The evening started out well enough. The Bruisers (like the Turkeys, known to have a zillion players) showed up in force. Not to be outdone, the Turkeys showed up with 19 players and our scorekeeper Jack. Sam was tested in fielding a team that could be competitive yet fair. In the end he seemed to have two seperate squads that alternated in the field with only small changes every other inning. It seemed to work as each squad became famaliar with each other on defense. Several double plays were logged in this inning with both Jose and Mark working the shortstop while Nancy and Katie took care of second. Debbie, Justine, and Hannah were handling first during these exciting plays. As usual, Ashley was our first string third baseman, sharing duties with Bill. Matt, Gerardo, Chris, Sam, Mike and Phil were our outfield along with Tess working at shortfield. Dave H. joined the team today and got his innings in the outfield (where else would he play?). Tim and Russ managed to pitch the low scoring game.

Katie earned the "Turkey of the Week" honors with her superb stab of the hot liner to her right side at second base. The shot caught all runners off bases to which a quick flip to Mark for the last of several double plays ended the game. The Bruisers were left stunned.

Our bats were a little stale at the begining of the game with us hitting to their fielders. No problem as they were doing the same. However, finally in the middle innings both teams began to hit and score. It was back and forth for awhile until the Turkeys started a hitting streatk that broke the will of the Bruisers. After Katie's 6th inning double play the Bruisers had had enough calling it a game.

Other exciting plays included Matt's aggressive run from first to third with a head-first slide to beat the throw; Jose's really long...foul ball (would have been a homer) followed by a towering fly...to the pitcher who bobbled the ball (should have been an out); Katie's hit beating the throw from shortstop to first (previous attempts were blamed on not having had her Wheaties that morning); Hannah's near catch on the run in short field (close...so close); the double play between Mark to Justine in the early innings; and, frankly, all the really clean hits that made the difference but aren't mentioned here.

Sam just sent this message to be included in the game report:

Chris's smashing triple with two runners on base in the 4th was the single most important hit of the game for the Turkeys.  It immediately cut our deficit from 6-3 to 6-5, and then Chris scored the tying run on Katie's RBI groundout after Sam's ignominious popout to the pitcher threatened to leave Chris stranded at 3rd.  Chris's big hit in the 4th woke up our bats and set the stage for our clinching 5-run rally in the 5th.  Our big 5th-inning included consecutive hits by Bill, Matt, and Justine, and by Gerardo, Nancy, and Mike, sandwiched around Jose's "vertical blast" fumbled by the Bruisers' pitcher.

Sam pitched a rare shutout inning in the 2nd, due to sterling defense by the middle of the Turkeys' infield.  First Katie speared a hot grounder to her backhand side at 2B, which she smartly turned into an unassisted forceout on a speedy Bruisers' runner (not risking an unnecessary throw to Mark since her momentum was already carrying her toward 2nd).  Two batters later, Mark made the mirror-image play, fielding a ground ball up the middle (to his backhand side also, since he's a lefty playing SS), then making the forceout unassisted at 2nd, and completing the double play with a toss to Justine at 1st.

The Bruisers broke the scoreless tie in the top of the 3rd, but Bruiser dreams for a big inning were quickly dashed by the Turkeys' defense.  With two runs in and two runners on base, catcher Mike got the second out with a quick-reaction stab of a foul ball, and 3B Ashley finished the inning with a hard-charging grab of a ground ball and a strong throw to Debbie at 1st.

Another Bruisers' rally in the top of the 5th was also snuffed by stellar Turkeys' defense.  The Bruisers started this inning with two straight hits, but their second runner was cut down, Gerardo to Jose to Nancy, trying to stretch his single into a double (a play that earned two separate *s from Scorekeeper Jack).  Two batters later, Jose nearly duplicated Mark's double-play heroics at SS, fielding a grounder up the middle and stepping on 2nd for a bang-bang unassisted forceout on the Bruisers' fastest runner.  However, when Jose realized that the runner was sliding aggressively into his path and through the base, he forsook the double-play opportunity and instead executed a nifty jump maneuver that minimized the collision.  Jose's quick thinking and athleticism saved both players from much more serious injuries.

And of course Katie's spectacular double-* double play in the final inning nailed down our victory.   It might have even been a triple play, except Katie and Mark had already collaborated two batters earlier to get the first out of the inning on a more mundane forceout at 2nd.   Keep up the great defense, everyone!

Thanks for the kind words Sam!

As has been the case throughout the year, the team met at Round Table for Pizza, Soda, Beer. This evening saw 18 team members present! Can you believe the spirit of this team. Late in the season and still managing to get everyone out for post game celebration. Tonight's celebration included hi-jinks played by Nancy on Matt (including car decorating and water bombs) as well as being our first four-pizza dinner! How we can eat and drink! Finally, this was Ashley's final game of the season. We will miss her and her softball skills as this season winds to a conclusion. Good luck to Ashley as she finishes off her college education! Come back next year!

The final score was 11-7. Katie was Turkey of the Week. Great post-game dinner. Neat pictures. Thanks again to all of you who make this possible!