, Jason Novak, Mike Hoyt, Lenny Smith and Steve Maver then followed that with consecutive hits to keep the score running. Doug Schreiber put a brief hold on the action with a foul out, Donnie Markus, Ben Knight, Bill Moxley and Dicky Barnes finished off the barrage of hits to tally 9 runs in the second inning! Donnie Markus added a home run in the  4th inning adding another hit to his tally (4 total for the night) leaving him a triple shy of hitting for a cycle! The 5th inning looked almost identical to the 2nd inning, Those Guys added 7 more hits and appeared to be on the clear path to victory. Miles Construction crashed the party by adding 3 runs to keep the game close. The 7th inning was one for the ages, Those Guys were trailing by 2 runs and came up huge adding 4 hits to tie the game 20-20. Miles Construction loaded the bases and scored the game winning run as time expired for the game to seal a 21-20 victory. Those Guys showed the determination to stay in the game and matched the total amount of runs Miles Construction had given up in the first 2 games. There is no game next week in honor of Memorial Day and all of the former and current men and women serving this country, which allows us to play this great game every Monday night. Next game is June 5th at 7:30 pm where Those Guys take on their arch nemesis, The Creeps.