BSL Nights 2020 - Week 4 Recaps
Damascus @ Medina
On this windy night, Damascus got their boys ready as they thought they were walking into a shootout against another offensive juggernaut in Medina. Damascus batted first and put up 2 quick runs to get the night started thanks to a Safwan Khan blast down CF. Medina responded posting 6 runs to get momentum on their side which started with an Omer Chaudhry moon shot to the stands. He raked in 3 RBI’s on that dinger. He would go on to hit 5 homeruns on the day bringing in 11 RBI’s. Damascus only combined for one more run after that inning while Medina put the pedal to medal putting up a 7-spot in the second inning. Medina’s bats were rolling as Omer C hit another 2 run shot followed by a Hamid Malik solo homerun and an Imran Qureshi 3 run homer. Other notable hits came from Aatif Parvaiz, Jay Ahmed, and Fawad Shaikh who went 3 for 3 on the night with some beautiful hits! He always brings his kids to watch and they were very proud of their dad! Mashallah!!
Medina would go on to score 12 more runs to activate the mercy rule which ended the game in 5 innings. Most of the credit goes to Medina’s defense and to Hassan Chaudhry of course for missing the game 
. Damascus was missing 3 of their big hitters so this performance isn’t up to their usual standards.
Medina made some major changes to their defense and they paid dividends as Jay Ahmed was making all the right plays in the OF. Omer Chaudhry moved over to short stop and held it down there. There was some rust on his game as he hasn’t played short stop in over 4 years but it seemed like he was pretty comfortable there.
Highlights of the game:
- Omer Chaudhry – 2 HR, 3/3, 5 RBI’s
- Hamid Malik – HR, 2/3, RBI
- Imran Qureshi – HR, 2/3, 5 RBI’s
- Mo Kala – 2 Walks, massive double
- Omar Khan – 2 RBI’s
- Fawad Shaikh – 3/3, excellent batting!!!
- Robocop – 3/3, 2 RBI’s and excellent pitching
- Aatif Parvez – King of doubles. 1 double 2 RBI’s and excellent play at 3rd
- Hatf Sohail – RBI
- Safwan Khan – HR, 2/3, 2 RBI’s
- Salman Ahmad – 2/3
- Shane Worthington – 2/3
Medina @ Cordoba
With Medina coming off an impressive win against Damascus, they were looking to carry that momentum over to this game as Cordoba had the last laugh, when these 2 teams previously clashed. With both teams containing tons of fire power, these 2 teams were rolling right off the gates. The first 3 innings saw the teams deadlocked at 8. Crazy and Chu started the team off right with a dinger each (both ended up with 2 on the night) followed by a Bilal Javed Miandad blast. On the other side, Omer Chaudhry was having one of those days as he cleared 3 homeruns in this game ending with 5 on the night. Both teams were airing it out as the outfielders were quite busy on this day. Medina was missing their left center fielder in Suleman Mann but Hamid Malik filled in and held it down in the outfield making multiple key grabs and controlling the outfield all game. Medina’s bats finally slowed down as Cordoba held them to 0 runs in the 4th inning while putting up a cool 5 of their own. Medina didn’t give up though as they continued to push despite going down by 5. Aslam “The Savage” Abdullah did what he does best as he blasted a 3 run shot when Medina needing it the most. Medina was down 14-11 going into the final inning as they brought in 4 runs to take the lead by one. That lead would be tough to hold on to as 1 run is no task for the high-powered Cordoba offense. With Crazy leading off and getting on base, Yusauf Chaudhry stepped up to the plate and smashed a walk off homer to take the win against Medina for the 2nd time in 2 weeks.
Highlights of the game:
- Omer Chaudhry – 3 HR, 4/4, 6 RBI’s
- Hamid Malik – Excellent fielding in LCF
- Imran Qureshi – 3/3, 3 RBI’s
- Mo Kala – BB, massive double, RBI
- Aslam Abdullah – Timely homerun, 3 RBI’s
- Fawad Shaikh – Amazing double. Fielder dove hard and still missed it
- Robocop – Controlling the mound/infield
- Aatif Parvez – 2/3, RBI
- Ahmed “Crazy” Ammad – 2 HR’s 3 RBI’s
- Yusauf Chaudhry – 2 HR’s (Including walk off HR to win the game), 4 RBI’s
- Bilal Javed – 1/4, HR, 2 RBI’s
- Zain Malik – 2/d, RBI
- Akif Waheed -2 RBI’s
- Bilal Malik – 2 Sac Flies bringing in 2 RBI’s
Cordoba @ Lahore
Lahore was coming into this game trying to get their second win a row while Cordoba had dropped to Damascus on their last game, trying to get back on track. Lahore welcomed their beloved star Salim Jaichi who had to miss the first half of the season due to injury. Lahore thought they would have to slowly work him into game shape but he proved that he didn’t miss a beat as he smashed 2 homeruns this game. Cordoba started the game off putting up half of their total in the first inning with 6. Lahore returned the favour with 3 runs but Cordoba would pull away as they were up 10-5 after 2. Yusauf Chaudhry and Bilal Javed did what they do best blasting homeruns and bringing in a combined 6 RBI’s on the night. Cordoba would go cold the next 4 out of 5 innings only brining in 2 runs the rest of the game. A large part of that was due to the fantastic pitching of Amir Khalil. Lahore would slowly chip away as they continued to score while holding Cordoba. Omar Khatab and Khurum Channa would join in on the homerun fun as they both crushed 1 each for a combined 3 RBI’s but Cordoba’s strategy of putting Lahore on a homerun limit might have helped a little as batters had to hold back from crushing the ball. Regardless, Lahore was playing great as everyone on the roster had at least 1 RBI on the game. Talk about team effort. Lahore battled hard to get back in this game and were down 4 entering the final frame. The Lahore squad played hard and managed to get 4 to tie the game but weren’t able to get the go ahead for the win. This game would end in a tie. Cordoba would put much of the blame on their poor base running as they made several errors costing them runs. Lahore on the other hand ran the bases well, and had some close calls go their way.
Highlights of the game:
- Zain Malik – 2/3, BB
- Bilal Javed – 2B, HR, RBI
- Ahmad Ammad – 2/3, BB
- Yusauf Chaudhry – 4/4, HR, 5 RBI’s
- Akif Waheed – 2/3, RBI
- Hamza Waheed – 1/2 , RBI, BB
- Amir Khalil – Excellent pitching, 2/4
- Khurram Channa – 3/3, HR, RBI
- Omar Khattab – 2/3, HR, 2 RBI
- Salim Jaichi – 2/3, 2HR, 3 RBI
Lahore @ Damascus
Lahore entered the night cap after making a huge comeback to tie their previous game while Damascus entered the game on an all time low, after getting mercied in their first game. Lahore wasted no time putting up a 7 spot in the first inning and things looked eerily similar for DMC as they were already down a mercy inning. With a squad full of guys with a lot of heart, Damascus took their turn and the bats came to life as they were able to put up a 7 spot of their own after some timeline hitting by Hatf Sohail and Shane Worthington. Not to be outdone, team Lahore’s bat kept going and with probably the deadliest middle lineup in the league (Ismail Kara, Omar Khattab, Salim Jaichi & Shamil Khadaroo) all hit monster HR’s and put Lahore up by 4 going into the bottom of the 5th. As been the case all year, with DMC needing runs, GM Safwan Khan rises to the occasion, and hit his 2nd HR of the night capping a 9 RBI night to tie the game. It was Lahore’s turn to put runs up and with DMC’s defense stepping up, Lahore was not able to put up a big number but mustered 1 run. With DMC down 1 and 2 on, Riyad Ramjaun was up to bat. A single or walk would bring up GM Safwan Khan but unfortunately, a liner back to the pitcher ended the game. Lahore goes undefeated this week with a 1-0-1 record, while DMC drops both and will look to regroup next week.
- Rookie phenom, Omar Khattab with a 3-4 day, adding to his HR total;
- Salim Jaichi went a perfect 3-3 and hitting his 3rd HR of the season in only his 2nd game;
- Another rookie sensation, Arsalaan Abdullah goes a perfect 4-4 and driving in 3;
- Hatf Sohail goes 4-5 with stellar play at 3rd base;
- Shane Worthington a perfect 4-4;
- GM Safwan Khan with 2 HR’s and driving in 9;