15 Sept 2007 - Defensive Struggles

ONEs: 1st Indiana, 2nd Dr Geok, SS NewJohn, LF Mick, CF Rube, RF H

TWOs: 1st Uboat, 2nd Maglite, SS DT, LF Ramadan Dave, CF Knees, RF Rugburn

Game 1: ONEs 4: TWOs 3 (12 innings)

Beautiful day. Sun was shining from behind clouds, the rain had stopped and the field was soft and springy. No cricket monkeys in sight, and the frisbee idiots came too late to get the field.

For the first time in a long time, the diamond was set up at the 'old' corner. The backstop and fencing did not come into play as no one overthrew their targets (rare, I know)

With only 12 on the count, Prof Zen and Indiana rules were in effect. And with no obvious weaknesses in both lineups, the game quickly became a defensive struggle.

For 4 innings, it was the case of leaving men on base, as every inning ended with bases loaded. The ONEs finally managed to get on the boards, leading the way with 1 run in the 4th. The TWOs quickly answered with 2 runs of their own in the top of the 5th, but allowed another 2 runs in the bottom of the same inning. The TWOs finally managed to score a run to tie up the game in the 7th, and that score would remain the same through the normal game, deep into extra-innings.

It was the aggressive running from The Mick in the bottom of the 12th that led the way to a ONEs victory. He tried for 2nd base on a single into LF and was rewarded for his aggression. NewJohn stepped up to the plate and hit a booming liner into the gap between left and center and the Mick scored for the win.

Maglite had the best play of the game. In the 11th inning, with 1 out, and a runner on 1st and 2nd, she fielded a grounder up the middle, stepped on 2nd base to force the runner out and made a perfect throw to home for the DP.

Indiana easily won the award from Most Beatup Player. He was elbowed at first by a runner, crashed heavily into the ground while rounding 3rd and was hit in the spectacles by a liner going back up the middle. We had to stop the game so many times to check if he were ok, we might have to change his name to 'Time-out'. The spill he took going around 3rd base was the worst. We were worried he broke his collarbone or hip, but he gamely got up and carried on playing. In fact, after being throw out at home, he went on to pitch for his team for the next batter... and took a line drive that bounced out of his glove into his spectacles.

Prof Zen rules is hard when the outfield consists of people like Ramadan Dave, Rube, Knees, H, Rugburn and The Mick. No homeruns were allowed, and doubles were easily reduced to singles.
And with those arms, even doubles with a runner on 2nd were easily thrown out at home.

MBP (Most Beatup Player): Indiana

Gold Glove: Both shortstops

Best Bat: Uboat (1.000)

Best Play: Maglite (4-2 DP)