Statistics
Final 2013 Team Statistic Totals (18 games).
For individual team member stats, go to the players page.
Team Totals :
| GP | H | AVG | 1B | 2B | 3B | HR | SLG% | OB | OB% | K | ||||||
| 18 | 429 | .559 | 332 | 58 | 21 | 18 | .759 | 467 | .608 | 14 | ||||||
| 4/2/13 @ P&P | 1 | 28 | .596 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 2 | .872 | 29 | .617 | 0 | |||||
| 4/8/13 @ BC | 1 | 27 | .614 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 1 | .795 | 28 | .636 | 0 | |||||
| 4/9/13 vs NCC | 1 | 35 | .714 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1.000 | 37 | .755 | 0 | |||||
| 4/15/13 @ SPTR | 1 | 18 | .486 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 0 | .730 | 19 | .514 | 1 | |||||
| 4/22/13 vs TGT | 1 | 22 | .564 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .615 | 25 | .641 | 2 | |||||
| 4/30/13 vs CAT | 1 | 25 | .595 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .738 | 25 | .595 | 1 | |||||
| 5/6/13 @ FI | 1 | 39 | .661 | 26 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1.051 | 43 | .729 | 1 | |||||
| 5/7/13 vs ART | 1 | 26 | .565 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 1 | .761 | 28 | .609 | 0 | |||||
| 5/14/13 vs FAM | 1 | 15 | .429 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .686 | 19 | .543 | 1 | |||||
| 5/21/13 vs SPTR | 1 | 23 | .548 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .714 | 25 | .595 | 2 | |||||
| 6/4/13 @ NCC | 1 | 39 | .661 | 35 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .780 | 41 | .695 | 1 | |||||
| 6/11/13 vs BC | 1 | 11 | .344 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .438 | 11 | .344 | 1 | |||||
| 6/17/13 @ ART | 1 | 15 | .455 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .545 | 17 | .515 | 0 | |||||
| 6/24/13 @ FAM | 1 | 27 | .587 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 1 | .848 | 31 | .674 | 0 | |||||
| 7/9/13 @ CAT | 1 | 17 | .447 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .447 | 20 | .526 | 2 | |||||
| 7/15/13 vs FI | 1 | 17 | .472 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1 | .667 | 19 | .528 | 1 | |||||
| 7/16/13 vs P&P | 1 | 20 | .500 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .650 | 23 | .575 | 1 | |||||
| 7/17/13 @ TGT | 1 | 25 | .568 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 0 | .909 | 27 | .614 | 0 |
Team Per Game Averages & Single Game Extremes :
Team Zoo Fun Facts:
[Defensive]
Team Zoo turned 6 double plays:
[1] Mark Sabaj Perez caught a lazy fly ball in left and doubled-up a clueless runner at 2nd base with some help from John Keklak at the bag, game 1 @ P&P.
[2] After John Keklak caught a liner to 2nd, a Collar runner at 3rd in game 2 inexplicably decided to tag up (!?) but fortunately John is not stupid or blind and Mike Young caught his throw at home and tagged 'im pretty easily.
[3] Joe Stevenson took it upon himself to turn 2 in game 7 @ Franklin, but he did have a little help from Amy Ivins @ 2nd - he fielded a grounder with runners on 1st & 2nd, tagged out the runner coming to him (after he tracked him down!) and threw to 2nd for the force. Nice!
[4] Amy Ivins actually did turn 2 all by her lonesome later in the same game (#7 @ Franklin), when she caught a wicked liner on the fly and then doubled up a runner at 2nd base by beating him back to the bag by about half a millisecond.
[5] Classic 5-4-3! Game 12 vs Collar - Amanda Farley-Rambo @ 3rd -> Karl Fritz @ 2nd -> Andrea Rodgers @ 1st. DONE.
[6] Chris Oberlin came running into the back of the infield (from the out) to catch a short fly ball and tossed to Amy Ivins covering the bag at 2nd to double up a runner who should've known better, in game 18 @ Tambourine.
Mark Sabaj Perez made a nice running catch on a short fly ball in game 2 @ Collar.
The Law reached back and made a great catch on a fly ball to right that was going the other way in game 2 @ Collar.
Amy Ivins at 2nd base made a helluva pick up on a super sharp ground ball in game 2 @ Collar, though failed to make the out by about a 1/8th step.
AK Rodgers made some sweet digs on low throws to 1st in game 2 @ Collar.
Chris Oberlin made the final out at his shoes after racing up to a short fly ball in game 2 @ Collar.
Mike Young made a bunch of outs from the mound in game 3 vs NCC, including running down and tagging one surly baserunner.
Mark Sabaj Perez made one of the greatest catches in team history in game 3 vs NCC, by catching up to a ball hit over his head, at full speed, and then catching it, over his shoulder, after it hit off his glove, arm, hand, chest, hat, etc. Wow.
Joe Stevenson sprinted up to and caught a short liner in center field in game 4 @ Tap Room.
Doug Hunt and Mac Buffamonte both made really nice catches on ginormous pop-ups in the infield while rapidly back-pedaling and reaching back over their heads, all in game 4 @ Tap Room.
The Law made a sweet-ass catch in game 5 vs Tambourine when he sprinted and fell down to his knees whilst catching up to a short liner, then catching it super sno-cone style.
Chris Oberlin connected with Amy Ivins covering the bag at 2nd to force out a runner after fielding a single into the outfield in game 5 vs Tambourine.
Mac Buffamonte at short and John Keklak on the mound both made really good pickups of very well-hit balls in the infield in game 5 vs Tambourine.
Amanda Farley-Rambo made a sweet catch on the tip of her glove at the hot corner on a hot liner vs Catahoula in game 6.
John Keklak made a heck of a play on a nasty grounder, sliding to his side on one knee at 2nd base to snag the ball and get the out, game 6 vs Catahoula.
In an outrageously awesome play in game 6 vs Catahoula, Mark Sabaj Perez fielded a single in left, then rifled to Matt Corcoran at home who caught the ball flush on the fly and blocked the plate splendidly and nailed a runner trying to score. Hells yeah.
Chris Oberlin forced out a runner at 3rd after fielding a short single in the outfield in game 7 @ Franklin.
Matt Corcoran (behind the plate) and Amy Ivins (2nd base) made pretty cool catches in game 7 @ Franklin, on a high spinny pop-up and an arching liner while backpedaling, respectively. Respect!
Chris Oberlin & Matt Corcoran both made solid on-the-run catches in the outfield in game 8 vs Art Museum.
Andrea Rodgers made a helluva catch on a blistering liner @ 1st base vs Art in game 8.
Mac Buffamonte made a sweet catch on a laser liner in game 9 vs Fleisher.
2nd Baser John Keklak made a fantastic grab, going down to a knee to swipe a grounder and get the out - game 9 vs Fleisher.
Joe Stevenson made a lovely catch in right-center, reaching up and back to snag a fly ball in game 10 vs Tap Room.
Chris Oberlin played short stop for the whole game @ NCC in game 11 - the first time he's ever played in a non-outfield position, ever, in 14 years of softball playing - and even made a couple good plays, including all 3 outs in the second inning.
Catchers Jen Labows and Kristen Farley-Rambo each made foul pop-up catches in game 11 @ NCC, though sadly, Kristen's did not count (not over the batter's head). Nicely done by both, though!
Amanda Farley-Rambo made yet another tough catch look easy on the hot corner in game 11 @ NCC.
Chris Law made a couple rockin' plays in game 11 @ NCC - running full-bore to catch up to a short fly ball and catching it at his toes, and then doing the same on a short single and throwing in time to 2nd base to force out a baserunner. Right on.
Game 12 vs Collar saw a slew of great defensive plays, including a couple by Karl Fritz in the infield backpedaling on a rough infield to made a high arching pop up and also tracking down a sharp liner coming his way.
Mark Sabaj Perez in the outfield also made a couple of nice catches in game 12, running down one far to his left (and avoiding Joe Stevenson!) and sprinting to get a low liner on his knees.
Chris Oberlin playing in left fielded a single and rifled to Amanda Farley-Rambo at 3rd, who fielded the ball perfectly (which was thrown pretty nicely low at the bag) and applied an awesome tag and we nailed that sumbitch! Game 12 vs Collar.
Amy Ivins made a sweet catch at 2nd base in game 12 vs Collar, sprinting to catch up to a short pop-up and making a crazy shoestring catch.
Chris Law also made a sweet grab in the outfield in game 12 vs Collar, going out far and wide in right field to catch a long fly ball over his shoulder!
Game 13 @ Art saw us make another batch of nice defensive plays to go along with zero offense (we all know what Cliff Lee & Cole Hamels feel like, now) - including Mark Sabaj Perez's hard-charging catch on a low liner & Joe Stevenson's sweet stop at 3rd plus the assist to 2nd base.
Amanda Farley-Rambo made a couple nice plays in game 13 @ Art, i.e. the bang-bang call that probably went our way more than it should have after she scooped up a hot grounder and made a great throw to first with a nice catch by Andrea Rodgers on the bag. Later, she made a bare-handed grab at 2nd to get the force after a sweet pick-up & sideways toss from Amy Ivins @ 2nd, though Amanda just missed turning the double play on the throw.
We were solid if not super-awesome in game 14 @ Fleisher, where we were probably better offensively, but the entire infield made some really nice plays at one point or another (Amy, John, Amanda, Joe) as well as Mac making some nice catches in right, but generally very good all around.
Joe Stevenson tracked down a long fly ball wide left (in left) with a slightly bobbled catch while running hard in game 15 @ Catahoula.
Amanda Farley-Rambo did some major backpedaling (in a hurry!) to catch a couple of superhigh pop-ups @ short in game 15 @ Catahoula.
Chris Oberlin had a sweet sliding catch, coming in on a knee from the outfield in game 15 @ Catahoula.
Chris Law & Chris Oberlin both recorded assists with force outs at 2nd base from the outfield, each to a different Farley-Rambo covering the bag @ Catahoula in game 15.
Matt Corcoran in right and Chris Law in left both made heckuva catches on the run in game 16 vs Franklin.
John Keklak at 2B made a couple of sweet grabs of furiously high-arching pop-ups behind him in game 16.
Amanda Farley-Rambo made a really nice stab on a grounder to 3rd that she got to 2nd for a force out in game 16.
Joe Stevenson & Chris Law both made killer catches in the outfield vs P&P in game 17.
Karl Fritz & Mike Young & Amanda Farley-Rambo & Joe Stevenson all contributed to a sweet out against P&P in game 17, getting some knuckleheaded base runner into a rundown after a hit into the outfield and making sure he got his ass out near 3rd base.
Amanda Farley-Rambo went FULL OUT and dove into the dirt at short stop to stop a sharp grounder, got up and got a force at 2nd and we all dropped our jaws in awe in game 17 vs P&P.
It was the Joe Show in game 18 @ Tambourine, with left fielder Joe Stevenson making a cool half dozen catches and at least 3 or 4 of those not coming easily, including a sliding catch into the hard, rough dirt followed shortly by a sliding catch in the long, grassy grass.
Outfielder Chris Oberlin made a couple of forces at 2nd & 3rd base on short singles in game 18 @ Tambourine.
Pitcher Mike Young had 7 strikeouts.
Pitcher Doug Hunt had 6 strikeouts.
Pitcher Kyle Luckenbill had 6 strikeouts.
Pitcher John Keklak had 5 strikeouts.
We held teams scoreless in 46 innings out of 122 in the field.
We shut teams down with eight 3-up/3-down innings.
We gave up more than 4 runs in any given inning 15 times in 18 games (3 in game 6 vs Catahoula).
Our worst defensive inning was giving up 8 runs, twice, vs Catahoula (4th inning of game 6 & 1st inning of game 15).
[Offensive]
Our best offensive inning saw us score 12 runs on 14 hits, sending 17 batters to the plate in the 5th inning of game 3 vs NCC, a game that saw all 12 batters have at least one hit and either at least one RBI or run scored.
Game 7 @ Franklin was rockin' - all 10 players had at least 2 hits, everyone had at least 1 RBI and a run scored, except one player who did not get an RBI (but scored 4 runs).
Versus Tap room in game 10, all 13 of us hit safely with 12 of those having at least one RBI or run scored.
In game 11 @ NCC, each position in the lineup had at least 3 hits and everyone scored at least 1 run, while 10 of 12 had at least 1 RBI.
Every player who had an at-bat (one was unlucky and did not) got at least one base hit in game 17 vs P&P, with 9 of those 11 having an RBI or scoring a run.
Mike Young led off our entire season with a 1st-inning solo shot HR in game 1 @ P&P.
Mike Young, Mac Buffamonte, Amanda Farley-Rambo, Kristen Farley-Rambo, Andrea Rodgers, The Law & John Keklak only totaled 5 outs at the plate (one or less each) in game 1 @ P&P, combining to go 21-for-26 with 14 singles, 5 doubles and 2 HR, plus 9 RBI and 12 runs scored.
Mike Young, Chris Oberlin & Mark Sabaj Perez were on fire in game 2 @ Collar, totaling 11 hits in 11 at-bats (plus 1 sacrifice), 8 singles, 2 doubles and a homer. 7 RBI and 10 runs scored. Mac & Joe were also both 3-for-4.
Game 3 was a slug fest vs NCC, with Mike Young having 2 HR out of 4 hits, being a triple short of the cycle & scoring 4 runs. Chris Oberlin, Amy Ivins & Mark Sabaj Perez were all FIVE FOR FIVE, Chris being a triple short of the cycle while scoring 5 runs with 5 RBI and Amy & Mark having 4 singles each to go with 1 extra-base hit (double and triple, respectively). Mac & The Law were both 3-for-4.
Chris Oberlin went 4-for-4 while John Keklak, Chris Law, Joe Stevenson & Mike Young each went 3-for-4 in game 5 vs Tambourine, combining for 8 RBI & 8 runs and including the team's only 2 doubles.
Chris Oberlin was 5-for-5 with a 3-run HR and scored 4 runs, while Mark Sabaj Perez & John Keklak were a combined 7-for-7 (with one sac-fly RBI each), racking up 5 RBI & 4 runs between them, all in game 6 vs Catahoula.
Pretty much the entire lineup kicked ass in game 7 @ Franklin. Four players had 5 hits apiece. Everybody had at least 2 hits. Everybody scored a run and had at least 3 combined RBI/runs.
Chris Oberlin had a 16-straight-hits streak between games 4,5,6,7.
Chris Oberlin was 5-for-5, Mark Sabaj Perez had 4 hits and John Keklak, Chris Law & Joe Stevenson each had 3 hits in game 8 vs Art Museum. They combined for 9 RBI and 9 runs.
In game 9 vs Fleisher, Karl Fritz was 3-for-3 with a double, John Keklak was 3-for-4, also with a double & a run scored. Not much else going on.
Chris Oberlin was 4-for-4 with a double and Joe Stevenson 2-for-2 before sitting with an injury in game 10 vs Tap Room; Dough Hunt went 3-for-4 while Andrea Rodgers & Kyle Luckenbill were both 2-for-3 (including Kyle's 3-run HR & 5-RBI).
Mark Sabaj Perez & Chris Oberlin were both unstoppable at the plate as they each went 6-for-6 vs NCC in game 11, each having one extra-base hit and combining for 6 RBI and 8 runs. Amanda Farley-Rambo, Mac Buffamonte & Andrea Rodgers also each had 4 hits, including Amanda's double and Mac's HR and combining for 8 RBI and 7 runs scored.
In game 12 vs Collar, Joe Stevenson was 3-for-3 with a run, Amy Ivins was 1-for-1 with a 2 run-double, Chris Law & Mac Buffamonte each went 2-for-3 but the other 8 of us combined for 3 total hits, including the top 3 batters in the lineup going just 1-for-9. Not getting it done.
Mike Young was 3-for-4 with a triple & scored 2 runs in game 13 @ Art while Joe Stevenson, Amy Ivins & Mark Sabaj Perez each went 2-for-3 (Mark's with a triple + a SAC RBI) & that was about it for that game.
John Keklak & Amanda Farley-Rambo were both EN FUEGO in game 14 @ Fleisher, both going 5-for-5, John having 2 doubles, 3 RBI & 4 runs, with Amanda having 4 doubles, 4 RBI & 2 runs. Mark Sabaj Perez also racked up 4 hits with a triple while all 11 batters reached base safely at least once, and 8 of us had at least 2 hits.
Mac Buffamonte led the way in game 15 @ Catahoula, going 4-for-4 and scoring 2 runs, while Joe Stevenson was 3-for-4 with 3 RBI & a run. A handful of us also had 2 hits, and Amanda Farley-Rambo scored 4 runs, but that was about it.
Our 2-through-5 hitters each went 3-for-4 in game 16 vs Franklin, all of them singles except for Amanda Farley-Rambo's three doubles, scoring 8 of our 11 runs and knocking in 5; six-hitter Kyle Luckenbill was "only" 2-for-4 but those two were colossally huge, including a 2-out 3-run home run in the 3rd that got us back in the game at 7-7, and the 2-run, 2-out, walk-off single that won the game.
Game 17 vs P&P was led by John Keklak & Chris Oberlin, who were both 3-for-4 - John having all singles and 2 RBI, Chris racking up a single, double, triple and 3 RBI + 3 runs. Five other TZers had 2 hits.
At Tambourine in game 18, Chris Oberlin & Mac Buffamonte each were 4-for-4, Chris tallying a single, 2 doubles & a triple (with 3 RBI + 4 runs) while Mac racked up 2 singles, a double and triple (with FIVE RBI + 2 runs). Mike Young (2 triples, 4 runs), John Keklak (double, 4 RBI), and Chris Law (2 RBI, run) were all each 3-for-4.
Amanda Farley-Rambo hit the game-winning RBI in game 2 @ Collar, driving in Mac Buffamonte with the winning run on an RBI-single in the 6th inning with 2 outs (just after Mac hit a game-tying 2-run triple).
Mac Buffamonte hit the game-winning RBI in game 3 vs NCC with an RBI-single in the 5th inning, knocking in Mark Sabaj Perez with our eventual game-winning run just after Mark tied the game up with an RBI-triple.
Chris Law made the game-winning RBI in game 5 vs Tambourine in the bottom of the 6th with a well-hit 2-run single, scoring Joe Stevenson with the game-winner.
John Keklak knocked in the game-winning RBI in game 7 @ Franklin with a bases-clearing, 3-run double in the 4th inning, plating Chris Oberlin with our eventual winning run.
Matt Corcoran racked up the game-winning Ribby in the 2nd inning of game 11 @ NCC with a 2-out, 2-run single, scoring Kyle Luckenbill with our winning run.
Joe Stevenson had the game-winning RBI @ Fleisher in game 14 with a Sac-Fly RBI in the 6th inning, knocking in Mac Buffamonte with our eventual winning run.
Kyle Luckenbill rocked in the game-winning RBI in game 16 vs Franklin with a 2-out, 2-run, walk-off single that scored Amanda Farley-Rambo with the game-winner as soon as she stepped on the plate!
Chris Law knocked in the deja-vu-bourine game-winning RBI in game 18 @ Tambourine with an RBI single in the 6th, scoring Joe Stevenson with our eventual winning run.
Team Zoo was held scoreless in 43 innings out of 124 at the plate.
We hit into 5 double plays.
We batted into nine 3-up/3-down innings.
[Team Zoo Brings It]
Game 2 @ Collar was a mighty good one. We held the lead through 3 innings thanks to a great start, 4 runs on 6-straight hits in the top of the 1st. Gave up the lead mid-way through after our Requisite Bad Inning (TM), but we were SO clutch in the 6th, plating 5 runs all on two outs to take a lead into the 7th where we kept them in check enough to eke out the savory victory. Only the 2nd time we've EVER beaten them.
Kinda got off to a slow start vs NCC in game 3. A 5-run 2nd inning got us a 7-2 lead, but we gave up 11 runs over innings 3/4 to go down 13-11 after four. In a stupendous show of offensive firepower, we rolled off 8-straight hits to begin the 5th inning, scored 12 runs on 14 hits while simultaneously only letting them score 1 run the last 3 frames, and ran away with it, as we all knew we would.
We were down a few regulars and weren't all that sharp, but we hit well and held off the upstart Green Tambourine folks in game 5, squeaking out the victory by 1 (and not having to bat) after leading by 4 going into the final frame. We left a ton of runners on base and never had that breakout inning at the plate, but we scored regularly and buckled down when we needed to with 3-straight shut-out innings after giving up 6 in the 3rd.
It was only a mere 4-run lead after 4, but game 7 @ Franklin turned into a one-sided slugfest in the end. We never trailed in the game and racked up 30 big runs on 59 hits, including 4 homers, outscoring our opponent 23-2 over the last 4 innings. We also executed 2 double plays in the field. All around, a solid team effort. We were also missing a slew of folks and played our first game this year with only 10 total players!
Game 11 with NCC was close for a hot minute after the 1st, when we held a 3-2 lead. We racked up a wicked 7-run outburst in the top of 2, batting around +2, and then shut them out 1-2-3 in the bottom, and the rout was on. We never trailed in the game and only didn't score in the last inning, and we left the bases loaded in three straight innings (16 LOB total) so it could have been much, much worse. We also did it primarily with singles, as our 39 hits included only 4 for extra bases. TCB!
A good, righteous and true victory was had in game 14 @ Fleisher, in a game we never trailed. We played fantastically well, with only one rough inning during which it downpoured and was sprinkled with some horribly bad calls by the other team. We scored in every inning, save one. Our biggest offensive inning clinched it, shortly after they tied it up, with 5 straight hits to start the 6th, where we scored 5 big runs. Directly after they tied it up, we followed that defensively with a 1-2-3 shut-down inning. Clutch, baby. We tied a team season-high with 7 doubles and scored 7 of our runs on 2 outs. I love pissing off the other team's assholes.
Game 16 vs Franklin was all about redemption. We destroyed them earlier in the season (see above) and they'd been playing well lately and had surely improved. We were down some people and weren't playing our best ball, but got production and stops at key points to allow the dramatic flair that ended the game. Kyle Luckenbill saved the day, after hitting into a double play in his first at-bat in over a month, by smacking a 2-out, 3-run shot that tied it back up in the 3rd inning in his next at-bat. We won the game in the field by figuring out how to play defense and shutting them down three straight innings to close out the game, but Kyle *actually* won the game at the plate by connecting on a 2-out, 2-run, walk-off single after Amanda Farley-Rambo's 2-out RBI double (which followed Mac Buffamonte's 2-out single). It probably shouldn't have been that close, but our opponent was playing some good ball and up until that point we hadn't really done much with the opportunities we had. Three straight do-or-die 2-out base hits to end the W, not much clutcher than that!
In our last game at Tambourine (#18), we went out winners with a slow-burning victory against a hobbled, underpowered opponent (they played with 8 in the field, including two players who had trouble moving!). After a big start - 5 straight hits to start the game, 4 of them for extra bases - we cooled off considerably while they were short-staffed but solid and hit pretty well. We were up 2, down 2, then tied for three straight innings before we figured out how to play D (mostly thanks to Joe) and shut them down the last couple frames while we got another string of hits together. It seemed like an eventuality, though tied 10-10 in the 5th isn't what we were going for, but we'll surely take it. It was our 3rd game in 3 days in 90+ degrees... and then, the merciful end.
[Team Zoo Forgot It At Home]
There was sloppy play in the field (on both sides), but game 1 @ Pen & Pencil was an offensive affair (on both sides) that saw us score in every inning; the score was close through the early innings and we came back to take a small lead in the 5th but promptly lost it in the 6th. A furious effort to tie it up in the 7th ended up with us having the tying run on 3rd with 1 out and failing to score. Such is softball.
Missed opportunities was the theme of game 4 @ Tap Room. On a blustery eve, our bats mostly fell silent but our defense was up to the task; minus our 6-run defensive gaffe in the 3rd, we only gave up 4 more runs the rest of the way. We just couldn't capitalize, even though everybody got a hit they just weren't in much of a row. We kept it close with THREE triples (two of them back to back), solid pitching and the aforementioned D. We have still never beaten them in 13 years.
We hung tough for a few innings and were looking pretty good, down only by 1 vs Catahoula in game 6 after 3. Then we had our TZRBI and gave up 8 big runs and followed that up with a fat zero in the bottom of the 4th. We actually outscored them by 1 the last 3 frames, but that was all she wrote. A few goofs on plays we could have easily made definitely clouded what might have been a pretty close game, and we didn't play all that poorly (especially at the plate) versus the defending champs.
Game 8 vs Art Museum was one we wanted badly and probably should have had. We started slow at the plate, stayed in it with solid D through the middle innings, came back with 6 big runs in the 4th to take our first lead after a 4-run deficit, held it for another inning and then watched it blow up in our faces as we gave up 11 runs over the final 2 innings and lost by 6. The good thing is we get to play them again.
We played some very solid D in game 9 vs Fleisher, we just imploded at the plate (while they played great D and got some severely lucky bounces) and slowly and painfully lost the game to an important rival. We started and ended the game with shut-out 1-2-3 innings, and were only down 1 after 3... but in between we couldn't keep up. Our 3 runs were all scored as individual runs in separate innings (2 of them solo HR).
Got off to a terrible start vs Tap Room in game 10, down 13-4 after only 3 and most of our offense being one 3-run HR. It got a little worse until we were down by 15 with two innings to play. But then we played better, on both ends, and racked up 10 straight unanswered runs. They were surely letting their foot off the gas a bit, but we kept on and made them a little nervous to make it much more respectable. Still a loss to a team we have NEVER beaten.
The rematch with Collar in game 12 got off to a rough start. We gave up 5 quick ones right off the top and never recovered, and in fact would be all the offense they would need, as our own offense was anemic at best and worst of the whole season in several categories. All our runs were scored in one inning. Minus the first inning, the score was only 6-4 as we played pretty good defense all around. Gotta score to win softball games! We'll take a split with Collar, though.
We continue to play better and better defense, it's just depressingly unfortunate that our offense is occasionally MIA. Game 13 @ Art was our chance to get some sweet revenge, and despite giving up a 1st inning grand slam on no outs, we were never out of the game and were poised to destroy them if only our bats were along for the ride. A slew of solid defensive plays and good pitching kept us close - in fact, we gave up only one run more than our season best effort - we just never were able to string hits together and we let them fuckers sweep us. Damnit.
We were a lean 10 in the field and up against the best team in the history of ever (undefeated Catahoula, game 15), it got depressing, early, when they started taking it easy on us mid-way through the top half of the first inning. We managed to score a somewhat respectable 7 runs, leaving 10 on base (2 in each inning where we got a hit) and it didn't take that long, mercifully.
Game 17 vs Pen & Pencil was fiercely fought by both sides. They were trying to lock up a first round playoff bye and we were desperately trying to give ourselves a chance to be IN the playoffs, which we only would have a chance at if we won. In our 2nd of three games in three days, we played absolutely the best we played that week and after a slow start (down 3-0 after two), we clawed back and played great D, scraped together some runs and took the lead 5-4 after the fifth! We gave up 3 but then got 4 right back in the bottom of the 6th! It was kismet. All we had to do was hold them to a run or less and the game was ours... leadoff batter hit a weak grounder... that we promptly threw away. 2nd batter hit a short flyball that shoulda been caught but... caught the ground instead. We played our absolute worst inning of the game, gave up 4 big runs and lost the lead and the game, as we mustered a measly one base runner in the bottom of the last to lose by 2. Of course, it turns out we wouldn't have made the playoffs even if we'd won, but still... this one's gonna hurt for awhile.
