A glorious game at Barry 2! The sky threatened rain but held off--and we even got some glimpses of blue sky as the evening progressed. The field was shaggy, our dugout was a bog, and home plate was mucky, but we made it work. We played newbie team Six Point (that's right, the brewery!) and they did not bring any beer with them. Boo.
The True Foes won the home field advantage and took a big lead in the first inning! Six Point faked us out for a moment in the second inning when they scored five runs, but after that they had nothing. It was a fast game because we kept shutting them down one-two-three whenever they were at bat!
When I say "we" I kind of mean Jason--he made five outs in a row at one point! They just kept hitting the ball right to him. Also, Ben guarded first base like a jealous boyfriend, and very few six-pointers had the privilege of meeting it.
We were missing (once again) a couple of our regulars last night: Glenn Baken and Shortstop Brian have apparently gone rogue, but Softball Dave stepped up to play short, despite suffering what may have been a wee hangover, Ryan Hullings bravely covered third base, and David Phillips, Laviola, and Casey covered the outfield on the rare occasion that the other team got the ball out there!
In the Big Bat Breakout category we have Tyson and Abbey! They both repeatedly excelled at excellently placed hits: not too high, not too low, and right into that spot between the infield and outfield where nobody can catch it. In fact everyone was hitting great last night! Jason made two doubles, and David Phillips had a sweet home run! He looked like the roadrunner going around those bases: his legs just kept going faster and faster until they were a blur!
We made our share of errors as well, but overall we outplayed Six Point consistently and thoroughly. Welcome to the league, suckas! The final score (which we know because of Finklea's attentive and enthusiastic score-keeping) was True Foes 13, Six Point, uh, 6.
To be fair, they were a nice team and gracious losers. One of them even told us to "keep making awesome DVDs" during the post-game hand slapping. But that didn't stop us from grinning as we slaked our thirst with some Six Points at the bar. As Alex put it, it was "kind of like drinking the blood of our enemies" after a battle.
What an awesome season so far! Thank you to everyone who comes out every time, and I wish I could give you all the individual shout-outs you deserve and still be pithy. There hasn't been a single game this year where we've feared forfeiting because of too few players. And, ahem, WE'RE THREE AND ONE BABY!
Our next game isn't until Friday, June 4, so stay limber, Foes! We'll be facing off against El Destructo back at Barry again. And since that's a Friday game we can really tie one on after we beat them--you seriously don't want to miss it!
GTF
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
True Foes vs. Predators, 5/5/10
It sure felt good to get back on the field after a rainout and a two-week break! The game was off to a late start over on Barry 1, due to some boys' school team wrapping up a game and taking their sweet time clearing out. Our opponents, the newbie "Predators," showed their true colors early on by poaching our dugout. Grr! We won the coin toss, but the True Foes' bats were a little rusty in the first three innings and the Preds took an early lead. They thought they were the cocks of the walk...until the True Foes' thrilling rally mid-game!
At this point I'd like to give mad props to Sarah Finklea, not only for her determination to take some hacks and reclaim her softball skills, but for keeping careful score and having a civilized discussion with the ump when he thought we were tied 6-6 when in reality we were ahead 7-6 at the bottom of the fifth!
Alas, this was not the only instance of unacceptable ump behavior: he also let himself get hoodwinked by the other team after Ryan Hullings hit a blazing triple. Ryan was safe on third, I was up, and then the Predators' first baseman claimed that Ryan didn't touch first base. Bad boy blue just took their word for it (even though he obviously didn't see anything amiss with his own eyes) and declared him out. Not cool. He also lost track of what inning we were in at one point, and accidentally shouted "Fair ball!" when he meant to say "Dead ball!" Dude.
The ump also failed to establish a stable strike zone, which meant the Predators repeatedly walked on base when they had no business doing so. I mean, I saw every pitch too, and there was simply no rhyme or reason to what he called a ball or a strike. So there Jason is, sweating it out on the mound, and blue is just phoning it in! Plus he was afraid of the ball and did this super girly "twist and flinch" move every time he thought a pitch might bounce in his direction. If you're the ump you've got to get your head in the game, man. Let's have some consistency and conviction, for Pete's sake!
Despite the disadvantages, the True Foes got it together and played hard to the end! Jason and Willy both hit spectacular home runs, and Alex Laviola unsettled the other team with his mismatched knee socks and aggressive base running. Softball Dave (our shortstop this game) and Issa made plenty of solid outs at first base, and David Phillips and Ben made good catches and brought the ball in quickly from the outfield. Tyson had a great hit during a crucial rallying moment, and Finklea & Casey covered the tricky rover/second base territory. Yours truly got to tag a guy gunning for home, which doesn't happen often and was great fun (especially because he said "Oh, shit!" right before he got out). I apologize for any positions/plays that I've omitted or misremembered--the sun was in my eyes the whole game, and the Cinco de Mayo margarita merriment may have interfered with my recall a bit!
It was exciting right up to the finish--the Predators reclaimed the lead by scoring some more runs in the sixth and seventh innings, and our second big rally didn't quite get off the ground, leaving us with a final score of 12-10. It's no fun losing, but we stepped it up in a challenging game and enjoyed an evening of absolutely perfect weather! Thank you to Susan, Lee, and Morgan for being our cheering section and keeping our spirits up even when our score wasn't!
We won't have to wait long for our next shot at glory: the True Foes face off against our old foes "El Destructo" next Wednesday on the very same field. If we can start strong and nix the pop-ups we're sure to destroy El D! You don't want to miss it!
GTF
At this point I'd like to give mad props to Sarah Finklea, not only for her determination to take some hacks and reclaim her softball skills, but for keeping careful score and having a civilized discussion with the ump when he thought we were tied 6-6 when in reality we were ahead 7-6 at the bottom of the fifth!
Alas, this was not the only instance of unacceptable ump behavior: he also let himself get hoodwinked by the other team after Ryan Hullings hit a blazing triple. Ryan was safe on third, I was up, and then the Predators' first baseman claimed that Ryan didn't touch first base. Bad boy blue just took their word for it (even though he obviously didn't see anything amiss with his own eyes) and declared him out. Not cool. He also lost track of what inning we were in at one point, and accidentally shouted "Fair ball!" when he meant to say "Dead ball!" Dude.
The ump also failed to establish a stable strike zone, which meant the Predators repeatedly walked on base when they had no business doing so. I mean, I saw every pitch too, and there was simply no rhyme or reason to what he called a ball or a strike. So there Jason is, sweating it out on the mound, and blue is just phoning it in! Plus he was afraid of the ball and did this super girly "twist and flinch" move every time he thought a pitch might bounce in his direction. If you're the ump you've got to get your head in the game, man. Let's have some consistency and conviction, for Pete's sake!
Despite the disadvantages, the True Foes got it together and played hard to the end! Jason and Willy both hit spectacular home runs, and Alex Laviola unsettled the other team with his mismatched knee socks and aggressive base running. Softball Dave (our shortstop this game) and Issa made plenty of solid outs at first base, and David Phillips and Ben made good catches and brought the ball in quickly from the outfield. Tyson had a great hit during a crucial rallying moment, and Finklea & Casey covered the tricky rover/second base territory. Yours truly got to tag a guy gunning for home, which doesn't happen often and was great fun (especially because he said "Oh, shit!" right before he got out). I apologize for any positions/plays that I've omitted or misremembered--the sun was in my eyes the whole game, and the Cinco de Mayo margarita merriment may have interfered with my recall a bit!
It was exciting right up to the finish--the Predators reclaimed the lead by scoring some more runs in the sixth and seventh innings, and our second big rally didn't quite get off the ground, leaving us with a final score of 12-10. It's no fun losing, but we stepped it up in a challenging game and enjoyed an evening of absolutely perfect weather! Thank you to Susan, Lee, and Morgan for being our cheering section and keeping our spirits up even when our score wasn't!
We won't have to wait long for our next shot at glory: the True Foes face off against our old foes "El Destructo" next Wednesday on the very same field. If we can start strong and nix the pop-ups we're sure to destroy El D! You don't want to miss it!
GTF
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