For our second game of the season, it was over to Roosevelt Island's Pony Field. We wanted to keep our momentum going from opening day, and we also knew that the tougher games on our schedule lay on the horizon. Our team showed up to the field nice and early, which is always good. We were able to take some B.P. and by the time the ump said "play ball", we were fired up and ready to kick some tail. A big shout-out to Camille and Cindy for coming out this game and helping us make up our numbers. Without them, we would have been short two ladies and we would have been at a significant disadvantage.
Once again our starting pitcher was Juiena, and she was again masterful throughout. She walked no one and her high-arc stuff was very effective. She was able to keep our opponents' leadoff hitter at bay, and that set the tone for the rest of the evening. The defense behind her was generally solid even if we did have a couple of miscues. On offense, the production was spread around evenly, but the standouts were Dave and Wink. The Big Fella went 4 for 4 with 4 RBIs and 3 runs scored, and the Winkster also went 4 for 4 with 4 RBIs and a run scored. Actually neither team had a home run in this game, which is pretty unusual.
The game was pretty tight for the first couple of innings. With the score tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the 3rd, we batted around and exploded for 10 runs. The highlight of that inning had to be Camille's well-hit triple that drove in two. After that, we would never look back. Juiena continued her streak of striking out at least one batter a game, and after a meaningless run scored in the 7th, the final out of the game was fittingly a comebacker to the pitcher. Final Score: Hounds 18, Hogs 6.
We should feel really good about our strong start. However, let's not get cocky. I know for a fact that we have tougher opponents ahead of us. Also, while we have generally been very strong, I still see areas where we can improve. Namely, our defense needs to get tighter(I'm saying this for myself as much as anybody) and we also have to make sure we don't get out-hustled by any other teams. That and line-drive hitting will be the path to another title. Let's get back at it again this Sunday(fingers crossed).
