Hoppers in the Yard tonight

There was no joy at Fulton last night as lightning and confusion surrounded the Yard.  Hopefully tonight game with the Hoppers won’t be a repeat.  The 13-3 Hoppers were soundly beaten last night by the Miners in Madisonville and the Railroaders are looking to hand them a third straight loss. 

Hoptown certainly looks good on paper, but they’ve slipped some as of late.  After wining 11 games in a row to begin the season, they’ve dropped 2 in a row.  Still best in the OVL with only 3 losses, they are now facing teams that appear to be getting their act together, the Railroaders among them.  The Oilers took them down 10-5, the Bombers had them with 5-2 and the Miners won 11-2.  Time for the Railroaders to fire it and tack on another loss for them.

Bombers attack at the Yard tonight

The Bomber will be flying high tonight when they come into Fulton after handing the Hoppers their second loss of the season on Thursday.  The Railroaders and Bombers are both battling for the third spot in the standing right now, and the game tonight move one of them down into fourth position. 

The Railroaders are really starting to come together, and now is the time to do it.  Mid-Season is just 6 games away and 5 of those games occur in the next 4 days.  We’ll need to be well above .500 ball by then in order to have a good chance to catch the Hoppers.  Tomorrow the Hoppers will be in Fulton, another important game for the Railroaders.

First the Bombers, tonight, and it looks to be a game too.  A little rain has come through the area, but it should be no problem at game time, starting at 7 pm CDT.  The heat should dry the field out well and the Railroaders will be ready.  Come on out for a great time or join us on TeamLine.

Railroaders and Oilers mix it up at the Yard tonight

The second place Oilers (9-4) are sliding into Fulton tonight for 2 games with the Railroaders.  The Oilers are coming off a fresh defeat at home against first place Hoppers.  Owensboro is playing excellent ball.  The Railroaders split a doubleheader with the Oilers last Thursday in Owensboro, the only two games between them thus far in the season.  Tonight will be a chance for the Railroaders to get back to .500 and gain a half game in the standings.

On paper, the Oilers and Railroaders look evenly matched.  Team pitching ERA for Oilers is 3.13 with the Railroaders at 3.10. Team batting averages around .236, give or take.  Slugging, OBA, walks and strikeouts both offensive and defense are nearly the same.  The only glaring difference beside the 9-4 and 5-7 records is defensive errors.  The Railroaders have committed 23 in 12 games played and the Oilers totaled only 14 in their first 12 games.  A bright spot for Fulton may be that the Oilers had 4 errors last night in their 13^th season game against the Hoppers, while the Railroaders were error free last night against the Miners.

The Train is rolling and we’ll need more steam for a double win tonight.  Boilerstoker and I be firing it up for a hot time in the Yard!  Hope to see tonight in Fulton or online with TeamLine.

There was hope in Mudville and there is hope in Fulton

A tough loss to the Hoppers last night after 12 heated innings of play.  Five errors and two unearned runs tipped the scales for Hoptown.   Fulton’s record drops to 4-7 on the season, in 4^th place and 7 games behind the leader Hoptown who is 12-1.  What are the players, coaches and fans to do? ....... We get back up and keep going!

Since 2011 when the Railroaders and others moved into the OVL, Fulton’s early season starts have been dismal to say the least.  Through the first 11 games in  4 seasons, including 2014, the Railroaders have had a record of 4-7 in three of the four starts.  And in 2013 they were 5-6 at this mark.  At the completion of the first three seasons, Fulton finished 2^nd in the standings and went on to win two OVL post-season playoff titles.

So there is hope at the Yard and it begins tonight.  Although winless Madisonville is coming to town, it won’t be easy.  The wounded Miners for hungry for win and are dangerous having lost several close games they should have won. 

For the Railroaders it’s one game at a time now, and there are plenty of games to play with the rain gone.  There are 8 games over the next 7 days, with 5 days at home in the Yard (including a doubleheader tomorrow with the Oilers). With a total of 29 games left in the season, we can improve our standing a lot in the near term.

Yes, there is hope for Fulton.  What we need now are good bats, error free defense and Fan support!  If you can’t come out to the Yard, you can still cheer online with Teamline.  Time to get this train out of the round house and rolling down the track.