This Team Bites: Blog of the Crystal Lake Sandgnats

[Borealis]

I'll be waiting for George or 'Sleepy' to throw to Villanueva against Aurora - reunion time! I always liked Hall - though he looks like he's struggled with his control this spring.It's kind of amazing that 'Sleepy's rating have held up as much as they have - but he never did figure out how to throw strikes consistently...

[Sandgnats]

I'll be waiting for George or 'Sleepy' to throw to Villanueva against Aurora - reunion time! I always liked Hall - though he looks like he's struggled with his control this spring.It's kind of amazing that 'Sleepy's rating have held up as much as they have - but he never did figure out how to throw strikes consistently...

Let's see if Aurora gets Parker on a rest day for Villanueva to catch!

[Vic]

I’ll be interested to see how “Nitro” does in his first opening day start, and how Vega does with his full time role! Lots of interesting storylines to watch with the Gnats. Nice preview!

[Leones]

Cool to see Klein with the club for 11 years! Enjoyed reading about the Gnats of '28

[Sandgnats]

This Team Bites: Blog of the Crystal Lake Sandgnats

Opening Week 2028 (28/5)
By: Stephanie Dole
April 10, 2028 at 05:00 AM CST

What an exciting week of baseball to start the season for Crystal Lake! With an average game time temperature of 37 to 45 degrees, there's nothing like spring baseball in the Great Lakes! However, the Gnats were able to heat up the excitement down at Ellison Field at Dole Park to start the season. The Gnats were able to take 3 of 4 games from Duluth in 3 extra inning games that all came down to the wire with clutch performances by young and veteran players alike. That excitement was followed by the Gnats winning 2 of 3 at home verse Canton for a record of 5-2 to start the season.

Taking the mound for the home opener was Jim 'Nitro' MaCowan against Duluth's ace Bartolo Esquivel. The Gnats struck first in the 3rd inning with a 2B Jim Klein RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. Duluth struck back in the 7th when David Morrison launched a line drive home run into left field. But the Gnats came buzzing back with power of their own in the bottom of the 7th with a Stephen Hooper solo home run to tie the game, 1-1. The game would remain tied and go into extra innings. Joshua Hall and Yasutoki Ine would keep Duluth off the board through the 10th, 11th and 12th innings after 'Nitro' pitched through 9th innings. The Gnats would in the bottom of the 12th inning reach deep against Duluth reliever Felipe Soriano. 3B Ed Brown started off the 12th with a single right over the short stop, John Dickson's, head that landed in shallow left center field. SS Hikaru Arai would then draw a walk. CF Orlando Reyes then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Brown to 3rd and Arai to 2nd base. Duluth then would intentionally walk Dave Yarbrough, which would bring Jim Klein to bat with the bases loaded and one out. And with 4 pitches and 4 balls, Klein draws a walk to score Brown with a literal "walk-off".

Game two would feature a match up between the Gnats, Dean McNeil, and Duluth's rookie 33 year old pitcher, Won-taek Kim. Kim got the better of McNeil in this game giving up only one earned run, but the Gnats were able to chase him out of the game after 6 innings. Duluth took a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the 9th inning with José Campos coming into close out the game, but the Gnats were able to dig deep again in the clutch. Hikaru Arai lead off the bottom of the 9th with a walk followed by Orlando Reyes's line drive double into the right field corner. António Vega would then strike out bringing up Jim Klein with men on 2nd and 3rd. Klein would then with 2 strikes hit a ground ball that drove right passed the short stop for a single which drove Reyes and Arai home to tie the game! Yasutoki Ine would enter the game and hold Duluth scoreless in the 10th. The Veteran Ray Kimball led off in the bottom of the 10th, taking 2 pitches for balls. On the 3rd pitch Kimball launched a 383 ft home run into right center field for the walk off home run giving the Gnats the first 2 games!

Duluth would then get revenge in game 3 with some 9th inning magic of their own breaking a 2-2 tie going into the 9th inning with 2 runs scored to hold onto a 4-2 lead. To-wai Zhou still would impress with 7 solid innings, striking out 9 and giving up 2 earned runs.

The last game of the series would be no less dramatic with Duluth scoring 5 runs in the 8th inning to take the 5-4 advantage into the bottom of the 9th inning. Juan Garcia would lead off the 9th inning as a pinch hitter for Merlin Ricks and launch a solo home run to tie the game. Ed Brown came up next with no outs and hit a line drive double. Arai then grounded out to move Brown over to 3rd base. Orlando Reyes as intentionally walked to bring up 2B Derrick Dwyer. Dwyer took the first 3 pitches for 2 balls and 1 strike. He then fouled off 3 pitches in a row before driving a deep line drive to center field, where Ed Brown was easily able to tag up for the walk off victory!

In the next home series the Gnats were able to win the the series with a strong first start in Gnat green by new coming starting pitcher Juan Cervantes. In the final game of the series, the Gnats offense and power came alive with a 13-1 victory which included home runs by Antonio Vega, Orlando Reyes, Jarrod 'Merlin' Ricks and Ray Kimball. Dean McNeil in his second start would hold Canton to 1 run in 6 innings pitched giving up only a solo home run to 23 year old star Felix Rodriguez.

This week, the Gnats will head out on a bus trip to Kalamazoo before returning home to face the Codgers for 3 games at Ellison Field.

[Sandgnats]

This Team Bites: Blog of the Crystal Lake Sandgnats

Gnats Hit Their Stride against Kalamazoo and Palm Springs (28/6)
By: Stephanie Dole
April 16, 2028 at 11:00 PM CST

The Gnats opened week two of the season with 6 straight wins only to have the streak broken by a 5-3 loss to Palm Springs on Sunday. The Codgers were able to beat up on To-wai Zhou as he surrendered 5 hits and 5 earned runs in the defeat. Chris Long bolted a 2 run home run in the 3rd and the ever youthful and former Gnat Rob Raines chipped in with a solo home run of his own for good measure in the 6th. The Gnats would still take the series with 2 wins in the 3 game series with a pair of 4-2 victories on Friday and Saturday at Ellison Field. Gnats closer, Yasutoki Ine, earned his first save in his first opportunity on Saturday night with putting out 3 of 3 batters in the top of the 9th. The night before, Ine put out 3 of 3 earning his first win setting up the Gnats Derrick Dwyer with a walk-off 2 run home run in the bottom of the 9th.

The Gnats also earlier in the week took the sweep in a 3 game series at Kalamazoo. The Gnats brought out their power bats with Orlando Reyes, Jarrod 'Merlin' Ricks, and Antonio Vega all hitting home runs in the series. However, the MVP of the series goes to Ray Kimball who hit 3 home runs in the series. The 33 year old Kimball is hitting .275/.351/.588 with 5 walks and 7 home runs.

At the moment the Gnats lead the SL with runs allowed at 37 and earned run average at 2.60. The starters right now are 3rd in the SL with 3.30 ERA and relievers 1.54 ERA. Most improved so far is a Gnats defense, that ranked last in the SL last season, who as improved their mark to 5th in the SL to begin the season.

Hot Starts:
3B Ed Brown .383/.455/.426 and 6 walks in 55 plate appearances

Ice Cold:
2B Jim Klein .206/.308/.206

[Vic]

You think Klein is ice cold? He’s a convection oven next to the Claymores’ starting center fielder, Jack Flynn, who just came off an 0-21 week. His slash line is 111/.149/.200.

Seriously, though, another nice blog entry. Sounds like Crystal Lake can do some damage this year!

[Sandgnats]

Thanks Vic!

[Sandgnats]

This Team Bites: Blog of the Crystal Lake Sandgnats

Gnic at Night this Week (28/7)
By: Stephanie Dole
April 23, 2028 at 11:00 PM CST

The Gnats completed the 3rd week of the season with a 4 game series split away at Reno and returned home to win a 3 game series 2 games to 1 against Bakersfield. For the week Orlando Reyes led the way with 2 home runs, 7 RBIs and a .364 batting average with 22 at bats for the week. His success was joined with Ray Kimball who hit 2 home runs of his own and a .300 batting average in 30 at bats. However, the surprise of the week was short stop Hikaru Arai who with 22 at bats drove in 5 runs with a .409 batting average. In this week's stretch the Gnats power bats came out to play again with Crystal Lake hitting a home run in 6 of 7 games played this past week.

Not only did the Gnats "bats" come out to play, but the starting rotation had strong performances lead by Juan Cervantes, with 12 innings pitched in 2 games with one win and no losses. He posted an ERA of 3.00 with 8 strike outs and a 0.83 WHIP. To-wai Zhou rebounded with a strong 8.0 inning start with a 2.25 ERA and 7 strike outs and a 0.75 WHIP.

This week lines up to be an exciting first home 3 game stand against Aurora with the top of its starting lineup coming to town. Nitro will face off against Randy Smith Monday night, followed by Dean McNeil vs. John Turner and To-wai Zhou vs. Luis Nieves. The Monday start will be the year's first "Gnic at Night" promotion of the season. The first 10,000 kids 12 and under will receive a Gnic beanie.



After the Aurora series, the Gnats will have a day off on Thursday and remain home for a 3 game set against Neo-Tokyo. Presently Neo-Tokyo's pitching is 2nd in the SL with a 2.85 ERA.

[Borealis]

Does the visiting Front Office get Gnic beanies, too?

[Sandgnats]

Does the visiting Front Office get Gnic beanies, too?

We'll trade you one for the "Train ARollin" Harry Potter commemorative Christmas ornament.

[Borealis]

Does the visiting Front Office get Gnic beanies, too?

We'll trade you one for the "Train ARollin" Harry Potter commemorative Christmas ornament.

'Train Arollin'' will be available during the Winter Meetings when the trade restrictions are lifted, should you be interested...

[Sandgnats]

Does the visiting Front Office get Gnic beanies, too?

We'll trade you one for the "Train ARollin" Harry Potter commemorative Christmas ornament.

'Train Arollin'' will be available during the Winter Meetings when the trade restrictions are lifted, should you be interested...

As long as his ornament is hanging next to my Nitro Rocket Ornament.

[Sandgnats]

This Team Bites: Blog of the Crystal Lake Sandgnats

Gnats Buzz Out To Round Out April and Continue to Sink Into May (28/8)
By: Stephanie Dole
May 14, 2028 at 11:00 PM CST

The Gnats have started to buzz out after a hot start in the beginning of April. Here's some stats to show the difference:

The way to win (April 3 through April 24):

Team Batting Statistics .254/.332/.410/.742 with 183 Hits, 26 HRs and 94 RBIs and .53 BB per 1K

Team Pitching Statistics 2.93 ERA, 1.08 WHIP with .220 OAVG, 21 HRs and .3 BB per 1K

The way to lose (April 25 through May 14)

Team Batting Statistics .226/.298/.349/.647 with 138 Hits, 14 HRs and 58 RBIs 5and .35 BB per 1K

Team Pitching Statistics 4.22ERA, 1.39 WHIP with .278 OAVG, 22HRs and .375 BB per 1K

The last week of April rounded out with a 2 game to 3 series loss against Aurora at home with a 2 of 3 series win against Neo-Tokyo. However, the free fall then began in stride with a 4 game series split verse Reno and then an 8 game losing streak with series sweeps handed to the Gnats by rivals Aurora and Shin Seiki. However, the Gnats would end this week, to stop the bleeding, with a 2 out of 3 series win against the now Division leading Fargo Dinosaurs. The Gnats are now 6 games behind Fargo at 21-18.

The last couple of weeks saw some shakeups in the line up, in an attempt to turn around the team performance, with Jim Klein being benched in favor of John Dwyer (who is now leading off) at second base and Antonio Vega being benched against left handed starting pitching. Ray Kimball has moved over to first against lefties with Juan Garcia getting the nod at DH. "We are going to pull through this and get back to how we know how to play baseball," stated Jim Klein. "As leader of this team, I don't care how I can contribute as long as we get back to getting wins on the board."

Of note, closer Yasutoki Ine has found a way to completely disintegrate since the shellacking he took against Aurora on April 24th where he gave up 5 earned runs. He has found a way to post 4 losses and blow 1 save in 7 opportunities. Right now his WHIP stands at a horrific 1.84 with 9.4 walks and 9.4 strikeouts per 9 innings.

The Gnats will look to regain their footing in the Great Lakes Division with a 4 game series away at Duluth and then will return home for 3 games, where the Gnats will welcome the return of reliever Johnathan Francis now closing for Yuma.

[Vic]

Poor Klein - although you’ve gotta admire his willingness to lead the team from the bench!