Monthly Archives: June 2017
Back to the Sands of Malmö
It’s road trip time again, this week with a June 10th visit to Malmö’s beautiful Limhamnsfältet for a doubleheader against the Pilots. Even though the Sharks are currently riding an eight-game winning streak against the Pilots and fresh off a miracle sweep of the Karlskoga Bats, this weekend’s games could go either way.
Looking back over the past six years, the Pilots have the edge, going 20–9 against the Sharks. Although the Pilots had the early advantage, at one point winning 19 straight, the balance of power began to shift when Coleman Lucas and Jason Norderum took the reins in 2015, and led the Sharks to an 11-1 victory, vividly illustrating the concept of winning being better than losing.
Swervin Shervin, flashing the leather in Malmö
For fans wanting to see the team on the road, this reporter can strongly recommend making the trip to Malmö. It’s an easy drive, the burgers are tasty, the people are friendly, sunny skies are forecast and a great sand beach is just a minute away, something the Sharks always take advantage of after playing in Malmö.
For directions, click here: Limhamnsfältet
There’s plenty of free parking between the field and the beach.
Miracle day as Sharks sweep Bats
Miracles do happen.
Sharks can walk on water.
“This is baseball,” coach Edgren says.
No one would have believed this when the Karlskoga Bats (5-3) came to town. This reporter is not a fan of quoting himself, but the 2017 preview of the opposition says:
It will be exciting to see imports in the regional league and especially so with an ambidextrous pitcher. While it’s safe to assume that the Sharks, nor any other regional team, most likely will not stand a chance against the Bats, it will be fun to host them at Shark Park.
And fun it was.
José Martinez (2-0) started game one for the Göteborg Hajarna (4-2) and was lights out to start the game and held the Karlskoga Bats scoreless through three innings behind a surprisingly stellar defense. As the Sharks roster for the game were 17 strong, few of them had showed up for practice.
“Just imagine how good we would be if all of these guys had the chance to work on their stuff,” coach Jonny Edgren says.
The Sharks lineup got behind their starter as they scored 3 runs in the first and added two more in the second off of Bats starter Forrest Weaver (3-1). The ambidextrous Weaver only pitched 1.2 innings as he and Sharks shortstop Mokhlad al-Ghanimi collided at a play at the plate and Weaver had to come off the mound. al-Ghanimi, unfortunately, had to come out of the game altogether.
The weather was not kind on this day.
The Sharks offensive forces were pretty much done for the day and the Bats threatened in the 4th with the bases loaded on a couple of occasions but Martinez held them to 3 runs. Behind that solid defense, the Sharks held on to the first one despite being shut out by Bats reliever Rafael Torres and Simon Högberg.
Notably, that Sharks defense was led by comebacking José Munoz and Niclas Ekström (both coming off the DL just in time for the game) and the solid battery of Martinez and Zaki Yamazaki.
Back on the field and on the mound for the second game was Mokhlad al-Ghanimi who battled through his foot injury but was not at his sharpest. This might also have been a consequence from the rain that just would not give in. While al-Ghanimi only gave up one hit on the day, he walked a whooping 9 batters and hit at least a couple more.
And the rain kept pouring.
“This ain’t no weather for a black man,” center fielder José Martinez said.
The Bats took advantage of that and got the 1-0-lead in the 2nd and adding 4 more runs in the 4th. The Sharks, on offense, looked abysmal to say the least as they could not figure out Bats starter Simon Högberg at all. Fortunately for the Sharks, starter Shervin Shakki came in to relieve al-Ghanimi and pitched great as he held the Bats hitless for three frames.
Going in to the 7th the Sharks faithful had left the stands and down 5-0, this one looked nothing but over. But when Eric Marquez reminded the team that winning is better than losing, it wasn’t.
Daniel Linnås started the inning off by drawing a walk from reliever Anton Calson (0-2) and from there on, it was a fairy tale for the Sharks. When veteran Johan Weidolf came to the plate with the bases loaded, he represented the winning run. Weidolf hit a double down the right field line and set the stage for Martinez to be the hero once more. Martinez rose to the occasion and hit a ground rule double for the walk off victory.
Edgren rounding up the day.
“We had great discipline today, that was the key for us,” coach Edgren said.
Notables:
Shakki is batting .416 on the season.
Niclas Ekström, in his comeback, was not hit by a pitch.
Hajarna totalled only five errors on the day.
Joel Earnest was overheard talking about on base percentage.
Not so baby Sharks try out for junior national team
Sharks don’t like public transportation.
Fortunately, Hannes Wiström and Shervin Shakki found their way.
“It was fun,” Wiström says.
The Swedish junior national team is playing a Euro qualifier against Croatia in July. Since there is open spots on the roster, a tryout was held in Skarpnäck, Stockholm, on Monday and Tuesday. Hannes Wiström and Shervin Shakki represented the Sharks.
Wiström and Shakki at the field after the subway adventures.
“It was a good learning experience, a lot of coaches with a lot of experience. They knew what they were talking about,” Wiström says.
To get there, was more of an adventure. Sharks, as you might know, does not adapt well to life above ground and public transportation is a bit of an issue. When the Sharks found themselves in the big city, it was close they wound up far from the field.
A group of people who agreed that winning is better than losing.
At the field, they were working with a lot of fundamentals, physical tests and such. Rumor has it that Shervin Shakki showed off the blinding speed that he soon will be know for.
“It’s been a lot of fun to play with guys our own age,” Wiström says and apparently, Shakki agreed to a lot of the statements.
Baby Sharks play for Skövde
Although no Sharks Jersey, the baby Sharks performed sharklike.
Gillan André and Alessandro Cassani played well when representing Skövde.
The Hajarna faithful are familiar with the (very) young guns Gillan André and Allesandro Cassani to represent The senior Sharks in the future. But as the Baby Sharks are still not a full squad, they took matters into their own hands and represented Skövde in the youth tournament Billingeslaget.
Cassani played solid defense for the U15 side, both at shortstop and in center field. On the other side of the ball, he recorded a stolen base and got a walk.
Cassani might be contemplating if winning is better than losing?
For André, the team in question was the Skövde U12 and he was all over. André provided slick defense at first and second base while getting a couple of hits. He also featured on the mound in the second game as he struck out one in a 1-2-3 inning of relief.
André at the plate.
Sharks embrace rain, sweep Bats
The Sharks are in the midst of a roller coaster-season.
They certainly enjoyed the ride on Sunday.
“We had great discipline today,” coach Edgren says.
When the powerhouse Karlskoga Bats (5-3) visits Shark Park, the games are usually a dull story for the Göteborg Hajarna (4-2). On Sunday, the plot was different.
Behind game one starter José Martinez (2-0) Hajarna put up a crooked number in the first, scoring three runs off of Bats starter Forrest Weaver (3-1). In the second inning, they put two more runs on the board. The defense has been inconsistent during the season but it was looking as solid as ever on this day.
Martinez was rolling through three innings before running in to trouble in the fourth as he gave up three runs. He never lost his stride, however, and threw a complete game for his second win of the season. On the day, he allowed six hits and two walks while striking out ten.
Game two was wet. Really wet. The rain decided to make life difficult for the players and the field as everyone had to battle wet balls and a wet field. The Bats drew first blood as the put up a run in the second and added four runs in the fourth.
Wet indeed.
The Sharks never got their offensive production going and it was looking more and more like a one sided affair before starter Mokhlad al-Ghanimi. However, a rain delay occurred after the fifth inning and Eric Marquez reminded his teammates that winning is better than losing.
With the game on the line, the Sharks showed patience at the plate in the bottom of the seventh and loaded the bases with one out. After scoring three runs, oldtimer Johan Weidolf came to the plate as the winning run and hit a line drive down the right field line to tie the game.
Martinez then took matters in to his own hands as he drove in Weidolf with a ground rule double for the walkoff win with the final score of 6-5.
“We had great discipline on both sides of the ball. And this is baseball, anything can happen,” coach Jonny Edgren says.
Longer version to follow.
The story of ‘Momo’ is more than strikeouts
Around the Sharks organization, he’s known for his strikeouts and blinding speed.
But there is more to Mokhlad al-Ghanimi than meets the eye.
“I just want to be safe,” he says in an article at Ale-Kuriren.
In a story featured in Ale-Kuriren, al-Ghanimi tells the story on how he had to leave his native Iraq and his struggle to stay in Sweden. He talks about his athletic upbringing, his father who got him into swimming and his future.
I Göteborg Hajarnas förening är han mest känd för sina strikeouts och blixtrande snabbhet.
Men Mokhlad al-Ghanimi är mer än så.
“Jag vill bara leva ett säkert liv”, säger han till Ale-Kuriren.
I en artikel i Ale-Kuriren berättar al-Ghanimi historien om hur han var tvungen att lämna sitt hemland Irak och om hans kamp för att få stanna i Sverige. Han pratar om hans idrottande familj, och ödet som förde honom till Göteborg och Hajarna.
Al-Ghanimi learned in Sweden that winning is better than losing.
Lastly, the Hajarna.se editorial staff (there’s actually three of us) are proud to have al-Ghanimi in the organization and are happy that you feel safe here.
Come and see ‘Momo’ in action on Sunday as Hajarna take on the Karlskoga Bats, first pitch is at 12.00 at Shark Park.