Mark’s (Mostly) Softball Blog

Balls of Fury posted their second win of the season thanks in part to an 8 run third en route to a 19-9 victory that moved the team into first place. 

The game started well enough as we put up 2 runs in the first and then gave up 3 in the bottom half of the first inning.  The second inning was a quiet one for the bats as we managed only 2 more runs in our half of the inning but held our opponent scoreless thanks in large part to Cindy’s unassisted double play.

In the third the bats woke up as we managed to hit around and score 8 runs to push the lead to 12-3 before we gave up another 3 running innning the the bottom of the third.  In the fourth we plated another couple of runs to extend our advantage to 14-6 before giving back one run in the bottom half of the inning.  In the 5th we found our stroke again hitting on all cylinders to score another 5 runs and come up with a 12 run lead.  We gave up a lead off triple to start the bottom of the inning but managed to hold them to two runs to make the final margin 19-9.

Our opponents on the night, Out of Balance, had been undeafeated in the league until last night.  The win moved Balls of Fury to 2-1 and into first place.

Updawg lost a heartbreaking softball game this past Monday 13-12 to drop their record to 2-2 going into the bye week. 

The game started well enough as we plated a 3 runs in the first powered in part by a Q homerun.  In the bottom of the inning we gave up 2 runs to hold on to a 1 run lead.  The second inning was quiet as we managed only one run but gave up 3 to trail for the first time in the game 5-4.  The third inning was another quiet inning for both teams as the score remain unchanged.

In the fourth, the Up Dawg bats came alive powered in part by a Michael grand slam that put us on top again 9-5.  The lead held up through the fourth as we gave up no runs thanks in part to 3 outs recorded by yours truly (next thing you know I’ll win the lottery).  We managed to pad out lead in the fifth by scoring 2 more runs when Q hit his second home run of the game but gave 3 back in the bottom half of the inning to put the score at 11-8.

We managed an insurance run in the top of the 6th but our opponents had a chance to erase the lead with time running out.  And erase the lead they did as they scored 5 runs in the inning on a bloop single that allowed the winning run to score with no time left on the clock.

Up Dawg has a bye next week, allowing them a chance to enjoy Memorial Day instead of play on it.

In the first grudge match the UpDawg team held on for a 13-10 victory to run their record on the season to 2-1. 

The grudge match was played a team known as I.D.K.  That team has members that play or played with the Wednesday Balls of Fury nee Den of Swine team.  Then in a cost savings move, Chad and Melissa turned traitor, er I mean switched from UpDawg to I.D.K.  Then as fate would have it, Parks and Rec put both teams in the same division, guaranteeing two games between the two friendly, all be it trash-talking, squads.

The first inning got off to a good start as we were able to jump out to a 3-0 lead but in the bottom half of the 1st I.D.K. managed to score a couple of runs to get the score to 3-2.  Updawg scooted out to a 4 run lead after the top of the second but had the lead halved after I.D.L. cut the score to 6-4.  The third inning wasn’t a good inning offensively for either team as the score became 7-5.  The fourth inning saw Up Dawg put up 3 more runs but give up 3 to keep the margin at 2.

The fifth inning saw Up Dawg put up another run but give up two to make the score 11-10 going into the final inning.  Up Dawg put up 2 runs in the top of the 6th and managed to hold I.D.K. scoreless to secure the win at 13-10.

Balls of Fury lost a close contest 13-10 in the hottest game of the year so far.  The game started out with a nice 3 run first inning and the lead held as we gave up only 2 runs.  The game was tight throught the next 3 innings as both teams scored a couple or 3 runs each inning.  At the start of the fifth inning we had a 9-8 lead and as the visiting team we were able to put up another run to double our lead.  Our opponent managed to plate 5 runs in the bottom half of the inning as the clock ran out to win the game 13-10.

The loss drops the Balls of Fury record to 1-1 for the Summer I season

Up Dawg rebounded in the second week of the Summer I season with a come from behind 17-13 victory.  The game started slowly for the offense as we were quickly in a 3-2 hole after the first inning.  The deficit stayed around there as both teams traded runs back and forth with neither team holding a lead greater than 2 runs for the next 3 innings. 

Up Dawg came up in the top of the 5th down 13-11 and in need of some runs.  The bats responded as we put up 6 runs to take the bigest lead of the game 17-13.  Any rally by our opponents was cut short by our best defensive inning of the game, holding our opponents scoreless to cement the final core.

This win put the teams record at 1-1 early in the Summer I season.

Balls of Fury started off the season with an 18-10 win powered by a 10 run first inning.  After giving up 2 runs in the top of the first the offense responded scoring 10 runs in the first.  over the next 3 innings the lead was extended out to an 18-5 lead before we gave up 5 runs in the top of the 5th while time ran out.

Balls of Fury is off to a 1-0 start to the Summer I season.

Up Dawg lost a thrilling 8 inning affair 20-17 to start the summer season.  The game started off well as we jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead but after 2 innings we were in an 8-5 hole.  The teams traded runs back and forth over the next two innings and after a great defensive inning we entered the home half of the 6th inning down 13-11.  We managed to score two clutch runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 13 with no time left on the clock.

In City of Austin Softball leagues when a game is tied either after 7 or when the clock has run out, the game continues using one pitch rules.  In the 7th, we gave up 2 runs to find ourselves down 15-13 but the offense proved clutch again and managed to tie the game again at 15.  The eight inning proved to not be so lucky when after giving up 5 runs in the top of the inning, we only managed to score two runs and the game ended 20-17.

This was the first game of the summer I season so the Up Dawg record is 0-1.