10 March 2007 - Never Retreat, Never Surrender

ONES: 1st Rube, 2nd Wild Thing, SS NewJohn, 3rd Burma Girl, RF DT, CF Sandman, LF Rugburn
TWOS: 1st Rube, 2nd Horfun, 3rd U-boat, SS Indiana, RF H, CF Mick, LF Superdad

Game 1: ONES 4 : TWOS 3
Game 2: ONES 2 : TWOS 7

It was hot, sizzling hot. The sun shining down as hard as the rain poured last week. With our normal field taken up by frisbee idiots and cricket monkeys, we were forced to move to the alternate field. It wasn't that bad as the rain has smoothed out most of the ruts, and the sun had dried the ground to a consistant smoothness. There were still cases of brick and mortar sticking out of the earth, but it did not affect gameplay at all.

With the memories of last weeks epic defensive battle fresh in our minds, we voted to use a slower, softer ball to combat the hard ground (just like we used a small rubber ball to combat the wet conditions), it made all the difference as we had another two memorable games with neither team giving quarter.

The TWOS put runs on the board early in the game, scoring 2 runs in the second inning that lasted almost till the end of the game. It took the ONES 6 innings before they managed to tie the score, and it wasn't till the bottom of the 8th that the ONEs managed to take a lead. Both teams were defensive powerhouses, putting up impregnable walls that the other team could not score on. Neither team was really hitting that well though, which might have contributed to the low score. Considering the ground conditions, it would come as a surprise that not a single homerun was hit throughout both games. Even with the likes of Rugburn and Superdad at bat, we only saw triples or doubles.

The second game started much like the first, with the away team putting early numbers on the board. This time, the ONEs did not have a 9 inning buffer to tie the game. And the TWOS put the final nail in the coffin with a 5 run inning at the top of the 8th, which the ONEs had no reply.

Notes:
We finally saw the return of the Mick, and he brought along a fresh body, Mike, his brother, also known as U-boat. He had a career day at 3rd base. Debuting in the hot corner making error after error after error. We're sure he'll grow into that position, if not, we'll move him to the outfield.

With some great coaching from NewJohn, Wild Thing is making some fabulous plays. She's not afraid of hard throws and has settled into her position nicely. She still has a lot to learn about baserunning, but that will come with time.

Rube does NOT have bone chips in his elbow, as the x-ray as confirmed. The Doctor is stumped as to why his elbow still hurts as nothing shows up on the x-ray. We reckon it's the weight of the One Ring.

DT is still playing one handed catch, and still getting picked on by the spray hitters in the opposite team.

H had possibly the worst hitting day of her career. She hit everything on the ground to the Rube or Wild Thing and got on base 1 out of 9 at bats. We're checking on blown veins at this juncture.

Burma girl won her first gold glove playing 3rd base. She was a wall. Nothing got by her, and every hit she caught was thrown out at first.

Rugburn had the biggest hit of the game (which only got him to 3rd base). Both teams were actually hitting the cutoff man.

After ball, we went to Indiana's place to sip fine wines, eat pizza and watch 'Idiocracy' and 'Tenacious D: Pick of Destiny'. All in all, a great weekend.

On to next week.