It Was the Shirt All Along – 6/24 vs. The Performance Enhancers

Emily H: player of the game, with magic jersey

All during the spring & the first couple of games in the summer league, we were convinced that Bryce was flat out destroying the ball because of his extensive baseball background & all-around athleticism. But on Wednesday, we discovered his secret—the magic shirt.

Yes, Emily H showed up for Wednesday’s game wearing Bryce’s jersey—& went on to gather well-deserved player of the game honors on the strength of a 3 for 4 game that included 3 rbis & 2 runs scored. Emily says she’s not giving Bryce his jersey back, but it appears that as long as one of them is sporting the magic shirt, we’ll be in great shape.

Gustav went 4 for 4!

In fact, Wednesday’s game was a rollicking & high-scoring affair in which we defeated the Performance Enhancers 23-15. It was not exactly our most crisp defensive game, but we more than made up for it with a lot of hitting. With the game called after the top of the 6th because of light, we managed to score in every inning, & even managed to send all 11 hitters to the plate in a 7-run 3rd.

Lauren went 3 for 4, hitting one line drive after another!

The Performance Enhancers got the scoring started with 3 in the first, but we answered back with 6 in the bottom of the first. Gustav, Lauren, Matt & Colin all led off with singles, & then with one out, Nicole lined a single to left to plate two runs (Gustav had already scored on Matt’s hit.) Yours truly hit into a force play, but did drive in the run, then Mark followed with a single, & Emily came up with the first of her rbi hits. There may have been a discrepancy between the score we had kept & the one the ump kept, but if so, it was in our favor, as he credited us with six-runs.

Matt at the plate: 3 for 3, including a 3-run homer & a sacrifice fly!

We shut the Performance Enhancers down in the second, & then went back to work. With one out, Gustav & Lauren both singled, then Matt smashed a 3 run homer. Colin followed with a bloop triple—not something you see every day, & Emily K drove Colin in with a single.

Colin hit for the cycle thanks to the old bloop triple!

In the 3rd the Performance Enhancers got back 2 runs, but we had our big inning coming up. Yours truly led off with a single, followed by singles from Mark, Emily H & Cameron, the latter two each driving in runs. With one down, Gustav & Lauren each singled (Gustav’s driving in a run), then Matt hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Kristina, who’d reached on a fielders choice. Colin followed with a double to score Gustav, & then Emily K drove in Lauren & Colin with a double to complete the scoring.

Emily K: solid game as always--single, double, 3 rbis!

The Performance Enhancers scored 2 again in the fourth, but we answered them with 2 of our own. Yours truly led off with a single, then with two outs Cameron doubled home Emily, who’d reached on a fielders choice. Kristina then followed with a single to drive in Cameron.

Kristina at bat: base hit, run scored, rbi!

The wheels kind of came off the Underhanded Compliments bus in the top of the 5th—probably an inning best left to everyone’s imagination. Suffice it to say that the Performance Enhancers came back from being down 12 to really make a game of it, scoring 8 runs. It was not our proudest moment.

Nicole at the plate: 2 for 4 with a big 2-run single in the first!

But we came back in the bottom of the 5th to score four runs. Matt led off with a single, then Colin hit a 2-run homer. With one out, Nicole singled, & yours truly followed with a single as well. Mark singled in Nicole, but was called out for making the turn—a bad call, because no tag was applied, & that isn’t a force play, but so it goes. Emily H followed with her third hit, a hard smash up the middle to drive in Matt, who was pinch running for me. We shut down the Performance Enhancers in the top of the 6th, & took the win.

Cameron: 3 for 4 with a double, & has stepped up to pitch while Triffid's away.

Really great performance, as everyone chipped in. Everyone had at least one hit, & everyone either scored a run or drove one in—most players did both. Really proud of this team!

Big game for Emily H - 3 hits, 3 rbis!

& the magic shirt is our new secret weapon!

Next Week: Battle for 1st Place with Energy 350!