Game 1: It was our rematch against Maxx Nutrition, otherwise known as “the bruise-causers”. The team had really gotten on our nerves during the first meeting, when they run ruled us, and we wanted nothing more than to beat them. They were at full strength, but so were we. In fact, three of us (myself included) stayed on the bench the whole game, warned beforehand that if the game was close, Bobby probably wasn’t going to do much subbing to keep the rhythm of the game going.
It looked like that was going to be a moot point when they got two runs in the first and tacked on another three in the third. But a three-run home run got us on the board and rolling. We pulled even, then used the last two innings to pull away, winning 13-6. Needless to say, there was much rejoicing.
Game 2: Riding the high from that win, we looked to move over the .500 mark against a team that had been winless and that we had run-ruled the first meeting. And it looked like it was going to be another one of those kind of games when we piled up 12 runs in the top of the first. We even eased up a little, not trying to stretch extra-base hits, etc. Of course, that’d come back to bite us.
Our regular pitcher, Richard, was unavailable. Bobby made the start, but it’d been a while since he pitched. Control was a factor and, when they hit the ball, they did make solid contact. It was 12-5 after the first. They continued to score while our bats were quiet. Suddenly, it was 14-10. We switched pitchers. Nothing worked. They pushed into the lead and continued to score. We looked up and saw it was 24-14 and we were the ones in danger of being run ruled. We were able to score a few late (and finally shut them down) to avoid that threat, but that was small consolation.
On a personal note, my first time up I hit a solid ball through the shortstop area. Unfortunately, Russell was on second and had held up to make sure the ball went through. By time he took off, the outfielder had gotten to the ball and threw him out at third. I wound up scoring later in that inning. The next two times, I got hits to the same area, but never made it around. The final time, there were two on when I hit a weak grounder to the left side, hitting into a fielder’s choice. So I went 2-4, though I was on the basepaths a lot more than normal.
Game 3: Another battle that we wound up on the wrong side of. It was a back and forth affair, but it looked like it was going to be ours when we took a four-run lead into the top of the seventh. However, they rallied and we weren’t able to score, forcing the game into extra innings. No scoring happened in the eighth, but in the ninth they got two and we were only able to respond with one.
It was possibly my worst game of the season. I was the DH, but more accurately would have been the DO (designated out) as I went 0-4. My first AB was a walk, which led to our first run, but after that I wasn’t able to do much. My second at-bat, I hit the ball hard, but it was off the end of the bat right up the middle. The pitcher reflexively reached across his body and snagged it. If it got past him, I might have had a hit. The other two were just groundouts, including one with two outs and two on in the seventh.
Game 4: Last night’s game turned out about the way we expected. We were playing a team that had run-ruled Maxx and was a traveling team. They proved it with numerous hard-hit balls. Our defense was a little shaky at times as well, which didn’t help. They also had a rough inning, which let us get up 8-3 early in the game, but they were able to keep the offense going and wound up run-ruling us in the fifth inning. I was scheduled to catch the last two innings, but since they didn’t happen, I didn’t get into this game.
Average update: 8 for 21, .381. Not really what I've been putting up the last couple of years and it's pretty much all singles. I'm not a power hitter by any means, but occasionally I could get one past an outfielder. Even without that, though, I should be hitting for a higher average. Maybe I'll have a big game tomorrow.
All in all, our team’s been pretty decent this year. With just a couple of breaks or big innings that were contained, we’d be well over .500. There’s one game left, our rainout makeup. Hopefully we can go out with a win!
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