Mark’s (Mostly) Softball Blog

Well tonight’s game was a little different, HCO did something we haven’t done a lot of lately:

In the first inning we gave up 2 runs to the Just 4 Fun team and stormed back in the bottom of the first with a string of great hits and base running to take a 8-2 lead.

In the second inning, our defense was solid and we held the opposing team without any runs. Unfortunately in the bottom half of the inning we couldn’t add to our lead and after 2 innings the score remained 8-2.

In the third inning, Just 4 Fun put together a string of hits to tie the game at 8-8. In the bottom half of the inning we managed to squeeze a couple of runs across and make it 10-8.

In the fourth inning, the opposing team managed to plate 3 more runs to take a 11-10 lead. In the bottom half of the inning we made some timely hits and smart baserunning to score 4 runs and take a 14-11 lead.

In the fifth, we gave up 2 runs in the top half and came to the plate with a 1 run lead and about 3 minutes left. A timely single combined with our second baseman’s inside the park home run (the only legal kind in our league) pushed our lead to 16-13. A couple of batters later the clock ran out and we were victorious.

So no comeback necessary tonight, though we played a very good team and as we left the field I joked that I didn’t know what to do since we didn’t make a comeback. The Wednesday night team now sits at 3-1 with two games left to play. There is an outside chance at a championship for this team, we will have to see what happens with the other teams. Expect an update tomorrow about all the standings for both teams.

Well the weather has definitely turned colder here in Austin and many of the team broke out the long sleeved shirts and pants. How would the change in weather and attire affect our game? Well read on and find out:

We were the home team for this game and started off by giving up just 1 run. Our bats were as cold as the outfield area (and trust me, as you ran out there it was definitely colder than the infield) and after the first inning it was 1-0 for the opponents the Red Asses (I swear I am not making up that name, and I think someone on the team asked about the name, maybe they can share the story).

In the second our defense held them scoreless and in the bottom half of the inning we put together a good string of hits and base running to put up 6 runs and a solid 6-1 lead.

In the 3rd the Red Asses put together a few hits and managed to plate 3 runs to close to within 6-4. We were unable to score in the bottom of the 3rd and went into the 4th with a scant 2 run lead.

In the top of the 4th the Red Asses plated 4 more runs to take the lead back at 8-6. We managed to push across 3 runs and take the lead back at 9-8 going into the 5th inning with about 7 minutes left.

The Red Asses managed to string together a set of hits and runs and after 4 and a half innings, they held a 13-9 lead. After getting the first out, we managed to get a runner on 1st with one out. One of our outfielders managed to draw a walk, (this player was male so the woman walked behind him) which gave us bases loaded with one out and the tieing run coming to the plate. Next, our pitcher also drew a walk, which scored two runs and loaded the bases when yours truly came up to bat.

After getting the count to 3-2, I managed to slap a single to right center which combined with a throwing error to home allowed us to tie the game at 13 and leave runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out. After an infield hit, there were two outs with runners still at 2nd and 3rd with our leadoff hitter coming to the plate. He hit a hot shot at their second basewoman who fielded the ball and launched it towards 1st. The first basewoman was off the bag and our hitter managed to slide to the orange bag and was called safe as our 3rd baseman came across the plate with the game winning run. The other team thought our hitter was out at first and after the umpires talked about the play the call was upheld and we won 14-13.

The Monday night team is now at 3-1 with just 2 games left in the season. This win was against the best team in the league which puts us in a tie with the Red Asses and at least a half game lead over TMHP who we have beaten once and lost to once.

Well here we go again, another Wednesday night, another HCO softball game, and yet another comeback.

We gave up 2 in the top of the first, and then came back to put up 1 in the bottom half of the first.

In the second we managed to not give up any runs, scored 2 to take a 3-2 lead after 2 innings.

We didn’t give up another run until the 4th, and after two straight scoreless innings of our own we found ourselves all tied up 3-3.

The defeneses owned both the 5th and the 6th, and going into the 7th it was all tied at 3 still. The opposing team managed to score two on a great shot down the line to give them a 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the 7th. After our first batter flied out, yours truly came up with a single up the middle to get the rally started. The rally really got going when our pitcher (apparently this was the week for our pitchers to hit) lined a shot over the outfield’s head for a triple that plated me and cut the lead to 5-4.

Our speediest player came up with an infield hit and thanks to a throwing error advanced to second and scored our pitcher, tying the game at 5 with just 1 out. Next our catcher flew out the left field which prevented our runner on second from advancing. Then one of our outfielders stepped up to the plate and as he got ready to hit, one of our women yelled out, “You get a hit I will give you a kiss.” After taking one pitch, a ball was driven into left field which allowed our speediest player to round 3rd and come home for the winning run, 6-5. And yes after we did our post-game good game with the opposing team, our outfielder got his kiss, right there in the middle of the diamond…

So another night, another come back and the Wednesday night’s team record is the same as the Monday night team’s at 2-1.

Tonight’s game went the route of many of our other HCO games. Let me explain:

The first inning didn’t exactly go well. I completely missed a line drive that I was charging which just reinforces that I can’t run and catch at the same time, but that is neither really here nor there. After the top of the 1st inning we were down 8-0. In the bottom of the half we strong together a few timely hits and managed to plate a couple of runs and cut the deficit to 8-2.

The second inning our defense showed up, allowing no runs, and with another run in the bottom half of the inning the score was 8-3 after 2 innings.

In the 3rd, the defense did it again, holding our opponent scoreless and we managed to plate a couple more runs to trim the lead to 8-5.

In the 4th inning, we did it one more time, no runs allowed and we plated two more runs to get with 1 run at 8-7.

In the 5th our scoreless inning streak stopped as we gave up 2 runs and managed to only get one back in the bottom half of the inning to make the score 10-8 after 6 innings.

In the 6th, we gave up two more runs and thanks to a homerun by our pitcher, we stayed within shouting distance at 12-9.

In the top of the 7th thanks to an inflield fly double play, we managed to give up no more runs. We got a lead off triple followed by a RBI sac fly to cut the score to 12-10. We managed to string 3 hits together to push another run across and make the score 12-11 with runners on 2nd and 3rd with just 1 out. After another hit, we managed to tie the score at 12-12, still with just 1 out. Then a fly ball to left center field, by our pitcher again, dropped in for a hit drove in the winning run. 13-12 the final score of a great game and another HCO comeback. These are starting to become a habit.

The Monday night team is now at 2-1 with 3 more games to play this season.

Well we lost this game 12-4. We could never string together a lot of hits all night. We did have our first ever ball hit over the fence by our team. It may have been an out, but it sure was pretty to watch.

Even in games like this there are lessongs to be learned. My lesson learned that night is that using a Sprinkler Valve cover as a place for your plant foot is not a really good idea. I tried to make a throw while stepping on said cover and well my foot just kept sliding. In addition to feeling silly the throw wasn’t exactly on target either.

The Wednesday night team’s record is now at 1-1.

Well the Monday night game got rained out so there is no news to report from that game. I am sure there will be a makeup game at some point.

In lieu of a regular game posintg, I figured I would give everyone a background on our team and some of the rules for our softball league that might make further posts a bit easier to understand. If you know the rules of the league, the rest of this post may be rather boring and uninformative, but you never know when you might miss one of my golden nuggets of wit and wisdom

THE TEAM

We play as representatives as an Austin group called Hill Country Outdoors or HCO for short. The webpage for HCO can be found here. HCO also offers a lot of other activities, mostly centered around doing things outdoors but completly centered around being social and having fun. Our team consists of 5-6 men and women depending on who has signed up for the team. Some people play just on Monday nights, others play on Wednsday and some of us play both (like me). We have a designated Manager who keeps us all in line and makes sure we get to the games and play well.

THE RULES

The softball league is run by the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department. The home page with the general softball league can be found here. That link also has a link to the Amatuer Softball Association which is the governing body that makes the rules for the league. The important rules that make this different than other softball games are as follows:

1. The team consists of 10 players in the field, 5 men and 5 women. A team can bat up to 12 people (1 extra man and 1 extra woman). Teams must bat alternating man and woman in a regular batting order. The extra players can substitute in and out depending on needs and the wit and wisdom of the Manager.
2. Men hit with a bigger ball than the Women. There are a whole bunch of rules on what legal balls are but the gist is that you have to switch balls out between batters. Each team is responsible for suppling their own game balls that their team hits.
3. When up to bat, the batter starts with a count of 1 ball and 1 strike. The count runs to the usual 4 balls for a walk or 3 strikes for a strike out. A batter is only allowed one foul ball after having 2 strikes or the batter is out. If a man walks, he goes to second and the woman behind him can either hit or walk to first.
4. Since we are in a novice league, there are no homeruns allowed by hitting the ball over the fence. Balls hit over the fence are an automatic out. You can score a homerun if you hit the ball inside the park and run really quick like.
5. On plays at 1st base, the baserunner runs to an orange bag that is in foul territory and is right next to the regular white first bag bag in fair territory. This is to prevent collisions between runners and fielders.

There are all sort of other quirky rules that would take me a long time to explain and in some case don’t make a lot of sense unless you see them in play.

Now you are ready to come out and see a game, or at least read the posts and understand what is going on at the game. Of course seeing in person is much better than reading….

So the first game of the Fall Softball league started for the HCO team. This team on Monday night plays at the Havins fields in North Austin. To start the season off with a bang we had a double header, two games in the heat and humidity is really fun. And for those of you who aren’t from Austin, yes in the first week of October it can be hot and humid even in the evenings.

The first game was lost 12-8. We played pretty good but just couldn’t quite pull out the win. I’d tell you why if I could figure it out. Of course if I could figure things like that out I would probably be a really rich man.

The second game was a solid 20-10 win after we let the opposing team back in to the game at 13-10. We had a really good inning hitting and played solid defense in the last inning to secure the win. The most painful play of the night came when one of our guys hit a line drive that hit the other team’s second baseman right in the stomach. The shot hit so hard that leaving from second I went back thinking that she had caught the ball. After the game it looked like she would be alright, so no one hurt but it sure looked and sounded painful.

The Wednesday night HCO team plays down at the Kreig fields in South Austin (ok maybe its not really that far South, but its south of me and its south of the river, so its south). I originally wrote this as an email for the newsletter for HCO and it gave me the motivation to actually start this blog. So copied and pasted from my faithful email application, is a recap of the Wednesday night game.

The game didn’t start out well as the bats were silent early and the team fell behind 10-1 after 3 innings. HCO scored 6 in the top of the 4th to get the score to 10-7. The opposing team added 4 more in the bottom of the 4th to push their lead to 14-7. The top of the 5th was a quick inning where HCO went down after just 4 batters and scoring no runs leaving just 3 minutes left in the game (for those who don’t know, in the Austin Co-Rec league, the game goes 7 innings or 55 minutes whichever comes first but the last inning started when the clock hits 0 will be played out). The HCO Defensive came through in the bottom of the 5th, including a SportsCenter highlight worthy diving catch in right, and the last out of the inning was recorded when the opposing team hit the ball over the fence (in the Co-Rec league, you also can’t hit any homeruns) with just 57 seconds left to go. Since the 6th inning started, HCO had a chance for one more rally and in softball when you need a rally the phrase often used is “everyone hits, everyone scores.” Well that is exactly what HCO did with a string of singles and hustle that lead to 9 runs scoring and taking a 16-14 lead. The other team got a chance to hit again, quickly scored a run and had runners on 2nd and 3rd with only one out. But a timely strikeout followed by a line drive catch at 3rd sealed the win for HCO at 16-15.