The 2nd season has arrived and the Zog single-elimination tournament is always a gut-wrenching affair. The Hounds had finished the season in first place and we earned a bye straight into the semi-final round. Awaiting us in the opposing dugout were the Maroons, upset winners in the wild card round, but a team we have had little difficulty with in the past. The turnout was fantastic and we had nearly our entire squad present. The location was DeWitt Clinton Field, a place where we have always played well. The weather was near perfect even if the night air was a bit thick. After the two captains exchanged pre-game pleasantries, it was time to play ball.
Juiena got the ball as starting pitcher and she closed down the Maroons 1-2-3 in the top of the first. Now it was our turn to bat and we were feeling very confident. Maroons gifted a four-pitch walk to MikePa to start the inning, which allowed Cindy to also walk. Iain then followed up with a 2-RBI triple. The Cap got lucky on a fly to right and turned it into a 3-run homer. We were up 6-0 and we were off to the races. In the 3rd we would add 5 more runs to really put Maroons in a deep hole. The heart of the order came up very big in the game with Iain(2-4, HR, 3 RBI), Dave(2-4, RBI, 2 RS), Mega(3-4, HR, 2 RBI, 3 RS), Juiena(3-3, BB, 4 RS), George(3-4, HR, 5 RBI, 3 RS), Wink(2-4, HR, 6 RBI, 2 RS) and Push(2-3, RBI) all either scoring or driving in at least one run. Meanwhile, Juiena was cruising and Maroons were having much difficulty stringing together hits. In the later innings, we switched things up somewhat defensively and unfortunately, there were some miscues. That allowed Maroons to tack on some runs but the result was never really in question. Juiena closed them out in the 7th to make it yet another Hounds blowout victory. Final Score: Hounds 18, Maroons 5.
I like the aggressiveness we showed today. We are playing excellent ball but we still have one more hurdle to climb. We must stay hungry and focused heading into this last game. It won't be easy but I know we can do it.
