A quiet offense, some shaky defense, and a few broken bat hits mixed in against a good hitting lineup led to a Thunderbird defeat at the hands of Modoc Thursday night at Graham field. With the loss, the Birds fall to 5-3 on the season sitting in 3rd place in the standings.

Brent Smerczynski took the loss on the mound for the birds. Smerczynski tossed a complete game giving up 3 earned of the 8 runs scored while walking 2 and striking out 4.

The offense as a whole was stymied by a trio of Modoc pitchers as the Thunderbird offense as a unit was held to 4 hits on the night while striking out 9 times. Rob Carroll was the lone offensive bright spot going 2 for 3 with a double and a moonshot 2-run homer in the bottom of the first inning. Don Massoud and Ron Short were the other two Tbirds to collect hits on the night.

Your NTX Thunderbirds look to back in the win column next Thursday against the Knights at First Baptist Academy at 7pm.

The NTX Thunderbirds got some revenge for an early season loss by dropping Dallas Mustangs 8-3 at First Baptist Academy Monday night.

The bats were fairly quiet all night for the birds until the last inning where they collected all 5 hits on the night. The birds did, however time those hits around 5 walks and 2 hit batters to tally up the 8 runs. Ryan Karonka broke up the no hitter with a lead off single , followed by 2 walks then back to back 2-run doubles by Jeff Whanger and Brian Synatzske. John Menth finished it off with an RBI double of his own to end the inning and any chances of a Mustang win.

Jared Derusha got the win for the T-birds going 2 2/3 innings giving up 2 runs and collecting 4 strikeouts. John Ward finished the 3rd inning to snuff out a Mustang rally. Ron Short followed with 1 2/3 innings of work giving up 1 run while striking out 2 . Menth got the save coming in with the bases loaded and the tying run on deck when he struck out the big Mustang first baseman to end the rally and the game.

The Thunderbirds take their 5-2 record to Prestonwood this Thursday to face off with the Modoc in a rematch against the defending league champions at 6:30pm

Your NTX Thunderbirds avenged last year’s playoff loss to Dodger ace and ex-major leaguer Lance Broadway Thursday night, running away with a 11-1 win.

Brent Smerczynski outdueled the Dodger fireballer on the mound for the “W” giving a complete game, 3 hit effort while racking up 7 more strikeouts on the night. The win runs Smerczynski’s record to 4-1 on the season.

The offense jumped jumped out quick and never looked back against the Dodger starting pitcher. Brian Synatzske led off with a double, follwed by a Smerczynkski single. After a John Menth walk, Brad Bode got the birds on the board with a RBI groundout followed by a Rob Carroll 2-run laser of a double to make it 3-0 and the Tbirds wouldn’t look back adding single runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th before slamming the door shut with 3 in the 5th and 2 in the 6th.

The offense was led by Synatzske and Ryan Karonka each going 2-2 with a walk.. Other Tbirds getting at least one hit on the night include: Smerczynski, Carroll, Ron Short, and Jeff Whanger.

The 4-2 birds are off next week, but return to action Monday Aug. 3 for a 7pm contest against the Mustangs at First Baptist Academy.

The NTX Thunderbirds fell Thursday night to the Mustangs 10 -6.

All of the damage was done in the first 2 innings and the birds couldn’t recover. Brian Synatzske scored on a Rob Carroll sac fly and John Menth scored on wild pitch in the top of the first, but that lead didn’t last long as an ill-timed 2 out error led to 3 unearned Mustang runs in the bottom half. Ron Short scored on a Jeff Whanger sac fly to knot the game at 3 in the top of the 2nd. The Mustangs took advantage of some “Texas Leaguers” and ground balls with eyes to promptly take a strong hold of the game scoring 5 runs in the the bottom of the second. They added 2 unearned insurance runs in the 4th to take a commanding 10-3 lead. The birds tried to mount another late game comeback in the 5th. Synatzske, Brent Smerczynski and Menth each scored bringing the score to 10-6 and the tying run to the on-deck circle, but a line drive to 2nd by Fabian Mendive ended the rally. Don Massoud also collected a hit on the night.

Jared DeRusha was the starter on the mound for the Thunderbirds and was relieved by Massoud. DeRusha collected 2Ks on the night looking while Massoud grabbed one out of the pen.

The Thunderbirds look to snap the current losing streak this Thursday at 9pm against the Dodgers at McInnish #10 in Carrollton.

One inning did the Thunderbirds in Thursday night as they dropped their first game of the season 5-3 to Modoc. The game was a battle all night as both teams traded scoreless frames for the first 4 innings of the game. The Thunderbirds broke through in the top of the 5th when Jeff Whanger reached on a HBP and scored on a Rob Carroll double.

The game was decided in the bottom of the inning. A couple errors, 2 walks and a 2 hits led to a short-lived lead and 5 unearned runs for Modoc. As expected, the Thunderbirds did not give in and scored 2 in the next frame and brought the tying run to the plate, but fell just short.

Rob Carroll and Bo Vaculik led the T-birds at the plate. Carroll had 2 doubles and a run driven in while Vaculik had 2 singles and and RBI. Other Thunderbirds collecting hits on the night included John Menth, Brad Bode and Fabian Mendive,

Brent Smerczynski was the hard luck loser on the night. Despite only giving up 4 hits and collecting 4 strikeouts while shutting out the Modoc the entirety of the night, he just wasn’t able to work out of a jam in the 5th and deciding inning.

Your NTX Thunderbirds return to action Thursday night at 6:30 at First Baptist Academy against the Dallas Mustangs looking to get back in the win column.