What?! Overcomes "Phantom Run" to Take Game 1
On a nice 70 degree afternoon at Central Park, What?! kicked off its summer softball season on the Heckscher lawn. While game time was set originally for 4 o'clock, first pitch did not actually occur until about a hour later due to previous games running late. The team took advantage of the extra time productively, as they
When it was time to start the game, What?! took the field in the top of the 1st as they won the lucky
The deficit was short-lived as in the next turn at bat, after inducing their opponents into a 1-2-3 inning, John crushed the first pitch he saw of the season into right center for a home-run to tie the game at two a piece.
The score remain tied until the 4th when Dukes pushed a run across. But, once again, in the bottom of the frame, What?! responded, as the first three batters Dave C, Matt T, and Kevin all reached with singles. Then with 1 out, John punched two runs in with a single, giving What?! a 4-2 lead. Unfortunately, the team was unable to further capitalize with the two outs they had on hand, as they stranded three runners on base.
In the 5th, What?! extended their lead to 5-2 when Felix singled, advanced to 2nd on a errant throw, and scored on a infield single by Eric S.
Both teams couldn't score in the 6th, even as What?! put 2 runners on with 1 out.
In the top of the 7th, Dukes got 2 of the runs back via a home-run before they were retired. At this point, the team thought they had won the game 5-4, and started getting ready for the 2nd game. However, it turned out that Dukes had apparently scored a run in the 2nd inning, even though the entire team remembered it as being a 1-2-3 inning, which meant the game was now tied.
And thus, on to the bottom of the 7th we went. Dukes got the first two outs of the inning very quickly and were ready to take the game into extra innings. However, with 2 outs, Felix reached 1st via his 3rd hit of the game. Then, Eric S singled followed by Paul with a walk, which pushed the winning run to 3rd. Up stepped Dave C, who had made several fabulous plays in the field. Of course, as dependable as his drunken rants, he delivered, driving in the winning run with a walk-off single. With that, What?! got the 1st comeback win of the season under their belt.
Several notables of the game included the team turning 3 double plays of different variety, from the 1-6-3, 4-3 on infield fly, and the 4-6-3. Matt T also settled down after the 1st to pitch a heck of a game, while Dave C made a unnecessarily difficult play throwing to 1st from the ground to get a out just so he can be mentioned on the recap. Offensive standouts included Eric S with 3 hits, Felix with 3 hits and 2 runs scored, Kevin with 2 hits, and John with 2 hits including the team's 1st home-run of the season and 3 RBI's.
Errors "Buckner-ed" What?! in Their Attempt to Sweep
The 2nd game began with What?! loading the bases with 1 out in the top of the 1st, as Eric reached on a error with Purvi and Kevin following with walks. Yet, all 3 runners were stranded, as the team was unable to drive them in.
In the 2nd, What threatened to score again, as Ryan singled and Matt F doubled. But due to dubious base coaching at 3rd, the team ran themselves out of the inning. Meanwhile, Dukes scored 1 in their half of the frame to take a 1-0 lead.
Runs finally came through in the 3rd, as the team batted around. With 1 out, 4 consecutive singles from Eric S, Purvi, Dave C, and Kevin drove in a run. Paul picked them up by smashing a bases clearing triple to right center, bring in 3 more. Afterward, Erin lined a double to score Paul as well. Following a walk to John and another single by Ryan, the bases were loaded again. Yet, with less than 2 outs, What?! was unable to further capitalize on the situation, and stranded 3 more runners (notice a pattern?). And again, Dukes was able to scratch one of those runs back in their half of the inning.
Moving to the 5th inning, singles by Dave C and Paul, sandwiched around a Matt T fielder's choice, put 2 runners on with 1 out for What?!. One more time, the runners were left on base, wallowing in tears and sorrow that they couldn't score. In the bottom of the inning, Dukes took advantage of the 1st batch of many errors committed by What?! in the game to score 3 runs, tying the game at 5 a piece.
Determined to break the tie, Ryan lead off the 6th with a monstrous shot that landed on the infield of another field, resulting in a lead-off triple. Consequently, What?! was finally able to push another run across when Matt F drove him in with a clean single. But, in the bottom of the inning, errors once again allowed Dukes to tie the game.
Eager not to be left out of the triple parade, Matt T started the 7th with the team's third. After a Sac Fly from Paul, What?! took the lead again, 7-6. Denise, John, and Ryan proceeded to single to load the bases. But as the story of the day went, they were left stranded, giving What?! a slim one-run lead to hold on to.
In the bottom of the 7th, things went quickly downhill after an easy out. A hit was followed by an error and another hit to plate the tying run for Dukes. After a bloop to load the bases, What?! was forced to bring the infield and outfield in to play for the run. Salivating at the defensive alignment that he saw, the next batter crushed the ball to deep right field for a walk-off single, dropping What?! for a 8-7 loss.
Standout defensive plays from the 2nd game included a nice running over the shoulder catch by Paul as well as several outfield assists by John. Tara also made a nice grab on a pop-up. But overall, What?! played a very shaky and disappointing defensive game, unable to turn routine balls in play into outs. Offensively, Ryan had a huge game going 4 for 4 with a triple. Dave C added another 2 hits while Paul had 2 as well, along with 4 RBI's. Erin also had the 1st extra base hit for a girl on the season.
The goal
Thoughts On The Day
Overall, the team played well on the day. While it was disappointing to lose the 2nd game, the bright side was that the team only lost by 1, via a walk off hit, even after it stranded a billion runners and made a ton of errors. It bodes well for What?! going forward that if those things are improved and corrected, which will undoubtedly happen, the team should be able to find wins much easier to come by.
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