Around the ABL: April 1-April 7

April 1: Montreal 3, So Cal 4. The defending champs begin the 2013 campaign by losing to the defending chumps. Lloyd Bray wins it for the Republic. Down 3-2 in the eighth, Bray hits solo home run. With the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth, Bray draws a walk-off walk.

Roberto
Mendoza

April 1: Mile High 10, Jacksonville 0. The fifth batter of the game, Roberto Mendoza hits a grand slam. The Mustangs score eight runs in the first inning. That would prove more than enough for Manuel Ruíz. The Iron Man (Iron Manuel?) pitches a complete game shutout. Mile High general management look like geniuses: Mendoza is a free-agent aquisition, and Ruíz was just signed to a seven-year contract extension.

April 1: Jersey 3, Cabo San Lucas 4. Toreros Dan Smith and Miguel Torres hit solo home runs. Jersey comes back. With two outs in the ninth, new Jester center fielder Gary Hunter doubles and Hunter Wine singles him in, tying the game, 3-3. The game remains tense. In extra innings, each team strands runners in scoring position on multiple occasions. In the bottom of the 12th, Dave Carlisle triples and Dan Smith hits a sac fly, giving the Bullfighters a walk-off opening day victory.

Dallas Crowley

April 1: Nottinghamshire 2, Washington 3. In Washington's inaugural game, Dallas Crowley hits a walk-off 10th-inning home run. The Capitalists (formerly the Greenville 84's) get eight strong innings from William Little and a two-run homer from shortstop Ron Hamm.

April 1: Eureka 3, South Carolina 4. Action Jackson and Doug Rogers hit home runs, but it's the 438-foot home run by Orlando Bustamante in the eighth that wins the game for the Bombers.

Maurice Gould

April 1: Las Vegas 4, Georgia 0. The Ghost Busters begin this year where (as the Los Angeles Evil Empire) they ended the last: losing to the Jokers. Evan Warner surrenders only two earned runs while pitching a complete game, but Maurice Gould pitches 8 1/3 shutout innings.

April 1: New York 4, Minnesota 3. Jorge Mora hits a two-run home run in the seventh to give the Mafia the lead. Javier Flores (1-0) earns the win by allowing three runs over 7 1/3 innings.

Craig O'Day

April 1: Ann Arbor 6, Montgomery 8. Ninth inning. Two outs and two on. The Mountain Cats trail by one run, 6-5. Craig O'Day crushes Darryl Bradshaw's first pitch 441 feet. Jorge Cruz, Montgomery's first-round draft pick, marks his return from elbow surgery by giving up six runs in six innings.

April 2: Nottinghamshire 6, Washington 8. The Capitalists win another game in walk-off fashion. Raúl Rodríguez hits a three-run homer in the ninth to tie the game, and Jake McGee hits a two-run home run in the 10th to win it.

April 2: Dallas 3, Carolina 2. After entering the game as a defensive replacement, Alberto Rodríguez wins the game with a solo home run in the 11th inning. Texan Montrell Sturzo pitches eight innings of one-run ball, striking out eight.

Lorenzo
Rodríguez

April 2: Ann Arbor 6, Montgomery 4. Lorenzo Rodríguez reminds the league why he is one of the most feared hitters in baseball. Z-Rod hits a pair of home runs. Barn Owl teammates Javier García and Héctor Ramírez chip in with home runs of their own.

April 2: Kansas City 1, San Francisco 0. Ricardo Marquis leads off the second with a home run to left. That would be all that Fabrizio Palgani needs. The Tornado starter mows down the Earthquake lineup, allowing only four hits and two walks over eight shutout innings. Ray Larson gets the tough-luck loss.

April 2: Mile High 3, Jacksonville 4. In the bottom of the ninth, Wayne Stover triples in Raúl Machado in to win the game for the Jacks.

John Woodard

April 2: Jersey 10, Cabo San Lucas 1. Jester John Woodard hits a single, triple, and three-run home run, driving in four and scoring twice. Jon Andrews pitches a complete game, allowing only one run.

April 3: Las Vegas 13, Georgia 4. Joker Troy Tracy gets four hits, including a grand slam, and drives in six. José Ortíz goes 3-for-3 and scores thrice.

April 3: Seattle 8, Montreal 6. In a rematch of last year's Wild Card playoff series, the Bandits take an early lead behind an Eric Ware three-run home run. The Sasquatch tie the game, then wins it in extra innings when Steve Frend hits a two-run double in the 10th.

April 3: Maple 3, Boston 4. The Cardinals complete a sweep of the Marauders. The White "brothers" strike in the fourth inning. George White doubles in a run, then scores on an Ed White single. Jasper Williams rides the pine.

Peter Kelly

April 3: Minnesota 6, Nottinghamshire 7. The Outlaws get their first win of the year. Peter Kelly (now a veteran of 17) singles in Danny Burris in the third, then hits a solo home run in the fifth.

April 4: Carolina 0, Ann Arbor 1. Young Nelson Ingram, 22 years old, pitches 8 2/3 shutout innings. Chris Barrett loses a fly ball ball in the lights. The error allows Qing-nian Shi to score the game's only run.

Cromawn
Faherty

April 4: Seattle 11, Montreal 7. Cromawn Faherty goes 5-for-5, including a two-run double in the sixth that gives the Sasquatch the lead. Bandit on-base machine Tim Shields hits his third home run of the young season: he hit only seven over the entire 2012 season.

Cal Godleman

April 4: Las Vegas 3, Jacksonville 4. Joker Colin St. John ties the game in the eighth with a two-run homer. In the bottom of the 10th, pinch-hitter Cal Godleman slams a 437-foot homer, winning the game for the Jacks in walk-off fashion.

April 4: So Cal 10, San Diego 4. After five scoreless innings, the Republic offense explodes for nine runs in the sixth. They send 14 men to the plate and hit four singles, three doubles, and a triple.

Todd Blanchard

April 5: Carolina 1, Nottinghamshire 0. Late-arriving fans miss all the scoring as Carolina's Doug King doubles in Greg Beard in the top of the first. Doug Avilés allows only the one run over 7 1/3 innings but takes the loss. Todd Blanchard pitches eight shutout innings in his first major-league start. Who is Todd Blanchard? Originally drafted by Dallas in the 84th round, the Texans released him in April of 2012, and he remained unsigned until So Cal picked him up in October. So Cal put him on waivers this spring, and Carolina claimed him. He managed to win the fifth spot in the Crush rotation.

Evan Warner

April 6: Mile High 1, Georgia 11. Evan Warner pitches a complete game and allows only one run. Joseph McKee, Steve O'Donnell, and Chance Everett hit home runs to power the Ghost Buster offense.

April 6: Seattle 6, Minnesota 12. All eighteen men in both lineups get a hit, but the batters in the Berserker lineup get the bigger hits. Roderick Gray gets three of them, including a two-run homer in the first. Peter Blanchard and Rich Sweet add home runs of their own.

April 6: Maple 7, Cabo San Lucas 6. In the eighth, Marauder Anthony Shelton singles in two runs to tie the game, and Julian Hutchinson singles in Shelton for the game-winning run.

April 6: Eureka 12, San Francisco 10. The Hornets sting the Quakes for five in the first, with Mike Bergeron, Jesús González, and Gary McLernon each hitting a home run. Orlando Corranzo gets four hits.

Raúl Pérez

April 6: Montreal 2, Dallas 1. In a rematch of the Clemente League Championship, Raúl Pérez strikes out eight over 7 2/3 innings, allowing only one run.

April 6: Jersey 5, Boston 11. Boston fans were given a rare treat today. In the third with two outs and the bases full, Abel Baker hits a grand slam—no easy feat in cavernous St. Sebastian Cathedral. Two innings later, Jesús Álvarez comes to the plate in the same situation, two outs and bases full. Álvarez lines one down the left-field line and just over the wall—a second grand salami!

April 7: Las Vegas 1, Jacksonville 2. The Jacks split the four-game series the Jokers. Each of the four games is a one-run game! This game goes to the 11th inning, where pinch-hitter Cal Godleman (who won the first game of the series with a walk-off homer) drives in Iván Ortíz with a walk-off double.

April 7: Kansas City 4, South Carolina 5. The Bombers end the first week of the 2013 season in first place in the Billy Martin. With the bases loaded in the fifth, Bomber Carlos Martínez triples, then scores on a Dave Collins single.

April 7: Jersey 3, Boston 5. Adam Thomas piches 7 2/3 innings and gives up only two earned runs, but he leaves the game with his team trailing. In the eighth, Will Bauer homers, Ed White singles, and Abel Baker hits a two-run home run, giving the Cardinals the lead.