The Longest Out of My Element

May 16 vs. Element

Element=Schnäck.  Schnäck = Element.  Same bright yellow shirts.  Same team.  Guess they were tired of trying to find ä on their keyboards.

The B61 Lineup

pitcher: Big Al, the “Gentle Giant”

catcher: Johanna “Beer Can” and Amy “From the Bench”

1st: Apeman Adam and “I’m a Dirty Boy” JJ

2nd: Tamara

ss: Willy

3rd: Henry and the “Rookie” Jason Glenn

left: Rhino

center: Capone

floater: Alyce “Ribbi” and BGs Betsy

right: Czar

fans: Tracey, Pussy Gourmet, Amy

The Game

Steve led us off with a quick base hit past shortstop.  Jon hit a chopper to advance Steve to 2nd but was out at 1st.  Capone's grounder was thrown badly, so we had speed on 1st and 2nd.  Henry hit a deep ball to center, bringing Steve home for our first run and Capone to 3rd.  Another error by the shortstop got Willy his first RBI of the day as Capone ran home.  the ss then made up for it by catching tam's solid line drive and then throwing to 1st for the double play.

Element responds with 2 runs to tie it.  So, we get to start fresh.  We do with Big Al and Ribbi starting us off with base hits.  Beer Can steps to steps to the plate.  "Beer Can, I want to see your ass on this base," yelled Capone as 1st base coach.  She hits a sacrifice and advances the runners.  Good enough for me.  Adam hits a dropper to right center to bring in a run with the start of the line up back up to bat.  Steve, Jon and Capone do their thing and we finish the side 5-2. 

In the bottom of the 2nd, element quickly scores one run, but then Henry is en fuego.  He catches a foul pop fly and then makes a diving catch on a rocket to 3rd.  He turns the ball around in a hurry but just misses the double play.    A Jon-Willy-Al combo leads to a dramatic play at the plate, and B61 is out of the inning with only 1 run scored against us.

In the 3rd, tam hits a line drive over 2nd ("Wicked awesome!"-Kate), but the single does nothing other than give Tam indigestion.  Good thing she has Tums.  We take the field again.

Tam and Adam do an amazing albeit unorthodox play as tam fields a grounder and throws it to first base WHILE Adam is running to 1st with his back to her!  iIt looks like disaster but then Adam turns and the ball goes straight into his glove to make the out.  AMAZING!  Big Al helps himself out by snagging a line drive hit at him.  A short throw to 1st gets one runner on and 2 walks load the bases.  Big Al's pitching comes backs strong as the next batter hits a short pop up to left that Willy catches for the 3rd out.  Element's 1st baseman is grumbling as he walks back to the bench, and Big Al tries to console him.  "C'mon.  You don't want to walk your way home.  You want to hit the ball."

Our side strands runners at 1st and 3rd, and Element hits a solo hr deep into right field to bring the game closer at 5-4.  2 pop flies caught by Tamara and a Henry/Adam combo bring us back before they can score more.

O’Henry leads off the 5^th with a home run, but then he trots back to 3rd base??!!  "I knew I missed the bag, and the umpire saw me.  The 3rd baseman saw me too."  No worries because Willy hits a drooper to right field with a bad bounce that brings Henry home and Willy to 2nd.  The ss fields a line drive and makes the play while Willy does some smart base running to advance to 3rd.  Big Al helps himself out with a strong grounder past ss to bring Willy home.  Element gets their 3rd out, but we're up 7-4 now.  Henry makes the call and replaces Apeman with JJ and Ribbi with BGs.

In the bottom of the fifth, we shut Element down with an easy catch by Willy, a strikeout by Al and a great snag by Henry.

In the 6th, with 2 outs, Czar hits a dribbler to right field which he pushes into a double.  Capone continues the 2 out rally to bring Czar home.  Henry thanks Capone with a single to let Ant score.  9-4 going into the bottom of the 6th, and we're feeling pretty good.

Element starts with a solo hr deep into center field, but Capone responds with a catch on his knees for the first out.  Tam and Willy both call a short pop fly, but neither of them are able to make the catch.  In true JJ form, JJ slides into the Element dugout fence to grab a foul pop.  That would have given a spark to B61, but unfortunately, it was too far away for him to catch.  Another dropped infield fly leaves runners on 1st and 2^nd and starts the longest out I’ve ever seen.

That was all element needed to bring out their rally monkey and to send us spiraling.  A dropped ball to center gives loaded bases, and a walk with a woman at next bat  brings in 2 runs.  Another base hit and a ball deep to center that Capone slides for (needs new cleats,) and Element is up 9-11.  Czar slips trucking for a ball to center ("What was that?  I saw you do a back flip out there"), and then Steve slips on a ball that goes deep to left field to make it 9-13.  Base hits and walks plague us until they are up 9-15.  Henry takes a tired Al out of the game and comes in to pitch with the Rookie coming in to play 3rd.  Amy almost gets a grab at home ("It was the perfect ball to catch",) but it was catches by Willy and Capone that finally ended the agony.  After that, we were fried, and in 3 easy outs, Element ended the game victorious.

Player of the Game

Henry will fight to the death anyone who questions that Big Al (the Gentle Giant as Betsy calls him at home) was player of the game.  Brought out of nowhere to pitch against a great team, he did an amazing job.  Steady pitching, great fielding, a strikeout and an RBI to help the team out.  He gets my vote.

Thoughts

They call it the B61 curse- that one inning where we fall part.  It's been with us for the past 4 years, and I don't know how to make it go away..  At the same time, however, our other innings are much stronger, and we bounce back much faster.  The top half of our lineup went 3 for 4!  That's why it's so surprising when we fall apart. 

Memorable Quotes

·         “That's what I love about this team.  Everyone's confessing why they lost the game.”

·         “How about vagina stuffed with bacon?  They're two of my favorite foods!”

·         “I don't think we could have done any worse.”  “Well, nobody got hit in the balls.”

·         "I'm gonna pee in my pants, but at least I'm wearing Jamie's underwear”

·         “Hey, Tam didn't use the girl bat.  Write about that.”

·         “Shut up.  Chinese food”

·         Amy- "I didn't want to walk.  I was ready to hit in the last inning."  How far she's come!

·         Rob - "I went 5 for 6 in beers I brought"

·         “a toast - to 5 1/2 innings of the best softball fundamentals”

·         “I propose a toast- Jerry Falwell's dead.  Praise Jesus!”

·         “I would bleed for this team.”  “I don't want you to bleed, just suck.”

·         “I'm telling you, she was a man.  C'mon.  I'm just saying what everyone was thinking”

You can read the writeups at www.redhooksoftball.com/b61/ or through the B61 softball blog at www.blogger.com.