Express Notes:
Offense ruled the day on Saturday, as the visiting Express fell to the Owlz 20-16 in an early afternoon slugfest at Back Caldecott.

Accustomed to falling behind early and fighting back, the Express found themselves in the unusual spot of having a couple of early leads Saturday. The Diesels were up 5-0 after the top of the first and 11-5 after the top of the third. But the Freight Trains couldn't hold off the hard-hitting Owlz, who scored five runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings -- and didn't allow a run over the final two frames.

'I couldn't be happier with how we are hitting the ball,' said Coach Brook after the game. 'We are getting production out of almost every spot in our line-up. Cole E is on a roll, Sommers D-N had a couple of hard hits, and John S. had a couple of solid hits. Our problem today was on defense - we just let too many balls through and allowed too many easy runs. Credit goes to the Owlz too - they didn't give up after they got down, and they hit the ball hard.'

The Express got on the board in a hurry, scoring five runs in the top of the first, capped by a two-run double to deep right-center field by Sam W-S, which scored John S. and Jonah L., and a single down the left field line by Aidan D., which scored Liam D.

After the Owlz put five runs over their own up in the bottom of the first, the Express came back with three in the top of the second. Walks to Alex N. and Erik W., and a single by Cole E. brought in a run and set the stage for Liam's two run double to left.

After Sam and the defense held the Owlz scoreless in the bottom of the second, the Express put up another three-spot in the top of the third. Aidan D drove in Sommers and Tyler J. with a double, and then scored on Cole's third hit of the day. Cole went 4-for-4 on the day to stretch his hitting streak to 10 at-bats in a row.

Down 11-5, the Owlz did not give up, pulling to within one after knocking in five runs of their own in the bottom of the third. The big hit was a double to right by Noah C. that brought the Owlz to within a run, 11-10.

The Express struck back again in the top of the fourth, scoring five runs on a walk to Kiran K., an RBI double by Sommers, and RBI singles by Tyler J., Alex N. and Cole E.

After that, however, the Express ran out of steam, going scoreless in the fifth and sixth. The Owlz, on the other hand, kept piling on the runs, adding five in the fourth and five in the fifth to take the lead for good, 20-16.

'That was a tough loss, no doubt about it,' said Coach Brook after the game, 'but I told the guys that they should focus on the positives and try to learn from the things we can improve on. No reason to hang our heads - especially since we have another game in less than 24 hours. Now, it's on to the RubberDucks.'