In an epic comeback, Kapsch stormed back not once but twice, including from four runs down going into the sixth and last inning, and held the Blue Dots scoreless in the bottom of the sixth to win 18-17.
We were feeling pretty good about ourselves after scoring five times in the top of the first. We played with just 10 players, and without the power duo, Bert and D. But the Blue Dot pitcher was wild and we started with two walks (and a K but we won't talk about that). Sandwiched around the walks was a run scoring double by Gregg and a two run base knock by Bo. All in all there were four walks in the inning, including one with the bases loaded.
That's a pretty good start. The Blue Dots were even shorter - they played with 8 1/2 bodies (their catcher's hamstring was as bad as D's on our side, but he sucked it up so they could field nine players). The problem is that when a team plays short but their good hitters are present, they get more at bats. We had some shaky defense in the bottom half, and they batted around almost twice to go up 11-5. Talk about your slap upside the head!
But last night there was no quit in us - we responded in the second with six this time to tie it up 11-11. The big blow was a moon shot by Gregg, a three run job over the left field fence.
On a Tom ground out, we re-took the lead but 12-11 proved to be precarious, and the Dots added on and built a 17-13 lead going into the final inning.
It started innocently enough - the first baseman bobbled the ball on a grounder to short by yours truly. I say it often: "And that's how it started!" In fact that was how it started. After a force out, Jay came up. The other teams scout him pretty well - he's always looking to go to right field. They were about 100 feet off the line in left. He got the inside pitch, and yanked it a foot fair down the line for a double.
More clutch hits, singles by B and Cage, who finally got a pitch to hit. He had been 0 for 1 with a foul ball K which we are not talking about and three walks, and was threatening to tie my team record of four walks in a game. After another hit and a force out, Tom brought us within a run with two outs. Mario strode to the plate. The scouting report was pull, pull, pull. The left fielder showed no respect and came way in. Mario then sent a ball flying over his head, slicing and twisting with the breeze. The tying and lead runs came in, but that was to be all.
We had to protect a one run lead. The Blue Dots average about 16 runs a game, which is about two runs an inning. They had some of their big hitters coming up. But Nick caught a ball, and Mario, playing second in shallow right got an out on a grounder. They got the tying run to third but Tom shut down the last hitter, and the win was ours, 18-17.
Very satisfying. The lost season is not so lost as we catapulted into fourth place. It will be tough, with the top three teams still on our schedule in the last four games. But at least we are competitive.
Milestones:
4/24
Monty 1100 ab (#3)
D 20 hr (#4)
Jay 700 ab (#9)
Bert 250 ab (#22)
5/1
Coop AND Heffe
1500 ab (T#1)
Heffe 400 rbi (#3)
B 20 bb (#15)
Gregg 50 ab (#52)
We were feeling pretty good about ourselves after scoring five times in the top of the first. We played with just 10 players, and without the power duo, Bert and D. But the Blue Dot pitcher was wild and we started with two walks (and a K but we won't talk about that). Sandwiched around the walks was a run scoring double by Gregg and a two run base knock by Bo. All in all there were four walks in the inning, including one with the bases loaded.
That's a pretty good start. The Blue Dots were even shorter - they played with 8 1/2 bodies (their catcher's hamstring was as bad as D's on our side, but he sucked it up so they could field nine players). The problem is that when a team plays short but their good hitters are present, they get more at bats. We had some shaky defense in the bottom half, and they batted around almost twice to go up 11-5. Talk about your slap upside the head!
But last night there was no quit in us - we responded in the second with six this time to tie it up 11-11. The big blow was a moon shot by Gregg, a three run job over the left field fence.
On a Tom ground out, we re-took the lead but 12-11 proved to be precarious, and the Dots added on and built a 17-13 lead going into the final inning.
It started innocently enough - the first baseman bobbled the ball on a grounder to short by yours truly. I say it often: "And that's how it started!" In fact that was how it started. After a force out, Jay came up. The other teams scout him pretty well - he's always looking to go to right field. They were about 100 feet off the line in left. He got the inside pitch, and yanked it a foot fair down the line for a double.
More clutch hits, singles by B and Cage, who finally got a pitch to hit. He had been 0 for 1 with a foul ball K which we are not talking about and three walks, and was threatening to tie my team record of four walks in a game. After another hit and a force out, Tom brought us within a run with two outs. Mario strode to the plate. The scouting report was pull, pull, pull. The left fielder showed no respect and came way in. Mario then sent a ball flying over his head, slicing and twisting with the breeze. The tying and lead runs came in, but that was to be all.
We had to protect a one run lead. The Blue Dots average about 16 runs a game, which is about two runs an inning. They had some of their big hitters coming up. But Nick caught a ball, and Mario, playing second in shallow right got an out on a grounder. They got the tying run to third but Tom shut down the last hitter, and the win was ours, 18-17.
Very satisfying. The lost season is not so lost as we catapulted into fourth place. It will be tough, with the top three teams still on our schedule in the last four games. But at least we are competitive.
Milestones:
4/24
Monty 1100 ab (#3)
D 20 hr (#4)
Jay 700 ab (#9)
Bert 250 ab (#22)
5/1
Coop AND Heffe
1500 ab (T#1)
Heffe 400 rbi (#3)
B 20 bb (#15)
Gregg 50 ab (#52)
That was a pretty fun game guys. Way to come back twice and put the lid on them after a shaky first inning.
ReplyDelete