Monthly Archives: May 2014

Two wins for Sundbyberg

The Sharks woke up late this Saturday. Sundbyberg was up early and ready for the games. That mimics how the games were played. A shortened game one due to Sundbyberg’s hot bats and an exiting second game was up for display for the audience!

Hiba started out pitching for the Sharks. As always when Hiba pitches, it is with a huge love of the game and his team mates. As always when Hiba pitches he seems to need an inning to get lose to put his best work to the plate. He had to see a few opponents score early, but that wasn’t on his watch. The Gothenburg infield defense let their pitcher down. The pitcher/catcher/infield communication didn’t work out really well either, with seven stolen bases for the game. The fourth inning was when the numbers went through the roof. No more than eight runs was scored there. Even though Hiba had to give up a few runs on his account, the defense wasn’t able to help him out. The Sharks should have shut down that inning prior to when it actually ended. Not that anything of this matter, because with a run support of two (2!) you can’t afford to give up that many runs! Just a hint of what defensive numbers that were up; Sundbyberg scored 17 runs during the game and had 9 runs batted in (RBI). That means eight runs walked in due to mistakes. A run support of two is far away from making up for it…

A good thing they woke up after that!

Because that was what they did! If the team weren’t awake already, Curtis Dionne made his first appearance of the season to make the final wake up call to the team. The semi-retired Shark icon had the possibility to sneak in to a game and he meant business. He took on the catching position and managed to keep up with Jason’s pitching quite well. The Sundbyberg were forced to see their stealing numbers go down to the floor and was picked off once. Jason Norderum put up with six innings of pitching where he was in deep trouble a few times. He managed to get out of the jam but the team let two runs of which none were earned. Meanwhile the Gothenburg offense managed to produce three runs in the third and fourth. Curtis Dionne took over on the mound and kept the opponents scoreless in the seventh. He had to see the first batter in the eight get on base and then gave up a go ahead homer to Philip Gajzler. Curtis managed one more out before giving up the mound to Wilhelm Sundin who quickly shut down the inning with a double play.

Wilhelm’s pithing seems to have improved a lot the past year. A completely different speed in the pitches than what we’ve seen before.

Curtis was at bat with two outs and two Sharks on base in the eight caused some extra discussions among the fans afterwards. Curtis appeared to have checked his swing well ahead of the plate with full count on the board, but the plate umpire wasn’t sure and asked for the assistance of the second umpire. He was well positioned between the mound and the short stop and decided that he did not check his swing tearing down all comeback chances for Gothenburg there. Curtis managed to calm down after some initial frustration. That wasn’t something Johan Weidlolf managed to do in the top ninth where he was sent back to the dugout to calm down. What seemed to be a very solid play to second to get ahead of the runner was turned down by the very same umpire that put Curtis away earlier. Home plate ump couldn’t be of any help to overturn the decision and due to that play the Sundbyberg managed to score two more runs, setting the final score to 6-3 in favor of Sundbyberg.

It seems like the Sharks haven’t earned that extra little help of a correct bounce, a critical decision going their way just yet. The infield defense it a huge problem just now. Joe Lankford moved into the short stop position for the second game and Johan Weidolf taking over the third base, which gave that little extra stability that the Sharks were looking for. The catcher position and second base are still looking for some reliability and consistency.

Jason put up with some solid pitching but seemed to lose his concentration a few times almost costing him a stolen base, a pair of hit by pitch and an error at first base after leaving the mound. His offense and pitching is very impressive though. The Sharks other American Patrick Laffin is putting up a solid .368 for the season but was kind of quiet the last game. I’m not sure that he saw a single ball coming his way at center field the second game and put up with one hit. He went two for three in the first game. The defensive adjustments moving Joe Lankford to short stop and Weidolf to third and having Nicklas Ekström taking on first really tightened that infield defense, making it much harder for the Sundbyberg to get on base.

Even though the Sharks were reinforced with Curtis Dionne the second game making a huge difference, the team came out as a different team. They stood up for one another and really dared to make the plays! A much wanted shift mentally giving them some confidence for the future. Even though the Sharks still are looking for a win this season, that game is getting closer by the minute. They showed off some impressive come back will in game two giving them a chance to come back on top. Perhaps on Thursday vs the Swedish Academy? Will you support the Sharks at Shark Park versus the future of Swedish baseball?

The regional team fighting Knights

The Sharks playing in the regional series was off to fight the Nyköping Knights. The Sharks in the regional series have had it tough to score wins the previous seasons. They are still looking for a win this season, but it was really close in Sundays game. Here’s a report from the games by Alexander Rikner:

Heartbreaking losses in Nyköping

The regional team dropped both games at Nyköping Knights on Sunday. Hajarna took the lead in the first game and the game was tight behind Ted Bratsbergs pitching and stellar defense through four innings. Hajarna fought back from a 1-3 hole to tie the game up at 3-3 in the top of the fifth. From there, it was all Nyköping. The Knights came right back in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-3 lead. Holding Hajarna scoreless in the top of the sixth, the Knights kept going in the bottom of the inning scoring seven runs to end the game 13-3.

The second game was pure baseball entertainment. Once again, Hajarna struck first taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Nyköping fought back and when Hajarna came back in contention in the top of the fifth with the score 4-5, the Knights drove in two runs in the bottom half. But this one was not decided yet. Hajarna refused to give up and scored three runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game up at seven runs a piece. The Knights, however, was not discouraged. Capitalizing on a couple of misplays by Hajarna they took the lead with 8-7 and held on in the top of the seventh to seal a double win.

Anton Ericsson provides some images and stories about burgers from the games.

Next chance to catch a Shark game at home will be this Saturday at 1pm when the Gothenburg Sharks welcomes Sundbyberg Heat in a double header. The regional team’s next home game is not scheduled until July 6 versus the Nyköping Knights. All scheduled games are available at the games section.

Nothing for free

Sölvesborg decided to not give anything for free today! Game one was not only lost in the second but also in the sixth. The Gothenburg run support had four runs coming in the fourth and seventh, the Sölvesborg scored 5 in the second. They scored 9 more until the game was over in the seventh inning.

Gothenburg featured Jason Norderum in the second game. A good coaching move! Make sure to get away with at least one game pitchingwise. If we would just scratch out inning five of this game we would come out on top. Since I didn’t see that game, just reading the play by play, that inning five was no earned run for the pitcher and the team let six.

Game one was lost due to doubles, not seeing them I can’t say if they were well deserved or not, but three consecutive normally isn’t just the pitchers fault. The latter runs wasn’t earned. The Sharks got a problem supporting the pitching staff with good defense. Good thing is that they are up on the board! The defense could be Lundquist good 97%, but with no run/goal support there is nothing left to win.

I hope that the Sharks goes back into Shark Park and makes the most out of their practices to come back strengthened for the next home game. That would be home at Shark Park vs Sundbyberg next weekend on the 24th.

On a separate note, Stockholm won two games away vs Karlskoga making the Stockholm Monarchs still undefeated for the season. Leksand won two games vs Sundbyberg. Looking forward to the home games vs Sundbyberg Heat next weekend!

Weekend wrap up

The past weekend was full of baseball!

Leksand @ Gothenburg

Leksand Lumberjacks was visiting Gothenburg in the Elitseries. A beautiful day where the games was preceded by the national anthem and the ceremonial first pitch. A lot of people found their way to the Shark Park which was offering both sun and some occasional clouds! The spectators could not only enjoy the weather but also some good pitching from both teams. Even though the game was not as tight as a Shark fan would have hoped, it was an exciting one where the Sharks failed to produce enough runs in the end. Even though it wasn’t the failing factor in this game, the defense needs polishing. The Sharks seems to have problems producing the extra sharpness and have the quicker feet when needed for the final out. The passiveness or perhaps choosing a play with a lot of margin let Leksand on base a few too many times.

Game two featured pretty much all of the Gothenburg pitching staff available. Coach Anders did what he could to keep the arms fresh not letting each of them too many innings. Even though the runs let was a few too many, two runs scored is not enough to win a game on this level.

Game one ended 6-1 and the second game ended 12-2. Both games in favour of Leksand. A well deserved win according to how the game was played.

Malmö @ Gothenburg B

The Gothenburg team in the second division welcomed Malmö Pilots to Shark Park on the two Sunday games. The Gothenburg team featured youngsters,old timers and up and coming players who all share the love of the game. Malmö showed off some good pitching and a tight defense which made it hard for the Sharks to get on base. Malmö capitalized on some mistakes made by the Gothenburg defense but must be given the credit they deserved for their hot bats. Brian Jordan with the Pilots left the game 8 for 8.

Sölvesborg @ Stockholm

The first game of the day was a tight one. The game ended 2-0 to Stockholm. Jacob Claesson with the Stockholm Monarchs pitched all nine innings not giving up a single run. The Sölvesborg pitcher Eddie Aucoin gave up the game losing run in the forth. If game one was tight, game two was totally the opposite! Sölvesborg started out fine with a two run lead, but Stockholm took over after that. Karl Knutsson started off with the pitching and was relieved by Mathias Person for an inning. Karl then entered the mound once again, but failed to produce the energy to stand up for the Stockholm offense. Rickard Ödmo took them to an early finish in the sixth where the game ended 5-20. Stockholm is still undefeated but was challenged for the first time in game one.

Karlskoga @ Sundbyberg

The Karlskoga Bats was coming from back to back losses versus Leksand (0-10 and 1-2) and Sundbyberg on the other end was 2-0 versus Sölvesborg (1-17 and 4-7). The Bats took their first win of the season in game one but came up short in the second game. That puts Karlskoga one win ahead of Gothenburg. The Bats are off to Stockholm next.

Sundbyberg won todays game over Akademin comfortable 16-5 (7).

Gothenburg on the road

The Sharks will head for Sölvesborg on Saturday. Both teams are looking for their first wins of the season and someone will break their track record. Exiting weekend coming up.

Next home game

The next home game is May 24 when Sundbyberg is visting Shark Park!

And we’re off

Finally! The first game of the season is history and we can look forward to a new season of baseball!

The Sharks travelled to Stockholm for the first game. Stockholm had already begun their season with double header versus Leksand the previous week. Stockholm won those two games comfortably.

Jason Norderum started pitching in game one for the Sharks. He let one run, which wasn’t earned in the four innings he pitched. Eventually, Gothenburg let 10 runs, only giving up five hits. The amount of walks Gothenburg gave up turned out to be costly. The Claesson’s of the Stockholm pitching staff gave up four hits and two walks which the Sharks failed to capitalize on.

Game two were cut early due to the weather but they managed to squeeze in five innings. Gothenburg put themselves up on the board in the third inning when Jason hit a single to the right, where both Joe Lankford and Simon Tysk managed to score! Stockholm started game two by giving Hiba a severe headache. Stockholm scored no less than six runs in the first and four in the second. They managed to score once in the third, but the bleeding stopped there. However, those runs in the first and second was more than enough to put Gothenburg in the backseat and Gothenburg failed to recover. Gothenburg did as Leksand the week before, left Stockholm empty handed.

While Gothenburg was visiting Stockholm, Leksand won two games vs Karlskoga Bats. Karlskoga lost game one 10-0 and the game lasted only until seven innings. Game two was quite the opposite and was a tight game where Leksand came out on the front winning 2-1.

Sölvesborg who lost two games to the Akademin in their opening game got a visit from Sundbyberg. It was Sundbybergs first game of the season and they were pumped! Scoring no less than 17 times in game one. The second game got a bit tighter where Karl Knutsen pitched the entire game for Sölvesborg. Sundbyberg’s national team player Philip Gajzler drove in a two run homer in the ninth and set the final score to 4-7.

Leksand will go on the road and visit Gothenburg Sharks home opener on Shark Park. You are welcome to join us watching the ceremonial first pitch of the season and two exciting games! Please note that game one starts at 12.