We played game 2 of the young softball season yesterday, a game between the aptly-named Team 1 (Megan, Ryan, Cory, Pat B, Lisa, David B, Dan, Allan, and Chris) and the Fighting Mongooses (Pat C, Walsh, Sharon, Bill, Ethan, Marcie, Nate, Dave R, Tellef). It was a great day for a game, sunny and cool, but not cold. Lauren opted not to play after injuring her back blasting a 500+ foot home run in batting practice. Sharon and Marcie were both playing hurt, battling various debilitating leg injuries.
It started off as a pitcher’s duel, with both team’s offenses struggling to get going. After three innings, the score was just 4-2 in favor of Team 1, with Pat C scoring both of the Mongooses’ runs, one on his home run to lead off the game, while pitchers Bill and Lisa shut down most of the offense.
The Mongooses found their bats in the middle innings, exploding for 17 runs through the fourth, fifth and sixth. Bill helped his own cause in that time, picking up five RBIs and jacking a three-run home run. Team 1 put up six runs in the fifth, helped by home runs from Pat B and Dave B, as well as some heads up baserunning by Chris to get out of a rundown, reaching third just ahead of Walsh’s throw from the ground. In the sixth, though, they found themselves set down in order by the Mongoose’s new ace pitcher, Tellef.
One must mention the amazing throw by Dave R. from center field to the third baseman Pat C. While Bill attempted to cut off the throw, the sun was clearly in his (and Pat’s) eyes since no one saw the ball till it was almost too late. Yes, Pat’s cat-like reaction saved his future offspring from Dave’s wrath! Everyone held their breath for a moment before laughing hysterically. Since the pack of cigarettes in his pocket cushioned the blow, Pat gives the credit for his narrow escape to his smoking habit. Ironic?
Team 1 got seven more runs in the seventh, including Cory’s three-run shot to right. Meanwhile, Lisa set about shutting down the Mongoose offense. Only Bill and Marcie were able to produce any runs in the seventh, and the team couldn’t get anything at all going in the eighth and ninth.
But in the late innings, Team 1 would come back with a vengeance, tying the game in the eighth. In the ninth, Marcie, despite her injury, made a great catch behind the plate on a foul ball by Chris to help her team’s progress toward damming the Ones’ raging torrent of runs. Megan, Ryan, and Cory scored two runs each in that inning alone and, in the end, Team 1 put the Mongooses away with a final score of 31-21.
Sorry, no pics this week that I know of. If someone snuck a camera in, send the shots along to me and I’ll post them in our bucket.
