Six-Inning See-Saw Shootout
On July 20, a warm, partially overcast evening perfect for roundball, the fearless Diamond Park Troupe of St Mark showed up at the RAC for another rousing game of softball!
For three innings, St Mark gave the other team a false sense of security and confidence with a soft start, letting them go up with a 4-point lead, letting them think they had this St Mark squad all wrapped up in their greased-up gloves. But just when they thought this was a walkaway win, the St Mark bats came alive! Hanging in there even while looking at the scoreboard announcing a 0-4 deficit at the top of the fourth, St Mark bounced back in majestic style to even up the score at 4-4 at the end of the fourth. There were no big boomers on the Griffin side of the field, but they did what needed to be done – making the ball start dropping into no-man’s land, giving them base hit after base hit thanks to some awesome fair-play baseline placements by Nicolas P. and Kristina T. F. that kept our runners moving around the bases and scoring some much-needed RBI runs.
But St Mark’s offensive play was superbly balanced by some stellar display of their defensive skills, most notably the fearless defensive stand made by Lenora “Magnet Mitt” S. who snagged some incredibly high and fast balls while holding down the fort at shortstop!
So the see-saw battle begins! Starting at 0-4, the St Mark Softballers bring it back to 4-4, then drop a couple of opponent runs to let the score go to 4-6, but immediately bounce back to 6-6, then some back-and-forth volleys to take the lead at 10-8 at the end of the fifth inning. Even though the consensus from the crowd was that the game should have been called on account of time at the end of the fifth, the ump made an executive command decision to extend the game to six innings. So once more both teams take the field. But even with lots of supportive chatter from the “Cracker Jack Crowd” in the bleachers, led by Susan Susan “She’s Our Gal” G., it all came down to some well-played hits by the opposing team, leading to a heartbreaking but well-fought loss for the St Mark Softballers, with a final score of 10-11.
If you gotta lose, this is the kind of game you don’t mind losing over! Everybody should be proud of what they did, no matter the outcome! And for those non-playing spectators seeking out an exciting Friday evening of watching some stellar sports action, check out all the closing games of the St Mark softball season – it just doesn’t get much better! ~~ Roving Reporter “Moose M.”