At the end of July, the Gateway Archers took to the road to attend the BeepBall World Series in Wichita, Kansas. Amidst the heat and humidity that joined in on the festivities, the Archers proved that they are not a team to be taken lightly! After starting in 17th place, the Archers went 5-4 and walked away in 9th place even defeating the USA Legends team made up of Hall of Fame players by a score of 8-5!
Rich Krussel and Kyle Borah proved themselves to be indispensable to the team and its success. Across all nine games, Rich racked up a total of 13 runs and 36 putouts for the Archers while Kyle Borah achieved an impressive 42 putouts earning himself the title of Defensive Rookie of the Year!
The Archers had a slow start to the series. Jonathan Clemons tied up their first game against the Austin Blackhawks 4-4, but the Blackhawks rallied and ultimately took the game 8-5.
In game two, Kyle Borah gave us a hint of what was to come with an extraordinary putout after the ball bounced off his own leg causing it to change direction and get by him. With impressive speed, Kyle located the ball and managed the out. Unfortunately, they lost to the Chicago Comets 7-1.
They found their stride, however, in game 3 and defeated the Long Island Bombers 4-1 to end day one moving from 17th place up to 14th.
On day two, Rich Krussel got to show his stuff by scoring a run on the first pitch of the first game of the day against the Braille Bandits of Palm Beach. Later in the game, Mari Blumenthal made her BeepBall World Series debut as a pitcher and got a hit off her first batter, Rich! The Archers went on to get a shutout winning 4-0.
In the second game of the day, Rich dazzled everyone yet again by getting all three putouts to end the Indy Edge’s first at-bat. The Edge was not to be trifled with, however, and the Archers fell to them 8-1.
That evening there was no rest for the women of the Gateway Archers. In the exhibition Women of our League (WOOL) game, mother-daughter duo Kim and Mari Blumenthal and pitcher Ashley Rench led the Northeast Dynamic Divas to clinch their first-ever victory! Archers spotter Kasondra McDaniel also got in the action as a base umpire.
The third and final day of the series was the Archers’ time to shine! They went 3-1 that day beating the Minnesota Millers 2-1 in their first game, losing to the Atlanta Chaos in their second game by only a single run 5-4, overcoming the USA Legends, and finally clinching 9th place in the tournament by defeating the Long Island Bombers 4-2!
Congratulations to the Gateway Archers on a fantastic outing at the BeepBall World Series! Enjoy the off-season and we will see you back on the field next year!
Post author: Adam Clark, MindsEye Administrative Assistant