Along with great team play from your D-Bags, we have seen many players hit milestones hit so far this season and here are a couple notable ones:
Mikey Bryant HR #350. It was July 1, 2022 when Bryant stepped to the for the 4th time in the 8th inning against the Kansas City Cougars. He was riding a 2 game HR streak to put him on #349 the day before against Toronto. With the Cougars up 5-1, they brought in tough lefty and former All-Star Joey Smith to hold down the Jersey offense. With 2 outs and no one aboard, Bryant stepped up to the plate. Before this AB Bryant was just 2-14 against Smith. Smith got ahead 0-2 before Bryant sat on a fastball and deposited 382 feet away in the RF bleachers for his 350th HR and a standing ovation from the hometown crowd. Jersey would go on to lose the game 5-2, but Bryant joined elite company. He became the 8th player to reach the 350 HR mark behind only Crowe, Yoko, Cobra, Sagar, Newell, Delaney and Rivas. At the current moment Bryant sits at 360, 13 behind Rivas, 15 behind Delaney and 17 behind Newell. 400 is certainly in Bryant's sights.
Dave Dodd HR #250. Just 2 weeks to the day after Bryant went for 350, Jersey was playing against a red-hot Pocatello team. The Bocabellas would go on to win the game which was their 19th straight win, but it was Dodd doing most of the damage for the limited Jersey offense. He gave Jersey a quick lead in the 1st with a 2-run HR off of starter Bill Bygrove, his 249th of his career. It was in the 6th inning with Jersey down 1 run that Dodd would meet Bygrove on his first offering with a mammoth 412 foot HR to Right-Center. For his career Dodd is hitting 7-8 with those 2 HR against Bygrove. At age 28, Dodd is the youngest member of the 250 HR club by 3 years and if keeps hitting at his current pace he could be joining the elite of the elite sluggers in his early 30's.
Lawrence Schroeder Hit #1000. 2014 1st round pick SS Lawrence Schroeder joined Bryant and Dodd as only the 3rd Jersey Shore player to accumulate 1000 hits in their career. On July 31st playing in San Francisco against the Bandits Schroeder would leadoff the 6th inning with a single against Pierre Dumont. It would be his only hit of the game, but would be a special one as it was his 1000th career hit. He became the 9th shortstop in BSA history to reach the mark. 2022 is proving to be Schroeder's best season as a pro and couldn't come in a better year as he is set to hit free agency this winter.
Jose Ramos Win #100. Coming into 2022 at age 26 Jose Ramos was already the franchise leader in wins at 87. A great total at only age 26 but always quite telling about the quality of starting pitching that has been in Jersey Shore over the years. With 16 wins in 2021, getting 13 wins in 2022 was almost a shoe-in without an injury, but no one predicted how quick it would come. Ramos won 9 of his 1st 10 starts and on June 17 Ramos sat with a 12-2 record through 15 starts and took the mound against St. Charles. While it wasn't his most dominate start of the season, Ramos gave up 4 runs on 7 hits while walking no one and striking out 5 in 7.2 innings, a 4-4 game from Kisuki led the Jersey offense good enough for a 5-4 victory and win #100 for Jose. The next two highest win totals for Jersey in their history are Greg Schaefer with 84 and Rob Goodship with 71. Ramos became the 56th pitcher to record 100 wins, beating Los Angeles pitcher Ramiro Jimenez to the mark by just 2 days.
A lot of celebrating has gone on this season for Jersey Shore. With just over a month left and an 8.5 game lead in the Wild Card race, could this be the year that Jersey finally celebrates the raising of a trophy in October?
GO D-BAGS
