Sunday, the 21st of June, held the hopes and dreams of so very many middle-aged men chomping at the bit to relive their youth and play a kid’s game.  Mother nature, while fierce and wild, took pity on these lost, wandering souls of softball and graced them with conditions just good enough to PLAY BALL!!!!

GAME 1: IRONPIGS – 7 vs. DASH – 6

With warm ups over and a storm blowing in, the little Piggies took the field against a Dash, led by the dealin’ Commish Wayne Casper.  Tommy “2 Guns” Apligian took the first at bat of the season in the top of the first with a base knock, and Scott “Mr. 21” Lawrence put the first 2 runs of the game on the board with a Ding Dong to left field.  Not to be outdone in the bottom of the first, Dash legend, Darius Wu hits a “Good lord that ball went far” 3-1 pitch to plate 3 runs.

The Dash held the lead most of the day, as this was a defensive showdown.  Both pitchers kept the hitters off balance, and the D behind said pitchers made the routine, smart plays inning after inning.

This game saw the likes of Brinkman go 3-3 with a double, yes, for all those who think this is a typo, I’ll type it again, Brinkman was 3-3 with a double.  Smallwood peppered in a walk and a single, as did Chris “Hard E” Licurse” along with a much needed RBI. “El Capitan Merodeador” Leo Cova, had a couple base knocks while his D was in mid-season form.  Peter “Hustle” Hogan gave the Pigs a jolt in RCF with speed and tracking the ball, and Doug “Douggie Fresh” Hogan had an RBI single in the 3rd.  “Cbass” Brandon Alford took care of D and help with a single in the 6th to push the game winning run to 3rd base.  

Rookie ball was the difference in this nail biter, as piggies Rookie John “JayZ” Zielinski stole the fans hearts with a liner to LCF to start the 6th inning and come around and score on an Apligian single.  That run pushed the score to 7-6, and with the pigs leading, Mr. 21 took care of the rest.  Bottom of the 6th, one out, runner on first, 21 snags a middle shot and starts the game ending 1-6-3 Double Play.

Dash played a heck of a game, and it’s a shame an effort like that doesn’t come with a W, but sometimes, that’s the way softball go.  I definitely do not look forward to having to play this scrappy bunch, but it’ll be a heck of a game I’m sure.

GAME 2: CUBBIES – 10 vs PIGGIES – 11

Nerves settled and a first dub under the belt, the Piggies found themselves in another dogfight of a game.  The Cubs came out swinging with a Tanner Gandy single made into a double by hustle and grit.  This set the tone the whole day for the Cubbies, as they were relentless at the plate, on the bases and on D.  Lee McDonald hit a bomb that left some of the Piggies, including the captain, thunderstruck, awestruck and dumbstruck.  By the time the top of the first concluded, the Cubbies had batted 9 and were up 4.

Not to be outdone, the Piggies send 6 straight batters to the plate with 2 outs to claw out 4 runs of their own.  Apligian starts with a double, brought in by 21.  Cova gets things going again with a knock.  Smalls has an RBI single and Chris “Hard E” works a walk to set up Douggie Fresh who comes through clutch with a 2 run single to tie the game. 

Not much doing in the second inning for either team, but the flood gates were about to open in the 3rd with a Peter Hustle all you can eat salami buffet to break the tie and put the Piggies in the lead. 

The 4th saw Brink and Cbass start with singles that ultimately led to 2 runs and pushed the pigs to 10 runs.  With the Piggies rolling along, pitcher Kevin Gandy for the Cubbies, locked in and shut down the offense in the 5th and 6th innings, retiring 6 hitters in a row and giving the Cubs offense a chance to come alive and tie the game at 10 a piece.

Extra innings meant one pitch, and the Cubbies had the opportunity to draw blood first.  With runners on, 2 outs, Big Hitter Lee on deck, Lance Gandy smokes a ball up the middle but Mr. 21 makes another late inning, clutch play to squash the would be rally.

Cbass leads off for the Piggies in the bottom of the 7th, one pitch, he swings and hits a 2 hopper to Lee at 3rd base.  The game on the line, Cbass sprints down the line to take advantage of a defensive error and put a man on with no outs.  2 Guns and 21 with knocks themselves, and hello win column.

Lee and Nutt both did an excellent job getting this team ready to play and stepping in to fill the shoes of Schnitzer.