So great to be back, and just as icing on the cake, the sun came out and stayed out through the game, a little fog aside. 19 came out for a game that ended up being the more amazing back and forth any of us have seen in a while. The teams broke apart in to what seemed like mostly balance teams. The visitors appealed to the power we had on our lineup, and so, Chris, in true egalitarian spirit went to the other side. Little did we know how important that would be.
Satch was itching to get back on the mound, although few would agree that it was a good thing once I was there. I got through the first inning alright, and then all hell broke loose. I couldn't find the dish with anything but a middle of the plate change-up, and if I did get the fast ball over, they hit it just to the right or left of my solid defense. First one run, then another, a double here, singles abounded, especially up the middle, including one from Mike Gaspar just when we thought we had the guy perfectly played. By the time the dust settled, we were down 6-0. That's right, 0.
Facing us was the master of the dipsy doodle dying heavy ball, Noah. And for 6 1/3 innings he used and abused us like a ugly step child. When we swung, we fisted or topped the ball. Noah played a great defense off the mound, and Chris and Vic on the left side of the infield were responsible for at least 11 outs. We got hits, but continually stranded the runners somewhere on the diamond. Lots of jokes about the trade we had made, and after a while we figured that maybe we should try and settle for getting a run. And so we did. But not before we felt the momentum shift, thanks to the craziest double play that I have ever seen. 8-1-2-4-5-4-2. Suddenly there was life in us lifers....And it got us out of the inning, and back to the subject of scoring runs
Satch, finally got a ball to bounce between Vic and Chris, stole second on the first pitch, got to third and finally home on a single to center, the curse was broken and we were on our way. Then 6-2, 6-3 going into the 7th. Johnny came in for the homers, but the visitors sensed the danger and tacked on two more runs. Suddenly all us home guys were hitting, and the visitors were dropping balls that they scooped up two innings earlier. Mitch was in to pitch, and struck out Satch with a couple of nasty change ups. Others fared better, and just in time we raced runs across the plate, and before we knew it we had taken the lead 9-8. Into the 9th, Greg now on the mound, the visitors once more would not go down with a fight, and tied it up, then went one ahead, 10-9. A real barn burner.
Bottom of the ninth, and Rob into pitch for the visitors, a lefty who had tattooed a change up off Satch earlier in the game. But we Homers were persevering, and the next thing we knew we had scored the tying run and then the winning run, and then a few more. But then we decided to play an extra inning, it took some cajoling of the visitors, and we really thank them for playing on. Greg took it into the top of the tenth and we decided if the visitors tied it up or went ahead we would stop and end the game. But they didn't. and it ended there, 13-10.
Highlights
* The wackiest double play ever
* I tried a slash bunt, didn't work, but I am glad I tried
* Rob's monster hit
* Jayson made a couple of great catches, one diving, and throws in from center
* The two new guys that Stoner brought were welcome additons and played a great game, especially Andrew, who runs like the wind and made some great plays at 2nd.
* Noah pitched an amazing game, and caught the last 2 afterwards!
* Chris made an awesome over the shoulder catch at short
* Thanks to everyone who played, I can't remember too many other things right now, so email me if I forgot something important.
Cheers
S. Paige
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