Spring Game 4 – April 12th vs Indy Team #1

Big game for Matt! 2 home runs, 2 doubles, 8 rbis. With Mitchell in Left Field in the background

The Underhanded Compliments improved to 3 & 1 on the season with a dominant performance against the Indy Team formerly known as Where My Pitches At on Sunday: 25 to 0. Hits for everyone!

It was a fun day, as several of us got together at the Free House for food & beverages before the late game (6:00 p.m. start time), & to celebrate Bryce’s birthday. It had been a bit of a nerve-wracking morning for yours truly, as several players were unavailable: Ariel, Cameron, Harrison, Hayden & Harrison all were out. But fortunately Mitchell stepped up to fill in on the men’s side, & Emily K cut short a visit in Washington to come out, so we were able to field an 11-person team: 7 men & 4 women.

A great shortstop/second base combo: Matt & Emily K; with Bryce in center. Emily went 3 for 4, while Bryce had a 4 for 4 on his birthday & a circus catch in the first inning!

Things started off well in the first inning. Matt doubled, & Emily K followed with a single. Zeb doubled in Matt, & Bryce followed with the first of two triples to drive in Emily & Zeb. Triffid got Bryce home on a groundball, so we took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the first—which was a 1-2-3 inning that included a fine running catch in short centerfield by Bryce.

We kept the pressure on in inning two with consecutive singles by Gustav, John & Emily H, the latter driving in Gustav. Emily H had a fine day at the plate: 3 for 4 with 4 rbis & 3 runs scored. With one out, Matt cleared the bases with a 3-run homer; then Zeb hit a line drive single with two outs, & Bryce sent him home with his second triple. 9-0 after two!

Zeb at the hot corner, Triffid pitching - a shutout no less. Triffid has a 3.04 ERA on the season, which is remarkable for slow-pitch; a tribute to her accurate pitching & to our overall defense

In the bottom of the second the Indy team did put a couple of runners on, but some good defensive work, especially by Triffid, kept them off the board.

The third was our big inning, as we scored the 9-run maximum with the Indy team recording only one out. The inning began with hits by Mitchell & Nicole (in her first game!), a walk to Gustav, an rbi single by John, a 2-run single by Emily H, a single for Mark, & then another 3-run homer by Matt. This was followed with hits by Emily K, Bryce & Triffid, who knocked in Bryce as run number 9 with a double to center.

Nicole at the plate. In her first game Nicole chipped in with a hit, 2 runs scored & an outfield assist!

The Indy team went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, & we followed with a 7 run inning in the top of the fourth to end the scoring. Mitchell led off with a single, & then with one out we got consecutive singles by Gustav, John, Emily H & Mark before Matt smacked a 2-run double. Emily K, Zeb & Bryce also had hits in the inning, in which we batted around.

Gustav had to move behind the plate after tweaking his knee on a slide. We hope he's good for next game, because he is contributing a cool .787 average on the season!

The fourth & fifth innings on defense led to a couple of interesting plays. In the fourth, we cut down a player trying for two on a play from Nicole to Emily K to Zeb, while in the fifth, in an exciting play at the plate, we nailed a runner trying to stretch a triple to a homer on a throw from Emily H to Emily K to Mark to Triffid. That sealed the shutout, & the game ended after five as the Indy team invoked the mercy rule. That was Emily H’s second outfield assist of the season!

Emily K scoring one of the 25 runs!

We ended a good day with a return to the Free House for further celebration of Bryce’s birthday & the big win. As was so often the case last year, I was once again reminded of the great feeling of camaraderie, friendship & support on this team, which has made it one of the best sports experiences in my very long, albeit undistinguished sports career!

Mitchell sprinting for first; Mitchell went 3 for 4 on the game.

Our next game is this coming Sunday, 4/19 against the Syndicate, last Spring's champions. That will not be as easy as these last two match-ups!

Later this week on the blog (I hope!) first practice at Pier Park!