Tag: fun

The team improved to 6-1 today, as we lost to our friends at Flower Mound UMC, 14-10. Yes, that’s right, we won, but we lost. FM UMC didn’t have enough players to start the game, and had to forfeit. A couple of players from Trietsch UMC, who had just finished the game before ours, volunteered to play for FM UMC, so our two teams could play. This was, however, unbeknown to our entire team, with the exception of our coach. I’m glad we got to play, and equally glad that we technically won by forfeit, because as the game wore on, our play got worse, and we relinquished the lead.
As for myself, I’ll chalk up my poor fielding to the two-week layoff: a Texas Rangers game last Sunday, and out of town the week before that.
I switched off with Dave between third and catcher, and I really didn’t have a good day at either position. It seemed I could never get the ball down quick enough to tag a runner out (I never saw a forced play the entire game), and I made critical throwing errors which oftentimes meant an extra bag for the runner. I just plain sucked.
I did have one great grab in the 3d inning, as I leapt to snag a high line drive that was going to drop in to shallow left center before it met my glove.
One could say that I redeemed myself at the plate, but I didn’t feel it. I like playing a solid, complete game. Offensively, this was my best game of the year. I went three for three, two singles and a triple, with two RBIs. The triple felt soooooo good coming off the bat. If I could have kept it about four feet flatter, it might have made it out of the park. As high as it was, it fooled the outfielder and got behind her, rolling to the fence. If it weren’t for her strong-armed counterpart who got to the ball first, I might have had a chance at an in-the-park home run. A long shot, to be sure, but interesting and fun to think about.
So after seven games, five of which I’ve played in, I’m 11 of 16, for an average of .687, with a walk and three RBIs for the season. Not bad, but still much room for improvement. Even more improvement is required on defense. This may come through more field time, should I start playing for the men’s team on Thursday nights…

So the team suffered its first loss of the season today, dropping to 3-1. Against an old competitor, the team collectively couldn’t get much going on offense. Our defense was fairly solid when we got to handle the ball. It was the getting-to-handle-the-ball part which proved to be the problem, as the final score was 13-4. As the old adage goes, “Hit the ball to where they ain’t,” and our opponents proved quite adept at just that.
Personally, it was a pretty good day, though that doesn’t mean much in the end. I was 3-3 at the plate, all singles. No RBIs this game. Batting clean-up, you’d think I would have been able to drive someone in, but that goes back to the team collectively not doing much on offense.
I had little to do on defense during the first two innings. I actually found myself thinking at one point, I wish someone would hit something this way. Be careful what you wish for…
I did have this great play in the 4th inning that I was proud of. One of their power hitters drove the ball right to me on the ground, a hard smack that didn’t require me to move laterally much. I corralled the ball and fired it across the infield to first, getting the out while the hitter was still a couple of feet from the bag. That felt really good, certainly the personal highlight of the day.
This was one of the teams I thought we’d have problems against, and I was right. This church used to field two teams, and it appears that this year, for myriad reasons I’m sure, they’ve consolidated in to one. The week off didn’t help much, either, at least in terms of keeping us in a playing groove, but last week was Easter, so that’s perfectly understandable for a church league. (All the leagues that play on the weekend had last weekend off.)
Nothing left to do now but shake it off and get ready for next week, though the team will have to do it without yours truly. I’ll be coming back from New Orleans next Sunday. We’re heading down to visit my wife’s family, and attend a 10-year law school reunion.

The team went 3-0 this Sunday with a resounding 19-0 defeat of our opponent, another rookie outing by a new church. The bats were certainly mighty for us this week, as the team was able to put together great strings of singles and doubles to mount scoring opportunities.
I fielded from third the entire game, as we only had five guys this week. There was one error on my part, which was saved on the next play by Gary at short, when he turned a double play. That was one of four doubles we turned this game, and I was in on the last one.
My time at the plate was the worst yet, as I went one for three. The first time at bat, I hit in to a fielder’s choice to end the inning. The second time was worse, as I struck out looking. (In this league, you step up to the plate starting with a 1-1 count.) The called strike looked exactly like the previous pitch, which was called a ball. It was low and outside. I guess this strike just crossed the edge of the plate. The third time was a single right up the middle, which advanced runners and got me my first RBI of the year. My overall average for the still-young season dropped to an even .500.
The team looked really good. After we turned the fourth double, I heard from the opposing bench, “We’ve got to get the ball past the infield. These guys are stopping everything.” Quite the compliment, and much appreciated.
We’re off for Easter Sunday, then it’s in to the meat of the schedule, as we pick up games against teams that have been traditionally tough. It will be fun to see if we can maintain what has become consistent play on both sides of the ball.