Boy, has it been a while, or has it been a while?
It was sure nice to see everyone, and the people came out of the woodwork. I was especially pleased to see, given that we had 25 players, that everyone maintained distance and masked up the entire time. Truly great to have such responsible and respectful people.
Sean started for the homers, and Satch for the visitors. It was plain from the beginning, that we were all a little rusty. Sean was pitching his heart out, but the hits were dropping in, and the possible outs were just dropping. I have not seen a consistent defensive drubbing like that in a while. The visitors jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the early frames. I couldn't get a curveball in for a strike, and I apologize to Greg for the bruises that he probably has from blocking the attempts. The fastball sort of worked, and the change up was decent, so I stuck with those. The knuckle was a disaster. However, thanks to the layoff, people's timing was also rusty, and I struck out 3 in 3 innings of work, and my defense held down the fort, some due to great placement.
I bowed out on a high note, and gave the ball to Liam, who is in his high school prime, and mowing down batters with a live arm. He looked great, though it may have been unfair to unleash that on a bunch of people who have not played in 3 months. His curve was nasty, as was the heater.
Sean stuck with it longer, and for his pain had to witness a heartbreaker of a play at home. James fired a rocket from center field to nab a force out at home, it was on target, and Mike N...well, the ball clanged off the catcher mitt, and the run scored. Sean collapsed in the infield. I felt his pain.
After Liam, Sonny came in for 2, and John McG for the close. Mitch, HR, and Mike all threw for the homers. The agreed upon score at the 9th was 8-5, though none of us knew if it was actually that. The last stand of the home team was a 1-2-3 inning, with little fanfare. But the thrill of actual baseball, with good friends was well worth the wait.
Highlights
* It was great to see everyone!
* Chris Powell made a tricky pop up play, and also stopped a ground ball to hold the runner
* The sun continues to be a real hinderance, but man was it enjoyable to be in
* I was playing Lattig short in right field, and managed to track down a long fly ball. I didn't think I had a chance at the crack of the bat
* Marcie made a good play in right, also had a hit, and may have also scored.
* Don in center, and Powell combined to nail Mike at 2nd who was stretching a hit. The throw and tag were a thing of beauty
* Dan had the long hit of the day, which got past the right fielder, for a triple.
* I struck out Anna, which may have been the first time I have managed to do so. It was a tense 2-out at bat.
* James had a tough day at the plate, but in his defense, he is up to his eyes in diapers and feeding schedules, and figuring out how to make a 3 month old happy (hint: you can't).
* There were a couple of great foul out catches made
* Anna made a great play on a tricky throw at 1st
* Remember: When there are runners on 1st and 2nd, and there is a sharp comebacker to the mound, go to 3rd for the first out. You will be happy to get the lead runner, and you are throwing on level terrain, rather than throwing over the mound to 2nd which seems to always ends in tragedy.
Stay healthy, stay 6 feet away, and let's keep the momentum going!
S. Paige
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