Noob is the new choke

There's a drive, way back, it might be, it could be, it IS, a home run and we are tied. What a comeback, down 22-12 going into the bottom of the seventh, six runs in, bases loaded, two outs, tying run at the plate. We all have dreamt it.

I suffered no such dream, I just wanted to get on safely, and keep the line moving. Leave the heroics to someone else. Hell, I just wanted to get the ball out of the infield.

Instead, I noobed it to second, and that was that.

But this isn't about me. The team did launch a heroic comeback against SOP, even if we came up short, 22-18. We held them to 2 runs after giving up 20 in two innings early in the game. Accentuate the positive. Let's face it, they are younger, faster, and more powerful than we are. But we can still give them a game.

Several players had great games. B, D, Cage, and Pauly all had three hits. Pauly would have had four but hit a "fielder's choice" that landed safely in the outfield. D's third hit was a laser shot that kept rising on the right fielder and it's a good thing he came in because if he had gotten in the way it would have hurt. Unfortunately it was our only extra base hit of the game. Coach knocked in five runs on two hits and two sac flies. Bo was a nuisance on the bases with two hits and a walk.

B on a popup to center, and Coop in right made good catches in the first to keep SOP scoreless. Unfortunately they made up for it over the next two frames. Pauly handled a hot shot at third in the fifth by knocking it down and still getting a force at second.

All in all not a bad beginning, we kept chipping away after falling way behind and that's a good sign. Not sure who the rest of the teams in the league are but I'm sure the championship runs through SOP. Next time.

- Noob

Scarlet Squeezes the Orange, 22-17

In a seesaw battle between two very well matched teams, Raul Delgado hit a three run blast that put Scarlet ahead to stay at 19-16 in the top of the sixth. Scarlet eventually prevailed 22-17 after there were four lead changes in the first five innings.

The Orange got into the head of our starter because he wasn't pitching from the correct location (i.e. he was releasing the ball in front of the rubber). When he tried to adjust, he had a little trouble finding the strike zone and it fueled the Orange offense early, which has some great hitters and didn't really need the assist. Still rules are rules, but Raymond Aguilera got his revenge when he hit a three run knock himself in the fifth to give us one of our early leads.

There were some fine infield plays turned by Gary Booth at rover and Delgado at SS that kept the Orange menace at bay in a scoreless first. Since we started with a five spot, the coach was a little afraid of the curse of the first but we eventually overcame it.

The first baseman also turned a wild throw to first into an out at home when the runners didn't notice that he had knocked the ball down, and even with his candy ass arm he was able to get the out at home.

Chip Sharpe came onto the mound in the fifth, and even though Orange crushed five runs in his first inning, he settled down and allowed only one run the rest of the way. He helped his own cause with a great grab on a hot liner up the middle off Evan Spinrod's bat in the ninth. It took away any hope of a late comeback.

But the defensive play of the game was in the eighth when things were still unsettled. Tony Gorgone ranged far into right field on a deep popup, calling it all the way to snag the fly. It was a game saver! Art Miner and Paul Lisi also ran down a couple of sinking liners that had hit written all over them.

On offense, Delgado crushed another ball in the gap that was only not a home run because the fifth run in the fourth scored in front of him. He added a double and a sac fly, and had seven RBIs total. Aguilera went 3-3 with four RBIs and was just a triple short of the cycle. Gerry Dasey had the 'mini' cycle, a single, double and triple. Miner wreaked havoc, going 5-5 with two doubles and four RBIs. Lisi and Kravin also had three hits, and almost everyone else had at least two.

A big call-out to Orange, (especially Brian Black) for allowing Aguilera to keep second base on his double. Ray is a new Creaker and, having played in Pleasant Hill for a long time, where they don't overrun the bases, he stopped short of second on his extra base hit. After some discussion, Orange allowed him to stay - that was a good and laudable bit of sportsmanship.

A good beginning for Scarlet and a very well played game all around!