Cobras Topple Tria Architecture

PLEASANTDALE -- The Cobras gave a sellout crowd a good excuse to leave early and catch the final innings of the Cubs / Houston game. Unfortunately, the Cubs faired no better than Tria that night. Both teams lost.

Yellow Shirt homered twice and drove in five runs to help the Cobras rout Tria Architecture 22-4. His skin tight shirt tucked into his white pants did nothing to slow down his bat. Yellow's 3-run shot in the first sailed over Jeff Sandberg's head and was lost in the swampy waters at the edge of the field. The ball disappeared along with any semblance of Tria defense. By the time all the throwing and fielding errors were behind them, the Cobras were ahead by 8 runs.

"It was one of those nights where everything they hit hard fell in and everything they hit soft dropped just out of reach," Tria manager Perry Romanowski said. "I'm sure we'll do better next week, although we may have to joggle the lineup."

Tria pitcher and GM Jim Petrakos (0-1) was rocked for 22 runs in 4 innings of work. His performance was hampered by a number of factors including bad calls by the ump, slippery fingers in the field and the red hot Cobra bats. Petrakos took a liner in the chest during the 4th inning but finished the inning. He is not expected to miss his next scheduled start on June 2.

Tria Architecture hasn't surrendered as many runs since a May 2006 loss to the Redcoats.

"We just need to get back into the swing of things," said right fielder Ron McGrath. McGrath finished the night 1-3 with a double and run scored.

While the offense wasn't stunning there were some notable performances. Speedy center fielder, Allen Valdes went 2-2 with a walk and a run scored. Catcher Tom Kikta had 2 hits in 3 plate appearances. Sandberg's gimpy ankle didn't slow him down as he knocked in an RBI and scored a run in the third. Longtime Tria infielder Tom Szurgot also managed to get an RBI but was off a little from his career average.

"With the new kid, the business, and the dog, I just haven't had the time to focus on my hitting," explained Szurgot. "Once I get a few more swings under my belt, I'll be back to my old form."

On the defensive side, the 3rd and 5th innings were Tria's best. They constricted to Cobra's offense keeping them scoreless on 2 hits. Second baseman Brian Fei managed to connect with first baseman Jim Gould for 2 put-outs on the night.

"When we got to the ball and didn't make a throwing or catching error, we got them out," said Fei.

Tria's next game is June 2 at 6:20 pm.