Sasquatch Triumph in Inaugural Game

The last months have been a whirlwind of hype and promotion, of stadium building and roster construction, of draft debates and performance predictions—all to make ready a new era in Seattle baseball. Last night, the Sasquatch era officially arrived. A crowd of 49,800, buzzing with anticipation, filled Sick's Stadium to capacity. How could the inaugural game possibly meet the sky high expectations?

Hitting 6 home runs and 22 hits en route to a commanding victory certainly helped.

The Seattle Sasquatch defeated the Nottinghamshire Outlaws 16-4. All nine lineup spots recorded a hit. Salvador Salgado lead the attack with 2 home runs, including the first in franchise history. In the 5th with one on, he turned on inside fastball and hit a bullet down the right field line: it landed barely fair and just far enough to reach the short porch.

Salgado then teamed up with Steve Frend and Francisco Alfonso to hit back-to-back-to-back home runs to start the 7th. Amazingly, that feat was nearly duplicated the very next inning. Dane Moore began the 8th inning with a home run. Oliver Davis followed with a triple, and Kent Pearson homered.

Bob Rudyard pitched 7 strong innings to earn the win, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. He walked none but struck out 6.

Derrick Meadows batted leadoff: in Seattle's very first at bat, he lined a single to right for the franchise's first hit. After Moore and Davis singled to load the bases, Frend squibbed a slow roller past the pitcher. Shortstop Danny Burris was unable to field the ball quickly enough to catch the speedy Frend, and the infield hit drove in Meadows for the first run of the game. The Sasquatch would score 2 more in the inning to take a 3-0 lead. They never looked back.

The opening ceremonies featured a first pitch thrown out by Washington state Governor Christine Gregoire and a National Anthem sung by Chris Cornell.