Having put in a solid 5-1 record in the regular season, it was time for the Hounds to face the best the division had to offer in the single-elimination, two round playoffs. The location was DeWitt Clinton Field and a Winter chill coated the fall air. In the semi-final game, the opponent was The Sunday Hops. They were a fun-loving, scrappy bunch that would give us one of our biggest challenges of the year.
Juiena was our starting pitcher and she took the mound in the top of the 1st. She got into some trouble, with Sunday Hops scoring two runs. Their offensive formula was consistent throughout the game: hit bleeps and bloops and occasionally get aided by Hounds' miscues. We got on the board in the bottom of the 1st, with Iain hitting an RBI single. But we would only score one more run in the next four innings. Sunday Hops' pitcher, a lanky fellow, gave our hitters fits with his high-arc spinner. We entered the bottom of the 6th down 2-4 and knowing we didn't have much time to turn this one around.
Then the bottom of the order came up big, with Cindy getting on through a fielder's choice, then Pat driving in C-Rod with a double. Next it was D.Lo's turn to bat and she calmly stroked a single past the third baseman to score Kyle who was running for Pat. Our dugout was jubilant as we sensed a turning point had just occurred. Unfortunately, the rally was killed with an inning-ending double play. However, we had tied the score and we still liked our chances as we entered the last inning.
What happened next was a perfect storm of bleeps, bloops, walks, and errors that culminated in Sunday Hops scoring 6 runs in the top of the 7th to put us in a serious hole as we entered our last licks. We put up a valiant fight, with the heart of the order putting up 3 runs. But ultimately, it was not enough. The rally fell short, and just like that, our season is over. We were all a bit shocked that it ended at this stage. Final Score: Hounds 7, Sunday Hops 10.
We have to give a lot of credit to Sunday Hops. They made the most of their opportunities and were deserving winners. They were the better team tonight, but they are a team we should be able to beat when we are at our best. It makes it even tougher to swallow but this game can be very humbling sometimes. Many thanks to all of you for another successful Hounds season, even if we didn't take home the big prize this time around. They haven't heard the last of the Hounds yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment