This Softball Stuff is Dangerous

Sometimes you run across some dillweed who thinks that toughness and softball don't go hand in hand. "What? Why don't you play football, or rugby" or something similar comes out of their mouth. We'll I'm here to tell you (and show you) that softball can be rough at times as well.

Footballs don't fly through the air at the same speed as a softball. You have to be quick, and sometimes when things don't go right you pay the price.


But this is not the first time this has happened to a Beaver. Luckily never happened at a Beavers game, just while "honing our skills for our farm teams and winter leagues". Just a few years ago there was another eye injury.


Luckily there are 4+ months for Kid's eye to heal and for him to make up some much better stories for how he got his black eye ("you should see the other guy", "I actually caught the ball in my eye socket", "that umpire was lucky to get one shot in before he hit the dirt").

In the meantime, stay tough Beavers. This is a man's sport!

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 17 - Playoffs

With an even 6-6 record the Beavers limped into the playoffs. Luckily, all 4 teams make the playoffs, so it was more a matter of seeding, not IF.

Game one paired us with the Gap Finders. This was our opponent week one of fall, as well as week 4. Our record against these guys was 2-2 (shocking), but as we all know, the playoffs are a new season.

I was called out for the coin flip to determine home team. As the coin spun in the air, I called tails and nailed it. Beavers were to be home team.

The Gap Finders found few gaps in the first and the Beavers held them to 0 runs. There weren't many games this year where that happened in the first inning. Off to a good start. The Beavers came up in the bottom of the first, this time though, it was completely different. To welcome each Beaver to the plate was walk-up music. Some chosen by the individual hitter, some chosen by their teammates. Belle led off to the '70s song Ring My Bell. The umpire was laughing and amazed that we had actually gone through with the music. Maybe that is how Belle walked, doesn't matter, Belle on first. Jake hit second and the theme to Karate Kid escorted him to the plate. He felt the rush and drilled a ball over the left field fence. Theme music working!

Kid walked to the plate with Kid Rock screaming, he doubled. Big John then slowly walked to the plate as the song with the same name played from the bench. Big John, not knowing what his song was going to be could not contain himself and promptly got out. Dupper was next, Mama Said Knock You Out blared, Dupper singled. Sabo then walked to the dish with his Mr. Jones (Counting Crows). Not really sure the significance of this song, but he chose it, and it worked for him this AB - triple. Sonoma edited his song, Down with the Sickness, down to a brief 14 seconds. Almost long enough for his walk to the plate. He lifted a Sac fly to score Sabo. Two outs and Mobilly came to the plate. Since he was not in favor of this activity (music, not softball), we chose for him. Make 'em Say Uhh was chosen for him as he is known for his grunts when hits. It didn't work for him this time. Three outs, but 5 runs scored.

In the second the Gap Finders scored three runs of their own. Beavers led 5-3 for the bottom of the second and the remainder of the walk-up tunes. Santo came to the plate with a little John Fogerty and Centerfield - one out. Rake had to incorporate Beavers somehow, so Wynona's Big Brown Beaver by Primus played while he hit, he was able to reach on an error. P.T. chose 99 Problems but the Bitch Ain't One and used that negativity for good as he singled. The last hitter in the line up was Jimmy-D. Because of his scruffy look at times he has been called Jimmy-C (Christ) and to honor that he chose Personal Jesus. He hit a ball to short. Never would we have expected the SS to try for the play at home, but he did and he threw a perfect strike to the catcher to nail Rake at the dish. Belle then singled in PT for lone run in the inning. 6-3 Beavers.

The third was uneventful for both teams, 1-2-3 each.

Gap Finders added 2 in the 4th and the Beavers came up big again to answer them. 5 hits in a row, including HR by Sonoma and Rake plated 5 runs. Then two outs at the bottom of the order, then the top of the lineup had three straight hits to score another 2 runs. A 7 run outburst. Beavers were up 13-5.

The Gap Finders at this point were done. It was just a matter of time until they were 10-runned. That finally happened in the bottom of the 6th when Big John singled in Jake for the 16th run. Beavers win 16-6 and move on to the Championship game.

Beaver of the game goes to Sabo as he went 3-3 and missed the cycle by only the HR.

For the championship game it was back to the team Robinson, our opponent from the week prior. The Beavers were feeling good and rolled over the lineup from where it ended in the last game. This meant that Dupper was leading off.

Beavers came out as visitors and came out swinging. 5 runs scored in the top of the inning highlighted by a huge homerun by P.T. PT was also pitching well, allowing no runs in the 1st and only 2 in the second. Kid hit a solo shot in the 2nd, Beavers were up 6-2 after 2. In the third the Beavers added another 2 runs; Mobilly and Santo both driving one in.

Then the wheels fell off. Rake grounded a ball to short and the runner was out at second and on the play at first Rake collided with the first baseman who was in the basepath and hit the ground hard. Safe at first, but with a very sore leg. Rake took the brunt of the collision and paid the price. With the leg stiffening up, Big John took rightfield in the bottom half of the inning.

Needless to say, the ball found him, a couple of times. Compound two misplays with many well hit balls in front of and over the outfield the Beavers allowed 12 runs to score. An 8-2 lead was now an 8 - 14 deficit. That was it for the Beavers. Just like the air was sucked out of the Cardinals for the first round of the playoffs, so was it for the Beavers in the last two innings. managing one lone single by Jake the Beavers came in second place with a 19-8 loss.

Beaver of the game has to go to PT for his grand slam. No one saw that coming. It was huge at the time.

So there it is sports fans. Another Beaver season in the books. Beavers ended up 7-7 in the fall league. Some great competition and for the most part, great teams to match up against. There is some talk about getting the team back on the field in November (no, that is not a typo). Fenton offers a wood bat league for 5 weeks. It would be a first for the Beavers to participate in something like that. Stay tuned.

Otherwise, this off season I owe you all information on the annual winter warm up as well as many "Meet The Beavers" entries. I'll try to keep this going over the long 6 months until we start up next season. There has to be something to talk about...

Rake...out
beaverball.blogspot.com

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 16

My apologies for being so late on this recap. Since I am about 3 weeks out from the games my memory is going to be fuzzy. We played team Robinson (I think I have called each opponent Robinson this season, but this time I am sure). As Gee marked in the score book, they were "Bitches" we were "Cream". We'll just refer to them as Bitches from here on out.

Bitches were visitor in the first game and came out to the tune of 3 runs. Like they did the first time we played them, they were hitters. Beavers had an answer though. The top of the order not only got on base, but also scored. Big John K'd but that did not keep "Cream" from scoring two of our own. The second inning was much quieter, Bitches added one then the Cream stranded runners at first and second and got goose-egged. Bitches kept their scoring streak alive in the 3rd with another 3-spot. Cream was ready to make a game of it however.

Jimmy-D made the first out, Belle then got out for the second...then came the two-out rally: Jake walked, Kid hit a dinger, Big John made contact this time for a single, Sabo singled, Mobile singled, Dup doubled, Sonoma launched one into the trees, Santo reached via an error, Gee singled him in. 8 runs! Beavers (sorry, Cream) were up 10 - 7. In the 4th Bitches tied up the score at 10 before Cream came to the dish again.

Keith led this inning off with a hit, Jimmy-D forgot to swing but reached on ball four, Belle singled, Jake hit a HR, Sabo tripled, Mobile singled and Dup singled. Another 5 runs. A 5-run lead heading into the 5th. The 5th was relatively quiet. Bitches added one run and the Cream answered.

The wheels began to fall off the Cream-mobile in the 6th as Bitches scored 6 runs. The demoralized Creamcicles plated no one even while batting the top of the order. In the top of the 7th the Bitches chased another 3 runners around the bases. They had a 21-16 lead with the Cream due up in the bottom of the 7th.

Sabo led off the inning with a single, Mobilly doubled him to 3rd. Dupper then doubled both of them in (21-18). Sonoma reached on an error, Santo singled Dupper in (21-19). Gee then hit a Sac fly to score Sonoma (21-20) with 1 out. Rake was up and lifted a fly ball to rightfield. It did not slice enough and was caught for the 2nd out. Keith was then walked intentionally to bring up Jimmy-D.

Strike two was called with Jimmy's bat on his shoulder. Then came the next pitch. [Jimmy-D has a history of making some clutch hits over his career. I can think of a couple of occasions at Webster where Jimmy-D drove in the winning run in the last game of the season]. The two strike pitch was thrown and Jimmy-D started moving back in the batter's box. It was a high and deep pitch. Jimmy seemed to have a good eye on it. Then it dropped to the ground without a swing. And it dropped on the carpet for strike three. The game was over. Runners stranded on 1st and third. Beavers lost 21-20.

Beaver of the game goes to Dupper as he went 3-4 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI.

Game two started in a few short minutes after the upsetting loss. Beavers were visitors this time and came out swinging. Highlights in the first inning were Kid's 2-run homer and a three run shot for Sonoma. The Beavers scored 6 runs and were dedicated to not losing both. However, Bitches offense and Cream's defense thought otherwise. 4 runs in the bottom assured us that this was going to be a tight game after all.

Cream came up ready for more in the 2nd. Gee doubled, Rake singled, Keith singled (Jimmy hit into a DP), Belle singled, Jake singled, Kid reached on a fielder's choice where no one was retired, Big John walked, Sabo doubled, Mobilly doubled, Dupper singled Sonoma hit his second HR of the game (3rd of the night), Santo singled, Gee doubled (again). It was an impressive offensive inning that totaled 10 more runs. Keith shut them down quickly and without a run scoring, the Cream did the same. Then back came the Bitches. Bringing on 7 runs of their own. After 3 long innings the score was Cream 16, Bitches 11.

From this point on, it was all Cream. We allowed only one more run and scored another 6 of our own. Trying to make up for the demoralizing loss in game one the Cream had won by 10 in the second game 22-12.

Beaver of the game goes to Sonoma with his 2 HR and 6 RBI.

The next games to be played would be the playoffs. Beavers ended the season at 6-6. Very even league. Anyone can beat anyone on any given Wed night. The playoffs were going to be quite even and up for grabs.

Try again next week

You know that odd feeling of showing up somewhere and what you came to see is not happening? Maybe you showed up to play poker with the guys on Friday night, when the game was Saturday. Maybe you misread the time of a party or flight and missed it by 12 hours. Maybe you showed up to play softball and the lights were off and the parking lot was empty. That’s what happened to the Beavers this past week.

There was rain in the area on Tuesday morning, but this was Wed night. The day was sunny, and there was enough of a breeze that you would think that anything that was wet would now be dry. That was the collective thinking of 12 Beavers who one by one pulled into the Fenton City Park to find no game, but other Beavers hanging out in the parking lot wondering how the field could not be playable.

Who would have thought to call the rain-out line when there was no rain? So the season continues. Make up games are scheduled for 9/30 at 8:30 and 9:30.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 15

Early games for the Beavers this week. Beavers start off as home team as all are accounted for except Mobilly - suspecting he is off on a business trip somewhere. New line up for these games, part due to a hot hitter, part due to necessity. Jake, who has been hotter than a two-bit whore on nickel night, leads us off and Sabo moves to the two hole. Belle, arrives late with his two kids in tow. Wasn't at the fields for the lineup creation, he drops to the 9-spot.

Top of the order starts producing from the first pitch. Jake doubles and Sabo singles him to 3rd. Kid then singles one in. Dupper then lifts a fly ball to left center. Sabo tags at second and comes all the way around to score. A two-base sac fly. The defense was able to hold team Robinson to 0 runs, so the Beavs were up 2-0 early. Robinson goes down 1-2-3 in the second. This was looking like a good night. Unfortunately that was the end of that good luck. Robinson chased in 6 in the 3rd inning. Mainly good hitting, but helped by Rake losing a ball in the dusk sky and allowing a 2-run triple to right.

Santo led off the bottom of the 3rd with a double and Jimmy-D singled him to 3rd. Both of those guys were hitting around .200, so this was huge! Jake singled in Santo and then the meat of the line up went down 1-2-3. Lots of lazy pop ups. The ball was not carrying for us, though we tried and tried to muscle up. Lots of pop ups.

Beavers were able to scratch out one more run in the 5th inning to bring the score to 6-4. Keith was putting up goose eggs on the Robinsons except that one inning. He even recorded a strikeout.

Top of the 7th rolled around and Robinson started hitting again. This time to the tune of 5 more runs. Beavers were down to their last at bat. Rake led off with a single, then the next three Beavers went down 1-2-3. Losing 11-4. Not an impressive game with the stick. Could not get anything going. Beaver of the game goes to Jake again for going 2-3 with a run and RBI.

Game two needed a shake up. Big John was handed the scorebook and told to make a winning lineup. Jake got the honors of leading off again and singled to start the game. Belle followed with a single then Sabo hit an RBI single. Kid lifted a sac fly as did Santo. 3 early runs. Keith thre up a 0 again on them. Beavers started the 2nd as the did the first. First two guys reached and scored. Sonoma homered and Rake singled, Keith later singled in Rake. In two innings the Beavers had surpassed their first game run total. Beavers were up 5-0.

After allowing 2 runs in the 3rd the Beavers started hitting again. Jake with another single, Kid with an RBI single off the right field fence (way to leg that one out). Santo singled and Dup tripled him in. Sonoma singled in Dup. 4 more runs scoring.

About this time Big John asked to pitch and came in to relieve Keith. Team Robinson was able to bring in but one run that inning. The second potential run was throw out at third on a single to right. Rake came up gunning and nailed the baserunner trying to go first to third.

The Beavers played the rest of the game to the beat of 2's. Two runs scoring in the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th. Highlights were a blast from Sonoma in the 5th, Jimmy-D getting ahold of one left handed for a deep sac fly, and the middle of the line up producing every time around.

In the 6th inning Team Robinson tried to make a game of it by putting a 5-spot on the scorecard. It was a rough inning, but with the lead the Beavers had padded there was little drama in it. When it was all over, Beavers landed a split of the night winning 17-8.

Beaver of the game goes to Sonoma. Going 4-4 with 2 HR. Honorable mention to both Jake and Dupper for fine offensive nights as well.

Next games are at 8:30 & 9:30 on 9/23. It is the last week of the season. We are 0-2 against our opponent. Time for some paybacks.

Beaver Times Edition 14

First of all, yes, I am a slacker. Here it is six full nights after the last Beaver games and I am just now starting to write this blog. I blame my two weeks off for getting me out of the rhythm. No more excuses, time to bust into week 14 of the 2009 season.

Gap Finders were our opponent again. If you look back to Edition 11 you will see that we split with them last time. They started this game off just as they did 3 weeks ago - abusing our rightfield. Damn, do they love to hit to right! So off they went. Liners to right and right center. Many of them, some caught, some not. When we finally were able to secure 3 outs we were down 4. Our outfield has a hole. Sorry fellas, but OF practice needs to be in the agenda. But who are we kidding?

So how do Beavers answer 4 runs? Well, this time we came roaring back. Well, kind of. Belle started the game with a single (have I mentioned how hot he has been?), Santo then killed that hit with a DP (wait until you hear how cold he is). Then came the hits. Kid, Big John, Mobilly, Sabo, Sonoma, Rake and Jake all reached safely. Capped by HRs by Kid (solo shot - should be a fine) and Sonoma. Beavers plated 5. We had a game on our hands.

The Gap Finders were not done, however. They added 3 in the 2nd, 3rd and in the 4th, then only managed 2 in the 5th. All this time the Beavers bats went cold. For instance, the second trip through the Beavers' lineup produced but 2 singles (Belle and Gee).

In the field the Beavers continued to struggle. Dropped flyballs in the OF stung us hard this game. But there was one flyball that stung especially hard. The SS for the Gap Finders came up for the second time. The first time up he laced a single between 3rd and short. Sabo even commented "you know it is hit hard when you hear it go past you". His second time up he hit one every bit as hard. This one though with a little higher trajectory. It was lined directly at Belle in LC. Belle had but two choices; pray like hell he got his glove in the way of the ball or let this ball light him up in the chest like a Christmas Tree. Luckily the glove found the ball and Belle did all he could do to not fall backwards after catching the ball.

At bat Big John was hitting into some bad luck. After walking in the first (his team-leading 11th walk on the fall season already) he grounded a ball back up the middle. In his mind this ball was going to find its way into centerfield. In everyone else's mind he had better hustle his arse off to make it to first to beat a possible throw by the shortstop. There were not many that the SS missed, and this one fit that category. Big John could not believe that he got to it and about 2 steps out the batters box he turned for the bench already congratulating the SS on his fine play. Later in the game, after the Beavers had already launched their 3 allowed HR, Big John let one fly, only to be recorded as an out. Over the past few weeks it seems like this has been happening a few times. Looks like some of the Beavers have found their power strokes.

The Beavers were able to scratch together runs in the 2nd, 6th and 7th but not enough to compete. Final score Gap Finders 15, Beavers 8. We were now 1-2 against them. Before the game Mobilly suggested that there were a few people in the lineup that were in need of a swap. Let's see how that lineup swap worked out. Sabo went 2-2 with 2 RBI and a walk. Sonoma (or Sanoma as Molbilly wrote it down) went 2-3 with a HR and 2 RBI. Good production from both, unfortunately not enough to keep us in the game.

Beaver of the game goes to Sabo. Reaching base all three times (other plate appearance was a walk). Honorable mention goes to Kid who was 2-3 with 2 HR. Only problem was both HR were solo shots. We need to get some baserunners!

Now, with a losing record for the fall season, we started game 2. It was apparent to the manager (and your blogger, who is one and the same this week) that the lineup and defense needed to be juggled to get something going on this team. I don’t fashion myself to be Tony LaRussa, Tommy Lasorda, Earl Weaver or Casey Stengel, but I do feel that I can juggle a lineup to get some production. This juggling was more defensive than offensive. Kid was shifted to LC, Santo to RC, Belle to RF and Rake to SS. We needed more D in the outfield, I hoped this would do the trick.

Before we expose what happened with that “D”, the Beavers were Visitors so we took our hacks in the top of the inning. We got lucky. Belle reached on an error, Kid did the same. After a K by the slumping Santo and a fly out by Big John, Dupper drove one deep to left for a 3-run dinger.

Now to the defense. The one other change was on the mound. Big John took the hill instead of Keith. And what do you know? No runs allowed (earned or unearned). That was in spite of an alligator-armed attempt at a ball by the new (actually old) shortshop, Rake. The Beavers went down quietly and quickly in the 2nd. The Gap Finders did just that in their half of the 2nd. Plating five runs by some well hit drives to the gaps and over the fence. One of those drives going off Big John’s glove and dislocating his finger. For those of you who know Big John, you know that each of his fingers has been dislocated before. Not one of those digits can point straight. Add another to the list. He removed himself from pitching to deal with the pain and Mobilly took over for a few pitches.

The Beavers responded well this time, however. The bottom of the lineup fueled the out-burst. Gee, Keith, Jake, Jimmy-D, Belle, Santo all reached safely before an out. Jake’s 3-run HR being the big blow. Beavers had scored 5 of our own and were back on top 8-5. Another quick inning for Big John back on the hill. Beavers kept hitting. This time Sonoma cranked a 2-run HR and a series of singles and errors added two more runs. Beavers were up 12-5 going into the bottom of the 4th.

Don’t expect the Gap Finders to go quietly. And they didn’t…racking up another 5 runs of their own with more line drives and another HR. The good news for the Beavers was that the “D” was improving. They were just hitting. When we lose, we usually lose because we give the other team too many outs. If this defense stays tight, we had a chance for the sweep.

Beavers kept adding to the lead in the 5th and 6th innings. Mobilly chased in two with a fly ball error to right field. That scored two runs. In the sixth the bases were loaded with no one out. Only one run was able to score on a force out. It was enough, the pitching and D held up and the Beavers took the game and the night split 15-11.

Beaver of the game goes to Jake. He went 2-3 with the big 3-run HR in the 3rd, adding a 4th RBI on a single in the 4th.
Other stats to mention; Jimmy-D has improved his average all the way up to .190 for the season. Santo is rivaling him for the low average on the team. His 1-3 second game kept him above the Mendoza line at about .210. Sonoma has a comfortable HR lead. Jake leads the team in SLG %. Big John has a slim 1 walk lead over Sabo. Jimmy-D leads the club with 5 K’s.

Next game is Sept 16 at 6:30 & 7:30 against the Nationals.

Beaver Times Edition 13

Well it was the third week of fall ball in Fenton. This week we were brought back to reality playing against Robinson. Lets just say the first game did not go the Beavers way. Before I get into detail about the game, let me tell you the final score was 27-6 and only lasted 4 innings.

To start the game off team Robinson didnt score in the first inning. Beavers came up and scored 1, so far the game was looking pretty good. The second inning was where it fell apart. Team Robinson came up and scored 10 runs, Beavers went down 1-2-3. The third inning Team Robinson came up and put a 13 spot on us. Score was 23-1.

The 3rd inning looked to be promising, Jimmy D comes up with the longest single of the year. The best way to explain this long single is if you have ever seen Pujols or Barry Bonds hit an without a doubt homerun and they watch it until it clears the fence. Jimmy D hits it, then watches the ball for a few seconds and breaks out into a homerun trot. The one problem? It only hit off the fence and therefore since Jimmy D was not sprinting or running very fast he only got a single. I do have to say though, Jimmy D's bat was on fire this week. He went 4-5 in the 2 games. Next was MoBilly who showed up late to the game. He hits a single, 2 runners on for Santo who makes the first out of the inning. Gee is up and walks to load the bases. Kid comes up and hits a Grand Slam, 4 runs this inning. Next up Big John out, then Dup up and out inning over. 4 runs not too bad in one inning, but definitely not enough to keep up with Team Robinson.

4th inning, Sonoma leads us off with an out, Jake doubles. Belle out and Keith brings Jake in with his single. Jimmy D with a single and MoBilly makes the last out. Game over, Beavers lose 27-6.

Just a couple of notes in the game, OUR DEFENSE SUCKS. If we had a player of the game it would have to be Kid with the Grand Slam, but since we lost by 21 runs no player of the game awarded.

2nd game was better. We still lost but this time by only 4 runs. Final score was 17-13. First 5 players up scored, Gee, Jake, Sonoma, MoBilly, Belle. Big John makes the first out, then Santo Then Dup hits the first homerun of the game, Kid singles and Prison Tits makes the 3rd out of the game. 10 of our 11 batters up in the inning, score is 6-1 after the first inning.

2nd inning starts off with another single by Jimmy D, Gee makes the first out, Jake triples Sonoma singles Jake in. MoBilly comes up and hits the 2nd homerun of the game. Belle makes the 2nd out, Big John comes up and hits a solo homerun, all 3 of our homeruns allowed are gone in the 2nd inning. Santo reaches on an error Dupper makes the 3 out. 2nd inning over score is 11-2 Beavers.

Beavers score one more run in the 3rd inning, Team Robinson comes up and scores 5. Score after 3 innings, Beavers 12-Robinson 7. This is where our defense falls apart. Robinson shuts down the Beavers in the 4th inning, and the Beavers lose it in the field. Robinson comes up and scores 10. Now score is 17-12 in favor of team Robinson. Beavers only score 1 more run after the 3rd inning. Final score 17-13 them.

Couple key highlights of the game:
Jimmy D goes 2-3 with a run
Jake is a homerun shy of the cycle-Remember up above when I said Big John hit a solo shot. Well if he doesnt hit that solo shot Jake gets his cycle because he hit a homerun in the 3rd inning that was an out because we are only allowed 3 homeruns per game. He goes 3-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI's
MoBilly is a single shy of the cycle-he goes 3-4 with 3 RBI's and 3 runs
Kid goes 3-3
Sonoma goes 3-4 with 3 RBI's and 2 runs

Games next week are at 830 & 930 against the Gap Finders. See you all there.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 12

Hello Everyone, Welcome to the 2nd week of Fall Beaverball. We were missing our manager this week because of some traveling he wanted to do. I dont know about you guys but I always schedule my trips Thursday thru Tuesday so I can make the Wednesday games. Apparently our manager wasnt able to do this. So who was going to step in and run this team????

To answer that question it was MoBilly. MoBilly wrote down the lineup and had nothing but smiles after he did so. To quote MoBilly-"This is the best lineup we had all year"! OK he may not have said that, but we all know he was thinking it. Was he right? Lets find out.

Our opponent was the Nationals and they were batting first. Not really sure I would want to play for a team with the name Nationals, we all know they are one of the worst teams in the MLB, but this team was different. They won the league last year and had a lot of tools, speed, solid defense, and of course uniforms that matched. They put up 6 runs in the first inning, of course the early defense of the Beavers OF was once again suspect.

So the lineup went like so for the Beav's...Belle, Sabo, Sonoma, Santo, Big John, MoBilly, Kid, no nickname Jake, Dupper, Prison Tits, Gee, and Jimmy D. The Beavers scored 2 in the first by putting together a few singles, slowly closing the lead that The Nationals had. The first inning proved to be the best by The Nationals with them not scoring more than 2 runs in any other inning except the 5th inning where they scored 4, and no runs in the 4th inning. Beavers plugged away with at least a run in every inning. So we enter the bottom of the 6th inning with time running out, this would be the Beavers last chance of the game. We were down 14-9 with MoBilly starting the inning off with a single, next up was Kid who hits a 2 run homer putting us within 3 runs of tying the game. Next up was no nickname Jake who doubles, then Dup follows with a double himself, Keith better known as Prison Tits with a single, Gee with a single to bring in the tying run of the inning, this was 6 straight hits for us. We havent seen many innings like this this year. So Jimmy D reached base on a fielders choice, Gee out at 2nd. Let me remind you, only 1 out in the last inning with the winning run, Jimmy D, on first. Now I cannot really remember how Jimmy D scored and the book isnt marked well enough to figure it out, but Jimmy D used his blazing speed to come around the bases and score the winning run..BEAVERS WIN 15-14 in 6 innings. Let me remind you, this was the returning champion team.
Player of the game going to Gee, with steller defense at first and a 3 for 3 game with 3 RBIs.

Game 2: Started with the same lineup. This time we do not score any in the first 2 innings and The Nationals score 1 in the first and 2 in the 2nd. They are up 3-0 in the top of the 3 inning. Here come the Beavers!!! Prison tits starts us off with a double, Gee follows him with a single, Jimmy D follows with a K, but wait Belle continues the inning with a single, then Sabo with a Double, Sonoma with a single, Santo with an out. 2 outs and 1 runner on, Big John up and hits a smashing HR. MoBilly and Kid follow with 2 singles, could a 2 out rally be started? Unfortunately not, next batter no nickname Jake makes the 3rd out. Inning over, 11 batters up, 6 runs scored. Beavers leading 6-5 at the end of the 3rd inning. Beavers Defense steps up, we havent said that much this year, and only allows 2 more runs in the game while scoring 8 more runs, winning 14-7. Player of the game going to Big John with 2 big homeruns, 4 RBI's, 2 runs and 1 BIG FAT K (A huge swing and a miss after hitting 2 dingers).

Beavers play 2 early games on Sept 2nd at Fenton. Lets go take 2 more wins this week! MoBilly you get to set the lineup again after getting 2 wins last week.

Cya!

Schedule Is Posted

http://fentonsports.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!612C9CBA8A21DAF6!201.entry

Other teams in the league are Gap Finders (week 1 opponent), Nationals (week 2 opponent) and Robinson (week 3 opponent).

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 11

It's fallball time, right in the heart of summer. The second season started this week and the Beavers found themselves playing at a new venue, Fenton City Park. After being shut out of the Webster Blackburn league on Wed and Thur nights, the Beavers broadened their search for a league and found Fenton.

The first game was delayed slightly due to a tractor trailer jackknifed and a professional women's soccer game getting out just before game time. Both teams had late arriving players - few were able to warm up before the Beavers took the field for game 1. Jake was a last minute scratch, so the lineup and fielding had to be juggled to find a second baseman.

Our opposition was the Gap Finders and they came up first and started shooting liners to the outfield. Maybe they knew something about our team, maybe they knew something we didn't, they were abusing our outfielders. Sonoma was tested early and often. A few getting down in rightfield around him. Dupper was tested in left with a deep fly that he gave up on early, but it stayed in the park. We are playing with 300ft fences, so there is some serious room out there. When it was all done, we were down 3-0 early.

The Beavers came up with Belle leading things off. He continued his hot hitting and lined a double to center. Rake tried to do to them what they did to us by lifting a fly ball to right. It was caught easily, but Belle was able to tag and get to third. Mobilly hit a sac fly and the Beavers were on the board.

In the second, Keith was able to limit the Gap Finders hits and allowed only 1 run. This time the infield was tested a little and Sabo, playing out of position at short, could not come up with a ball cleanly to lead to a run. The Beavers threatened in the 2nd. Santo, back on the team for the first time in a few years, led off with a single, Sabo singled, Keith walked - bases loaded, no one out. Gee, back for his first game of 2009, pulled a grounder to 3rd (actually if you have see Gee hit, that was like going to the opposite field for him). The third baseman stepped on third for first out, then threw home to get Santo tagged out at the plate. A smart, huge, play for them. A rally killer for the Beavs.

The Beavers defense locked down in the 3rd with Keith throwing 3 harmless flyballs. The score was 4-1 badguys going into the bottom of the third. Belle singled, Rake singled, Mobilly tripled to right center scoring two. Dupper lifted a fly ball to score Mobill (another sac). Beavers had tied the game up at 4.

That was short lived as the Gap Finders started abusing our OF again. Liners shot past them, fly balls got over their head and when throwing the ball in nary a one hit the cut off. The Gap Finders were able to score 3 more times. The Beavers were flat, the OF was having a rough game, the sun was setting and it was going to get harder to see balls in the air.

The Beavers flatness carried over to the plate as the Beavers could not move Keith around the bases after his leadoff single. 7-4 Gap Finders

About this time Kid showed up and something changed. The defense looked better, players seemed to awaken. Not sure if it was Kid catching for an inning or just the players having shook the cobwebs. Either way, another scoreless frame for the Gap Finders. Kid was inserted into the lineup in the 11 spot and led off the 5th. He lined a triple to right. Belle singled him in, Rake singled, Mobilly singled then Dupper lifted a high fly ball to left center. It kept carrying, and carrying and carrying just out of the reach of the outfielder and over the wall for the first HR of the fall for the Beavers. A three run shot, the Beavers had taken the lead with a 5 run inning. To cap off the inning both Keith and Gee were called out looking at strike 3. A rare feat in slow pitch softball. But due to the rules at Fenton where a 3' high pitch is legal, they were frozen at the plate.

Gap Finders were able to score one in the 6th and the Beavers went quietly in their half as well. Low lights of the 6th included a DP hit into by Jimmy-D and Kid striking out. What was going on?

It was all that was needed though as the Gap Finders were not able to score their runner from second in the 7th and the Beavers pulled off the come from behind victory 9-8.

Beaver of the game has to go to Dupper with his clutch 3-run HR. But honorable mention to Belle with a 3-3 and Mobilly with a 2-2 with 4 RBI, a triple and a double.

Game two started about 5 minutes later. This time with the Beavers playing the role of visitor. The lone run in the 1st was a shot to right center by Mobilly for his first HR in the fall. Kid posted to the team before the season that if anyone hits a solo HR that they should be charged with beer duty for the following week. There are only 3 over-the-fence HR allowed per team/per game, so we want to maximize the effectiveness of each. While asking them to pony up for bee the next week may get a little expensive for the HR hitters, I liked the idea and have implemented a version of the penalty. Once everyone on the team has had their week of beer duty there will be two weeks of the season left. One of those games, the responsibility of bringing beer will go to the player with the most solo shots. The other game the responsibility will go to the player with the most Ks (includes foul outs). Back to the game.

The Beavers looked solid in the first inning in the field in game two. A lone hit, but no runs scored. Only problem was that the Beavers went down 1-2-3 in the 2nd so it was a slim 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the second.

Open the Beaver Dams here.

Remember the statement above about our OF being a little "off" on this night. It continued. Now with the sun setting, it was hard to pick up the flight of the ball, and the Gap Finders took advantage. Again, balls shooting past outfielders, outfielders taking bad routes to try to catch fly balls, balls going over their heads, missing cut offs. It all happened again, this time to the tune of 7 runs. I wouldn't say that we have the best defensive OF in the league, but this was an uncharacteristically poor night. It happens.

But wait, the Beavers found out how to play the changing sky as well and started roaring back. Sonoma launched a solo HR. And when I say launched, I mean destroyed. I believe there was even a Monica Seles type grunt to punctuate it. Mobilly was both proud and jealous. Kid walked with two outs and then came four straight hits; Belle a triple, Rake a single, Mobilly a single, Dupper a double then rounded the bases on a series of errors. The inning ended with another K - this time by Santo - looking. But the score was tied 7-7.

Kid was fed up with the outfield play and asked to be moved from SS to OF. The switch was made and Santo went back to 3rd, Sabo to short, Kid to LC Belle to RC, Mobilly to RF. I would like to say that those moves changed things. But they didn't. One ball got under Kid's glove along with more balls to the OF eluding our fielders. 3 more runs - and a pissed off Kid.

Belle, who has nothing if he doesn't have bad timing, decided to get on Kid about his "cure" for the OF. The first mini-fight almost broke out in the dugout. Something was obviously eating at Kid, more than just the shotty defense. But, Belle about pushed him over the edge. Was the edge that the Beavers needed to take over the game?

Not exactly. Beavers threw up a goose egg in the 4th and allowed another 3 runs in the home half. Now down 6 it was catch up time. Kid walked again in the 5th (with no Big John at the game, someone had to take multiple walks), Belle singled him to 2nd, Rake hit into another force out - replacing Belle on the bases, but beating out the throw to first. Mobilly continued his hot hitting with a single driving in Kid. Then Dupper lined one to the wall. Rake scored and Mobilly was right behind him. Only problem is that Dupper got tagged out at third before Mobilly could touch home plate. No run, three outs. Beavers cut the deficit to 4.

That was temporary though. The Gap Finders started crushing the ball even more. Now launching some over the fence. Another 5-spot for the bad guys. This one was getting out of hand. Beavers kept trying for the second straight comeback in the 6th. Santo singled, Sabo walked, Sonoma hit his second HR of the game to score three. It was not enough though. The game was called due to time at the end of the 6th. Final score Gap Finders 20, Beavers 12.

We sat around and drank the two remaining beers and watched as Belle and Kid tried to find a middle ground. Beaver of the game goes to Sonoma for his two bombs. This time he just edged out Mobilly's perfect 3-3 and Dupper's 2 doubles.

Next games are Aug 26 at 8:30 & 9:30. Same field. The keyboard will be handed off to another Beaver for the next two weeks as Rake will be missing the games. The show will go on...

Marvin Gaye Gets the Fall Season Going

Second Season - Week 1 Preview

With the summer season behind us and a secondplace finish not sitting well on the taste buds, the Beavers embark upon a new season and a new league. Over the years the Beavers have played at Kirkwood, Webster, Crestwood, Manchester, Brentwood and Clayton. Fenton will be a first for the team.

Playing along the beautiful Meremac River in Fenton, the Beavers will be found on field #1 in the competitive league. Playing again on Wednesday nights, and again in doubleheaders. This league has a fence. Which I am sure is a blessing and a curse. We already have requests on raising/lowering said fence to accommodate our power. We'll see how it all plays out. Kid offered up the challenge that anyone who hits a solo HR should have to buy beer the next game as only 3 HR are allowed over the fence.

Since the schedules are not posted yet, I know nothing about the competition. So, we will go into this one blind. Hopefully it will be posted for week two. We do know this, we are playing at 6:30 and 7:30. We also know that there are some new faces for the Beavers...well, not new...but new in 2009.

Making his first appearance this season is a member of the original Beavers team, Shawn "Gee" Hagan. He claims he has not his a softball since last year. Last time we checked he only had one good eye. We'll see what we get from the veteran. The other addition to the roster for fall '09 is another Beaver from the past; Ron "Santo" Harrington. Scouts say that he has been on fire in his Thursday night summer league. Climbing his way up the order as his hits mount. To make room for these two guys the Richmond brothers have decided to be on the reserve (sub) list for the fall. Sorry to see those guys go. Will need many hits and lots of bitching to fill their shoes.

PLAY BALL

Meet Your Beavers - Chris Sabo 2.0

Let's just say that Sabo is the polite version of Chris' nicknames. With a last name like Smuda and a group of sophomoric Beavers, you can guess where the names go as the beer flows. But Sabo is a good name for our thirdbaseman. Where it lacks in originality (let's see, his name is Chris and he plays 3rd base...hmmm), it scores high in accuracy. Actually, I don't know if that is true. I really can't recall much about Chris Sabo except for his rec-specs and that he had some pop in his bat. I don't recall if he was known for his glove work.

Our Sabo is. He has shored up the left side of the infield with impressive plays week in and week out. It's a good thing too, putting Rake at third has its drawbacks defensively and putting Kid at third left shortstop as a question mark.

Sabo is only in his second year with the Beavers. He saw two championships in his first two leagues with the team. I guess you could say that defense IS the key. But, that is not where this Sabo stops. At the time of publishing this blog Sabo is also leading the team in average. OK, OK his average has dropped about 100 points over the last few weeks, but still, leading the team by a healthy margin.

Sabo, I don't know if it is hour commute to softball that gets you ready to play, or getting pissed at those Beavers trying to get other variations of Smuda to stick as your nickname that fires you up. What ever it is, don't let it stop. As deep as Dupper plays, we can't afford to have grounders going through 3rd anymore.

Summer 2009 Stats

As can be somewhat made out from the fuzzy image above, the leaders for the summer of 2009 are quite well distributed. Is this because we have a well-rounded team? Or because not one player stepped up like happens so often to run away with the hitting leadership and an early edge on the 2009 MVB.

Let's take a quick look at what did transpire.

Sabo led the team in AVG and OBP. Hitting right around .650 is a good season. He tailed off a bit over the last few games but still led the team in hitting by 100 pts. He is a singles hitter with only about 12% of his hits going for extra bases.

Sonoma led the team in HR, but did not hit one after game #8. He also shared the lead in RBI with our cleanup hitter, Big John. Wonder if Johnie Walker could have taken the RBI leadership without that one game of 5 walks?

Newcomer, Jake, led the team in triples with his inside-out swing. Kid led in doubles. Kid also continued his impressive SLG with nearly 1/2 of his hits going for extra bases. However Kid's average was about 200 points below his average and that hurt him in SLG this year as Sonoma's 7 HR powered him to the top of that category.

Rake took advantage of hitting second in the lineup most of the year and scored 31 runs. His average slipped fast and dropped over 100 points over the last 5 weeks. Ending up near his career average of .530.

Dupper kept up his reputation as being the Sac King. He led the team with 4, though Keith's 2 in the playoffs gave him a run for the title. Dupper also struggled at the dish, also hitting about 200 points lower than his typical season.

Last, and in this case also least, is Jimmy-D. I have to say I have never seen a sub-.200 average in softball. Even last year, 2-buck Chuck hit over .200. Jimmy-D showed everyone the opposite of "hit 'em where they aint" and combined that with not running some plays out and not being able to decide if he should hit right or left to come in at .169. I hope, that is the only time you will ever see anyone hit below Mario Mendoza in a softball league.

In my opinion the MVB (Most Valuable Beaver) award is still up for grabs. Will Sabo ride his 100 pt AVG lead to the coveted trophy? Will Sonoma be able to hit it over outfielders heads and add to his HR lead? Will perennial leaders step up in fall ball and take what they have claimed as theirs before? Will a new face steal the show in the fall? Games start in about 3 weeks.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 10 - Playoffs

Week 10 of the season brought with it the final week of Clayton's Shaw Park playoffs. The Beavers had the opportunity to win the championship at Shaw for the 2nd consecutive year (out of two). The Beavers came into the playoffs in second place and dispatched of our first round opponent 13-2.

Game 1 of the night, game 2 of the summer playoffs began at 7pm against the Golden Sombreros. The Sombreros had played the Beavers tough this season. The Beavers winning one on a come from behind win and tying the other. It was not going to be a 10-run win again. The Sombreros knew how to keep the Beavers close.

The game got off to a rocky start. Their leadoff hitter reached base and the second hitter rolled a grounder to short. Kid scooped and flipped to Jake at second. Jake made the pivot to turn the double play and the runner went in to second with his hands in the air to throw off the concentration of Jake. Jake's throw was late to 1st. The Beavers recorded one out, but it should have been two. Baserunners in slow pitch softball are not allowed to attempt to interfere with a play. The batter should have been called out due to interference. He was not...and he eventually score after another two hits. I asked the umpire after the inning why he did not call the batter out. "Listen, I don't know all of the little, in particular rules", he said. I was shocked. Isn't that his job? To know the rules! There was no winning this argument, just making a point that he blew a call. It would not be the last. Shocking!

Belle led off the Beaver half of the first with a single. Let's see, that makes 9 straight singles for Belleman. Totally embracing the leadoff position. Rake forced him at second, but scored on Big John's single. Big John would later score on a single by Mobilly. Beavers were up 2-1 after one.

The Beavers built upon their lead in the second. Once again on a parade of singles and walks. When we play on this larger field we are transformed from a power team to a punch & judy team. Might be why we struggle playing on field #6. Takes an awful lot of hits to build a decent number of runs. Rage walked, Jake singled, Sonoma singled, Belle singled (10 in a freakin' row!), Rake singled...after all of that four more runs had scored. The offense was looking good. The bats were hot.

Sombreros answered with some help from our (their) umpire. The middle of their lineup was up and Keith was pitching. The pitch rules for the league are 6' minimum arc from the ground to unlimited height. Keith was throwing lower strikes to keep the ball out of the wheel-house. Each pitch, easily amassing more than 6'. But the umpire kept calling the illegal. This gave two very good hitters another pitch or two, and they made the most of it. When the umpire was done calling "illegal pitches" and the Beavers were done "bitching" the Sombreros had scored four runs of their own. It was 6-5 Beavers after two and a half innings.

The Beavers singles hitters went to town again. Mobilly, Rage and Jake all singled and after a sacrifice fly by Keith it was another 2 runs for the home team. Unfortunately the "bitching" or the hot air was wearing down the Beavers because over the 4th and 5th innings we sent a total of 7 batters to the plate. The only one to reach...Belle. This time, it was a walk, not a single. The streak was snapped. 10 straight hits, all singles. Impressive Belle!

In the top of the 6th the Sombreros eeked across another run to cut the lead to one run. The Beavers were running on fumes. Of the past 9 hitters, only Belle's walk was not an out. Dupper started the 6th with a hit, Rake singled for the 3rd time in the game. Jake grounded into a fielder's choice, scoring Dupper. The Beavers had a little bit of insurance.

To the top of the 7th went the game. Time running down. The season's clock running down on one of the two teams. The next game's opponent was sitting in the stands watching, waiting to know who they were going to play. The team sitting there was the team the Beavers destroyed back in week 1 of the season. Team USA. They had put together a great game just before the Beavers took the field to oust the #1 team, Sportsma's Park. The #4 seed was in the finals. Who would they play? The Beavers, who were holding onto a lead, or the Sombreros, coming from behind?

The Sombreros came out hitting and had a plan. The leadoff hitter reached and the second hitter lined one into right field. Big John was patrolling out there and he started off after the ball. It seemed like there was no way he was going to catch it. Somehow, someway he opened his mitt down by his left knee and the ball fell right into it. A potentially game saving catch. The momentum left the Sombreros and jumped to the Beavers. The Sombreros were deflated and didn't score. Beavers win 9-7. On to the finals.

Beaver of the game again is a tough call. Rage went 2-2. Belle 2-2 with a walk as well. But due to the importance of the catch in right. Big John takes home the award.

The finals started about 5 minutes following the first game. The Beavers decided against rolling over the lineup like they usually do since this game was for it all. Needed to get the top of the order as many ABs as possible. Another shakeup was moving Sabo up to the two-hole and Rake down to the 9-hole.

Team USA came out ready to play on this night. They ran up 6 quick runs on the Beavers in the first inning. Highlighted by a 3-base error by Belle in LC. It was a single that skipped under his glove allowing the hitter to circle the bases. Team USA either had a different roster for the finals, or they all took some Tom Emansky hitting classes over the summer. They kept dropping hits in front of the outfield and their team speed could stretch most singles into doubles. If you have been following the Beavers, you know that our outfield is good at allowing extra bases by throwing to the wrong base at times at well. It was not a good combination for this game. Team USA ran at will.

The Beavers began chomping into the 6 run deficit with 2 of their own in the first. Highlighted by a double (yes, it has been a long time since I typed that word describing a Beaver hit) by Kid. Team USA came back strong again in the 2nd with two more runs. This time aided by the umpire who refused to hustle from behind home plate to make an accurate call at 2nd base. Beavers were down 8-2.

Team USA tacked on another run in the 3rd before the Beavers started doing their damage.

Keith (sorry, P.T.) started off the inning with a single. Jimmy-D then also singled (his first hit in 5 games) and Belle reached on a E. Sabo hit a sac fly before Kid, Big John, Dupper and Mobilly all did some damage. Beavers had scored 6 runs and were right back into the game. Only down one run.

Well, that was short lived. Back came Team USA, more singles stretched into doubles. More balls thrown into the infield by our outfield - directed to the wrong base, allowing more runners to advance. It was long, it was ugly. It was capped by another missed call. Seven more runs!

Rake singled in the bottom of the 4th and was chased around by Sonoma and plated by a P.T. sac fly. One lone run. Not enough to keep pace. The Beavers were losing their steam again.

At this point Team USA also began to come back to earth. One run in the 5th and one in the 7th. They had scored 18 runs in total. They were doing all they could to win the 14 Clayton Parks & Recreation T-Shirts. The Beavers did not score again until the bottom of the 7th.

With a record-sized crowd on hand for this season, including 3 generations from Belle's family and a non-playing Tanner it was time to pull off a little Beaver-magic. Sonoma started off the 7th with a single, Jimmy-D replaced him on the base paths with a force out. There were two quick outs, but don't say "die" yet. Belle walked, Sabo singled in Jimmy-D, Kid singled in Belle, Big John singled in Sabo. Dupper then stepped in. A grounder to the left side...fielded and Kid was forced at 3rd. Three runs in, not enough though. Beavers lost 18-12 to Team USA. Two single innings did us in. 6 in the first and 7 in the fourth could not be overcome. Beavers had to settle for 2nd place in what was once called a "church league". Congrats to Team USA for coming alive at the right time. Congrats to several teams for improving quite a bit over the past year. This league is competitive now (some of the team) and is fun to play in.

Beaver of the game goes to Kid who went 3-4 with 3 RBI. Hopefully his hot bat will carry over to fall ball.

The fall season will be played in Fenton. League will be a Wed night league again with games expected to start the first week of Sept.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 9 - Playoffs

It was a singles party.

Both for the Beavers and for the Dogs In A Bathtub. The Beavers brought out the entire roster for this game, first time this has happened in some time. The extra players kept the bench full (and lively).

Beavers having the higher seed got the HOME designation for the game and took the field first. Dogs in a Bathtub started things off with several singles up the middle scattered between their outs. A single to center drove home their first run. More than likely the run could have been avoided with some louder infield help as there was plenty of time to gun the runner out at the dish. But the Beavers, confident they can score more than one run, opted to keep the other runners at their bases and allowed the run to score unchallenged.

In the bottom of the first the Beavers used most of the 10 bats that we have accumulated throughout the season and all 13 Beavers took their swings with their favorite bat. Belle singled to lead off the game (his 6th consecutive single over 3 games). Rake took advantage of the left centerfielder abandoning his position to play a short-centerfield and lined a triple into the vacancy. Kid singled in Rake, Mobilly later singled as did Dupper, Rage, Sonoma, PT and Jake. The inning came to a close with Jimmy-D sharply grounding out to thirdbase. Eight runs had crossed the plate with 8 singles, a triple and an error. 8-1 after one inning.

PT shut down the Dogs in the second inning with the help of some strong infield play on the left side. The Beavers brought up the top of the line up again and Belle singled again (7 in a row). Rake legged out a force out and Big John, Sabo all Dupper singled scoring another 4 runs.

In the third the Dogs scratched out a couple singles of their own, nothing really getting through the infield or alluding the outfield, just well placed hits over short and second. They scored one of their own. In the 3rd the Beavers answered with one of their own. An RBI triple by Jake scoring Sonoma who was standing on first after his second single. After three innings the Beavers were up 13-2.

Over the first couple of innings Beavers traded in and out of the fielding. Mobilly starting on the bench, but going into first in the second and then to the outfield for the 3rd and 4th innings. Big John starting out as the catcher, to be spelled by Sonoma behind the dish later in the game. Jake starting on the bench, but sliding into secondbase to alternate with Rage. Everyone was getting into the game.

Big John happened to ask the umpire what he knew about the name Dogs in a Bathtub. I will let the Urban Dictionary define it, similarly to how Big John informed the Beavers. (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dog%20in%20the%20bathtub)
Funny, but almost too obscure. None of us knew what it was...which might be a good thing.

The umpire was our old friend "Mr. Infield Fly". Right on cue, in the first inning with runners on 1st and 2nd for the Dogs, he yells out "infield fly is in effect". I tell ya, he never misses announcing that potential. Always entertaining.

Back to the action...well, really the reason I stepped away from the action was because it was all but over. The Beavers score none in the 4th and Dogs went down without a run in the top of the 5th. The Dogs were threatening in the 5th, but a sharp grounder to Sabo's left was snared by his glove on a diving play and a force out at second (that was a very close call) ended any threat. Mr. Infield Fly called the game by the mercy rule of 10 run lead after 5 innings. Beavers had won game one of the playoffs.

Following the game the Beavers attempted to put a dent in the 2+ cases of beer that Rage brought. A fine potpourri of Stag, Beast Light, Bud Select and Busch. I would venture a guess that he went home with more Stag and Beast than anything else...but the Beavers do like their crappy beer...

Beaver of the game is a tough call. 15 singles were spread out well over the lineup. But the nod has to go to Belle who in the 4th extended his singles streak to 8 straight ABs. He was the lead off hitter in the two innings that produced 12 runs in total. It's good to have our leadoff hitter hot...finally.

Next game is Aug 5th on the same field at 7pm. The playoffs continue with the Beavers facing the winning of the #3 vs #6 game played this week. If (when) the Beavers win, they will play immediately following that game for the championship.

Plenty of good seats still available for this playoff series. Bring a cold one and join us at Shaw park.

The answer is...

Matt Holliday will be wearing #15. The quiet tribute to Jimmy Ballgame is over. It took a year and a half.

While Holliday is no Edmonds in the OF, he should be able to offer up more at the plate that Edmonds did since about 2005.

Now let's get on to Holliday growing a 'stache to match his new teammates.

...momesso.blogspot.com...

Summer Playoff Schedule Released

The summer playoffs are set for the Clayton softball season. The Beavers finished in second place 1.5 games behind Sportsman's Park. The Golden Sombreros were able to springboard from their tie against the Beavers into a 3rd place finish as they ended the season .5 games above Bi-State Meat. Rounding out the final standings Was Team USA then Cousin Hugo's followed by Dogs in a Bathtub, Scared Hitless and finally CJC Transportation with their lone victory.

Sportsman's Park 14-2
Beavers 12-3-1
Golden Sombreros 10-5-1
Bi-State Meat 10-6
Team USA 8-8
Cousin Hugo's 7-9
Dogs in a Bathtub 5-11
Scared Hitless 4-12
CJC Transportation1-15

In a one-game play-in, CJC Transportation did notch their second victory over Scared Hitless to win the right to play the #1 team in the playoffs.

The Beavers will match up against Dogs in a Bathtub. These two teams met back in week 2 of the season when the Beavers' bats were smokin' hot. Beavers were able to pound out 42 runs in the two games. Let's see if history can repeat itself when the two teams meet again at 9pm on July 29th on Field #6.

With a win on the 29th, the Beavers would be poised to play the winner of the #3/#6 matchup (Golden Sombreros/Cousin Hugo's). That game is scheduled for the following week at 7pm on the same field. The winner of that game will go on to play for the Championship immediately following. The league champion will be crowned at 9pm on Aug 5.

By the time the first round of the playoffs rolls in, the Beavers will have had two weeks off from softball. Hopefully the few injuries will have healed by then and the bats have had a chance to rest up for the sprint to the finish.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 8

The Beavers roll into the last week of the season in second place, but with a lot on the line. The first place Sportsmans Park is only 1 game up in the standings and the 3rd place Golden Sombreros is a mere 1.5 games behind the Beavers. The Beavers need a sweep to contend for first place and must not get swept to stay in at least second. To make it even more interesting, the Beavers are battling the Golden Sombreros. The standings are up to us.

Game one starts off slow. Rake singles with one out and tried to stretch it into a double. Here was the first bad call by the ump "OUT". That was the lone hit of the inning, needless to say, we did not score.

Golden Sombreros came up and made things happen. It was a combination of well-placed hits and poor defense. A ball went through Sabo's legs, the batter went for second and Dupper overthrew second. The ball went past Kid, who was playing 1st and the batter kept running. Kid threw home, too late. 1 batter 1 run, 3 errors. Not good. Then they started hitting. When we finally recorded 3 outs they had score 5 runs. It was going to be an uphill battle.

In the second inning Sabo singled, followed by a single by Dupper and another single by Kid to drive in a run...but that was it...a run. A classic quote by Kid when he was lifted for the pinch runner, Jake. Kid meant to say "Jake you had better not get out running for me", but it came out like this, "Jake, you had better not get me off!". Nice! The Beavers were loosening up.

The Sombreros countered with one of their own, but the bottom of their lineup did not muster much. There was hope.

In the 3rd inning the top of the Beavers' order was back up. Belle singled, Rake singled, Big John singled, Sabo singled and Dupper hit a sacrifice fly (shocking). 3 runs, on some well placed hits. The defense had been watching us over the season and was playing pretty deep. The Beavers were doing a good job of adjusting to expose the defense. Beavers were down 6-4.

The next inning with any scoring was in the bottom of the 4th. The Sombreros were threatening again. A double was shot to left field with runners on first and second. Dupper chased down the ball while the runner on first was gaining on the runner on second. He hit Rake on the cut-off and Rake turned and fired home for a play at the plate. Jimmy-D caught the ball and tagged out the first runner. The second runner was only about 20 ft behind him. He quickly put on the brakes and got into a rundown. The Beavers executed the hot box flawlessly and recorded the doubleplay at home. Well Done!

The Beavers took advantage of the change in momentum as the top of the lineup came through again. Another hit by Rake followed by singles by Mobility and Sabo again drove in two more. The Beavers were down just 7-6 through 5 innings. In the 5th inning Sonoma showed up and was inserted into the bottom of the lineup. With a runner on first, Sonoma reached on an error. Belle drove home the tying run. It was a new game.

The Sombreros answered the call with a lone run in the bottom of the 6th, and the stage was set for an important 7th inning. Mobility led off with a single, Big John walked (at this point Big John also was given a new nickname; Johnie Walker. He has walked about 8 times over the past 3 games - a record in slow pitch softball we presume). Sabo, completing his 4-4 night singled in a run. Dupper reached on an E, and Kid singled in 2 runs of his own. The inning culminated with a strikeout of Jimmy-D. But the Beavers had built a 2-run cushion going into the bottom of the 7th.

The air was taken out of the Golden Sombreros at this point and they went down easily in the 7th, leading to another Beaver victory. Another close game, another poor offensive showing, but another victory none-the-less. The Beavers were now 11-4 with this 10-8 victory. Second place was secured, now it was time for the sweep and hope that Sportsmans Park lost their doubleheader.

The player of the game goes to the pitcher, Keith (P.T.). After the wheels fell off early he allowed only 3 runs to score over the final 6 innings. His knuckleball was working and baffling the Sombreros. Honorable mention to Sabo with his 4-4 night and 3 RBI, but he lost his way in the field early in the game.

Game two.

The Beavers took to the field in the second game with a chance to win first place. It started off great, Sombreros down with not much more than a whimper. The Beavers struck first. The first 4 guys reached base and scored. Once again with a line of singles and sacrifice flies. We told the ump we scored 4 runs. It was immediately challenged by our opponents, we convinced them we were correct and that our scorebook was sound. They responded with their bats. Singles, doubles, errors, more doubles when it was through they had scored 5. At least that is what they first told the ump. So we proceeded thinking we were down one run after one and a half innings. It wasn't until about 2 innings later that we heard that they scored 6 in the first inning. I guess they "counted" wrong in the second, but the ump believed them, and we had to live with it. Both teams scored a run in the 3rd then we were able to shut them down for 3 straight innings.

During that time, we could hear the band performing at Parties in the Park. A Journey song came on. Belle chimed in with something you could only appreciate from Belle..."what is this slow jazz they are playing?"

The Beavers took the lead in the 4th with 3 runs. A string of hits and an error mounting the 3 until the middle of our lineup could not keep the hit parade alive. Keith, Jimmy-D and Belle all driving in runs. Jimmy-D even proclaimed that he got tired just running to first base. I think next year's training program should include the catcher as well.

We added our 9th run in the 5th and were sitting on a 9-7 lead going into the 7th. The Sombreros started off slow, but were able to chase in 2 runs to tie the game as it headed into the bottom of the 7th. Time was running out, it was about 8pm but this game had playoff implications.

Belle led off with a single to right center, completing his perfect 4-4 night. It was set up for the middle of the order. Rake lifted one to right center - one out. Mobilly also shot one to the right side, only to be caught by the secondbaseman. Big John stepped to the dish and lifted one high into the hot summer air. Unfortunately it did not travel far and the 3rd baseman moved into foul territory and made the catch for the 3rd out.

Game tied at 9. The ump was not going to even consider us playing one more inning to decide the game, it was called at a tie. Disgusting!

Beaver of the Game goes to Belle for his perfecto at the dish.

The spring season is over except for the playoffs. Still a few teams are finishing up their regular season rainout makeups. Playoffs will now start on 7/29. Times and field to be announced on 7/23.

Check back to beaverball.blogspot.com for times.

End of the Regular Season Preview

Image via Wikipedia

The Beavers limp into the last week of the summer season with a battle for 2nd place on their hands. Late scratch of Rage with a broken finger will leave the Beavers short as his brother, Tanner, will also miss the match ups due to night court. No word yet if Bull will let him out early.

Also, still banged up, is Kid. Kid has deemed himself ready to play, though his defense will be limited to 1B, C and bench. Kid will be in the lineup, but will have some speed stacked ahead of him ready to pinch run when necessary.

As mentioned above, the Beavers find themselves in a battle for 2nd place in the league. Just a few weeks ago it seemed like a walk in the park for a first place berth. However, a 3-3 record over the last 6 games has silenced those hopes. The Beavers come in with an 11-3 record trailing the Sportsmans Park team with their 12-2 record by one game (and still within reach if SP stumbles). The Beavers' opponents, the Golden Sombreros, are only 1.5 games behind the Beavers with an 9-4 record. They have one remaining game if necessary against Team USA who they beat in their only matchup.

So it all comes down to this final week. This is what it is all about. Two games to decide playoff positioning. Where will the Beavers wind up at the end of the season? Will the bats and defense come together and bring in two final victories? If so, will Sportsmans Park feel the pressure and cough up their lead by losing two? Or will the Beavers continue to have trouble stringing together hits with the Richmond brothers out of the lineup? If they are unable to lay double digits on the Sombreros in each game, 3rd place may be the final resting place.

In honor of the game date, 07/08/09 the Beavers will stack those spots in their lineup. The expected lineup looks like this:

Belle
Rake
Mobilly
Big John
Sabo
Dupper
Jake
Sonoma
Kid
Keith
Jimmy-D

One final note, this week is also Parties In The Park at Shaw Park. Be ready for some post game excitement over at Kilkennys after the fireworks on the field.

Game times 6 & 7p. Field #6.

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Meet Your Beavers - Big John

"I'm a pretty good ball player" is his mantra this year. Big John, not really known for his glovework, has played several positions over his Beaver career. Primarily a pitcher before Keith joined the squad, then playing 1st base when not on the mound, Big John finds himself most at home sitting on the bench and yelling at our players when a ball is missed.

Over the years Big John, or VaJohnna as he is also known, has amassed the second most homeruns on the team. He is also second in freak injuries, only trailing Gee. His most memorable injury came about 5 or 6 years ago when he said he was doing some yard work and the rake he was using snapped and a splintered portion of the rake handle shot through his shin.

While sporting some "pipes" of which he is quite proud he has neglected the lower portion of his body and typically is limping around the bases with some near-pulled hamstring. Luckily for Big John, there is usually someone with superior speed who just got out ahead of him to pinch run.

Things you might see or hear around Big John at a softball game:
- a lead pipe as his warm up bat
- a pipefitters union hat/bag/shirt
- "want two tickets to the gun show?"
- "I don't have any cash, can I get you back next week?"
- "Does anyone have a cigarette?"
- "You know I don't text, just call me"

Most recently Big John was awarded Beaver of the Game in an 18-17 loss in which he drew 5 straight walks. We don't need him to walk though, his lack of speed is only clogging up the bases. Swing the damn bat Meert and challenge Kid for the homerun title!

[editor's note] I did not forget his one MVB award. Since he forgot to take the trophy with him, it was left off his official bio...until now.

Beaver Times 2009 Edition 7

Let's just cut right to the chase, the Beavers were able to score 17 runs in each game last night. Some of the offense funk seems to have lifted with the humidity.

The opponent was "Scared Hitless". As game time approached, many of us wondered if they were going to be able to field a team. At just about 8:00 we counted 5 players wandering around their bench. It was a late arriving team and by the time the ump said "Play Ball" they had their 10.

The Beavers were home for game 1 and we trotted out a little different defense with the absence of Kid and Jake. Dupper took the call at SS and Belle moved over to LF. Scared Hitless put a couple of runners on thanks in part to the ump missing two calls at first base. The first was grounder to 3rd where Sabo nabbed the hitter by a step - "SAFE", then as the Beavers tried to turn a double play another throw beats the hitter to first - "SAFE". Are you seeing a trend here? Seems that the Beavers get the short end of many calls. Last game it was Tanner, this time it was our defense. All in all, we escaped with no runs as Keith (new nickname to be debuted later) K'd their shortstop to end the inning.

The Beavers started the climb to their 17 run game with a nice 6-spot in the first as they batted around. We need to get a promotion with Mobil On The Run and those horrible TV and radio commercials that says "When the Beavers score six runs in an inning, win or lose, you get a fountain drink for only $0.25 the next day at Mobil On the Run". Now I have that stupid song in my head...I digress.

Belle led off with a double and Rake singled him in. After a dupper force out, Big John walked (#1). Mobilly doubled in Dup and Sonoma singled in Big John and Mobile (yes, that is singled, not homered). Rage capped the first inning scoring with a 2-RBI single. An impressive start to the evening.

Have you ever gone out to field grounders on pavement with a little sand sprinkled on top? If so, you know how the infield played last night. Huge hops! Most of the D was on their heals playing the bad hop...and it hurt us. In the second Scared Hitless came out swinging...lining a couple over the infield, chopping several on the ground only to elude the Beavers' mitts. When the inning mercifully came to an end, the score was tied. In the bottom of the second the too of the order was up again for the Beavers...this time to be retired 1-2-3...Allanis-style.

In the third we held them to no runs and Big John led off the bottom of the 3rd with a walk (#2). Mobilly singled and Sonoma tripled - Sabo singled him in - three quick runs before the bottom of the order fizzled the attack. Beavers were up 9-6 and the top of the order was set to lead off again in the 4th.

Scared Hitless chipped away with one run in the 4th. The umpire was quite proud to know the score...and mentioned it many times during each inning. I had never seen this before. Usually the ump just records the score, he does not keep it. Maybe he should have paid less attention to the number tallying and more to the plays at first. Also, the umpire was obsessed with announcing that the "Infield Fly Is In Effect". I think that maybe he just learned about this rule in his umpiring class last week and he was eager to use the term at every opportunity...and he did.

For the bottom of the 4th it started very similar to the 1st. Belle and Rake on base, Dup with a force out, Big John with a walk (#3), Mobilly with a hit. Sonoma then hit a Sacrifice Fly and Tanner drove in 2 runs with a single. A nice 5-run inning to stretch the lead to 14-7.

Just as Scared Hitless did after the Beavers exploded for 6 in the first, they exploded again after the Beavers hung 5 on the board. Again, shotty defense, well placed line drives and a BOMB by their shortstop to leftfield (this is the same guy who look terrible in the first on a strikeout...we got hustled!). Beavers' new lead was down to a thin 2 runs.

Keith led off the 5th with a walk and Jimmy-D popped out to the pitcher. Belle liked that pop up so much that he tried to emulate it and popped up to the 2nd baseman. Rake walked before Dupper doubled in 2 on what is labeled in the score book as "weak RBI". Big John then walked (#4) then the inning came to a close with a vintage Mobilly grunt...however this grunt was well after he weakly hit a grounder back to the mound. I hope that grunt made him feel better about that swing.

The game continued on into the 6th. Another 3 runs for Scared Hitless. This team was not going to give in. They were sensing blood and they were circling for the kill. The Beavers mounted a small attack in the bottom, but were unable to get a runner home from second. Beavers 16, Scared Hitless 15.

The 7th started off innocently enough. Two outs with no runs having scored. Then, like they had been doing all game, they started hitting with 2 outs. 3 runs scored to put them up by 2 going into the bottom of the 7th.

Jimmy-D, the leadoff hitter once everyone else has batted, grounded a single through the right side - a great start to this important inning. Belle singled and it was 1st and 2nd, no one out for Rake. Rake lifted a flyball to leftfield. Deep enough to move Jimmy-D up to 3rd, but not deep enough to score him. Dupper then did the same thing, a Sac fly scoring Jimmy-D. Now there there 2 outs and Belle was at 3rd with the tying run. Big John came up and...walked (#5). The game was in Mobilly's bat...it was not to be. A ground out to end the game. Beavers 17 Scared Hitless 18. It was the 3rd loss of the season for the Beavers and one that did not sit well. If you can award a Beaver of the game in a loss, it would go to Big John. I have never seen anyone take 5 walks in a game. Actually, I am not sure why you would want to actually, especially when you are the cleanup hitter. So he gets this award for two reasons 1) just because of the oddity of it 2) because if he would have swung the damn bat once we might have scored 18 or 19 instead of 17.

Quote of the game goes to the 1-2 punch of Belle and Dupper. Belle yelling at Rage to "Don't Get Mad", brought on the response from Dupper "Get Glad". Send endorsement checks to the blog...

Big John not only amazed us with his batting eye, he was also on with his humor. Every time a fielder would get ate-up by a ball, Big John was quick on the "you need me to play ____ position for you?". He also was trying to convince Jimmy-D that he had the ability to hit a bases empty grand slam.

Game two started up right away and we rolled the lineup over giving the leadoff duties to Sonoma. He singled (yes, again no homer), Sabo reached on an error and Tanner ripped a double to right scoring both. Rage then singled in Tanner and the Beavers were off to a 3-0 start. Nothing for Scared Hitless in the first, and again nothing for the Beavers in their half of the second. As I look closer at the book Belle, Rake and Dupper were a combined o-fer in the 2nd innings this night. Just an interesting observation.

Scared Hitless got on the board in the 2nd with 2 of their own, cutting the lead to 3-2. The bats came alive again in the top of the 3rd. Big John walked (#6), Mobilly singled, Sabo singled, Tanner tripled in 2 more runs, Rage singled, Keith singled then Jimmy-D tripled over a drawn in left-center fielder. This triple caused the crowd to erupt. Bi-State Meat was hanging around to watch the action and they were quite impressed with Jimmy's sudden power. You see, Jimmy was not looking like the athlete for these games (with the exception of his Webster Softball Championship t-shirt from many years ago). Along with the t-shirt (sleeves cut off), he was wearing camo shorts and a bucket hat. Add to this his scruffy beard and he looked like a better fit for Survivor than Clayton softball fields. Another reason why the bench jumped on the Jimmy-D bandwagon is that he had just grounded into a doubleplay in the first inning and did not run it out. He was the underdog, he was down on his luck...they were pulling for him. He answered.

In typical Scared Hitless style, they answered our big inning with one of their own. Plating 4 runs, including another blast from their shortstop who played opossum with us in the first at bat in the first game. Beavers were up 9-6.

In the 4th the Beavers started hitting again. Big John led off and was hearing it from the crowd about this lack of swinging the bat. The pitcher laid a fat pitch about chest high and VaJohnna crushed it. Refusing to be outdone by their power hitter or called out by the team watching from the Bleachers, Big John stopped his walk streak at 6 and went yard. A bunch of singles, doubles and walks followed and the Beavers added 4 more runs.

Scared Hitless stayed close with 3 runs of their own in the 4th. Through 4 it was Beavers 14 Scared Hitless 9. The Beavers kept hitting in the 5th. Dupper got in on the action with a double, Mobilly tripled, Sonoma reached on an error, Sabo walked and Tanner hit a sac fly that scored Sonoma from 2nd. The Beavers were able to shut down Scared Hitless in the bottom of the 5th. As the Beavers were coming up to hit in the 6th the ump called the game. Beavers Win! Beavers 17, Scared Hitless 9.

Beaver of the game goes to Tanner. Tanner went 3-3 with 2 doubles, a triple and a sac fly. He had 7 total RBI to show for those at bats.

Sitting around after the game we found out that some of the crowd/fans/hecklers were commenting about the way the number "00" looks on the back of Keith's jersey. I believe the quote was something to the effect of "that's what they would call prison tits". Keith, I hate to say it, but Prison Tits or PT might just be the winner.

In other Beaver news. There was a Gee sighting at Kilkennys before the game. He assured us that his retirement is only temporary. No timetable is set yet for his return. Also, as this season is winding down, we are looking into possible venues for summer/fall ball. The leader so far is Fenton on Wednesday nights. Stay tuned.

Next games are July 8 at 6pm & 7pm.

July 1 Game Preview

The Beaver's bats have virtually wilted in the early summer heat. Hopefully this day of reasonable weather will awaken the bats once again. Losing two games a few weeks back to Desloge (now Sportsman Park) seemed to take the wind out of the sails of the early-surging Beavers. However, Sportsman Park has lost two games in their last 3 weeks and they are now 12-2 compared to the Beavers' 10-2. First place is once again in reach with the help of the opponent of Sportsmans Parks last games.

On to tonight's game.

The Beavers will be slightly shorthanded tonight as Kid has removed himself from the lineup. Some kind of leg injury is what is being reported on the wire. The team will not put him on the DL in case of a miraculous recovery before 8pm tonight. Word also just came in that Jake will not be at the game either. There will be some defensive juggling to find a shortstop for tonight's action. Other than those two absences, all of the remaining Beavers should be in their new uniforms and ready to take on Scared Hitless.

Scared Hitless seems to be able to swing the bat a bit. Looking back at their early season results they were able to routinely post 10+ runs, however it took them until week 3 to post a win. Recently their bats have appeared to cool off a bit as they have had more games under 10 runs than over. It is not certain if this is truly an indication of their hitting capability or the lack of defense by their opponents. Overall, Scared Hitless comes into tonight with a 3-9 record, second from the bottom in the league. Like the Beavers they were able to take two from CJC Transportation. Their other victory came last week against Dogs in a Bathtub when they were able to plate 18 runs.

The Beavers will have Sonoma back in the lineup for tonight's game after missing a week. He will need to offer some middle of the order support in terms of reaching base. The Beavers' scoring drought can be attributed to the lack of stringing hits together. A consistent approach of reaching base will be needed to bring home two victories tonight under the cooler air.

Game time is 8pm on field #6.

Expected Lineup
Belle LF
Rake 1B
Dupper SS
Big John RF
Mobilly RC
Sonoma
Tanner LC
Sabo 3B
Rage 2B
Keith P
Jimmy-D C

Stay tuned to beaverball.blogspot.com for post game reactions and recaps.

Spending 20 hours a week on the team is not rare

I came across this article today in the Onion and I think it shows that our (read: my) obsession with the Beavers is not all that uncommon.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/co_worker_just_a_little_too?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

"Don't Hit it to the guy in the tight pants"

On a muggy summer night the Beavers took the field trying to avenge a double-header loss the week before. This week the Beavers would at least look better than the previous weeks as we are now sporting our new Beaver jerseys. While these jerseys are rockin', they are also 100% polyester - so note to Beavers, if you have beer duty for the remainder of the year, you had better also think about packing water. To say that these black, poly jerseys are warm is an understatement.

The Beavers were set to face CJC Transportation. CJC came into the week's action with only one win. It seemed like this was the week to snap out of the hitting funk that has mired the team for a few weeks now.

In the first game CJC led off the game with an empty frame though they did get two on. The Beavers jumped out of the gate. Belle doubled, Rake homered (partially in thanks to the left fielder slipping), Big John tripled (yes, you read that right...oxygen for the big guy, please!), Dupper and Sabo singled and Rage doubled. Once the dust settled it was 2nd and 3rd for Tanner with two outs. Tanner grounded a harmless dribbler to second. The secondbasemen took his time in fielding and throwing the ball to first. Tanner was hustling all the way and trying to make something of this pathetic hit. Tanner crossed the bag and about 2 seconds later the firstbaseman caught the secondbaseman's throw. "OUT!", yelled the umpire. Tanner's momentum had taken him a ways down the rightfield line and when he heard the call he was in total disbelief. The Beavers bench erupted in laughter as Tanner had just been hosed. The worst call we had seen in years. The ump was determined to try to give CJC any and all chances to stay in the game. Rake asked the ump if we would at least get credit for the run in return for that gift out. It was not going to happen. Beavers 5, CJC 1, Ump 1 after 1 inning of play.

The next action came in the third inning. The Beavers led off with a double by Kid and followed it with 3 singles...all to score one lone run. To ruin a potential crooked number Big John was gunned out at third on a Mobilly pop up. Big John may be "a pretty good ballplayer, but it is not because of his speed".

The game sped up considerably during the middle innings. CJC plated one run in each of the 3rd and 4th innings, the Beavers plated 2 of their own in the 3rd and 5th. After 5 it was Beavers 7, CJC 2, Ump 1.

In the bottom of the 6th the Beavers were able to string together several singles to plate two more runs. Trying to stretch a single into a double Tanner was again called out, this time at second, and again where he was quite obviously safe. The game was called for some reason with the Beavers up by 7 after 6 innings. Final score Beavers 9, CJC 2, Ump 2.

To say the ump was not really sure what was going on is a huge understatement. Missing blatent calls, calling the game after 6 innings with plenty of time remaining and then putting down the final score of 8-3 on the score card. He was obviously there to just pick up a check.

The Beaver of the game for game 1 is a tough one. No one completely took over the offense or defense. It was a solid 7 run victory, but the one consistent performer was Rage. With a 3-3 night including 2 singles and a double and also turning a doubleplay, Rage gets the honor.

Somewhere amidst the first game the CJC bench was overheard saying, "guys, don't hit it to the leftfielder, the guy in tight pants. With pants that tight he has to be good". So early in the season we get an email about our players in long pants and everyone carrying bat bags, now we have guys calling Dupper out again. The pants are most likely the same ones Dupper wore in his teens, so they are a little tight. We have all learned to just look away.

The Beavers retired to the beer cooler for a few minutes before stepping to the plate in game two. To punish the Beavers for our poor play last week, Kid brought Natural Light, Busch Light and Colt 45. We might have to have restrictions on the beer selections for next season...

In game 2 the Beavers started off hot again. Rake doubled, Kid doubled off the top of the tree down the rightfield hill, Big John hit a sac fly to score Kid from second, Dupper tripled, Mobilly and Keith singled. After all of that, the Beavers were on the board with 4 runs. CJC answered with one of their own. They seemed to be getting better as the night went on. Their offense had a few guys who could place the ball perfectly between the infield and outfield and their defense had started to become more cohesive. Especially their left centerfielder who pretty much played everywhere from left to right. If the ball was in the air, he was near by.

The Beavers virtually tood the second inning off, Tanner and Jake both hit singles but no one else could bring them around. After 2 it was Beavers 4, CJC 1, Ump 0.

In the 3rd the Beavers' bats came alive. Rake singled, Kid lifted one to rightfield, down the hill again. This time the rightfielder camped under it, only for it to bounce off his glove. Kid stopped at first, Rake to third. Big John singled then Mobilly hit a 3-run homer. The rally started again with Keith singling, Rage tripling, Tanner hitting a double (and not getting called out), Jimmy-D also lined a single to rightfield. The Beavers were up 11-1. Keith kept CJC at bay with good defense behind him for the most part. With the exception of two throwing errors by Jake in his inning at first and a wild throw by Sabo to try to get a lead runner at second the defense obliged and kept CJC to minimal runs.

In the top of the 4th, Kid reached on yet another error. Big John then launched a screamer to left centerfield...and deep. Kid slowly jogged around the bases as Big John was in over drive determined to not get held at 3rd again. He basically caught Kid between 2nd and 3rd and the two ran home a step a part, just beating the relay in from the outfield. Beavers were now up 13-1. CJC went down easily again and once again the umpire called the game. I think the ruling is supposed to be 10 run lead after 5 innings, 15 after 4. Well, according to our book we were up 12 after 4. That was good enough for the man in blue. He handed Rake the scorecard to sign and read 13-3 Beavers. Hmmm. Soon after that, we found out what was really on his mind. He asked us for a Colt 45. Now it all makes since. Billy D. Williams was in his head for the hour and a half of softball games. He just wanted to get to our cooler of ice cold Colt 45.

Beaver of the game goes to Big John. A deep sac (o' shit) fly ball to score kid from 2nd, an RBI single and the HR.

Next week the Beavers have a bye. In two weeks we are playing again on the good field (#6) at 8 & 9 pm.