Tennenballs Choke, Unicorns Will Upset

Written by: Rich Alvarez

The SCK 2013 Fall Season seems to be going by in a blur as we are about to enter Week 5. The new rules of the Wreck Division and the close competitiveness of the King of Kickball Division have resulted in some very interesting games. By far one of the most exciting season thus far. Can't wait to see how it all ends up.

There were many questions about if the new Wreck rules would create a favorable kickball experience for those less-competitive kickballers. So far the so good, is what most Wreckers are reporting. Kickball Nation had a chance to check out the new Wreck action as the Royal Tennenballs v.s Pitch, Please was Rio Pod Co's Game of the Week.

The Royal Tennenballs are the definition of a "fun" team. Basically a group of friends who have come together to play some good ol' fashion fun kickball. While their opponents Pitch, Please are a mid-tier competitive team hiding out in the Wreck division. Although the Tennenballs carry some skilled veteran kickballers, namely their pitch Luis "Coach Ando" Gomez and their utility man Aaron "the Demon" Bracamontes, they are mostly made up of normal regular everyday kickballers. While Pitch, Please has an athletic, talented roster even compared to King of Kickball standards.

Although the game was peppered with some heads-up plays, for the most part, the match-up itself was essentially a snooze fest. I know those witness to their first Wreck game were expecting more offensive plays with the new female pitching rule. However late into the game, both teams finally treated the crowd to a handful of fireworks. Starting off with a solo home-run by Tennenballs 1st baseman Daniel "Stubs" Ortega in the top of the 4th. A confused Pitch, Please outfield let the long high ball blasted by Ortega get by them resulting in the Tennenballs only run. However that wouldn't be the grand finale as Pitch Please was able to rally in the bottom of the 5th inning and win in walk off fashion to the tune of 2-1. Although the Royal Tennenballs played a tough, tight game they eventually broke to the talent of Pitch, Please. Which is resulting in Kickball Nation asking, should there by a mid-tier division for those on that borderline between competitive and Wreck?

To see the Game of the Week with live play-by-play Click Here

On the King of Kickball side of things, what got into Los Totally Awesomes?!?! Even though they are currently sporting a losing record at 1-3, they seem to be on the verge of breaking out. Never truly considered a marque competitive team, things might be changing for the Mighty Unicorns. Just this past week, they showed their offensive improvements by ringing up 5 runs on power house Kickin' N' Screamin'. Even though they ended up losing 9-5, putting up 5 runs on KNS shows promise. No other team this season has put up more than 2 runs on KNS this season. They've also had some close games against some tough opponents. They just missed taking down Smoking Aces to a final of 3-4 and they got the better of New Kicks on the Block by a close score of 3-2.

This week Los Totally Awesomes have I'd Hit It and with LTA poised to break out at any minute, IHI better be on their toes. Hell they better be more than on their toes. I think LTA walks away with this one in a shoot-out.

That's all for now...until next time, Good Luck and Happy Kicking!

SCK - GameDay Report - Any Given Wednesday

Written by: Rich Alvarez

SCK Week #3 proved to be a treat for Kickball Nation, as there were many interesting developments that few anticipated. From injuries to upsets and from under-achievers becoming over-achievers, it quickly came to prove the new kickball adage, "Any Given Wednesday!".

The 1st note worthy tidbit has to be the re-scheduling of the Smoking Aces v.s Kixxx bout. An unfortunate accident which resulted in a serious player injury put the highly anticipated game on pause and forced the game to be reschedule for a later date. The game is currently frozen in the top of the 3rd inning with Kixxx wining 4-0. Thus far Kixxx is proving to be the better squad. However they are incredibly inconsistent and are far from a reliable, consistent winner.

No Blood, No Glory

On the Aces front, without their Coach Reid "The Viking" Hanson for this match-up, the Aces were left to make personnel decisions on their own. An interesting aspect of the Aces' defense has to be their bullpen, as they carry two veteran hurlers. Choosing whether to use Damian Lamas, the level headed and seasoned veteran or Mike Armendariz, the high risk- high reward player, is proving to be an important defensive component. In this match-up they decided to open with Mike Armendariz as their pitcher and quickly fell behind. Defensive team mistakes resulted in a frustrated pitcher and was heading towards a potential disaster. The game postponement was actually a plus for the Aces. Luckily for them, starting this week, they enter a 2 game stretch of King of Kickball bottom dwellers, Suck My Kick and the Scoregasms, which should supply a good opportunity to release some frustration and beat up on some inferior teams.

Another news worthy item came at the hands of the Mighty Unicorns. Los Totally Awesomes shocked Kickball Nation as they upset the New Kicks on the Block in walk-off fashion. A heart breaking loss for New Kicks which resulted in Coach David "Domino" Fernandez momentarily losing his composure. His post-game actions came at a cost with Domino being issued a short 2 inning suspension. Which means NKOTB will be without their star player this coming week against the Scoregasms.

But the bigger story has to be in the new competitive play of Los Totally Awesomes. Usually a roll-over team, they are quickly proving they can contend with the big boys. Even with a 1-2 record, they have been surprising their opponents as they are often over looked. The return of their anchor and pitcher, Daniel "Chucky Bear" Acuna has brought back life into this LTA squad.

In other corners of King of Kickball Land, I'd Hit It raised a few eyebrows as they squeaked by the Scoregasms 1-0. Although IHI isn't known for their offense, I expected to see a greater margin of victory from this championship contender.

Panning over to the Happy Land of the Wreck Division, the much-improved Kickballaz defied all logic as they were pummeled by the happy go lucky miscreants the Hash House Harriers. HHH came up with an astounding 8-0 win against the Kickballaz, who are currently the offensive leaders within the Wreck Division. Not sure what went wrong here. Looks like the Lucas Quimiro training sessions are paying off for the Harriers.

The two biggest match-ups within the Wreck Division had to be the Toe Jammers v.s Pitches Ain't Shit and Just Kickin' It v.s. Pitch, Please.

Starting off with the Toe Jammers v.s Pitches Aint Shit, although it was a gallant effort, the Jammers fell to Pitches Aint Shit 5-4. This was the Pitches first kickball test and they passed, barely. They seem to be flying under the Kickball Nation Radar, even though they are sporting one of the best defenses within the Wreck League. While on the flip side, the Toe Jammers are one step away from wearing the scarlet letter of the worst offense within the division. They'll have a huge chance to rebound against true rookie team Cool Arrows. The Cool Arrows have given up a whopping 32 runs so far this season. Watch for Pitches Aint Shit to continue their winning ways and expect  the Toe Jammers to make a rebound as they are entering the easiest part of their schedule.

Pitch, Please v.s. Just Kickin' It had the attention of all the Wreak Leaguers. Both teams are strong within the Wreck League, but Pitch Please is obviously the more seasoned team. Armed with King of Kickball knowledge and talent, they are a formidable force for most Wreck League teams, even against a tough Just Kickin' It. Pitch Please put away JKI to a final score of 3-1. A respectable match-up and respectable score for both teams involved, considering though that JKI was at the top of the Wreck League food chain, well that was until the likes of Pitch Please and Pitches Aint Shit moving into the neighborhood.

Looks like Pitch Please and Pitches Aint Shit are the teams to beat.

Well that's all for now...until next time

Good Luck and Happy Kicking !

KNS' Rick rolled perfect game

By Grizzly Michaels
A Kickball Pepo

Mark it down in Sun City Kickball history folks, Rick of Kickin' N' Screamin' threw a perfect game on Wednesday.

The leader of KNS kept his emotions in check and never even hinted that he knew he was approaching a perfect game until he faced 15 kickers and sent them all back to the dugout night in a 2-0 victory over Suck My Kick at Alta Vista Field.

The fates had its chances to screw Rick up in the top of the fifth. First a tweaked knee ended KNS' Marcos night. Playing short a man, Rick actually optioned himself to catch, bringing in Manny from the outfield to pitch.

Luckily, Rick wasn't the only one keeping track of the stats.

"He told me go ahead and finish it man," Rick said. "I didn't want to jinx it, so I didn't say anything."

The final out of the night was a soft bunt down the third base line that Sosa had to put some English on to get the base runner out by just a step.

Rick finished the night with one strikeout and three foul outs.

He also contributed on offense, lining a single in the third to score Manny and make it 2-0. Nadia scored earlier in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Sosa.

Other than the two-run rally in the third, Suck My Kick pitcher Rich kept KNS in check.

Following the game, there was no Nolan Ryan moment and Rick didn't jump into his catchers arms.

KNS just left the field and Rick quietly (if you can believe it) took his congratulations outside the dugout.

In other action, Kixx was ahead of the Smoking Aces, 4-0, until the game had to be called for an injury. The Aces lost Cesar to a broken ankle. Word is the rest of the game will be made up at a time to be annoucned.

Los Totally Awesome got a totally awkward 3-2 walk off victory over the New Kicks on the Block. A pop-fly from Eddie should have been caught for the final out, but fell in the infield and allowed two runners to score to end the game. Eddie is a new acquisition from I'd Hit It (I heard Chuck trade Lucas a few beers for Eddie and a high-five to be named later).

Speaking of I'd Hit It, they won 1-0 over the feisty Scoregasms.

In case that was too hard to keep up with here are the scores:

KNS 2, Suck My Kick 0

Kixx 4, Smoking Aces 0 (game incomplete)

LTA 3, NKOTB 2

I'd Hit It 1, Scoregasms 0

Sun City Kickball - Surprises!

And then He said, "Let there be kickball!"

Written by: Rich Alvarez

Although it's early in the SCK Fall 2013 season, there have already been a handful of surprises, both pleasant and unpleasant. There are a handful teams out there that are doing, or better yet, not doing what we expected them to do. The Wreck Division is starting to show Kickball Nation glimpses of things that were not initially anticipated.

Looking in on the Wreck Kids, it pains me to say this, but as of last week, the Toe Jammers are somewhat of a let down. Kickball Nation was expecting a better start from last season's Lone Star Division champs. Even though they have an even 1-1 record, there is still much left to be desired. Their 1-run win was against a second-season team in This...Pitch!, an opponent they should have been able to handle easily. Their only loss however was a bit more understandable as it came at the hands of a solid Just Kickin' It. Although losing 3-0 is ridiculously far from a moral victory. The Toe Jammers are unfortunately plagued by a massive kicking roster of 19 that does them more harm than good. Bundled with the fact that they are nursing a couple of rookies, the Toe Jammers have unwittingly put themselves in a precarious situation. 

Now with that unpleasantness out of the way, we can move onto some more pleasant Wreck happenings. 2nd season team Pitches Ain't S*** is off to a good 2-0 start. Although they haven't beaten any extremely experienced teams, they are creating a moderate amount of offense with 14 runs and a stonewall defense of 1 run allowed. Granted the results must be compared to their caliber of opponents, the Alcoballics and Pitches, Love Me. This coming week's match up against Just Kickin' It will be a good gauge for both teams.

Going into the Fall Season, Pitch, Please! was one of the squads expected to do well and is living up to the expectations. With a fair amount of kickball experience under their belts, they are showing what they've learned within the competitive world of the King of Kickball division. Now they are applying it within the Wreck group and it's paying dividends. With 24 runs scored so far and only allowing 4 runs, their stats are looking favorable. However these statistics may be deceiving as they've only played two rookie teams, the Hash House Harriers and Cool Arrows. This week will be the true gauge of success as they are slated to play a red-hot Just Kickin It' team.  

The Kickballaz are another kickball squad who has had early success beating up on the poor rookie squads. They have tallied 29 runs thus far, but again, they have yet to play a meaningful opponent. This week won't be any different as they are getting another rookie team in the Hash House Harriers. Looks like the Kickballaz are up for another 14+ run kind of night.

Last but not least, mentioned numerous times throughout this article has been the strong play of Just Kickin' It. JKI is currently 4th within the Wreck Division standings. Although they might not have the impressive statistics of the other 3 league leaders, they have played the tougher opponents with favorable results. This coming week they'll be facing another prime opponent in Pitch, Please!. With the Kickaholics and the Toe Jammers already notched onto JKI's win belt, they'll be looking to put another notch with a win against Pitch, Please!

That's all for now kickballers,

Good Luck and Happy Kicking

  

 

Lone Star Kickball Week 5 - Animal Style

Animal Style

Written by:Rich Alvarez

After some weather problems during Week 4, Lone Star Kickball continued on with Week 5 which included a full schedule and a re-scheduled game.

The re-scheduled game would feature Screamin' Kixxx against the rookie squad 915 Changos. Unfortunately a mis-communication led to the 915 Changos missing their 6:30pm game time, which may have not been such a bad thing for the Changos. They were facing a potential bloodbath at the hands of Screamin' Kixxx, who is currently LSK's lead scorer at 28 runs. Screakin' Kixxx would have easily put up another 16-17 runs towards their season total. The Changos were able to avoid a long, painful game. However even if the 915 Changos would have endured an early night loss, they still would have ended the night on a high note, as their second game of the night ended in a more favorable result.

On the scene of the win less teams, the 915 Changos and Da Krew would face each other in a battle to earn their first win. The Changos have shown to be the stronger team through the early part of the season. While the Da Krew continues to struggle in finding their kickball footing. Although the match-up started off close, the Changos quickly took control and ousted Da Krew to the tune of 9-3. 

Also during Week 5, the under-achieving Smoking Aces were matched up against Where's My Pitches At. WMPA has shown much improvement over the last couple of weeks, especia

lly during Week 4 as they almost took down the Animals, but were able to at least walk away with a tie. Their opponent the Smoking Aces have been inconsistent to say the least, but they were firing on all cylinders during this match-up. They quickly got their offense on track and finished the night with 9 runs, but only gave away 1 run. Things are looking up for the Smoking Aces as they are finally starting to gel together.

Last match-up of the night featured an onslaught of offense, as the Animals went Animal Style on the Billy Bad Asses. The Animals opened up an 11 run barrage during the 1st inning that the Bad Asses couldn't away from. However the Bad Asses were eventually able to stop the bleeding and mount a counter-offensive. It wouldn't last long though and wouldn't be enough as the Animals rounded out the night with a 14-7 victory.

Until next week,

Good Luck and Happy Kicking !

Week 2 recap, better late than never

By Grizzly Michaels
A Kickball Pepo

The Smoking Aces completed a dramatic come-from-behind victory over Los Totally Awesome with a walk-off single on Wednesday.

Smoking Aces' Reid watches the ball go foul

A hit to right field by Jessica allowed Mike to score the game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth, giving the Aces the 4-3 victory at Alta Vista Park, in the game of the week.

And yes, I know this recap is late, but what is the worse that could happen?

LTA got an early 3-0 lead over the Aces in the top of the first with five solid kicks into open spaces. But after the first, the Aces were able to hold the Unicorns scoreless and they launched their own attack.

Javier and Mike scored in the second to cut LTA's lead to one, 3-2. Then in the fourth, Calvin came across to tie it up, 3-3.

LTA struggled to get hits as the bottom of their 16-kicker line-up slowed the momentum.

In the fourth, LTA had runners in scoring position, but a strike-out and foul-out allowed the Aces to hold the tie.

Close play at second

In the bottom of the fifth, Mike got a one-out single to get the rally going. A double by Cesar set up Jessica for the game winner.

The Aces improved to 2-0 while LTA is stuck at 0-2.

Earlier in the night, I'd Hit It walked away with a 4-2 victory over Suck My Kick, evening both records up at 1-1.

At Memorial, the New Kicks on the Block showed their defensive prowess and squeaked by the defending champion Kixx, 1-0.

Then Kickin N Screamin remained undefeated after a strong 8-2 victory over the winless Scoregasms. Interesting to note, Marco returned to catcher for KNS as Rick took the mound.

Photos are a little blurry. Working on fixing that.

Here is the easy breakdown:

Smoking Aces 4, LTA 3
I'd Hit It  4, Suck My Kick 2
NKOTB 1, Kixx 0
KNS 8, Scoregasms 2

Click here to watch the full LTA v Smoking Aces game - 

Just Kicking It Surprises the Toe Jammers

Written by: Mark Couto

Just Kickin It vs. Toe jammers

Game one at Memorial Field provided an interesting matchup between Lone Star League champs Toe Jammers against Just Kicking It (JKI).  Fresh off a dramatic come from behind victory JKI kept that momentum going with an impressive 3-0 victory.

JKI quickly put up all three runs in the first inning with well placed kicks and alert base running.  Not to rain on the JKI parade but the Toe Jammers didn’t help their cause as mental and fielding errors, in particular, the Toe Jammers catcher quickly unraveled their composure.  The first inning miscues were a dropped pop out to center field, a missed peg out vs. the easy throw to first, and an ill advised throw to throw that allowed a run.

The Toe Jammers were unable to mount a scoring threat against JKI. As JKI limited the Toe Jammers to only 3 hits through 5 innings with solid pitching and fundamentally sound defense.  The victory placed JKI a top the Wreck League standings as they turn their sights to a week 3 matchup against Pitch, Please.

SCK Week # 2 - Game Day Breakdown

New Kicks kicker blasts one!

Written by: Rich Alvarez

Now with all the Opening Day formalities behinds us, Sun City Kickballers can now get down to the nitty gritty of the regular season. There were some substantial game-play statements made on Opening Day, but will those statements carry over and continue through the regular season or can some of them be chalked up as flukes. We now begin the journey as we enter Week #2.

After an Opening Day disappointment, Pitches Love Me has a chance to rebound against rookie team the Alcoballics. Even within the Wreck Division and it's new "fun" rules, experience is a major player. Expect Pitches Love Me to use their experience to start heading on a winning streak, while the Alcoballics continue with their growing pains. 

The Royal Tenenballs are known for their fun loving ways, but now they are being recognized for their winning ways. This week they'll have kickball squad This...Pitch!, who is still a bit of mystery even in their second season of kickball. The Royal Tenenballs have some athletic players that seem to be making the difference, that being said, the Tenenballs will walk away winners in this match-up.

Veteran squad Pitch, Please is looking at another favorable match-up this week as they take on the returning Hash House Harriers. Last week they had Wreck newbies Cool Arrows and easily defeated them 11-0. Look for more of the same as the Hash House Harriers still need some time to get back into the swing of things. 

The Kickballaz had an impressive Opening Day match-up even by Wreck standards. They tuned up the Alcoballics 13-0, which was the most runs scored last week. This week they will have another lucky draw as they face another rookie team Cool Arrows. The Kickballaz will put up another heap of runs at the expense of Cool Arrow's inexperience. 

Rounding up the Wreck League, the Toe Jammers will be battling against Just Kickin It which should be a great game to watch. The Toe Jammers are coming a Lone Star Divisional Championship and are expected to do good things. However they are off to a slow start with their small 1-0 victory against This...Pitch last week. Now they will be locking horns with Just Kickin It who, just last week, had to battle back against a 1-4 deficit while playing a solid Kickaholics squad. They were able to come back with a 5th inning rally to win  5-4. With lofty expectations, the Toe Jammers may find themselves in an early season battle against a tough Just Kickin' It team. Don't miss this one.

In the King of Kickball Division, 3 of the 4 match-ups should be easy enough to decide. Kickin' N' Screamin' will be taking on the Scoregasms, who after falling to Kixxx 8-0 last week, are in no shape to wrestle with a powerhouse. Eyes will be on this game just to see if KNS can top the 8 runs Kixxx put up last week.

After an impressive display last week against KNS, although it was a loss, I'd Hit It will have a breather this week as they test the metal of mid-tier team Suck My Kick. This will be the 1st of 2 "easy" games for IHI, as they prepare for a marque match-up against Kixxx during Week 4. IHI will use the next couple of weeks to work on getting better and staying sharp. On the other side of the coin, SMK will be testing the competitive waters to see where they truly stand within the division and prepare for a 5 game onslaught of heavy hitters.

Although it will be the Game of the Week, the Smoking Aces should easily handle the mighty unicorns of Los Totally Awesomes. The Smokin Aces will be looking to work of their offensive prowess and see if they can string together more than one run. Los Totally Awesomes will have to really be on their toes if they hope to keep up with an extremely talented Smoking Aces team. Check out all the Live Kickball Action on Rio Pod Co TV at 9pm.

Last but not least, defending champions Kixxx will be taking on the scrappy squad of the New Kicks on the Block. NKOTB had a good showing against the Smoking Aces last week, a couple of miscues made all the difference. They tend to play Kixxx well and is always a treat to watch. Kixxx finished Opening Day with a 8-0 stomping of the Scoregasms. Hopefully they won't be flying too high going into their match-up with NKOTB. Very interesting match-up here.

That is all for now, Good Luck and Happy Kicking!

   

LSK Week 4 - Clobberin' Thunder!

Lights go out during Lone Star Kickball Week #4

Written by: Rich Alvarez

With streaks of lightning in the sky and rumbles of thunder in the distance, many a kickballer was worried how Mother Nature was going to toy with their night of kickball fun. Unfortunately Mother Nature was in a fickle mood and decided to end the night early. A nearby lightning strike would officially end the nights' games a bit early.

Which was lucky for the Billy Bad Asses, considering the Smoking Aces were giving them all they could handle plus more during their 8pm match-up. The Smoking Aces are slowly turning their previously questionable offense into a small resemblance of a consistent offense. Although the game was still in the very early stages, the Aces looked comfortable, confident, and in control. While the Bad Asses looked a tad bit frustrated, but did not look completely defeated. The Bad Asses do have a potentially explosive offense, they just didn't seem to be in sync this evening. Fortunately they'll get a re-boot and a second chance at the Aces, as this match-up will get rescheduled at a later date and time.

The only teams that didn't get bogged down by the weather were the Animals and Where's My Pitches At?. The Animals were coming off a 3-5 loss against powerhouse Screamin' Kixxx during Week 3, while WMPA was coming off a small 3-1 victory against talented rookies 915 Changos. By all accounts the up-and-coming Animals should have handily or at least convincingly beat the Pitches, but WMPA had something different in mind. The Pitches were able to take advantage of the Animal's miscues and more importantly, they made some plays and keep grinding to take the lead mid-game. However the Animal's testicular fortitude was strong enough to battle back and at least allow them to walk away with a sister-kissing tie. So much for clobberin' time...

The Animals were looking to be the team to compete against Screamin' Kixxx for the Lone Star Kickball inaugural season championship, but are we starting to see the early signs of weak play. Not to mention, the unfortunate exit of their starting pitcher Daniel "Chucky Bear" Acuna and key player Omar Anguiano. Both players will be missing they rest of the season. The Animals will need to tighten up their play if they plan to keep the Smoking Aces and WMPA from taking their championship hopes.

Short report this week on account of the weather, so until next time...

Good Luck and Happy Kicking!

KNS rides gutsy D to victory

By Grizzly Michaels
A Kickball Pepo
Not one, but two bases-loaded defensive stands gave Kicking and Screaming a season opening victory over I'd Hit It Wednesday night.

KNS held I'd Hit It scoreless in the fourth and fifth inning despite having runners in scoring positions both times, which allowed Rick Delgadillo's go-ahead run in the third stand as the game in the 2-1 contest at Alta Vista Park.

KNS' Rick Delgadillo tags out I'd Hit It's Arturo Blanco well before home
plate in the bottom of the fourth. KNS won the season opener 2-1.

The showdown between two of Sun City Kickballs best did not produce many runs, but the defensive plays made up for it.

With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Arturo Blanco was on third and threatening to tie the game up when Delgadillo called for the intentional walk to load the bases.

Then in a surprise move, Blanco was sent home on a pop-up that was caught in between first and second base. A throw by Marco Gallegos allowed Delgadillo to easily tag Blanco out for the third and final out, with Streeter on deck.

The fifth inning saw a similar situation, but with a little less drama. With two outs and this time Streeter on third, Delgadillo called for the double intentional walk to load the bases. But a weak ground ball allowed KNS to go home for the force out and the victory in the It's Just Kickball game of the week.

KNS got on the scoreboard right off the bat as lead-off man Heribeto Sosa came across in the top of the first.

A controversial call allowed I'd Hit It to tie the game up in the bottom of the first, when coach and captain Lucas Quimiro scored on what appeared to be a sideways slide at home to try to avoid Delgadillo's attempt to peg him out. The umpire called safe and the game was tied, 1-1.

A solid kick in the third by Luis allowed Delgadillo to come across for what proved to be the game-winning run.

KNS' new pitcher Manny was able to get a few foul-outs and even a late game strike out to keep his team on top.

At Memorial, the defending champion Kixx started off where they had left off with a commanding 8-1 victory over the Scoregasms. Led by Jose "Pipi"Delgado, the Kixx scored more runs on Wednesday than the entire King of Kickball Division combined.

Earlier in the day, Suck My Kick took a 2-0 victory over a restocked Los Totally Awesome. The Unicorns appeared to have tied the contest late in the game, but the hit was called back as a foul ball and eventually LTA fell.

Rich Alvarez made his pitching debut for Suck My Kick and his pacing on the mound proved to be beneficial to his new team.

In their SCK debut, the Smoking Aces etched out a 1-0 victory over the New Kick On The Block. It was a defensive battle, but in the end the Aces had enough to bring one across the plate and start the season with a W.

Here is a quick break down of the King of Kickball scores:
KNS 2, I'd Hit It 1
Kixx 8, Scoregasms 1
Suck My Kick 2, LTA 0
Smoking Aces 1, NKOTB 0

Fall 2013 Week 1 Wreck Up

By Grizzly Michaels

A Kickball Pepo

The Fall 2013 Sun City Kickball season started with a bit of Thunder and Lightning on Wednesday night.

While mother nature lit up the sky and crackled through the air, the Wreck Division was lighting up the scoreboard and posted 54 total runs, despite four teams failing to find home plate.

The defending Lone Star Champions (that was code for Wreck the last couple of seasons) Toe Jammers got the new season started with a W in a defensive battle. In a quick game, the Jammers squeaked out the 1-0 victory over This...Pitch! at Memorials Park Baseball Field.

Then weather be damned, the Jammers busted out the boom box and had their very own Kickball tailgate party in the parking lot as the Royal Tenenballs welcomed back the new generation Hash House Harriers with 10-4 whooping.

But the story of that game was the Tenenballs crazy socks vs. the Harriers kilts. 

Over at Modesto Gomez, Pitches Ain't S*** got a series of shut outs on Field 1 started with a 6-0 victory over Pitches Love Me.

The next two games were perfect examples of former upper-league teams teaching their opponents how to kick.

First the kickballaz smashed the Alcoballics 13-0, then Pitch Please! slapped the Cool Arrows around 11-0.

Both the kickballaz and Pitch Please! dropped down this season to have fun.

One item of note was that Pitch Please!'s Michelle got her first foul-out on the mound. The Wreck rules require female pitchers in at least two of the innings, which led Michelle to taking the mound and forcing the foul-out. Statisticians be damned, I'm giving her the K in the books.

The game of the night may have been the lone game at Modesto's Field 2 when Just Kickin It clawed back to beat the Kickaholics, 5-4, with some come-from-behind magic.

The Kickaholics jumped out to a strong 4-1 lead after one inning of play, but Just Kickin It, being the veteran bunch of that they are, chopped away at that lead and took home the victory with some heroics in the fifth and final inning.

That was one hell of an opening night.

In comparison the King of Kickball Division scored a total of 15 runs and more than half of those came from the defending champion Kixx. Granted the defense level is switched to 11 in those games.

But it goes to show that those Wreck'd kids accomplished what they set out to do this season and have some fun.

Good job guys, feel free to post your scorecards on the refrigerator. 

A simple breakdown of the scores:

Pitches Ain't S*** 6, Pitches Love Me 0

kickballaz 13, Alcoballics 0

Pitch Please! 11, Cool Arrows 0

Just Kickin It 5, Kickaholics 4

Toe Jammers 1, This...Pitch! 0

Royal Tenenballs 10, Hash House Harriers 4

You make the rules and we will WRECK them

By Grizzly Michaels

Being the expert kicker that you are, surely (cue Leslie Nielsen) you know all of the new rules of the Wrecked Division.

Yeah, that’s what we thought.

More than likely your coach just told you, “Damnit’ Bobby, just be (insert field here) at (insert time here). Now let me finish my beer. That boy ain’t right.”

Well, if you are new to the division or just escaping the uber-competitive King of Kickball league (while Rick yells “are you not entertained?” as you run away) then let’s give you a look at the new and improved(?) Wreck Division.

Kicking:

You kick the ball for starters, so if you were looking for a spirited match of cricket then just walk away and we’ll pretend we never met. But, alas we have our first change that makes the Wreck different than King of Kickball.

It is now mandatory that your kicking order have a girl in between every guy until you are all out of girls.

So an easy way to remember that is:

1.     boy

2.     girl

3.     boy

4.     girl

5.     etc.

6.     etc.

If you only have four girls and then after your fourth girl kicks you can go all guys.

Pitching:

There are two changes in the pitching game this year. The first is that every single pitch must bounce at least twice before crossing the plate. So the days of one-bounce, overhand pitching is dead in the Wreck.

The second pitching changes requires that one of the girls pitches at least two innings each game. Doesn’t matter which inning, just has to be twice.

It’s in the name:

The major difference is that this league is supposed to be recreational. Meaning (fingers-crossed), there will hopefully be more laughter, less anger. More celebration and hopefully no ejections (we’re looking at you Pitch Please! OK calm down Celi. I’m just joking. I said calm…oww).

Moving on.

Now that you know the rules (come on, one more link you know you want to) you are prepared for the upcoming season. And even if you still don’t understand the rules, guess what you can still have fun.

That is what this division was made up for. The true kickball player. The one who likes his/her beer cold, team rowdy and most importantly … squirrel.

Does that mean this league is completely useless? No. There is still a championship at the end. Wreck will have its own playoff and maybe even a nice shiny trophy (looking at you commish).

And a championship is still a championship. So be proud but have fun.

Fall 2013 - King of Kickball Predictions

Written by: The Kickball Guru . . 

SCK Fall 2013 will kick off tonight, and many people wonder what happened to all the competitive teams as we are now down to 1 division of 8 teams as opposed to 2 divisions of 8 last season. So what happened to the other teams and who is sill around? While we lost thundercats, drunken monkeyz, balls and dolls, sit on my base, drinkers with a kicking problem, lights out, and rollin balls due to time constraints and other teams creating hybrid/super teams, we also lost pitch perfect and kickballaz to the wreck league. So now only 8 teams remain and here is a breakdown of what to expect and what their final records I believe will be.

8. Scoregasms- The scoregasms are coming off their worst season ever played here at SCK. They only won 2 games last season in which both were by forfeit. Does this mean they are no good? Absolutely not. Lack of practice, too many roster changes season in and out and also losing their pride in Tony to go ump hurt them greatly. So what do I expect from them? Well with the talent pool being so deep in every team, I believe this is gonna be a really bad season for the scoregasms. This just goes to show how stacked this division is this season.

Spring 2013 Record- 2-6

Fall 2013 Prediction- 0-8

7. Suck My Kick- Suck My Kick is also another team coming off their most disappointing season after showing so much promise the 3 seasons before that. Losing some of their better players and their pitcher didn't help. This season they picked up a past championship winning pitcher in Rich who knows how to control the game properly. Only question is, can he lead this team to a decent season? Very doubtful. I'll look at this season as a rebuilding/chemistry building one.

Spring 2013 Record- 2-6

Fall 2013 Prediction- 1-7

6. LTA- Chuck is back on LTA and he has brought back some true vets to help make LTA relevant again. Bringing some of the ex pandas will help him on both offense and defense. Every season Chucky grows as a player and is starting to looking more and more promising as a pitcher, and that will bring any team he is on success. However, he will have the same issue as the scoregasms and SMK. Just way too uch competition in the division. The best part for LTA is that they can not do any worse than last season

Spring 2013 Record- 0-8

Fall 2013 Prediction- 2-6

5. New Kicks On The Block- Domino and his family decided to give it a go for another season after contemplating retirement after last season. The only thing that changed that was all the questionable calls against champion kixxx left a sour taste in their mouths. So how will they fare this season? They are #5 on my list because they will be playing smoking aces right off the bat with absolutely no practice. So that leads me to believe they will drop one early. Other than that they should beat up on the teams listed above

Spring 2013 Record- 5-2-1

Fall 2013 Prediction- 4-4

4. Smoking Aces- Now comes the only unfamiliar name on the team sheet of the king of kickball division. The smoking aces are the reason for the league losing 3 teams to make 1. So is this a super team? Many would say yes considering that they have a total of 3 championships on this team alone. While they have a lot of talent on this team, the pitcher (Mike) always seems to make his teams fall apart. Don't get me wrong he is an above average pitcher but loses his cool way too quick and gives up on his team (quarterfinals vs thundercats). Now if he can keep it together, this team will do a lot better than I think. Another big issue is that they need to have 1 coach only and not 5. In my humble opinion it needs to be Reid Hanson and he should not let anyone else tell him otherwise. If they can get it together within the first 8 weeks, expect to see them in the final four at the very least.

Spring 2013 Record- 12-10-2

Fall 2013 Prediction- 5-3

3. I'd Hit It- While many always give this team a hard time and never give them the credit that is due, I have always considered them to be an elite team. Have they had their not so good seasons? Sure but they seem to become more and more consistent. With their catcher only getting better it seems like Lucas doesn't have all the stress in the world to have to win games by himself. He needs to start believing in his team. The moment when he tries to do everything himself, that's the moment they lose. Example was the championship last season. Will it look better for him this season? I believe it will. Will he make the championship? Yes. Will he win? Probably not.

Spring 2013 Record- 5-1-2

Fall 2013 Prediction- 6-1-1

2. Kixxx- Last season there was finally a new champion after 5 seasons. Kixxx came out and put I'd Hit It away convincingly by dominating them 4-0. Will they be back to back? Possibly. The only concern here is that they lost their 3rd and 1st basemen. They lost the two people who run the team properly. They lost two big kickers in their line up. How much will this affect them? Not so much considering they picked up 2 really good players. Only problem is that those two do not really play either one of the positions that Raul and Joe play. So This might be their toughest season yet. 

Spring 2013 Record- 6-2

Fall 2013 Prediction- 6-2

1. KNS- After losing in the semi finals for the first time since they lost to kixxx back in their first season, word on the street is taht KNS is coming back with a vengeance. Did Kixxx awaken the sleeping dragon by knocking them out early last season? It will be tough to tell as I have heard that Rick did not get the players that he was hoping for this season. With that being said, KNS is still the most consistent team SCK has to offer and no one can argue that. So will they do well? Absolutely. Will they get sent home early again or are they championship material again? Only time will tell but don't think they will do any less than what they did last season.

Spring 2013 Record= 8-0

Fall 2013 Prediction- 7=0=1

Don't forget to check out the game of the week today at 9pm at Alta Vista. We have KNS vs I'd hit it. Tough game for both teams to open the season. Good luck to all the teams

Lone Star Kickball Breakdown - Fall '13

It was only a matter of time before the growing popularity of competitive kickball spawned a new local league. Lone Star Kickball is the new kid on the block and will be looking to make its mark on the local El Paso sports scene. LS Kickball is a Thursday night kickball grass league, featuring national Kickball 365 tourney rules. After the lack luster El Paso Kickball, continuously failing competitive players, LSK will be looking to become the premiere grass kickball league in El Paso.


 Although LSK's inaugural season only features 7 teams, the league size is considered on-par for any new sports league. However for being such a small league, the talent pool is huge. The best and brightest local kickballers all signed up to try their hand Thursday nights. Let's take a look at the inaugural team's for the LSK Fall '13 season.

After looking at the team list, three team names immediately jump out as unrecognizable. 915 Changos, Da Krew, and Where's My Pitches At.

The only intel I could gather up on the 915 Changos is they are a Three Legged Monkey team, the league's sponsor. I'm not sure if that means the team is made up of staff, patrons, or actual 3 legged monkeys, but nevertheless my gut tells me this may be one of those inexperienced teams that is putting in their first attempt at kickball. Unfortunately for these rookies they are in a fairly fierce group of experienced kickball teams so they will have to learn the game fast or they are doomed to be the league's punching bag.

Da Krew

The other team that is unfamiliar is Da Krew kickball squad. I had a chance to see them briefly play this past Thursday night. The team contains a group of young and seemingly athletic players.  However the lack of experience is more than evident. To steal a classic line from the movie Days of Thunder, they "looked liked a monkey fuckin' a football out there". Their roster doesn't contain any recognizable names, although my understanding is some of the roster has some kickball experience. On a bright note, they had an awesome female in right field, didn't catch her name. Anxious to see if their first game was just Opening Day jitters. Maybe they can cut down the kickball curve quickly.

The last team mystery team is Where's My Pitches At!. I do know that they are a disgruntled Epk team that was looking for a better home and may have found it at LSK. Other than that, info on this team is also sparse. I believe they were a playoff team within Epk, semi-final team, but don't take that to the bank, need to do some more research. We will see what they have within the coming weeks.




The next group of teams are all filled with seasoned kickball veterans. Starting off with the Billy Bad Asses, aka the Shocker Killers. The Bad Asses were Sun City Kickball regulars, although they no longer exist, a portion of their players reside with current SCK team Pitch, Please. The Billy Bad Asses do not have a marque roster, but they have always been known for tenacious play. Not sure how much experience they have playing on grass, as they earned their stripes playing on a traditional dirt diamond, but they should be ok regardless. Worst case they have the 3 inexperienced teams to beat up on, but don't count them out on the more competitive side. Back in the day when the Shockers were the KNS of now, they had a knack for taking down giants.

Moving onto the most recent championship team, the Animals. These Animals currently hold the title as the Sprummer '13 Epk champions,  a major note worthy victory. The title was earned on grass which is why they have thrown their hat into the ring with LSK. A solid roster and they have a pitcher/catcher combo that is a force to be reckoned with. Although they don't have the big names like a couple of the other teams, they have the power and skill in all the right places.

The last two teams have undoubtedly the biggest names and most experience. First up we have Screamin' Kixxx, which is basically Kickin' N' Screamin' sprinkled with a handful of Kixxx players. They are an extremely seasoned traveling team and have proven themselves on the grass. Again, they are the team to beat. Every time they travel out of town they get closer and closer at winning an Kickball 365 title. This extra practice should come in handy come tourney time.

The next big team is hybrid Smokin' Aces. They are a combo Thunder Catz, Drunken Monkeyz, and last but not least the Shockers, aka Sit on my Base. Three veteran SCK teams have combined to make the assumed monster that is Smokin' Aces. However Im not convinced they will be as dangerous as Kickball Nation is predicting them to be. It takes more than grouping a bunch of all-stars to make a good solid team

Well that in a quick nutshell are the inagural Lone Star Kickball teams, but the conversation doesn't stop here. Tune into the new IJK Ustream show to get an in-depth look at each team and their rosters.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/itsjustkickball

Until next time Happy Kicking and remember It's Just Kickball.

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Kickball All-Star Roster

In honor of the MLB All-Star game this past week, IJK constructed an All-Star Kickball roster to recognize the best players in the following categories: Best Male and Female Offensive Player, Best Male and Female Defensive Player, Best Catcher, Best Pitcher, Best Defensive Team, and Best Offensive Team. 

Through your nominations and research It's Just Kickball has come up with the final results! View the webshow edition here : http://www.ustream.tv/channel/itsjustkickball

Best Offensive Team

1st Team: Kickin' N' Screamin'

2nd Team: Kixxx

Honorable Mention: Drunken Monkeyz

Best Defensive Team

1st Team: Kickin' N' Screamin'
2nd Team: Kixxx
Honorable Mention: I'd Hit It

Best Offensive Male
1st Team: Albert Villegas - Kickin' N' Screamin'
2nd Team: Joe Davila - Kixxx
Honorable Mention: Kixxx Line Up

Best Offensive Female
Rocio Sandoval - Kickin' N' Screamin'
Michelle Enriquez - Thunder Catz
Sarai Rubio - Los Totally Awesomes

Best Defensive Male
1st Team- Heribeto Sosa - Kickin' N' Screamin'
2nd Team - David "Domino" Fernandez - New Kicks on the Block
Honorable Mention - Angel Meza - Kixxx

Best Defesnive Female
1st Team - Nadia Morales - Kickin' N' Screamin'
2nd Team - Ashleign Decker - Drinkers with a Kicking Problem
Honorable Mention - Kelsey Masters - Kickin' N' Screamin'

Best Catcher
1st Team - Marco Gallegos - Kickin' N' Screamin' 
2nd Team - Reid Hanson - Drunken Monkeyz
Honorable Mention - Aaron Bracamontes - The Royal Tennenballs

Best Pitcher
1st Team - Rick Delgadillo - Kickin' N' Screamin'
2nd Team - Lucas Quimiro - I'd Hit It
Honorable Mention - Jose "Pipi" Delgado - Kixxx

It's Just Kickball teams up with Rio Pod Co.

It's Just Kickball is pleased to announce that through a partnership with Rio Pod Co. , IJK will be bringing kickball enthusiasts live kickball action during Sun City Kickball's Fall 2013 season.

We will be live podcasting featured games, as well as bringing you a    post-game wrap-up report to get you all the scores, news and catch some player and coach interviews.

Also be sure to tune into Rio Pod Co's newest sports show - Who's on First - Sunday evenings starting at 5:30pm MST. Catch some informative yet comedic takes on current sport headlines, as well as tuning in for the It's Just Kickball Report, which will feature local league analysis, as well as national kickball news. Don't miss out Kickball Nation!

You can search and download Rio Pod Co's app from the Google Play Store or listen in through Stitcher.

Happy Kicking!