Game Recap

July 24th v. Tequila Mockingbirds

T 12 – 12

We have played Tequila Mockingbirds many times over the years and always have a good game – often an intense game with a bit of bickering between the teams but usually forgotten by the end of the game.  We were nervous about this game since we were missing some of our core folks, but we are a deep team and went out expecting another W.

The first inning was ok, ending 2 to 2 after Justin’s homerun bringing in Dave as well.  But then we were held scoreless for the next four innings, everyone on our roster having trouble at plate, especially the top of our lineup.  Thankfully our defense was still playing well and we kept them pretty quiet until the 6th inning, where they scored 4 runs.

At the top of the 7th inning, the score was 8 to 3, them.  They were at the bottom of the lineup and we thankfully had little trouble – 3 up, 3 down.  But we needed 5 runs to at least tie this game and getting runners on base was proving to be a problem all game.  Unfortunately Bonnie was very disorganized and not prepared when Justin needed to know how many runs we needed and kept messing up.  When he asked in a very serious voice, “Is that confirmed Bonnie?” I knew this was some serious shit.

We started off in the middle of our lineup, with new player Johnny (friend of Dustin in case Jill gets confused again).  He started us off with a double and the next few batters: Jared, Seth, Rhys, my Girl Lizzie, Dave and Justin – all hit perfect line drives bringing in exactly what we needed: 5 runs.  We were headed into extra innings.

But we had to deal with the top of their line up and they had to deal with the middle to bottom of ours (thankfully my team is awesome).  After a bomb hit by their third batter and some more hits, they were now up by 4 runs.  Do we have to do this again?  Hell yeah – and we were up for the challenge.

“Who is” Johnny had a homerun of his own, bringing in Jen.  2 more needed.  A single by Seth and by Emmie had two people on base with one out.  Golden Birthday Boy and rockstar Wes has been on the DL for about a month, but dresses up and comes out to each game.  I just looked at him and said, you want in? and the boy was off to grab a bat and warm up.  He was told that he was not allowed to hurt himself and just walk to first and we will have a runner in for him, which Cooper volunteered.  As Wes does, he hit a solid ball getting himself and his bum knee a double, scoring both Seth and Emmie – tied game.  Or maybe not.  Tequila Mockingbird got off the field and started congratulating us so we shook their hands and with confused looks asked what just happened.

After some talking back and forth, we realized their mistake and had to retake the field.  Some of our mojo was gone at this point.  Cooper took second for Wes and Rhys was at bat with one out.  Unfortunately there was some confusion between base coach Dave and Cooper and after Rhys’s pop up was caught, Cooper was caught off of second.  Womp Womp.  It didn’t take the excitement away.  We were not ourselves and down the whole game.  It was a great game and a tie did not prevent us from enjoying any moment.

 

July 17th v. What Exit

W 15-14

What a game!  Unfortunately Bonnie broke her streak of behaving herself.  The theory that without beer she would refrain from fighting was broken when the other team started lecturing her on the “science” of tagging someone out.  Justin, would you like me to tell you the story again?  Thankfully, the team backed her up with one of the most exciting games of the 18th Amendment career.

We played What Exit?, a team made up of Dem staffers from NJ offices that has been in the league as long as we have.  A team we have played many times before and we always have a close game.  This was no different.

We had some difficulty with our bats in the beginning of the game.  The top of my line up got out quickly – 3 outs after 4 batters.  And by the bottom of the second it was 4 – 0 them.  Thankfully my girl Jenn fixed that for us – she showed the boys how to get on base and by the end of the inning we were down by 1.

Our defense was stellar in inning 3 and our bats started swinging resulting in 5 more runs for us and finally the lead.  New teammate Cameron came into the game and with his first (and only – sorry about that) swing, got a homerun.  We were feeling confident.

Unfortunately What Exit? kept finding our holes and kept adding to their runs.  There was some really shady calls during the game including an amazing double play that somehow got overturned even though their base coach wasn’t paying attention, but then claimed he saw it perfectly. And then immediately afterwards another messed up call claiming that Mark never tagged second to get their guy out even though it was clear he was there.  And this is where things got heated – for Bonnie.  Being slow to realize the double play was reversed, one of the What Exit? players decided to teach me some science and how you must attempt to swipe someone out for them to actually be out.  He was rude and condescending – but I did not need to continue the fight but couldn’t help myself.  It did not help that we ended the 6th inning down by 2 runs.

The 7th inning at this point was very intense.  There was a little disagreement on how many runs What Exit? scored in the previous inning – I showed 3, they had 4.  And they had scored in the last three innings, making us worried that the run differential may grow to large for us to overcome.  But our team banned together and somehow got three up, three down.

Now it was our time to take the plate.  We started with the top of our lineup, so we were feeling pretty optimistic.  This quickly left when Pace and JRo both immediately got out.  2 outs, down by 2.  Being the skilled batter he is, Mark saw a hole and made sure his hit went right through it.  Man on first, two outs.  Dave at bat.  Dave, a stellar hitter normally was struggling at the plate in the game.  He shook that off and with determination hit an outstanding homerun – we could not contain ourselves.  Tied game.  But we really did not want to go into extra innings.  Of course my girls never ever let me down and Jenn made is safely to base, this time with a double.  Perfect set up for Chris – just hit the ball safely and keep this inning going.  He did more than that – hard hit line drive was good enough to bring Jenn in and the W for 18th Amendment.

Special Agent you were missed during this game.  Nobody would have enjoyed that ending more than you – and I know you would have had my back during my science lesson.  I love this team and that was a game for the books.  Let’s keep it up team!

June 26th v. Hired Guns

W 20-10

Most important note to this game – this is the team that beat us in the playoffs and because of that we wanted a win desperately.  Second important note, and not less than the first, this was Todd’s last game and his enthusiasm for the game and the team was never ending and for him we wanted the win so badly.  And with him taking the mound, and a full roster – we had over 20 people out there – we got it.

We were helped by 5 homeruns in the game, 2 by Wes.  In fact, the team learned too quickly about Wes and backed up into another game practically when he was at bat.  Good thing for us he is smart enough and humble enough to not fall for their tactics and hit a perfect double at the end to make them run a bit.  Mark showed off to his dad who was able to watch the game and went 5 for 5 with a 2 singles, a double and a homerun.  If we could have gotten that triple it would have been great.  And Pace did not disappoint and was bleeding by the end of the game.  I think this is our 6th game and the 6th time he has been wounded during softball.

It was a slightly hot, but beautiful night on the mall, and with a full team, it was just a great time.  And a great way to celebrate Todd’s last game – which Justin made more memorable by pouring his beer over Todd and 4 year old Savannah at the end of the game. We had the perfect field on the mall, you can see a bit of the Capitol in our photo, and we hope to have many more games like this one.

Great game guys!

June 19th v. Two Drinks Minimum

L 6-7

We didn’t have a full team this week, but made due and tried our best.  While we should have walked away with a win, we weren’t able to make it happen.  We did switch up some players positions and Jen was good enough to play shortstop for us even though she wasn’t too happy about it.  She also did a great job.  Unfortunately Jared stole my book, so I have lost some details of the game.  Stay tuned.

June 5th v. Campers

W 13 – 5

Another great game by our squad.  It was a beautiful day outside and we secured a spot on the mall.  Thank you mysterious intern Charlie for sitting there all day and disappearing before the game so we don’t even have to share our beer with you.  If you exist.  Unfortunately this field included some obstacles with some large barricades in right field and a street with high traffic behind home plate.  Always exciting if the catcher didn’t get the ball in time and had to FROGGER the street to retrieve the ball.

So the game began with the Campers hitting a bunch of line drives and scoring a quick 4 runs.  They kept finding that hole between short and third and running the bases well to make it around.  When we finally got at bat, our guys worked hard to even up the score.  Pace helped with a homerun at his first (and second Justin – don’t be a hater) at bat and the guys behind him helped us out and we ended the first inning down by just 1 run.

Thankfully our veteran short stop with all his skills, Mark Ahart, closed that hole and stopped the Campers from getting those line drives.  They ended up getting just one more run in the game.  He had some great stops – snagging the ball from everywhere in the field and Emmie just swallowed up every ball he threw to her getting each Camper  out at first.

Our right field was protected by many men on the team – including Metro for an inning or two.  One of the Campers better hitters hit a doozy out to right field and somehow without moving or looking overly competent, Metro was able to put his glove in the perfect position and stole, what I think would have been a homerun, from the other team.

My girls are awesome.  Unfortunately the other team figured this out pretty quickly and when the outfield came in for Jen’s first at bat, the pitcher quickly told them all to back up, this girl is skilled.  Jen hit a triple, that probably would have been a homerun but Dustin was in front of her with a possible pulled hammy and not able to go at full speed.  But Emmie and Jen were not the only rock stars out there.  My girl Lizzy, aka giggles, hit a beautiful ball to the outfield, in a place no one could get to, and ran jumping up and down with the biggest smile and huge laugh, very safely to first.

It was a great game – and the Campers were a great team.  Even though Todd, who did a great job co-managing the team with me and pitching another great game (and with a beautiful triple of his own), seemed to take offense to this, I think the Campers skills were close to our own.  They had a great girl playing first and a short stop that was amazing.  They seemed like a really nice team and it would be a pleasure to play them again.  Here is hoping for a win #5 next week.

 

 

 

May 29th v. Big Riggin

W 19 – 11

Yesterday started grey, literally.  The rain began first thing in the morning and lasted until the game started.  Justin assured the team that the skies would be clear for all three hours of the game, but no one on our team or on Big Riggin seemed to believe him.  But we are just dumb enough to go out and play anyway.  Somehow he was right.  Just a light drizzle in the beginning quickly vanished and the game went on successfully.  In all regards.

After the top of the first, I became a little nervous with their first 4 guys getting on base fairly easily and scoring three runs.  But we finally got some control and of our defense and our bats were cracking.

The game highlights included the top 4 in our order all getting home runs, a great double play to get us out of a jam, Pace having a line drive stolen from him by an amazing catch from their second base cute girl, and Metro keeping his streak alive (3 games with HRs).  My entire team played well and drank well.

A special shout out definitely has to be given to Emmie for coming out the night before she moved after a lot of pressure from us and just cracking the shit out of the ball.  Awesome job.  I hope the move goes well today!

Beer Purchased by SETH!

**

May 22nd v. MBallers

F 7 – 1.  Unfortunately the MBallers had some problems getting a field together.  They had three last minute scratches and had to forfeit the game.  On top of that, 4 of there teammates were stuck in such bad traffic that they didn’t get there until about 7:30.  That didn’t stop us from having fun.  We had a large enough team to lend them some players and had a lot of laughs and a lot of beer.  Mary from Team DeSantis joined us for the first time and had some stellar hits and a great one liner explaining that she knows that when she runs to first she can overrun the bag a bit as long as she goes to the right – still confused on that one.  Justin got to play his old position for a bit and play outfield, although when he was successful in catching the ball he had to find someone close by to toss it to since he still can’t throw.  Not sure how he plays softball with that shoulder.  And Metro shocked us all with 2 home runs and an amazing 3rd inning at Shortstop for the first time.  Who knew he could catch.  We assume that will be the last game he joins so he can walk away with his head held high with that as his last great softball memory.  Oh and did I mention that Jenn had a legit homerun.  Love all my girls, but the Colgate girls just rock.  Including Stella, our new team puppy (Along with Nixxy of course).

Beer purchased by SHIRA!

 **

May 15th v. Brew Crew

Won 38 – 2.  Might be our biggest whopping in 18th Amendment history.  Saw at least 7 Home Runs by the good guys and one by new player Dustin that I think possibly hasn’t dropped from the sky yet.  There was one ball that dropped from the sky and onto Bonnie’s face resulting in a black eye – and she never even played.  Impressive all around guys!

Beer Purchased by PACE!