The afternoon of Thursday July 3rd looked gloomy, with big black clouds and rumbles of thunder, similar to how the softball game would play-out for the Lords and Ladies..... a Gloomy loss against the Forced Outages, that had circumstances been slightly different, we likely could have won.
Things started on the up and up, with the Lords and Ladies pulling well ahead in the first few innings. There were some highlights, like Crowley's and Wade's pitcher-first baseman tag-team plays. Another highlight was Tim's home run, which certainly should have only been a single had the FO's been able to field the ball without it slipping out of their hands. Diana, Brandy and Brian made some fabulous stops to prevent the ball from rolling deep into the grass, and Margo got a big 'out' or maybe two at second base. Meanwhile, Andrew held a picnic at Right Field, and invited the Forced Outage players to hit over towards him so he could at least get his hand on the ball once.
The Forced Outages made some (or many) critical errors throughout the game, and for the first time in the season the Lords and Ladies called an 'out' on an opponent runner's massive lead-off from first base (note; the lead-off started well before any swing). There were some close calls on both sides, but still by the bottom of the 5th the 'Ladies were well ahead.
Then something happened. Either the Lords and Ladies got tired, or more likely perhaps they got a little over confident. In the sixth (or was it the 7th?) an un-named player (let's call him 'Goose') started to round second base, trying for a triple, only to stop after rounding second and watch as the ball made its way back to the infield. As 'Goose' dawdled back to second he taunted the fielder who held the ball, only to get it slapped on his butt milliseconds before reaching his foot out to touch second base. 'Out' was the call. Another encounter had a L & L member stand after a hit and watch the ball almost get caught, get fumbled, and then make it to first base before the batter had really started to take-off for the bag. Combined with a few good hits from the opposition, The Forced Outages began to claw their way back.
Going into the seventh inning the score was 11-9 for the Lords and Ladies. Starting off batting the FO's knew that a win was within their grasp, and had a massive inning to put them ahead 14-11. Knowing that it was now or never, the 'Ladies tried to make a comeback, but failed to get-in any runs (if I remember correctly.... the score sheet's in my garage, so maybe we did get one run in). Regardless we didn't get enough to pull back ahead, and we held our heads low and held an impromptu batting practice.
Have no fear, Tuesday August 26th will bring us a chance to redeem ourselves, as we'll be facing the Forced Outages once more. In the meantime the coach has ordered us a pallet of steroids to 'bulk-up'; our new secret weapon. Or maybe we'll just focus on a few key skills during the games ahead, like staying-put on a base when the ball is 3 feet in front of you. :) Sorry Goose. No matter though, a fun time was had, and we enjoyed the team's company a bit longer at the Courtyard Pub.
Next game is Thursday July 10 at 5:00pm, again on the Kinsmen South diamond, against the fearful-looking RCMT team. This is the make-up for last week's rain-out. Focus of the game will be batters running hard after their hits. :P
See you then!
