Playoffs Begin! 5/17 vs. Huevos Grandes

Underhanded Compliments take the field at Unthank Park

Sunday May 17th was one of the most beautiful days of the Portland spring—& this has been a season replete with beautiful days; not a single rainout in the Underdog Spring League, at least for the Underhanded Compliments. Quite a contrast to last season.

Also in contrast to last season, the team entered the playoffs as a high seed: number three, whereas last year we were middle of the pack, & bowed out after a single game in which we were soundly defeated by BAM.  But there was one similarity between the quarterfinal rounds of 2014 & 2015—both were held at Unthank Park as opposed to Irving.

Unthank Park (named for civil rights activist Dr. Denorval Unthank) is a pretty spot on North Shaver Avenue. In addition to basketball courts & a playground, the tree-lined area has a Little League baseball diamond. In contrast to a standard softball field, the infield is grass, not dirt. However, the mound has been flattened, so that at least is more softball-like. While the park overall is kept up quite nicely, the outfield is a bit of a hazard. In fact, we had to have cones around a deep, potentially ankle-breaking hole in right field!

Zeb at 3B, Colin at short, & Matt in LF - really good defensive game for all three!

Our opponent in the quarterfinals was Huevos Grandes, a team we beat on opening day. Huevos Grandes is a great bunch of folks, & we looked forward to a fun game—we were not disappointed! In fact, it was one of the best games I’ve seen played in Underdog softball, especially in terms of defensive play. Both teams made a number of fine plays in the field, denying what looked to be sure base hits.

As a result, it was a low scoring affair. After both teams went scoreless in the first (helped on our side by a fine play by Bryce cutting down a runner trying to advance to third on a first inning single), Huevos broke the tie with a home run in the second. Two batters later a Huevos player sent a shot into the left center gap that looked like certain extra bases, & possibly a second homer, but Matt made a great play to run it down for the second out.

Mark had a great day at the plate!

Underhanded Compliments tied the score in the bottom of the third. With one out, Mark doubled, & then with two outs, Cameron singled him home. While it was a low scoring contest, we did have good two-out hitting, & Mark & Cameron both deserve to be mentioned as playing crucial roles, adding some serious pop toward the bottom of the line-up.

There was no more scoring until the fifth. Huevos threatened in the third with a two-out triple, but they were unable to cash in the run. Also noteworthy is a play Colin made on a line drive in the fourth to rob the Huevos of a hit.

Colin at the plate - his 5th inning triple was huge

In the bottom of the fifth, with two out, Colin tripled, & yours truly sent a solid line drive over shortstop to send him home—one of my prouder moments of the season. That put us up 2-1, but we were unable to add any more runs—& then Huevos answered in the top of the 6th with yet another home run to tie the score.

Hayden had a huge base hit in the 6th!

Going into the bottom of the 6th we had the bottom of the line-up coming up. However, we’d shuffled the line-up for this game to put some of our dangerous hitters lower in the order, & it paid dividends. Mark led off the inning with a single, & Hayden followed with a base hit. Cameron doubled to drive Mark in & put us back in the lead, & then Emily H followed with a single to plate Hayden. Back at the top of the order, Matt doubled to score Cameron, & then with one out, Harrison hit a solid 2-run single to put us up 7-2.

Harrison came up with the huge 2-run single in our 6th inning rally

Huevos Grandes did score in the top of the 7th on yet another home run, but that was the only hit of the inning, & we held on to take a 7-3 win.

Matt had a big double in the 6th & a great play in left field; that's Cameron on third, who also had a big game; Zeb coaching third

This coming Sunday we will face even stiffer competition as we play The Syndicate—the league’s defending champion—in the semi-finals. If we get by The Syndicate (to whom we lost by a single run in the regular season), we would play the winner of Basic Pitches versus BAM. It looks to be an exciting day!

Next week: Season recap & the beginning of Summer League!