It was the bottom of the 4th inning, 2 outs, score in favor of Ariel�s softball team, the Magic, 5-4, with less than minute to play in regulation. I thought back on the game on was amazed at just how well the girls had played. Many of the girls on her team were playing in their first softball game. Ever. To top it off, they were playing against an experienced team with half the players at least two years older than themselves. This wasn�t supposed to be happening. The girls weren�t supposed to be winning the game. Heck, the girls weren�t even supposed to have kept it close. This was David versus Goliath, mom-and-pop vs. Walmart, William Hung versus Jessica Simpson. But there they were, with a one run lead and a very actual chance of winning the Game They Realistically Had No Chance Of Winning.
I looked back at the field and watched as the opposing team�s coach inserted the ball into the pitching machine and the opposing batter took a swing. The ball came sharply off her bat, hitting her foot and coming to a stop. She hopped painfully on her good foot as she cried out in pain. The coaches converged on her to make sure she was ok. Precious seconds ticked off even more. Could it be?
She shrugged off the injury and resumed her stance. Another pitch and it was fouled out of play. 2 strikes. 2 outs. The third pitch came and she swung and missed. Strike 3. 3 outs. I looked quickly to the scoreboard to see whether a celebration was in order or if we had to play another inning. The rule was: if time remains on the clock with the final out of an inning, then one last inning must be played. The clock read 00:08. 8 stinking seconds. 8 stinking seconds and the girls would�ve had the Upset of the Season.
As the girls ran in from the field, we told them we still had to play another inning and tried to get them fired up. After a couple of our girls got on base, Sarah T. uncorked with a huge blast to left field earning herself with a triple and scoring both of our girls. She was able to score before all our batters were retired making the score 9-5 in our favor with the opposing team having one last chance at bat. Would it be enough? Could we hold off what was surely a more superior team?
2 runs and 2 outs later, the opposing team had cut our lead in half, and threatening for more with a man on 1st. The batter gave up two strikes in succession. I pleaded for a break � just one swing and a miss and the game would be ours. Unfortunately, she connected for a solid hit to shortstop which Amy bobbled. Rather than risk overthrowing first and allowing more runs to score, we yelled at her to hold the ball keeping the runners in check at 1st and 2nd.
The very next batter up also got behind in the count with two strikes. Again, I pleaded for a break. �Please, please, please, just one more strike,� I urged. Swing and another hit to shortstop. Fortunately, Amy fielded the ball perfectly and threw it a little high to 2nd base where Brooke was exactly where she was supposed to be. She caught the ball before the runner made it there and I jumped up and pumped my fist in celebration. We had done it! But a look to the umpire sent my elation packing. He had called her safe, perhaps because Brooke had bobbled the ball? A huge outcry went up from the stands as parents learned of the bad call. Our coach told the parents to calm down as a few of them were being pretty vocal. There was my first exposure to the dreaded Overzealous Softball Mom.
So now the bases were loaded with two outs. Man, would we ever catch a break? And then with one swing of the bat, it was over. A ball hit to deep center scored three runners making the final score 10-9 in the opposing team�s favor. My hopes for a huge upset and a win for the girls dissipated as quickly as it built up. But while we had lost, I was so proud of the girls for playing as hard as they could. They listened. They followed instructions. They showed great sportsmanship. They could not have played a better game. Smiles were all around as the coach lauded their performance and effort. It was an extremely impressive showing, especially considering many girls had not played any sort of organized sport in the past.
Individually, Ariel ended up playing 3rd base for the whole game. She didn�t have a chance at a lot of plays, but I can�t say she made any errors either. She almost caught a runner stealing third, but the throw from the catcher was a bit short and she bobbled the ball allowing the runner to make it safely to base. She also had a chance to catch a pop-up hit short in foul territory but couldn�t quite get to it in time. Batting-wise, she never struck out, had two hits (single & double), a sacrifice RBI, and scored 2 runs herself. I was definitely a ***very proud*** daddy last night. :) Right now, they are pitching using a pitching machine, but in about 3 weeks, they will start to use actual pitchers. Our coach sees some potential in Ariel for being a pitcher so that�s something we�ll work on with her to see how she does.
If the girls continue to play as hard as they did last night, they�ll definitely be a force to be reckoned with come tournament time at the end of the season. We have another game tomorrow night, one Saturday after my singles league tournament, and then one a week from that point onward.
