The Champ(s)! – 8/3 vs. The Therminators

The Champs! L-R: Cameron, Emily K, Kristina, Nicole, Matt, Gustav, Triffid, Steven, Mark, John, Emily H, Lauren, Bryce

Monday August 3rd brought the Underhanded Compliments to the game we’d all been waiting for: the Summer League Championship final versus the Therminators. The game was a rematch of last year’s title game, in which we’d defeated the Therminators 20-4 to take the 2014 title. So here we were again, defending champs, with a record of 8-0, trying to finish off a perfect season!

We’d dominated the Therminators in a game earlier this season, winning 28-3; but I suspected they were going to prove to be stiffer competition in this game. Indeed, they came out hitting, racking up two singles in the first three batters, & scoring two runs on a 2-out triple.

Cameron played a really inspired game both at bat & in the field

But we were able to answer in the bottom of the first. Gustav, playing his final game with the Underhanded Compliments, led off with a walk, & Lauren & Matt followed with  singles, the latter scoring Gustav. Bryce then hit a 2-run triple, & Emily K came through with a sacrifice fly to center to send Bryce home. Mark singled, then after the second out was recorded (with Mark taking second on a grounder), yours truly doubled to drive him in. We led 5-2.

Triffid had a great season pitching, with a 6-0 record!

But the Therminators were far from done. Their lead-off hitter singled, & with one out the next batter drew a walk; this was followed by yet another 2-run triple! But we were able to strand that runner on third base & maintain a narrow lead.

Steven at short, Gustav in left: great games by both!

Steven led off the bottom of the second with a single, & with one out, Cameron hit a hustle double to put runners on second & third. Kristina followed with an rbi infield single (aided by a really heads up deke from Cameron at second that delayed the shortstop’s throw to first). After the second out was recorded, Lauren drew a walk & Matt came through with a clutch 2-out, 2-run single to increase our lead to 8-4.

Kristina made a fine catch in right & had an rbi single!

The Therminators were not quitting, however. Their lead-off batter singled, & with one out, another single put runners on the corners. Kristina made a fine catch on a fly ball to right field that followed, but it was deep enough to score the runner on third. Fortunately, Steven was able to make a fine running catch from his shortstop position on a pop up to shallow left to end the rally.

Emily H had a big clutch rbi single in the 4th!

We were held scoreless in the bottom of the inning, & despite loading the bases in the top of the fourth, the Therminators also failed to score. In our half of the fourth the first two batters made outs, but Steven came through with a triple, & then Emily H lined a clutch rbi single to the outfield. Cameron doubled again, but we were unable to score further. We held the Therminators scoreless in the top of the fifth, & then Gustav led off by drawing another base on balls. Lauren singled, but both Gustav & Lauren were retired going for the extra base. Matt came through with a 2-out double, however, & Bryce sent him home with a triple. Going into the top of the sixth we led 10-5.

Bryce in center & Nicole at second reacting to a ball in play. Nicole had another solid game in the field, & Bryce was tremendous as always!

Gustav made a couple of fine plays in left field in the sixth, but the Therminators were able to score a run; the inning was brought to a close on a truly heads up & skillful play by Emily K on a slow grounder to third. Still, we were able to answer during our at bats. Mark led off with a double, & with one out yours truly singled to score him. After the second out was recorded, Steven tripled to drive in yet another run, & we led 12-6.

Emily K played her usual great game at third & had a big rbi in the first

Going into the seventh, it looked like we had the game in hand. Their lead off batter hit a pop up to Emily K, & while the next batter tripled, we were able to record the second out on a routine fly to left.

It was at this point that all hell broke loose—2 outs & one on, with a 6 run lead….what could go wrong? In fact, the next six Therminators batters all reached base on a series of hits & errors, & suddenly the score was 12-11 us with the tying run on second & the go ahead run on first. Their batter made hard contact, sending a drive to left—but Gustav was able to run it down, & with that, the title was ours! How appropriate that Gustav recorded the final out for us in his final game, & on a fine play at that.

The winning bracket!

It was a great season. We finished 9-0, to improve our 2-year record in the Irving Summer Weeknight League to 17-0-1, with back-to-back championships. We outscored our opponents this season 178 to 69, & we put up a team slash line (batting average/on base percentage/slugging percentage) of .627/.637/1.043. Most importantly, however, the team had a lot of fun, always supported each other, & created a great atmosphere. So proud of these folks!

Final standings & a nice write-up by Underdog Sports

We’ll be on hiatus for a bit until we start up Fall League on August 23rd!