Leading with Slo-Pitch Speed

Wednesday night we played a night game under the lights and the (thankfully non-biting) bugs against W-K United Mennonite Church.

                We had Cal J in the lead-off spot, because speed can sometimes intimidate a defense.  By the end of the night, it worked, as Cal legged out an inside-the-park “little-league” grand slam home run in the bottom of the last inning.  It started with a hit both well-hit and well-placed into left field, and ended with a ball squeaking out of play on an overthrow.   It was nice to cash in all those runners for runs 11 through 14 on the night.  And on that theme, it was great to have Dave W hit a ball over their left fielder’s head, after they started cheating in on us.   Some of us, like Peter and Steven, are good line-drive hitters, which is a very effective strategy.   However, it helps to have a few people to pound balls towards the fence, which can makes space for liners to drop in more easily. 

                Defensively, the play of the game was easily second baseman Kevin D’s leaping catch of a line drive early in the game.  The outfielders battled a very hard field but made some nice plays themselves.  Kevin also deserves kudos for sliding into second base to beat a force throw, ensuring he had maximum speed without passing the base.  That kind of sacrificial play gets the blood flowing and shows how fun this game can be.  (Having exactly 10 players was also good, so no one had to sit on the bench.)

            See you at the diamond.

Scott     

Slo-Pitch Goes Base-to-Base

Hi Team,

Wednesday night last week saw us facing an Elmira team that has been one of the top teams in the league.  In fact, they came in as one of two undefeated teams this year.

                After a bit of a slow start, the fourth inning saw our offense fall into place.  We had just the right combination of well-hit, well-place, and dropped balls to stage a two-out rally that brought in eight runs. Pretty much everyone one advanced one base at a time that inning, but it worked.  It was our first mercy inning of the year, but let me be so bold as to say it won’t be our last.

                Alas, Elmira mercied us the innings before and after that, so they still escaped the game with their perfect record intact. 

             See you at the diamond,

Scott

Slo-Pitch Rallies show heart

Tuesday night we played Glencairn MB on a beautiful night for ball.

The game started out as a pitcher’s duel, with good defensive plays all around.  We were blanked for the first four innings, but only allowed a few runs against in that time.  Our bats woke up in the fifth inning, as we scored four runs, and followed that with a pair in the sixth.   After posting three more in the seventh, two on sacrifice flies by the Marks, we were up 9-7.  Glencairn then started hitting it hard and in the holes, scoring 5 in the eighth and 7 more in the top of the ninth, to stake themselves to a big lead.  However, we didn’t give up on ourselves at all, and sent 11 batters to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, scoring 6 runs.  The final score was  respectable 19-15 loss, one which we hope to reverse when we play this team again August 8. 

                As Chip noted on the way home, no one batted 1.000 last game, but everyone contributed.  (Actually, Greg (the new guy) E did reach base every at bat, and Mark D-H’s only out was a sac fly.)  I think solid defense is contagious, and we have had quite a bit of that this year.  I also like the hustle shown by Kevin D, who may need to patch his sweats after sliding into second base in the last inning.