BSL Nights 2020 - Week 5 Recaps

Welcome back folks! Chilly day for a night of softball but we hope everyone came dressed in appropriate weather friendly gear and ready to play! 5 weeks in the books and 2 more to go before playoff time. Y’ALL EXCITED?? Great! let’s jump right into action.

 

Medina @ Lahore

 Lahore has been on a 3 game undefeated streak coming into this one as they hosted the ever so dangerous Medina squad. With Medina batting first, they laid it on thick. In 2 innings, Medina was sitting tall to a tune of 12-2. Jay “Swag” Ahmed had a nice double to start the game then second time around stepped up and smashed his 1st official homerun in BSL nights. What a G! Suleman Mann also participated in the HR derby along with Medina’s usual suspect, IQ Smash. Things were looking great as Medina slowly let their guard down and that’s when Lahore pounced. Medina’s defense decided to take a hiatus from fielding for a few innings and instead started bird watching. I say this because Medina couldn’t catch a beach ball if its was lobbed at them as they missed play after play. Lahore outscored Medina to a tune of 20-4 in the final 3 innings or 14-1 in the final 2 innings. Whichever sounds better. Some notable dingers from Lahore’s side when it counted most. Shamil Khadaroo hit a grand sham bringing in 4 RBI’s while Omar Khattab had 2 of his own cruising atop the homerun race. And who can forget the ageless wonder, smoking dingers since 1995, Nirvaan Latif.

Medina has been playing great over the past few weeks but with a full squad, there was no excuse for this unit to play that bad. Captains Mo Kala and Hamid Malik were very frustrated and need to go back to the drawing board to make some serious changes. With the playoffs around the corner, this is the worst time for a team to fall apart. Medina has a great bunch of guys and alhumdolillah it’s a pleasure hanging with them but its time to get down to business. They need to hold each other accountable and more importantly try to focus on their strengths/weaknesses as individuals. Medina has some amazing strengths but its up to the captains to utilize the squad to the best of their abilities. With the hour glass running out of sand, Medina needs to bring their team back from rock bottom and play for each other. They have 2 weeks to figure it out before the big dance and with the guys Medina has, I know they’re taking this loss to heart as they should. Inshallah they will fair better in the coming weeks

 

Highlights of the game: 

• Shamil Khadaroo – HR, 4 RBI’s
• Salim Jaichi – 4 / 4, 4 RBI’s
• Omar Khattab – 4/4, 2 HR’s, 4 RBI’s
• Nirvaan Latif – 3/4, HR, 7 RBI’s
• Neal Irfan – 3/3, 3 RBI’s
• Suleman Mann – 3/4, HR, 3 RBI’s
• Jay Ahmed – 3/4, HR, 3 RBI’s
• Fawad Shaikh – 2/3, 2 RBI’s excellent hitting!
• Atif Parvez – 2/3 2B, 2 RBI’s

  

Cordoba @ Medina

 Cordoba was coming into this game having lost their previous game to Damascus as they doubled Cordoba’s score to take if 14-7. Cordoba wasn’t happy about that so they decided to pull it together and give Medina a run for their money. Medina was coming off a demoralizing loss as they went from almost mercying Lahore to being outscored 20-4 in the final 3 innings. Needless to say, both teams were gunning for a win. Cordoba took to their bats first but Medina made quick work of them holding them to 0 and in return, Cordoba did the same. Then they went to work. Cordoba, usually known for their power hitting only hit 1 over the fence, courtesy of Mr. Khilji who also brought in 5 RBI’s. These guys were doing well placing the ball but mainly, targeting 3B and SS all game long as the infield couldn’t get it together. Medina had allowed 9 run on errors that game (as opposed to Cordoba’s 1) which included some very easy outs had the ball not been fumbled or if the throw was on target. Medina’s infield showed a lot of rust and couldn’t come up with the plays when needed the most. The bad bounces weren’t doing Medina any favours either as the pitch made it difficult to gage the ball but Cordoba seemed to have done okay with it, making most of the common plays. Cordoba was picking up runs consistently through out the game including 2 mercy innings. Medina did respond by putting up a 6 run inning but that would be all Medina had in the tank tonight as those 8 runs weren’t even close to being enough. Cordoba closed out this game on a 14-2 run honouring our beloved Kobe Bryant in this one to a legendary score of 24-8

 

Highlights of the game: 

• Zain Khilji – 4/4, HR, 5 RBI’s
• Yusauf Ch – 2/4, 2B, 3 RBI’s
• Mohammed Ali Pasha – 3 RBI’s
• Zain Malik – 2 RBI’s, great play at 1st
• Bilal Malik – 2/3, 2 RBI’s
• Furqan Usman – 2 RBI’s
• Ahmed Butt – 2/4, 2 RBI’s
• Ahmad Ammad – 2/4, RBI, some nice catches in the OF
• Bilal Javed – 3/4, 2 RBI’s
• Atif Parvez – 2/3, 2 RBI’s
• Mo Kala – 2/3, 2 RBI’s
• Jay Ahmed – Great catch at RF, reaching over the fence to rob Yusauf Ch of a HR.
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Cordoba @ Damascus

Week 5 pitted Damascus vs. Cordoba with both teams missing some big bats.  On Damascus’ side, Hassan Chaudhry & Aftab Khan were still nursing injuries, while on Cordoba, Zain Malik was serving his 1 game suspension from last year.  Damascus started off the game with a 3 spot in the 1st inning but was countered quickly by Cordoba with a 3 spot of their own.  This game was the epitome of small ball as neither team relied on their big homerun hitters and instead were each chipping away.  With Damascus up 5, Hamza Waheed was helping his own cause on this night batting a solid 2-3 including a big time double.  Not to be outdone was his teammate Mohammed Ali Pasha who went a perfect 3-3 at the plate, all while showing these youngins that he was still a stellar SS.  Up only 3, Damascus went into the 5th inning and using the small ball strategy and some timeline base running put up a 7 spot and blew the game open.  Riyad Ramjaun & Abbas Allidina led the way, both with 3 hits on the night, while Shane Worthington & Salman Ahmad both drove in multiple runs.  The play on the night though was made by Farooq Sani who tracked every ball hit in the outfield his way and made 1 spectacular catch after another.  Damascus secured the win and would look to keep momentum going into game 2, while Cordoba looked to regroup, knowing that their leadoff man Zain Malik would be back in the lineup.

• Riyad Ramjaun & Abbas Allidina led the team with 3 hits each;
• Imran Merchant returned, playing through multiple injuries but was his stellar self at SS;
• Every Damascus player would reach base at least once using the small ball strategy;
• Hatf Sohail & Farooq Sani with multiple hits;
• Salman Ahmad pitched a gem, allowing only 5 earned runs and walking only 1;
• Mohammed Ali Pasha hit a perfect 3-3;
• Hamza Waheed went 2-3 and drove in 2;

 

Lahore @ Damascus

In the 2nd game of the night, Lahore and Damascus were both coming off big wins, and the winner of this matchup would end the week in 1st place in the standings.  Damascus continued their hot hitting, as the 1-2 punch of Hatf Sohail & Riyad Ramjaun (both on base machines) went a combined 6-7, allowing GM Safwan Khan to do what he does best, and drive in runs.  Safwan hit another monster HR and drove in 5 on this night, and Damascus was up by 6 after 2 innings.  Not to be outdone, Lahore’s bats came to life shortly after and Shamil Khadaroo and Nirvaan Latif both hit timely homeruns and drove in multiple runs, reducing the lead to just 2.  Unfortunately for Lahore, on this night, rookie sensation Omar Khattab had a bad night at the plate and went an uncharacteristic 0-4, which would hurt any chance Lahore had to make a comeback.  Adding some insurance, Shane-O-Mac Shane Worthington, would send one over the fence, while Awais Malik ended the game with one of his better statistical games ever, going 3-4 including a massive double (not to mention his amazing play in the OF).  As was the case throughout the night, pitcher and AGM Salman Ahmad was stellar on the mound, allowing only 7 ER’s and walking only 1.  With stellar pitching, fielding and batting, Damascus was not going to lose this game and redeemed themselves after a poor 0-2 showing last week and end up 2-0 on this week and atop the standings.  Lahore meanwhile have no reason to hang their heads as they have shown that they will be one of the top teams to contend with come playoff time.

• Farooq Sani hitting 2 doubles and hitting a perfect 4-4;
• GM Safwan Khan batted 3-4 and drove in 5, adding another HR to his total;
• Riyad Ramjaun, Hatf Sohail & Awais Malik all produced 3 hits each and finished a combined 9-11 batting back to back to back;
• Shane Worthington with a big time HR
• Salman Ahmad pitching yet another gem, allowing only 7 ER’s and walking only 1;
• Shamil Khadaroo & Nirvaan Latif both with HR’s;
• Fawad Shaikh going 2-3 and driving in 2;