In the first round of the playoffs, Re-Entry faced a very tough Chiefs squad. After an opening double by Howie, Re-Entry stranded him at third, as the Re-Entry struggles with runners in scoring position continued from their last game of the regular season. The Chiefs responded with a big inning, aided somewhat with a missed call by the first base umpire. With a runner on first base, the Chiefs batter hit a slow roller just past the pitcher. Howie rushed in, scooped up the ball in his bare hand and his off balance throw reached first base on the short hop. Yahoo snagged the throw with an incredibly deft play, one that would surely qualify as a web gem. However, he was unrewarded when the runner was declared safe (much to the surprise of the runner herself!). By the time the leading Chiefs lefty hitter strode to the plate, the bases were loaded. On the third and last pitch of the at bat, the Chiefs' slugger sent a rocketing line drive over the head of the left-center fielder for a grand slam home run and a quick 4-0 lead. The Chiefs added another run and suddenly Re-Entry was down by five runs.

Re-Entry made a valiant attempt to come back. Turner started the come back with a solo home run. By the end of the top half of the second inning, Re-Entry had closed the gap to 5--3. The Re-Entry defense then stepped up, and after a goose-egg in the bottom half of the inning Re-Entry went back to work. Led by a towering drive over the center fielder's head, courtesy of Erica's bat (which resulted in a double and an RBI), Re-Entry seized their first and only lead of the game. The score now stood at 6--5 in Re-Entry's favor. But, the Chiefs responded with two runs of their own and clung to a one run lead after three innings. Unfortunately, the Re-Entry bats fell mostly silent for the remainder of the game. Apart from a solo home run to right field by Turner, his second of the game, Re-Entry could not muster many base runners. Our best shot was with two on and two outs in the bottom of the 6th inning, but once again Re-Entry was unable to take advantage of runners in scoring position.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs added three runs in the 5th inning and two runs in the 6th inning, nearly all of which were driven in by the Chiefs' lefty slugger, who ended the day with two home runs, a triple and a double. On the Re-entry side, Carena led the way with three hits, and Turner set the single season home run record for Re-Entry, but there were too many missed opportunities. Of course, the Chiefs defense played a key role in this, with a number of highlight reel snags by the Chiefs' second baseman. On the Re-Entry side, web gems go to Clara for an impressive snag of a line drive bullet at the second base position, and a sweet play by Rob on a hot ground ball to third. For the most part, the Re-Entry defense was reliable, limiting the Chiefs' damage to the mammoth hits of their lefty slugger. Indeed, Re-Entry is still marveling at the Chiefs slugger's second home run, a line dive shot that reached all the way to first base on the adjoining Field 3 on the fly.

So, the season has ended a little too abruptly, and like the San Jose Sharks, Re-Entry is knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. Although not as good a team as last fall's champions, Beast Mode, it looks like the Chiefs will go far this spring in their quest for the championship T-shirts. As for Re-Entry, we can be proud of a fourth consecutive undefeated regular season. Although we did not achieve our ultimate goal, we will be ready for another run in the fall.

Congratulations everyone on our fourth consecutive undefeated regular season! This last victory did not come easy and I'm proud of your guys for gritting your teeth and gutting this one out. The Misfits were a solid team with really no glaring weaknesses on defense, providing a forecast of what we can expect from our competition for the playoffs. The biggest difference between average teams and playoffs caliber teams is their ability to get base hits in between our defenders and to make all the plays that are presented to them. So the way we're going to have to counteract this is to do the same, but better, trying our best to eliminate errors on the field and to avoid pop-ups and easy grounders while at the plate. We can do it, we just have to maintain our focus and rely on each other to do our part. Good plays and nice hits are contagious, you never know what you can spark by a nice sharp line drive up the middle!

And welcome to the playoffs(!), which will assuredly occur during the week of 6/4-6/8. As usual, the games will occur during times when we don't normally play, but hopefully with advance notice you guys can clear your schedules to make it to the each of the games. Howie and I will be sure to keep you posted once we know the exact schedule. Until then, rest up, stay sharp, and see you all shortly for the big dance!