Softball+2017-08-20

=United Church Overcomes Chalices, 13-10=

In a consolation tournament game today, United Church avenged 2 previous regular season losses, defeating Community Church, 13-10. UC's 5-run fourth inning was the difference maker. We had some defensive lapses which allowed them to keep their inning alive and score 5 runs, to give them a 7-run lead that we were only able to slightly chip away, but never overcome. To their credit, UC had 7 out of 9 very solid hitters who were always a threat to hit the ball hard and reach base safely. And they played good defense (except for second base), which required us to earn every run we scored.

Today's game saw the return of the Paden men, from a vacation absence. Bruce was unable to play, but cheered us on from the bench. Jonah ably played 3rd base for the first time and played very well, tagging out 2 baserunners on the base path, and throwing out 5 more runners! He looked very smooth handling ground balls and making the long throw to first base. And even more impressively, he seemed unintimidated by several hard-hit balls that caromed off his glove or body. Nice game, Jonah! SS Will Bara had 3 put-outs and 4 assists, so that between them they were responsible for most of the outs we recorded against United Church. Will made 3 nice catches on popups behind 3rd base, and one line drive hit in the gap between SS and 3B, which he stretched out as far as he could and snagged in his glove to end a run-scoring threat. 1B Jean Masse also made a good play on an off-target throw, tagging the runner on the baseline after making the catch. In the outfield, they only hit one ball past us, but blooped a lot of base hits in front of us. Each of our 4 outfielders (TJ, me, Mark B, and Daniel) had at least one ball come his way. TJ and I were the busiest. I caught 3 fly balls and nearly made what would have been a highlight reel catch. I ran back to my right trying to chase down a line drive in the left-center gap, on a dead run, had the ball in the glove, but it squirted out, rolled down my arm and fell to the ground despite my effort to juggle and hold on to it. Maybe I will have a dream about that play tonight, and in the dream, I hold onto the ball!

On the batting side, we scored 10+ runs for the 3rd game in a row. We had 17 hits as a team, in 38 at-bats. Jean led the team, going 4-for-4, with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. Her lone run scored came on a daring play in the 6th when we were down by 4 runs: she ran from 1st to 3rd on a shallow single to centerfield, then took off for home with the shortstop holding the ball at 2nd base. It so surprised the UC defense, that they did not even make a throw. Mark Bruhn had 3 hits and 2 RBI. Will, TJ, Pete and I each had 2 hits. TJ and I each scored 3 times, while Will led the team with 4 RBIs. TJ had a double, and Will hit 2 doubles. Once again, Will hit the ball further than any other player on the field today. On three of his 4 at-bats, the ball carried nearly to the fence in left field and in center field. They finally got him out in his last at-bat when the center fielder just kept backing up on Will's towering fly ball until he was able to catch it.

Two-out RBI: Only one today, by Pete Siragusa in the 1st inning (preceded by another 2-out hit by Mark B).

Double plays snuffed out potential rallies. We hit into 3 of them today, a high for the season. We ended the game hitting into a double play, after scoring 2 runs to come within 3, and with the bases loaded.

Tough way to end the season, with a loss and the tying run on base, but that's softball. The game is designed to keep us humble.