8.16.2007

Game #13

Now I can finally say I told you so

The boys won another one on Sunday while I was on a plane, coming back from Kansas City, and tonight we were going for three in a row …

It didn’t start out pretty, but we put up 16 unanswered runs and stamped a 16-5 win. We’re finally coming together and playing the way a lot of us had envisioned when we recruited these players and put our team together over the winter ..

We’re not out of the woods yet though. We’ve got three games left against a couple tough opponents. And if we do well, believe it or not, we could have a decent seed when the playoffs start in two weeks…

I started in left field tonight and batted sixth in the order … I stepped to the plate for the first time in the bottom of the second with two outs and our team already down 5-0. The pitcher was hittable and I battled, fouling pitch after pitch after pitch. And then he got me; the bottom just dropped out of it. Dang curve … I got a huge break, though, when the ball rolled past the catcher and I took off to first base, making it easily. I was on … The pitcher was a lefty, but I had his motion picked and was getting excellent jumps off him. The only problem: my teammate at the plate kept fouling the pitches. Finally, I did swipe second base, and by the time Tommy knocked a pitch into the outfield and I rounded third to score, I was wasted. I crossed the plate safely and we were on the board, 5-1.

The next batter went down and we were back in the field. While I was still trying to catch my breath, the first batter hit a deep fly ball my way. The hit caught me flat-footed and I misjudged it. Before I could regroup, the ball was sailing over my head to the fence. I picked it up, threw it in and the batter was pulling into second base. He wouldn’t score, though … That was my only fielding blemish of the night. During my six inning in left, I caught a fly, and held runners on a few other balls …

Then we started pouring it on. We had been through the order once, and we were starting to get around on their pitcher … I stepped to the plate again in the fourth inning with two runners on and slapped a shot up the middle for a single and two RBIs. Then I stole second again. Got moved to third on a base hit, and scored on the next batter’s hit. When the inning ended, we had tied the game at 5-5.

In the fifth, we laid it on again. I stepped to the plate for my third at-bat with one out and a runner standing on third base. I watched strike one and drove the next pitch to center field, only to watch it be caught. The runner tagged and scored, and I had my third RBI of the night. And when that inning ended, we had scored seven runs and gone comfortably ahead, 12-5.

We would get one more inning in before the two-and-a-half hour time limit ended our game. I stepped to the plate for my last at-bat in the bottom of the sixth inning with a runner on second base. I battled again, fouling off pitches and then hit a chopper down the third base line. Whether I had beaten the throw is debatable, but I’m taking the hit. The ball got past the first baseman and without breaking my stride I turned the corner for second base, and then took third too, when the first baseman got lazy on retrieving the ball. A few pitches later, I hustled home on another chopper down the third base line …

I moved over to second for the top of the seventh and made the second out there after a batter launched a ball to left field. The left fielder threw the ball in, and I heard the shortstop yelling “He’s coming! Tag him!” I fielded the throw, turned around and there he was. I applied the tag. Out No. 2 … A couple more singles after that and suddenly they had runners on first and third. But we got out of the jam and the game when the runner on third base tried to score on a passed ball. Our catcher recovered well and tossed the ball to the pitcher who was coming in to cover the plate. Pitcher put down the tag. Out No. 3. We win …

My line for the season …
.375 average, 12 hits, 6 walks, 6 strikeouts, .513 OB%, 8 stolen bases, 13 runs, 6 RBI

As for our other games …
Game one: We lost, 16-4
Game two: We lost, 13-2
Game three: We lost, I was off for the weekend
Game four: We lost, 5-4
Game five: We lost, 20-9
Game six: We lost, 5-4 (with pictures!)
Game seven: We won, 7-5
Game eight: We lost, 12-4
Game nine: We lost, 14-9
Game 10: We lost, 5-3
Game 11: We won, 14-1
Game 12: We won, 12-5, but I was heading home from KC.

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