Softball+2017-07-09

=Chalices Rally to Defeat United Church, 9-6=

Community Church won its first game of the season on Sunday, defeating United Church, 9-6, in a competitive match between the only 2 win-less teams in the league. The Flaming Chalices scored all our runs in 2 big innings, the 1st and the 5th. The 5th inning rally came after UC had come back from a 4-1 deficit to take a narrow 5-4 lead. We overcame that lead by scoring 5 runs in the 5th inning, all with no outs, and then contained United Church for 2 more innings to seal the win. We combined timely hitting with solid defense to ensure our first W of the season.

In the first inning, our first 4 hitters (Nick, Nils, Will and Pete), all got base hits, scoring 2 runs in the process. Nick led off, legging out a double to center field. I followed with a bloop single just over 3B, and moved to 2nd base when the throw came home to prevent Nick from scoring on the play. Will followed with a solid hit to left field, driving in both Nick and me. Pete followed with a base hit to right field, sending Will to 3B. Jeff Nelson drove in Will on a fielder's choice ground ball. Three batters later, TJ Stankus drove in Jeff with the 4th run of the inning, on a base hit to right field. In each of the next 3 innings, we had a runner on base, but could not get any more hits to move the runner around to the plate. It was starting to look a lot like the pattern of previous games, where we score all our runs early, then our bats go silent.

The 5th inning changed that pattern from previous games. We had the top of the order leading off, just like in the 1st inning. Nick lined a base hit to center field. I followed with a grounder to 2B, which was muffed by the infielder, allowing both Nick and I to reach base safely. Will hit a towering fly ball to left field. The LF camped under it, but couldn't hold the ball and it fell to the ground. Nick scored and I went to 2B. Pete followed with a base hit to center, sending me to 3B and Will to 2B. With the bases loaded, Jeff drove a base hit to left field that scored 2 more runs (Nils, Will). Mark Bruhn followed with a hit that loaded the bases again; then Jean Masse completed the rally with single to center field that drove in Pete and Jeff for the final 2 runs of the inning.

Overall, we had 15 hits, including 2 doubles (Nick, TJ). The hitting was spread out over the entire lineup: 10 of our 11 batters had at least one hit. TJ Stankus -- returning to the team after missing all last season due to injury -- made his comeback with an exclamation point: 3 hits in 3 at-bats, and 1 RBI. Other hit leaders were Nick, Pete and Jeff, with 2 hits. Jeff led the team with 3 RBI, while Will and Jean contributed 2 RBI each.

On the defensive side, we played almost flawless defense, except for a couple wild throws to 1st base. The left side of the infield was extremely busy: SS Will and 3B Pete each handled 9 fielding plays. A lot of ground balls were hit to Pete, and he successfully threw out 5 runners at first base. Will caught a couple of line drives and also tagged 2 runners on the base path trying to advance 2nd to 3rd on ground balls he fielded. 2B Lucien Masse threw out a runner, as did also P Jeff Nelson. 1B Jean Masse handled all kinds of throws at first base, some very difficult, recording 7 put-outs. The UC batters also hit 4 fly balls to left field, which I caught, one a difficult shallow fly ball that I had to slide on my knees to reach. Nick caught 2 fly balls in center field. Only one ball got past our outfield the entire game: a gapper to left-center in the 6th inning that resulted in a triple by UC's 3rd spot hitter and starting pitcher.

Terrific game and win for the Community Church Flaming Chalices. Congratulations to all of us!