We're just getting nestled in to the luxurious Holiday Inn off of I-65 in Mobile. We got a real tight view of the Arby's across the street. Rollin' in style.
The first game against Liberty started off really promising as Aaron Barrett was pitching lights out striking out three of the first four batters as we jumped out to 4-0 behind a three run HR by Logan Power.
Then, we bumbled and fumbled our way to a 6-5 win by manufacturing runs and stealing a few bases. Our bullpen effort of Morgan, Goforth and the Bittler was incredibly effective as they should be against a team whose mascot, "the Flames," is in stark contrast to the conservative nature of the Christian school formerly headed by Jerry Falwell(maybe his ghost is still there, we don't know).
The Liberty fans were good natured and made fun of the deficiencies of the stadium, such as the "jumbo-tron" that was one third blacked out or the in-game promotion that offered a free box of popcorn for a foul ball returned to the concession stand. Times are tough.
We were convinced the error button was broken on their scoreboard because we counted roughly 4 or 5 errors in the first five innings before one was actually tallied on the board.
Kevin Mort and Evan Button weren't overly impressive on the left side of the infield letting a few balls through and booting a couple as well. Matt Smith played a good defensive game along with Brett Basham behind the plate.
Logan Power completely bombed the home run in the first inning. Just crushed it. The home run by Liberty was somewhat of an enigma, because we never saw it go over the wall. We're pretty sure it hit the top of the wall and came back into play, but the ump ruled it a three run homer. Who knows? We still won, so not really incredibly important.
Stanky Field does sell beer...in cans. I don't know what else to say, but it was pretty comforting to see beer cans littering the stadium as we departed for some strange reason.
Mobile is traffic ridden due to Mardi Gras festivities, but we're going to hit up a few unsavory joints tonight to get some local flavor. There's no doubt some drunk coon asses that we'll be running into as the sun goes down. We'll check back in later.