And that realization has come with the arrival of two guys who, last season, struggled to even get a start.

Dante Love and Dusty Napoleon have come to this team from stints in Kane County in the Midwest League, where neither of them particularly excelled, and anchored the batting lineup with the closest thing to experience you can get at this level of ball.

It still seems odd to C’s fans of last season - Napoleon and Love as the meat of the lineup? How could that be?

And yet, it be, and in completely different ways.

Love’s batting average is weak - he’s still the wrong side of the Mendoza Line - but he’s getting on base through guile, plate patience and flat out desire. Napoleon, meanwhile, is just straight up owning opposition pitchers, with a BA of .400 and a Love-like eye for the base on balls.

Admittedly, we’re dealing with a very small sample size (Napoleon only has three games worth of stats at this level this season to date), but stats only tell you what a guy has done in the past, so if you’re interested in the now, three games is enough to say ‘dude’s in form’.

Last night against the Chris Evert Aquasox, Dante didn’t exactly peak (you knew I’d make that reference eventually, right movie fans?), but The Duster was right in the thick of every play the C’s made that resulted in runs… just as he was the day before.

JD Pruitt opened the account, fresh off a few days rest after an HBP got the better of him, with a lead-off walk. He cruised to second on a wild pitch off Bobby ‘Le Flambé’ LaFromboise, and a two-out single to right from dependable Dusty brought Pruitt home for a 1-0 lead.

Having snuck up to 2nd on the throw home, Napoleon was in good position for something RBI-like from Jeremy Barfield, and The Stairmaster didn’t disappoint, smacking a double to left that pushed the lead to two.

Noting much happened for a few innings after that… Pruitt got a single but was left stranded, Love threw out a base stealer at 3rd, and Carlos ‘Hernia’ Hernandez kept the Everett Flipperkids from scoring runs with his fine work on the mound. But in the top of the 5th, the game began to get away from the lefty. 

After tagging Tyson Gillies with a pitch, he surrendered a double to Kevin Reynolds, and a subsequent force-out saw the lead runner score. After walking Manny ‘Mental’ Pimentel and watching Fleming ‘Joan’ Baez single in another runner, C’s manager Rick Magnante gave Hernandez the hook, bringing in ‘The Beef Jerky Platter’, Trey Barham (there’s a nickname for those who like the cryptic crossword).   

And Barham ends the inning with a swinging K from Nate Tenbring, with the scores tied at two each.

It got lame for a few innings after that. Notable highlight, a double from (who else) Dusty Napoleon, which was negated when he ran too soon on an infield single and got nailed at 3rd on a fielder’s choice. 

Ed Tejada came in to replace The Jerky Platter, and was soon pulled when he beaned a hitter, with the new quick hook mentality from the C’s coaching staff keeping the Flipperkids from getting anything close to a roll going.

Fabian Gomez has some mild worries in the top of the 9th when an infield error put a runner at first with two outs, but Gomez has made an art form out of the pick-off, and duly smoked one to 1st to kill of Mental Pimentel and end the threat.

The bottom of the 9th had a few moments of potential for the Canadians when The Fundamentalist, Jason Christian, drew a lead-off walk. He was sac’ed along by Jareck West, and then rode to 3rd on a ground-out to short from Rodney Rutherford (which is about the best you can expect Whifferlord about now), which put the game in the hands of Ryne Jernigan.

Let’s just say we call him The Journeyman for a reason.

Can I help you Mr Jernigan?
"No thanks, just looking."

So we’re off to bonus baseball, and Gomez made light work of the Chris Evert Aquasox in the top of the 10th, which brought up the top of the order for the C’s.

Remember back in the 1st inning, when JD Pruitt took a walk, then snuck his way to 2nd, and then Dusty Napoleon drove him home with a canny RBI single?

To quote Bill Paxton, "Game over, man! Game over!"

June 30, 2008
	Final    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10      R   H   E   Everett   0   0   0   0   2   0   0   0   0   0      2   9   0   Vancouver   2   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   1      3   9   1  Recap | Box | W: F. Gomez (2-1, 3.00); L: J. Martinez (0-1, 1.59) HR: None.

NOTES:

* Awesome.