Team Re-Entry Softball Box Scores for Fall 2008

In the opening game of the fall season, Re-Entry was short two women, and thus played with the minimum lineup of five men and two women. This put enormous pressure on our female teammates, especially given the huge number of at bats they had to take. It didn't help that we scored five or more runs in the second through the fourth innings, forcing them to constantly run the basepaths (in unseasonably hot weather). Nevertheless, they were gamers! Allison, despite missing practice, was in midseason form, with terrific defensive plays at third base that had the opposition talking to themselves! Janelle, a new addition to the Re-Entry Team, played a solid game with timely hits and critical defensive outs (at one point forcing an opposing runner from the basepaths). The men contributed their share, and made sure that the game was out of reach early with some timely homeruns.

For this game, we were joined by two of Rob's colleagues, Justin, who played a great first base and covering home when needed and Michele, who did a great job at second base and hit the ball very well. Also, we had a walk-on Jessica Clayton, who played shortstop. Between her and Allison at third base, nothing got through that side of the infield. On the offensive side we had more than a few notable achievements. Just to name a few, Will and Abe both hit home runs in the bottom of the 6th to give us insurance runs and David hit a grand slam to force the mercy rule in the bottom of the 2nd.

We had a great game last week. Our offense was less than spectacular but we more than made up with it with superb defense. Jenelle was not able to make the game, but Abe's friend Stefanie stepped up and played an awesome second base. We had Michelle covering the plate, Allison at 3rd, Jessica at SS, and Justin at 1st rounding out a very solid infield. In the outfield we had Abe, David, Will, and Asher, and Nicholas "Yahoo" Yahokolfski joined the team as well. Dave homered in the first inning, Justin added a couple RBIs to his total in the 4th, and Yahoo tripled in the 4th and drove in two. With an eight run leading going into the 6th inning, we were able to withstand a furious comeback by The Team that fell three runs short.

Our defense was nearly unstoppable. We had Lucy and Jessica switching between 2nd and SS, Allison playing her usual very solid 3rd, Michele behind the plate, and Justin filling in superbly for Rob once again at 1st. David, Will, Abe, and Asher rounded out the outfield. The defense was incredible with great catches all around, outfield assists, and a spectacular play when Justin backed up an errant throw from the outfield and firing to third to catch the runner attempting to advance. At one point, the Tree Sluggers had the bases loaded with no outs and we kept them scoreless with amazing defense! As for the offense, we had everyone getting the bats going. To mention just a few notable big hits, Will and David each had solo HRs and Lucy had a 2 run HR in the 3rd. Michele had a great game at the plate as well with a few hits and a big RBI double in our mercy rule 5th inning.

In the opening round of the playoffs, the Re-Entry bats were somewhat sluggish at first (presumably due to all that turkey from the previous week). But, the defense was again stingy, shutting down the Porter Pounders w/ Cheese offense during the first five innings. The highlight among many stellar defensive plays was a perfect relay from right field to Lucy at shortstop who then wheeled and fired a laser to third base cutting down a greedy Porter Pounders w/ Cheese runner trying to stretch a double into a triple. Meanwhile, Re-Entry nursed a 4--0 lead until the offense finally got on track with a nine run outburst in the fourth inning, capped by a magnificent grand slam homerun by David that essentially decided the game.

So, Re-Entry prevailed despite some lapses in the solid defense that we have been accustomed to (which allowed two big innings for the Big Bangers), and inconsistent hitting. We faced adversity and overcame it, putting us in the position to defend our 2007 fall softball championship.

On a sunny summer-like day with temperatures in the low 70s and with the championship up for grabs, Re-Entry responded with their best performance of the fall season, resulting in a decisive 18--8 win over the Sneaky Elephants. The offense was clicking early and often, and was backed up by a stalwart defense that did not allow their opponents more than two runs in any inning until the final one, at which point the lead was more than secure.

Despite Howie's fly ball out to lead off the game, Lucy singled followed by David's single, and most of the rest of the lineup followed suit. By the end of the top of the first inning, everyone had batted at least once, and seven runs were on the board. However, unlike the semi-finals, Re-Entry was not going to let their opponents get back in the game. Solid defense held the Sneaky Elephants to one run in each of the first two innings. In the top of the third inning, a two-out three-run home run by Howie finished off a five run inning and the rout was on. The Re-Entry offense was impressive given the strong defensive skills of our opponents (some of the Re-Entry outs were due to superb catches by the Sneaky Elephant outfielders). Re-Entry base-running was aggressive, and included a gutsy slide at home by Jessica (in her shorts!) to steal another run. That play earned Jessica the game ball.

By the top of the 6th inning, another three run outburst (including a daring attempt by Rob to score on an RBI single by Howie that succeeded when the catcher failed to apply the tag) pushed the Re-Entry lead to 14 runs. From that point, careful defensive play recorded the six remaining outs to assure Re-Entry of the victory. A smart decision by a Re-Entry batter to end the top of the 7th by grounding into a double play guaranteed sufficient sunlight in the bottom of the 7th to allow Re-Entry to close out the game.

This game was a real team effort, with everyone contributing to the win. Will found his batting stroke with a number of solid line drive hits. Michele frustrated our opponents with some challenging infield rollers that kept two of the big innings alive. The infield with Allison at 3rd base, Rob at 1st, and shortstop and 2nd base covered in turn by Lucy, Jessica and Howie kept their pre-game promise with consistent and smart plays to avoid the big inning. The outfielders, David, Asher, Stefanie, Will and Abe were equally solid, and did not let one ball get by them---an impressive achievement.

Such a decisive win against an excellent Sneaky Elephants team is testament to the outstanding effort on the field by Re-Entry. This team is a worthy successor to the 2007 Re-Entry fall softball champions!

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Link to the Fall 2008 Re-Entry Coed Softball team web page