For a man who is well passed the time when most baseball players would have hung up their cleats, Kai Schjang shows no sign of slowing down. Schjang took the mound in the Raphael Jackson AA Baseball best-of-five series opener against the favored defending champions, the Vikings, and went nine strong innings to lead the 40 Plus Hurricanes to a 12-4 victory and a 1-0 series lead on Wednesday at the D.C. Canegata ballpark.
Batting first the Hurricanes, sometimes referred to as the Geritol Posse, got on the board right away with one run in the top of the first on an RBI single off the bat of the Canes’ hottest hitter, Tony Peguerro, to take the early lead. Schjang retired the Vikings in order in the bottom of the inning.
The Vikings were able to tie the game in the bottom of the second inning on an error after the Hurricanes failed to score.
The Hurricanes were back on the attack in the top of the third, erupting for four runs against Vikings starter Kenny Jackson to retake the lead at 5-1. They scored four runs on RBI singles by Peguerro, Carlos Morales and Anthony Cruz and a pass ball. The Vikings answered with another unearned run to close the gap to 5-2 at the end three innings.
A Vikings error in the top of the fourth allowed the Canes to add one run to their lead and a score of 6-2. The Vikings would, however, cut the deficit in half on a two-run single by Jamali White and they trailed 6-4 at the end of four.
This was when Schjang, with grandson watching from stands, put the clamps on the young Vikings bats and they would not score again. From the fifth inning onwards, only three batters would reach base and none would advance past first.
Meanwhile the Geritol Posse would add a run in the fifth on a pass ball and two in the seventh on an RBI single by Duane Brannigan and a Vikings error to extend their lead to 9-4. They then completed their scoring for the game in the top of the eighth with three runs on a two-run single by Raymond Cintron and a sacrifice fly by Cruz for the 12-4 victory.
The Hurricanes offense exploded for 17 hits in the victory led by Peguerro (4 for 6 with two RBIs), Kenny Milligan (4 for 6), Cintron (2 for 5 with two RBIs), Brannigan (2 for 4 with one RBI), Morales (2 for 6 with one RBI) and Rodney Raphael (2 for 4).
For the Vikings, White was 1 for 3 with two RBIs, Jahmoy Williams, 2 for 4 and Shawn Matos was 1 for 3.
Even with the game one loss, the defending champs are still favored to repeat; however, the Hurricanes let it be known that they may have a thing or two to say about that. The action continues at the same venue on Friday with a game time of 7 p.m.
