2014 Season Recap

Spring Team Photo: back row from left: Colin, Monish, Gustav, Zeb, Mark; front row from left: John, Cameron, Triffid, Lauren; missing: Andrea, Heather D, Mallory, Steven, Tyler; Emily H joined the team later in the season

For a team that began as a group of “independent players,” many of whom had never met prior to the first game, the Underhanded Compliments had a remarkable 2014 season. We played in all three seasons—Spring, Summer & Fall—& compiled an overall 17-5-1 record, including the Summer League Championship (Irving Park weeknight league). We were undefeated in that summer league—one tie, & we beat that team 20 to 4 in the finals. Our run differential for the season was 441 to 238, with the highwater mark being the Summer League, when we outscored our opponents 235 to 63. Fall was a more modest 118 to 63, while we did have a negative differential in the Spring, 88 to 112.

We started the season well with a 14 to 7 win over the B-Side Bombers, despite playing with only nine on opening day. The line-up was in flux for much of the Spring, as we lost both Andrea T & Monish fairly early in the season. But we picked up Emily H, who has been a fixture on the team since. After the first game, we ran into the buzzsaw of the eventual league winners the Syndicate & were soundly defeated. In fact, we were a middle of the road team, & though we finished in the first division for the playoffs, we were eliminated in the first round by BAM, 21 to 9.

Still, the team grew together—friendships were formed, positions solidified. Our starting infield for the whole 2014 took shape, with Mark A at first, Lauren C at second, Zeb R at third & Colin R at short. In addition, we quickly identified our pitching mainstay in Triffid A. Other fixtures moving forward were outfielders Tyler C, Cameron D, Steven N, Mallory O, & Emily H, super utility man Gustav L, who played catcher, infield & outfield, & John H who also played catcher. We also began practicing together, which not only improved our play, but also helped to bring us together.

Summer Team Photo: back row from left: John, Cameron, Tyler, Matt, Steven, Triffid, Mallory; front row: Emily H, Lauren, Colin, Maddie, Gustav, Mark, Heather P; missing: Zeb

In the summer we had two major additions to the team: Matt H came on board as a center fielder. Matt brought an extensive baseball background, & great skills both at bat & in the field; he also brought a lot of speed. In addition, we added Maddie B. from the 2013 Chain team, & Maddie, who had a background in fast pitch traveling teams, also contributed in all aspects of the game, usually patrolling the outfield & showing off an absolute gun for an arm! The summer league team really was a formidable group as we won most games by lopsided scores.

Summer League Champs! Back row from left: Mark, Colin, Matt, Triffid, Emily H, Gustav; front row from left: Lauren, Tyler, Zeb, Cameron, John; also at the game: super sub Dani S

We all had high hopes for the Fall league. Most of the core players returned, except for Mallory who went her own way. But we also added Jay G & Bryce H, friends of Maddie & Emily H respectively, & they are both formidable players. We suffered a defeat in the second game of the season to a team called Up Yurs—soundly in fact, 14 to 5, but after that we returned to our winning ways, & when Up Yurs later was beaten, we had a lot of confidence that we’d get them in the playoffs & take a second championship.

Fall League Photo: back row from left: Steven, Shea, Beckie, Emily H, Gustav, Colin, John, Matt; front row from left: Zeb, Maddie, Tyler, Lauren; missing: Bryce, Cameron, Jay

Sadly, it was not to be. Despite a large roster, we forfeited our playoff game to Huevos Grandes because we didn’t have enough players to field a legal team. We played the game out anyway, & beat Huevos Grandes soundly, but that was only for pride. It was just a perfect storm—people with out-of-town commitments & a bad cold that was going around. Still, we ended that season with only the one loss. While the Fall League didn’t end the way we’d hoped, we’d had a great time playing ball together for over 7 months!

Later this week: 2015 pre-season!