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.

The mighty Hoppers jumping into the Yard.

A Question of Weather and Fortitude

The 2 questions for tonight are; 1) will the the Railroaders hand the Hoppers their first loss, and 2) will the rain leave us alone and the field drys out?  We should know the answer to the second question first over the next few hours.  As for the first question....well, the Railroaders (3-3) are starting to show signs of life now with 2 wins in a row. 

The next big test will come tonight when the Hoptown Hoppers return to the Yard for another game.   The Hoppers beat up the Railroaders at Fulton's season home opener and stomped our boys a second time in Hopkinsville.  The Hoppers are undefeated on the season.  They are playing well and seem to be a well oiled machine.  Their first real sign of weakness came last night against the winless Miners in Madisonville where Hoptown had to struggled in extra innings to finally beat the Miners.

A victory over the Hoppers tonight by the Railroaders would go a long way for Fulton in slowing down Hoptown momentum and get some of their own.  FYI, the Railroaders have the OVL record for most consecutive wins with 12 and was set in 2012.  The Hoppers have 9 in row for the moment.  Time for this to end, as long as the answer to question #2 is yes!

Oilers sliding into Fulton

The Railroaders' win last night puts them into position tonight to tie up second place in the standings if they can beat the Oilers who lost on Friday.  The Oilers are playing pretty good ball and will be tough to take down.  The Railroaders are improving each game and are beginning to look like a team with a mission.  We need to keep the errors down and get the bats going better.  Hopefully the ran will stay away long enough to get the game in.  It should be a great night for baseball at the Yard.

Railroaders vs Bombers at the Yard

The 1-1 Railroaders will be looking for their first Home Win tonight against the 0-2 Bombers who’ll be trying to find their first win in 2014.  The Railroaders will finally have their full roster tonight and with one win under the belt we’ll see if the momentum will carry on.  I’m sure the Bombers would love to spoil things so it should be a good game. 

Looking at the early standings, and considering several games rained out, it is somewhat clear how the rankings are shaping up.  The 4-0 Hoppers seems to have their act together, as usual, and have the early lead.  I’m sure their strategy is to jump out early, get a 4+ lead over the second place team and stay there.  Its something they have done well every year since joining the OVL two years ago.

The Railroaders usually start slow losing too many games early on and come on strong before mid-season.  This year’s 1-1 start is the best since 2010 while in the old KIT league.  A stronger start this year should put us in a better position to catch and over take the Hoppers before regular season ends.

The 2-1 Oilers are certainly proving to be what is expected, a tough team to beat.  The Railroaders take on the Oilers this Saturday at the Yard, the next home game.  The two teams have a doubleheader next Thursday in Owensboro to make up the rainout from Monday.

The 0-2 Bombers and 0-3 Miners are struggling some getting out of the gate.  I’m sure they’ll find themselves soon, and when they do the pressure will be on for every team. Yes, its still early and anything can happen.  I just hope to see more lead changes this year than previous ones.