As the Sharks regional team seldom lose game two, this one was plain unlucky.
Heavy rain forced Malmö back home.
Unfortunately, they won the first one.
“We had a complete and total collapse,” Jason Norderum says.

The Sharks (4-7) offense came out and played in the rain on Saturday, feasting off Malmö Pilots (4-3) starter Eric Browne. An early 4-0 lead and the rain felt more like champagne pouring on the fins of the regional players.

That feeling would not last.

Sharks starter Mikael Lindquist battled through the whole game and should have gotten away with his second win of the season but this was not his or Hajarnas day.

“Mikael pitched a great game, that was really nice to see”, Jason Norderum, Advisor to the GM and Special Assistant to the Travel Coordinator says.

The Pilots did score some runs off of Lindquist but the Sharks bit back every time.

“On offense, we jumped on top early and responded every time they scored on us. We were really cruising until the wheels came off”, Norderum says.

You wouldn’t really imagine Sharks being that familiar with wheels and so the falling off might have been inevitable. In the top of the seventh inning with the Sharks holding a one run lead, they fell. And they fell hard.

Jason Norderum, who was on the verge off dedicating the win to his mother Marian, had this to say about the breakdown:

“We had a complete and total collapse in the last inning of the ball game and that cost us the win”, Norderum says.

The Pilots scored three runs in that disastrous top of the seventh, capitalizing mainly on sloppy Sharks defense.

“We went down as a team. We weren’t aggressive enough and didn’t want the ball. We didn’t want to win the ball game, we just hoped we would”, Norderum says.

If Sharks aren’t good with wheels, Pilots aren’t known to be good with bad weather. There was some debate about the playing conditions but eventually the second game was called off. Rumor has it that the make up game will be played in September.

Is it a walk off or swim off?
Does Sharks eat Eagles?
Hajarna won their first game of the season.

The Sharks softball team has had a learning season. On Sunday, they learned how to win as well.

The second game of the double header against the Karlslund Eagles started out like the first one – with Karlsund runs being put up on the board. Hajarna had trouble getting out of the first frame and when Maria Månsson had come in and got the outs, it was already an 11-0 Eagles lead.

That would take the breath out of a lot of teams, but not this one.
The Sharks ate their way back. Capitalizing on fringy defense, displaying good baserunning and swinging hot bats all through the lineup. They clawed their way back in to the game and took the lead in the bottom of the sixth.

Up 17-14, they looked confident, but this one was not over yet. The Eagles came back and ended up tying the game on a close play at the plate with two outs in the top of the seventh and the game went to extra innings.

In the top of the eight, Hajarna allowed three runs to score and the game looked all but over.
Then came the two out nightmare.
Or daydream, depending on your allegiance.

With the score tied at 20 runs a piece, Maria Kühnemuth came up what would prove to be a battle at the plate. Passed balls and fouls kept on coming until that precious, beautiful base hit dropped in and Hajarna could swim off in to the sunshine with the victory.

Maria Månsson ended up getting all the 24 outs of the second game. While that is impressive in itself, it gets more so considering she also pitched three innings in game one.

Oh, and Karlslund took game one 17-3. Let’s not think about that.

Two losses means a lot.
Especially since they’re now gone.
Botkyrka pulling out of the Elite series turns the table for Hajarna.

Final word came out from the Swedish Baseball- and Softball federation yesterday. Botkyrka, by forfeiting last weekends game against Sundbyberg, pulled out of the Elite series. According to the federation, Botkyrka is now focusing on their regional team and to reestablish themselves.

Which also means the table has turned.
Literally.

As is custom in Swedish sports, all of Botkyrkas matches is no more. And since Göteborg Hajarna was one of the few, if not the only team, that got swept by Botkyrka that is not a bad thing.

The Sharks go to 2-12 on the season and with the Academy not participating in the playoffs, a spot there is within reach. Sundbyberg is at the moment holding that elusive ticket at 3-11 which means Hajarna is one game back of them.

“Playoff baseball isn’t about the best team, it’s about the hottest team. So we gotta take this next month and a half to get hot”, says Head Coach Coleman Lukas.

The remaining schedule is even more intriguing as both teams play top teams to restart after the summer break. Sundbyberg take on Stockholm in two night games on August 4th and 6th while Hajarna host Sölvesborg on August 15th.

The real thriller, however, will be at Shark Park on August 29th when Hajarna host Sundbyberg Heat.

Pitcher Jason Norderum also had something to add:
“Playoffs? You kidding me? I’m just hoping we can win a game”, says Norderum.