8 May 2005 - The Importance of Being First

ONES :
Pitch: Prof Zen, Catch: Guppy, 1st: Rube, 2nd: Diana, 3rd: The Generalissimo, SS: The Groin, OF: TH, Grandpa, TNG1, Horfun, Fei, The Cheetah

TWOS :
Pitch: TS/Rickey, Catch: Jason, 1st: Rickey/TS/JoZ, 2nd: Princess, 3rd: Sandman, SS: DT, OF: TNG2, TNC, Gunz, JoZ, Cool Papa

Game 1 : ONES 10 : TWOS 9
Game 2 : ONES 0 : TWOS 2 (Game called in the Top of the First due to injury)



It was a great day for softball, with the field moistened by rain the night before and bright Mr. Sun beating down unrelentlessly on everyone. The humidity notwithstanding, the standard of play was atypical of SAS, one moment brilliant and one more absolutely terrible. Much like the daylight cycle. When it got hot, it was very hot, and when it got dark, you were blind.

The TWOs took off to an exciting lead in the first, with Cool Papa forcing a run down between first and second allowing Jason to score. Of course Cool Papa made it safely back to first avoiding all efforts to tag him. The TWOs scored again at the beginning of the 2nd, but a vicious linedrive up the middle by Rube took out the TWOs starting pitcher and they had to send in a middle reliever early in the game. Rube's hard-hit shot careened off TS's well-muscled left pectoral to leave an outstanding bruise, effectively putting him on the DL. Whether it was intentional of not is up for speculation as TS had pitched a no-hitter right up to this point.

Bringing in Rickey from the bullpen saw the ONEs score 2 quick runs to tie the game. The ONEs scored again at the bottom of the third, beating on Rickey as if he were Kevin Brown (we were glad there were no walls around), taking a 4-2 lead. The TWOs rallied back hard at the start of the 5th, scoring 4, with Rickey getting an RBI (more on this later). Not ONE to sit back, they batted in another 2 runs at the bottom of the 6th to even the score again. Best play of the game came from this inning, as TNG2 made a running-over-the-shoulder-almost-impossible catch off Rube's deep fly ball into centerfield. The ball looked like it was gone for a homerun, but TNG2 had some speed on him and ran down the ball for a magnificent catch.

The lead swung towards the TWOs in the top of the 7th, when Rickey made another RBI (more on this later). They did not managed to pad their lead, and lost it again in the bottom of the 8th when the ONEs scored 2 runs to take it back. Rube made the DY play of the day during the top of the 8th, running down a fly ball deep in foul territory and catching it in the imaginary stands. His play was one of the reasons the TWOs could not score that inning.

With the game on the line, the TWOs dug deep and through ANOTHER Rickey RBI (no more of these later), pulled the game back to a tie to go to the bottom of the 9th. With a tired pitcher on the mound, the TWOs defence upped the ante, and the middle infield combined well to get 2 outs at second. The game would go into extra innings.

The TWOs scored first in the extra inning, going into the bottom of the game with a 1 run lead. This was not enough, as the ONEs brought on their big bats, and beat on a tired Rickey like the Yankees beat on Pedro in years gone by. Loading the bases with singles, the ONEs struck! Hitting a gapper-double into right centerfield for 2 runs to score and for the victory.

Game 2 started out much like Game 1, with the TWOs taking the lead early. However, in the first inning, a show of aggressive baserunning led to a game-stopping injury. Gunz, proving that he has legs as well as an arm, took an extra base from first to second, extending himself to third. Rube made the throw to The Generalissimo for the tag, but Gunz had already slid under it. The slide went awry, and Gunz ended up twisting his knee in a bad way. It was a great effort by the Gunz.

Highlights.
The ONEs were plagued by bad hops all day to the shortstop. It might have been a career E day for the Groin. On the other end of the spectrum, the TWOs were plagued by the lack of an experienced first baseman. With TS going under Rube's knife, he switched to first replacing Rickey, and his inexperience at that position showed. He was replaced by JoZ, who was more used to being at the left side of the infield than the right, and many a play was not completed as he did not get to the base on time. It goes to show that first base is not an easy position to play.

The Cheetah got caught in a hot box between 2nd and 3rd (what is up with SAS and hot boxes? This is the third week in a row). He was tagged sliding into third by Sandman. As usual, textbook example of a run down. It really is something you can learn through training, but never do well unless you practice it during a game.

The 2 TNGs and the TNC showed their mettle. Making excellant plays and showing great hustle. They had good at bats, and we hope to see them coming down every week. We do need to get their names though. However, TNG1 made a contraversial play at the bottom of the 1st. After DT tagged out TS at second, and was returning the ball to the pitcher, TNG1 made a run for second, effectively stealing the base. All on the field were shocked as we'd never seen it happen on SAS. In fact, it was so shocking, DT didn't protest until after the next batter had been called out, and after some discussion, the BLUEs called TNG1 back to first.

MBP : none
Gold Glove : none
Biggest Bat : Rickey's 3 predicted RBIs (he didn't even pop it up)
Best Play : TNG2 at the bottom of the 6th
DY play of the day : Rube at the top of the 8th
Bonehead Play : none