Catching Up: Softball

I know, I know, it’s ridiculous how far behind I am in blogging. Some people have been kind enough to inquire about the status of my computer. (Are you happy, Kevin?) While there is some family stuff to talk about, let’s get the softball out of the way. As you can see, I’ve added the schedule to the left side of the blog, so you can quickly find the results. But for the stories behind the scores, well, that’s what I’m here for.

Let’s see. I left off after our second completed game, leaving us at 1-1. I missed the 8/28 game due to a busy evening of a TLC open house (where we could meet the teachers the kids were going to have for the year) and a church meeting. From all accounts, it was a good game. We had a 9-4 lead after one, I believe, but they kept coming. We had the tying runs on in the last inning, though, and just couldn’t get them in.

September 8 was Maxx Hardcore. You know how there’s always at least one team that has no business playing in a lower division? That’d be this team. The sponsor has a team in every division and while I don’t know if players play on more than one team, the way these guys went about it, I wouldn’t be surprised. We actually hung with them pretty well, as it took a 2-run home run in the sixth to run-rule us a little before time expired. This was a fairly memorable game for me, though. Not because of anything I did at the plate—I went one for three with an opposite-field flair that just got over the infield—but what happened at the plate.

In about the second inning, with the score already 5-0 or so, the opposing batter laced a ball into the outfield for a double. One guy scored easily, but the throw was coming in for the guy that started at first. Remember, this is a team that is beating us handily in the lowest division of city softball.

When a batter hits the ball to the outfield, I always step in front of the plate and wait to see if any throws come in. That’s what I did this time, but apparently I had shifted my position some as I focused on the throw that was cut off by the shortstop and coming my way. I should have been looking somewhere else.

The next thing I know, I am on the ground on the other side of home plate.

The runner had not bothered to try to go around me. Sliding apparently didn’t enter his vocabulary. No, in a blowout game not being played at the highest level, he decided that, being that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points, there was no reason a scrawny catcher should make him detour.

I tried to scramble up, especially since the ball had been thrown to where I had been, not where I was currently. Bobby backed me up, though, and we thought about tagging the runner, but as he strutted back to his dugout he stated he was safe and, to be fair, he was. And for what it’s worth, when I came up to bat next time, the player (who was also catching) did ask if I was OK. There was no concern at the time, of course, but I guess something is better than nothing.

The lasting memento of the incident was a huge bruise on my arm. It started out small, but by Sunday, it was taking up most of my upper arm. So, of course, we have a picture:

Here we are just over two weeks later and there are still traces of the mark, though it’s pretty much faded by now.

The next game was a week later. Due to the fact that I needed to go to Promise Keepers in the middle of it, I was the starting DH. I wound up going one for two in the game. (That’s what I get for waiting to blog, I can’t quite remember the details.) We won that one going away, as it was 12-1 when I left for PK. That night most everything they hit we caught and what we hit, they didn’t. A good all around performance.

The final game of this recap happened last Thursday. It was a game that was scheduled for 9:30, but appeared that it was going to start very late. The 6:30 game must have run over, because the 7:30 game did not end until close to 9:00. However, we didn’t realize who was playing in the 8:30 game. Maxx Hardcore—the team with the bruise creator—wound up run ruling the other team in less than 30 minutes. (See, told you they weren’t a D3 team!) We actually started the game on time, which was shocking.

From the get-go, this looked like the game that was going to get us to .500 on the season. We scored early, held them down, and responded when they scored. Things were going well.

I was the catcher for this game, getting back on the horse after the earlier incident. My first at-bat, I stroked one between short and third, driving in my first run of the season. My second at-bat was one I was fairly proud of, though.

I took the first pitch, which put me in the hole 1-2. The next pitch was a little short, but I swung and hit a ball right in front of the plate. I took off, but the catcher tagged me. However, he’d picked up the ball in foul territory, so my foul was used but I was still alive. The next pitch I took, but it honestly could have been called strike three. I think the ump missed one, but I wasn’t going to complain. I could tell the pitcher was trying to throw short and get me to swing and miss, but I adjusted on the next pitch, hanging up mid-swing enough to be able to reach out and flip the ball to the outfield.

After five and two-thirds innings of a seven-inning game, we led 12-7. Things were cruising until the bottom fell out. I heard our pitcher say later that the ball he got to replace a foul ball seemed a bit harder. Whatever the case, everything started falling in. Balls dropped, runs scored. The final blow was a three-run home run that put them ahead 13-12.

The bottom of the sixth and the top of the seventh were fairly quiet. In the bottom of the seventh, Bobby led off with a single and Chuck followed with a walk. Jason hit a grounder to the shortstop, but he was unable to tag Bobby and everyone was safe. Bases loaded, nobody out. Surely we are going to at least tie this up, right?

Richard was up next. He hit a fly ball that may have been deep enough to score the run, but Bobby had gone halfway down the line. By time he got back, it wasn’t possible to tag up. One out. The next batter also hit a fly ball. This time Bobby got back and took off when it was caught. Unfortunately, the outfielder made an amazing throw and the catcher put the tag on for a game-ending double play.

That was probably the toughest loss of the year. I hope it will be, because I couldn’t handle any tougher ones, I don’t think. We play again Thursday against the team we beat to start the season, so maybe we can up our record against them.