After losing their 1st game last week, the Hounds were eager to take the field again and get back to sweeping their opponents. In front of us lay I'd Hit That, a team who's record stood at .500 coming in. However, some of our stars were absent, so we knew we had to play well to win both games.
For Game 1, starting pitcher was our ace Margaret and she lived up to the billing. She continued her run of impeccable control, and kept the I.H.T. hitters uncomfortable. Behind her, we played good defense, for the most part. We definitely had a couple of miscues, and that allowed them to stay in the game. On offense, the thumpers were not out and we struggled to score. We actually only scored in 2 of the 5 innings that we batted. We scored four in the 3rd and three in the 3rd. They chipped away at our lead before bringing the tying run to the plate in the top of the sixth with two outs. Their hitter lined a shot to right field that scored two and it was starting to look dicey. All of a sudden, the umpire called the batter out for taking too many steps out of the batter's box before making contact. It was a tough way to lose a game for them, but the guy was like 5 feet out of the batting box. Final Score: Hound 7, I.H.T. 5.
Game 2 was a different story altogether. We kept the defense pretty much the same, Margaret once again getting the starting nod. This was more like a true Hounds game. Our pitching and defense was outstanding throughout. We were down 1-0 in the first couple of innings. Then, our offense came alive. Dave had a big 3-run triple, and Iain followed him up with a 2-run home run. We exploded for 7 runs in the top of the fifth, and after that, one could clearly see that I.H.T. were demoralized. Margaret helped her own cause with an RBI double, and Jason C. followed her up with a 2-run homer. We allowed them to score a meaningless run before we closed them out. Final Score: Hounds 12, I.H.T. 2.
Our record stands at a very healthy 7 and 1. With only six games left, we have to feel good about our playoff chances. Next week we face a stiff challenge from a team that also has only one loss. I have no doubt we will rise to the challenge.
