Mark’s (Mostly) Softball Blog

So we were having a conversation via email and it got really really funny. I wanted to make sure everyone could share in the fun, so compliments of Kristine our superstar pitcher and cleanup batter…

The Monday night team took the field to extend their undefeated season, and with a win, would secure the league title.  As the visiting team we took the field first and managed to score 3 quick runs thanks to Q’s big home (non Mother Nature added this time).  In the bottom half of the inning we gave up 2 runs to make the score 3-2.

In the second we opened the game up with an “everybody hits, everybody scores” inning as we scored 10 runs and thanks to a defensive gem of an inning in the bottom half of the second found ourselves up 13-3.  In the third we managed to score only 1 run but gave up only one run in the bottom half of the inning to maintain our 10 run advantage.

In the fourth we found our bats again and scored another 6 runs to push our lead to 20-4.  We gave up only 1 more run in the bottom half of the inning and the game was called due to run rule 20-5.

The Monday night team is now 6-0 and have won our summer league.

Well the Thursday night team took the field looking for their first win since the opening game of the season.  And it didn’t start off well…

In the first inning we gave up 12 runs in the top half of the inning and after a less than stellar bottom half of the inning we were down 12-2.  The second inning on the other hand was a different story as we gave up only 2 runs but stormed back with 13 of our own to take our first lead 15-14.

In the third we gave up 4 more runs but managed to score another 5 in the bottom half of the inning to extend our lead to 20-18.  In the fourth inning we gave up another 4 runs and found ourselves down by 2 with no time left on the clock, but one at bat left.  We managed to score two runs to tie the game but the mighty Rollin’ Thunda hit into a ground out with 2 outs and the bases loaded to leave the game tied.

We went to an extra inning, with one pitch rules.  We gave up 5 runs in the top half of the inning but only managed to get 2 of our own in the bottom half of the inning and we lost 27-24.

The Wednesday night team took the field on the first day of summer with some very summer like Austin weather.  In the first inning we quickly found ourselves in a 3-0 hole but managed to get one run across to make the score 3-1.  In the second yours truly managed to screw up a couple of plays and allowed our opponents to take a big 8-1 lead after just an inning and a half.  The second inning saw a bit of a rally cut short by my baserunning error and after two the score was 8-3.

The third inning saw the other team continue to hit and build their lead out to 11-3 and we managed to get only one more run in the inning to make the defecit 7.  The fourth inning was a defensive gem from both teams as nobody managed to score.   The fifth inning saw the damage get worse as we fell behind 14-4, but then the late inning HCO rally started in earnest.  We managed to push 9 runs across to make the score 14-13 with less than a minute left.  Since we were the home team, we managed to get one more inning in.

In the sixth we played pretty good defense allowing only one run but the rally came up short as we were only able to score one run in our half of the inning and fell 15-14.

I want to extend a personal apology to everyone on the team for all the mistakes tonight and for personally costing everyone the game.

The Monday night team took the field to defend their undefeated record.  We gave up 3 runs in the top of the first but our bats responded in the bottom half of the inning as we managed to bat around and score 7 runs to take a 7-3 lead and never really look back.  In the second inning both teams played marvelous defense as neither team was able to score.

The third inning saw our opponents plate another run to cut the lead the 3, but we responded in the bottom half of the inning with 2 runs of our own to extend our lead to 9-4.  In the fourth inning we had another defensive gem which included Kate coming up with a double play from second base.  In the fourth we plated another 5 runs and extended our lead to 14-4.  In the fifth inning we allowed a run to score but answered with a run of our own in the bottom half to maintain our ten run lead.

In the sixth inning our stellar defense appeared again (apparently our best innings were reserved for the even innings this night) as we held them scoreless and then in the bottom half of the inning we managed to run out the clock and won the game 15-5.  We are now 5-0 and one more win away from winning the league title.

If you weren’t at the game Wednesday night, you missed one hell of a game for Team HCO.  As the visitors, we started swinging the bats first and managed to post a quick 2-0 lead.  In the bottom half of the inning our opponents surged to a 4-2 lead thanks in part to a couple of errors by yours truly.

In the second inning we managed to work one run around, but gave up 3 more and found ourselves down 7-3.  The third inning was almost a repeat of the second, and after three we found ourselves down 10-4.  Neither team was able to score in the 4th inning and with time starting to run out we found ourselves down 6 going into the 5th inning.

And then the bats started working.  Thanks to a home run by Al we managed to cut the defecit in half to get the inning off to a good start.  Then with 2 outs and the bases loaded, Jenna came through with a great hit that resulted in a bases clearing double that tied the game at 10.  We plated another 4 runs before the inning was out, and thanks to scoring 7 runs with 2 outs in the 5th, we had the lead back 14-10.  In the bottom half of the inning we gave up 4 runs to leave the game tied at 14 with no time left on the clock.

In situtations like this, the game goes to one pitch rules (same as the Winter one-pitch leagues).  In the top of the 6th we managed to score one run to take a 15-14 lead.  Unfortunately we couldn’t make the come back stick as we gave up 2 in the bottom half of the inning and lost the game 16-15.

After a bit of a layoff, the Monday night team took the field again for their 4th game of the Summer I season.  As the visitors we had the first at bat of the evening, and man did we bat.  We batted around nearly twice and scored 13 runs for a big lead before the other team even got a chance.  In the bottom half of the inning we played pretty good defense, allowing only 1 run and had a 13-1 lead.

In the second we cooled down a bit but still managed to score 5 more runs gave up only 2 in the bottom half of the inning and after 2 we were ahead 18-3.   In the third inning, we scored a couple more runs to push our run total to 20 and a defensive gem of an inning in the bottom of the third made the final score 20-3.

The Monday night team is now 4-0, and with 4 games left to play in this season, we have a 2 game lead on the other teams in our division.

Well, I don’t want everyone to think that we only play softball on this team, we do have other interests and activities.  A few of us from the team spent Saturday out at Inks Lake State Park just west of Burnet.  We left Saturday morning around 10 AM and headed up to the park.  After a quick setup and lunch we headed on down towards the lake.  A couple of kayaks and one meshy raft made it to the water with us.  We then headed over towards the swimming area and spent a good chunk of the afternoon swimming and getting our skin cells fried thanks to the powers of the day star.

The night found us eating curry burgers and brats and grilled asparagus.  After a lovely dinner there was a frantic run to the state park store for some ice cream before it closed and as the sun went down we had a great evening of hanging out and talking with each other.  The next morning we had a quick breakfast of pancakes and bacon before tearing down camp and getting out of the early June heat.

Now, I know what you must be thinking, this sounds rather bland, but it was anything but.  Some of the highlights of the trip (with the names omitted to protect the not so innocent):

• Thankfully no one used the hatchet…even when it was in clear view
• We did manage to kill one finish, when it bit a member of our party…Poor fishy
• Thanks to a chair, I provided the entertainment for a few minutes as I had the footrest between my legs and eventually my back on the ground engaged in a rolling thunda special.
• Of course there was the magic red glowing penis toy, and without pictures, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you…
• We did find out a kayak with the right person in it can be launched a few hundred feet across the water
• Its harder to launch a kayak at a paddleboat than you would think…
• For an explanation of what bike seats can do to the “crotchal region”
• Besides the skin cells many of us fried off we did lose a bit of glass from a pair of glasses due to an errant bottle camp (non-alcoholic of course)
• There were many bottles that were also casulaties of the trip, but they gave up their lives in the furtherance of our good time, so it was all for a good cause.
• And last but certainly not least, the phrase “taking it up the doggie door”

If you feel like this doesn’t make any sense or you would like an explanation, you will just have to come to the game next week and ask.  If the responsible party won’t tell you, someone else just might. Especially if you supply the right magic elements.

Well it still hadn’t stopped raining by Thursday night, so we got rained out again. For those of you keeping track that was one forfeit and 2 rainouts for the week…