Softball Update, 10-25-09
Opponent: Navy
Score: 20-10 (W, 5-1, 3-1 in Division)
Personal Stats: 3-3, 2 BBs, 2 Runs, 2 RBIs
Season Stats: 17-23, 4 2Bs, HR, 3 BBs, 10 Runs, 14 RBIs
Recap: The battle of the 4-1 teams, top of each division. We had an advantage in that they only had 9 players, so the outfield was a little more open for us. We'll play them again in two weeks, right before the playoffs, and will probably get a better sense of the match up then.
A little back story on our opposition. The Navy team is filled with some of my favorite people in the league, so playing them is kind of bittersweet. Granted I have friends on every team, but the Navy team is particularly loaded, especially with some of the stars of my past teams (Chris and Whitney), our commissioner and great guy (Dave), and our fearless ministry head himself (Brian). With both divisions wrapped up, this looked to be a fun game, with little pressure on either side.
We were finally back on the home side again, but that wasn't so great when we were looking down at bases loaded and no outs in the top of the first against us. Fortunately our defense stiffened and we were able to escape with only two runs of damage against us. A quick fly out in the bottom of the first brought me up with one out, and I saw a pitch that looked good to pull and swung at it. This was stupid. It is pretty close between our two teams as to who has the best left side of the diamond on defense, and probably a good reason why we both have the records we do. I pushed a hard grounder up the middle and just managed to have it skip off the side of the glove of the shortstop. I was on first and incredibly lucky. A double, walk, and two singles brought in three runs to give us a 3-2 lead after one inning.
Two quick outs in the top of the second, but a single and a double scored a run to tie the game before we got the third out. We got two runners on in the bottom of the second, but since they were both via walk (including mine), no runs were scored and we had a tie game. A couple singles and a fielders choice got the Navy team up 4-3 going into the bottom of the third, but then we had one of our "moments."
I will say for all the success our team is having, I've had to do very little coaching. I had to make a lot of decisions today due to some leg injuries, getting people in positions to minimize their discomfort (physically and mentally), and giving some fielding and batting advice, but, by and large, this team knows what it is doing and handles itself. And everyone can hit, so eventually we have these "moments" where we string everything together. Double, single, single, walk, single, single, single, 2 fielder's choice, brought me up again with two outs, and I singled. Then the final out was made, but we had put 6 runs on the board to take a 9-4 lead.
A triple and single got them a run back in the top of the fourth, but our bats had caught fire and were finding the holes. Four runs in the fourth, a scoreless top of the fifth, and another "moment" for six more runs in the bottom of the fifth (including another walk for me, all deep, trust me, I really wanted to swing), bringing us to 19-5. They scored three more runs in the sixth, and two in the seventh, while we scored on more in the bottom of the sixth and did not have to bat in the home half of the seventh. In all, a solid victory over a solid (if not undermanned) team.
Summary: These are the best kinds of games for a church league. Very fun, very loose, no controversy, just a bunch of people out having a great time playing a great game with a lot of great people. I look forward to the rematch in a couple weeks, though first we get to play the only team left we have yet to face next week. It'll be fun!
Score: 20-10 (W, 5-1, 3-1 in Division)
Personal Stats: 3-3, 2 BBs, 2 Runs, 2 RBIs
Season Stats: 17-23, 4 2Bs, HR, 3 BBs, 10 Runs, 14 RBIs
Recap: The battle of the 4-1 teams, top of each division. We had an advantage in that they only had 9 players, so the outfield was a little more open for us. We'll play them again in two weeks, right before the playoffs, and will probably get a better sense of the match up then.
A little back story on our opposition. The Navy team is filled with some of my favorite people in the league, so playing them is kind of bittersweet. Granted I have friends on every team, but the Navy team is particularly loaded, especially with some of the stars of my past teams (Chris and Whitney), our commissioner and great guy (Dave), and our fearless ministry head himself (Brian). With both divisions wrapped up, this looked to be a fun game, with little pressure on either side.
We were finally back on the home side again, but that wasn't so great when we were looking down at bases loaded and no outs in the top of the first against us. Fortunately our defense stiffened and we were able to escape with only two runs of damage against us. A quick fly out in the bottom of the first brought me up with one out, and I saw a pitch that looked good to pull and swung at it. This was stupid. It is pretty close between our two teams as to who has the best left side of the diamond on defense, and probably a good reason why we both have the records we do. I pushed a hard grounder up the middle and just managed to have it skip off the side of the glove of the shortstop. I was on first and incredibly lucky. A double, walk, and two singles brought in three runs to give us a 3-2 lead after one inning.
Two quick outs in the top of the second, but a single and a double scored a run to tie the game before we got the third out. We got two runners on in the bottom of the second, but since they were both via walk (including mine), no runs were scored and we had a tie game. A couple singles and a fielders choice got the Navy team up 4-3 going into the bottom of the third, but then we had one of our "moments."
I will say for all the success our team is having, I've had to do very little coaching. I had to make a lot of decisions today due to some leg injuries, getting people in positions to minimize their discomfort (physically and mentally), and giving some fielding and batting advice, but, by and large, this team knows what it is doing and handles itself. And everyone can hit, so eventually we have these "moments" where we string everything together. Double, single, single, walk, single, single, single, 2 fielder's choice, brought me up again with two outs, and I singled. Then the final out was made, but we had put 6 runs on the board to take a 9-4 lead.
A triple and single got them a run back in the top of the fourth, but our bats had caught fire and were finding the holes. Four runs in the fourth, a scoreless top of the fifth, and another "moment" for six more runs in the bottom of the fifth (including another walk for me, all deep, trust me, I really wanted to swing), bringing us to 19-5. They scored three more runs in the sixth, and two in the seventh, while we scored on more in the bottom of the sixth and did not have to bat in the home half of the seventh. In all, a solid victory over a solid (if not undermanned) team.
Summary: These are the best kinds of games for a church league. Very fun, very loose, no controversy, just a bunch of people out having a great time playing a great game with a lot of great people. I look forward to the rematch in a couple weeks, though first we get to play the only team left we have yet to face next week. It'll be fun!