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Cseh, Sluggers Spoil 'Sharks Opener
SAUGANY LAKE- It was a beautiful day at Cody Strauch Memorial Park as the Saugany Lake Landsharks kicked off their 2nd season in the league against another 2nd year team, the Scottsdale Sluggers.
The re-branded Sluggers headed into the 2019 season with star Adam Cseh expected to miss the majority of the season. However, that was not the case on Opening Day as Cseh made a surprise appearance, leading his Sluggers in a big way.
Both teams took advantage of favorable hitting conditions and had huge days at the plate. Adam Cseh started the opener by going 5-5 with 5 Home Runs for Scottsdale. Starter Tyler Schupert struck out 4 Landsharks in his first opening day start. The Sluggers cruised in Game 1, picking up an 18-9 victory.
Adam Cseh picked up right where he left off in the opener by starting Game 2 4-4 with 4 more Home Runs. However, Saugnany Lake's bats woke up in a big way as they tallied 23 runs. Game 2 was tied up heading into the 6th inning until Scottdale belted a go-ahead Home Run after Adam Cseh and Nate Marino both reached base safely. Cseh drove in another run to extend the lead to 2 before new manager Connor Mowers belted a 3 run Home Run to extend the lead to 5. The Landsharks would not go away easily though, as they put up 4 runs but eventually fell short by a single run, clinching the series win for the Sluggers. It was a tough first outing for Free Agent acquisition Jake Lawrence who allowed 24 runs in his 1 start.
Looking to avoid an 0-3 start, the Landsharks led by Levi Miller made sure that they were not going to get swept on Opening Day at home. Miller had an incredible series as he ended up leading the league in HR, RBI, and Runs after Week 1 action.
The Landsharks were able to salvage Game 3 despite Jack Tiller's 3 HR performance for the Sluggers. Mikey Smith quieted the Sluggers bats for the most part in the series finale, only giving up 6 runs in what turned out to be a 9-6 win for Saugany Lake.
Miller & company will certainly have some offensive nice stats after Week 1 despite dropping 2 of 3 to the Sluggers. Saugany Lake will look to get back to their winning ways in Week 2 as they gear up for a 3 game series against the New Carlisle Newts (who they swept in 2018).
After the big series win, Scottsdale's Manager Connor Mowers was in high spirits and had nothing but good things to say about their Opening Day series win. Mowers praised Cseh's phenomenal week but also hailed Dan Marino (the wiffleball player) as an unsung hero who came through in the clutch all day long.
Full of confidence, Scottsdale will now look ahead to Week 2 as they have another difficult series slated against the reigning NL Champion Granger Panthers. It will be the Sluggers first home series of the season, with Granger hitting the road for the first time.
