Emmis the Menace: Game 7

We showed up to our last season game to find Skinner Park taken over with a lot of people. Near Left Center, there was a small hot dog stand that had set up shop. Near Right Field, there were a ton of people and kids more or less camped out.

When I was in the outfield, I swear I was standing pretty close to this guy. I could have taken a few extra steps backwards and ordered myself a hot dog.

We had a lot of people out this game – Chris R, Brian R, Noami. A few of us were talking in the bar about how Ally was out this week, and wondered who would be the person to step up and fill her formidable shoes. We ended up putting AJ in Ally’s spot, covering 2nd Base.

We had a few folks come out to cheer us on (Liz showed up near the end of the game, (rushing over after meeting with her trainer at the gym). Al, still recovering from an injury a few games back, came to support us from the sidelines.

We also had Chris C in attendance. Though he was recovering from some serious eye surgery recently, you could hear his voice ringing out throughout the game. Chris also brought a big cooler full of beer, which helped as the game progressed.

We played a team called YUUUUUPPPP, and they did a number on us. Their name seemed to imply a kind of laid-back attitude, that belied the professionalism of their tuxedo t-shirts. While their outfielders and defense were good, it was their pitcher that really sealed the deal. This guy was a power thrower and was hurtling some hard to hit balls at the plate.

I feel like I’m a fairly coordinated guy, but there was one pitch where I pretty much whiffed and missed hitting the ball, entirely. The ref said he heard me brush against it, but the way my leg was swinging… you’d think I was trying out for the Rockettes. The guy threw a mean ball, and I’m pretty sure he was the major factor in our loss (we got beat, 11-1).

When we hit the 4th or 5th inning, we needed at least one run to avoid the mercy rule. At this point, their pitcher eased up and started pitching easier balls to us… and we ended up scoring at least one run. The way we were all cheering, you’d think we won the game right there and then.

The stars of the game were far and away AJ, Letty and Nisha. Letty was covering shortstop and did a great job preventing balls from getting past her, and making a good catch on a pop fly in the process. AJ, having been tapped to take over Ally’s spot, caught a ton of fly balls. When they came to her, she grabbed them and held on an extra few seconds, to ensure she had it under control.

Nisha, who was playing Catcher, had one of my favorite plays. The kicker at bat popped the ball nearly straight up in the air. Roshan started to run towards home to try to get to the ball, but Nisha stepped forward and caught it without a problem. The sound of the bench, the roar of the cheers that went up… was an awesome thing to hear. As she was given high-fives at the bench, you could see her face beaming. Definitely one of my fav moments of the game.

Our season record is 3 wins, 4 losses… but we’re not done yet. Next week brings us to the official “tournament” portion, where it’s single elimination. We go up against Straight Kickin’ It (we lost our game against them, 10-8). They were our second official game, so it’ll be interesting to see how we fare after having a solid 7 games under our belt.

If you haven’t had a chance to see us play yet, or would like to come root for us… we’ll be at Skinner Park on Wednesday, August 17th at 6PM.