Softball 2009: Game 4

I was on the DL for Game 3. Our team lost 4-6 to a beatable team. This week started a 4-week stretch against the best teams in the division. We close with a rematch against games 1 and 2, which should be winnable games.

------- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 -- F
US --- 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 -- 1
THEM 1 0 3 0 2 0 x -- 6

Batting Stats for Game Four:
1st AB: ground out
2nd AB: line out
3rd AB: 1B, line drive

Average: .333
Slugging: .333
0 walks
0 strike outs
0 rbi

Pitching Stats for Game Four:
6 IP
6 runs
1 K
0 BB

ERA: 7.00 and the loss

I pitched the whole game. And didn't really use my left hand except when batting. So what happened? Defensively, I pitched great and we didn't play too bad in the field. Some good catches. We turned a 1-4-3 double play. The run in the first inning scored because a 3rd baseman threw the ball 5 feet over our 1st baseman on a routine grounder. They scored in the 3rd on a deep line drive stand-up triple. But really they had a lot of good bats, and you can tell by the line score, when the top of their order came around they were going to get some good hits. But holding a good-hitting team to 6 runs is a good case scenario.

As for our offense...we don't have many good hitters. Myself included.

Here's the story on just about every team: every guy is capable of hitting an extra-base hit. And the girls are likely to get out. Often teams have one girl that you can count on to get on base. The really good teams have girls that can hit as well.

Our problem is that our guys aren't guaranteed hits. Whether it's a pop-up or a weak grounder, we just don't have a lot of power. I think in Game 1 we scored 13 because they had a lot of defensive errors.

I tried to draw walks so I wouldn't have to swing with my sore tendons in my left arm. But the pitcher never threw more than 1 ball before getting a called strike. So the first time I hit a weak grounder to the 2nd baseman and it was an easy out. The next time I swung at a high pitch and thought it might clear the 2nd baseman but she was able to catch it. My last at bat could of ended the game. Top 7th, two outs. Just like game 2. Except this time we were down 5. But still, I didn't want to end the game. So I choked up and hit it out of the infield. It went up the middle and landed between the centerfielder and the 2nd baseman. It was a nice hit.

Oh and we almost got shut out. The run we got was batted in by a girl on a grounder to short that could be considered an error. So there you go.

The next three games should be losses, and we should be able to win the last two if our good people show up. Last year, in my absence our team was 2-7. Hopefully we could get to at least 3 wins this year.

Pitching Record: 1-1

2009 Team Record: 1-3