Another rough day at sea. It's been two months since the crew has seen dry land, and these scurvy-ridden land lubbers are chompin' at their bits to head ashore and feel the warmth of a maiden. Days upon end at sea, swillin' grog, and listening to the old timers swing the lamp can drive many a man mad. I'm afraid if we don't drop anchor soon...
Whoops. I thought I was writing an entry in my Captain's LOG, didn't realize this one was the Captain's BLOG. It's hard at times to keep straight the many different Captain's hats that I wear. I'll finish my log entry later when I'm back at sea, but more pertinent to you guys (Re-Entry), I'll begin my first blog entry of the season.
Our first real test of the season came this past week, and congratulations to the team for battling and emerging with the victory. As stressful at times as the game was, we needed exactly this sort of contest to test our mettle and be ready for future battles. This game was just the reminder that we needed that we can't take anyone for granted. We came out very sloppy on defense in the first inning and we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard. Many runners advanced on the base paths while we weren't paying attention. While it's not always in our best interest to heave the ball around the infield, we have to let them know we're willing to if they decide to test us. We can't let our guard down until the pitcher has the ball.
On offense, we should give them due credit as they were making plays. On the other hand, we have focus on being more consistent at the plate, particularly us men. I suspect that the large offensive explosions of the first two games had us feeling over confident at the plate, and led to us flying or popping up too often. So let's relax up at the plate and focus on putting the barrel of the bat square on the ball!
This upcoming week brings forth our long time rivals and co-league leaders, the Big Bangers of the Astronomy department. The Bangers are looking formidable this Spring, showing the ability to persevere in close contests. After the Bangers, we play The Scrubs, having only lost the Big Bangers and appear highly competitive in their own right, so we must be ready for our hardest tests of the season in the coming weeks.
Ladies -- it's essential that we get as many of you as possible for the rest of the season. Last week, we were in danger of not having enough women to play (even after polling subs), let alone have the usual solid play our full platoon of talented ladies provides. I realize that we all have more serious responsibilities to attend to, but I ask that you do your best to come on out and help out the team!
Enjoy your week everyone and I'll see ya next Friday!
A perfect regular season. Five wins, zero losses. An impressive march through the playoffs. Three teams dared challenge, while another decided they were better off not even showing up. A hard fought battle in the quarter finals, a demolition of our long time rivals in the semi-finals, and vengeance in the final, an incredibly smooth and steady victory over the very team who stole glory from us just a few short months ago. The dust has settled and the smoke has cleared, and the only team who can go into the off-season without the taste of defeat in their mouths is us. Re-Entry. Champions.
This season completes my sixth season as a member of the Re-Entry squad, and the fourth season as Captain. During my tenure, we have accrued a flawless 31-0 regular season record, and needless to say put together some incredibly talented teams. There were some seasons where I figured we had a great chance, but unfortunately ran into other talented teams, whether the Brady Bunch who bounced us twice from the playoffs or Beast Mode who came out of nowhere in the playoffs and lit fire to the softball diamond.
Last season, I knew we had all the pieces for a championship, and yet, somehow, the breakthrough win alluded us. Despite the disappointment that came along with the championship loss, I knew when we gathered again this Spring that we were the team to beat. We had a confidence this season that we knew that we were the best team. And Spring softball is not easy. The warm weather seems to draw all the ball player extraordinaires from their warm batting cages and out into the sunshine, where dozens of teams battle to be the only one left standing. Yet, we knew, and we trusted each other, that this season was ours for the taking. We knew that we were the best team last season, and that this season it was our responsibility to live up to our potential. We knew that we would win it all, and we did.
This season, as Captain, my biggest challenge wasn't to find capable players, but to find what to do with all of our amazing players. It didn't matter who I plugged in to what position, it just seemed like amazing play after amazing play was made, and when one hitter was struggling, the others would be there to pick them up until they came back around. I'm not sure I can find superlatives to describe our defense, particularly in the playoffs, where in the last two games we allowed a scant nine runs. NINE runs, while scoring fifty-four ourselves. Incredible.
It's with bittersweet emotions I write this final blog of the 2013 season. Teams this special don't come around too often, and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Not only playing some great ball with everyone, but the camaraderie and friendship that we developed over the year, or years as is the case with many of you. As with any passing year, we will lose some of our cornerstone players, namely Andy, Tim, and Turner. I know you all join me in giving them my sincerest thanks for their contributions, friendship, and great memories. Because in the end, winning a championship isn't about simply having something to fluff our feathers about. It's about having had the opportunity to share a great moment in time with great company. For that, I thank you all.
So with that, I hope that everyone has a great summer. But stay sharp! There's a title to defend this Fall...
Link to
the Spring 2013 Re-Entry Coed Softball team web page