After an undefeated regular season, it was time for the Gotham City Hounds to do battle in the playoffs. The first round was a best-of-three series between the top-seeded Hounds and the bottom-seeded Thuggz & Juggz team, whom we had disposed of pretty easily last week. Conditions were ideal, with the temperature only in the mid 70s at game time. The commissioner was in attendance, no doubt to take a look at the best team in his league. He would not leave disappointed.
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| courtesy Gotham City Sports |
For Game 1, we were the home team and took the field behind Margaret, who was masterful on the hill today. T & J were forced to swing, and our defense continued to put in stellar work. JT got us on the board in the bottom of the 1st with a solo home run, and Alan had an RBI single in the frame as well. We tacked on 1 in the 2nd on a double by JT, and 2 in the 3rd on a 2-RBI single by Dave. We were now up 5-0 and T & J showed little sign of being able to score. They did not have a baserunner advance past 2nd base the entire game. Let's give ourselves a lot of credit for that, because they are actually a pretty good-hitting team. We just did a great job of being in the right position to make a play and we did not give them many extra outs.
After a yet another RBI hit from JT in the 4th, we put the game beyond reach in the 5th. We did a great job of hustling, and when some bloopers fell in for us, we took full advantage. Amy and Jay B. each had RBI hits in the inning. Margaret closed them out 1-2-3 in the last inning. Final Score: Hounds 9, T & J 0.
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| courtesy Gotham City Sports |
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| courtesy Gotham City Sports |
For Game 2, little changed except now we were the away team. We came up to bat first and got two quick runs through a 2-run home run from Iain. Margaret came back out to the mound and we continued to impose our will on the ballgame. T & J were finally able to scratch a couple of runs across, but after we had a big 5-run inning in the 2nd, with RBIs from Pat, Jay B, Mike, & JT(2), we knew there would be no Game 3. The inning was marred by an unfortunate injury to our Bopper, Pat. He had to come out of the game and along with Wink is listed as day-to-day with a sprained ankle. We added 3 in the 3rd on RBIs from Karim and Margaret, who aided her own cause with a 2-RBI single. Meanwhile, we flashed the leather all across the diamond, and there were signs that T & J were ready to submit. They began to discuss their plans for the bar and that was the final nail in the coffin. Another 5-run inning in the 4th made victory by mercy rule inevitable. A solo jack from Cap, a 3-RBI triple from Iain, and an RBI single from Dave did the damage. T & J were faced with the prospect of having to score 2 in the bottom of the 4th to avoid the mercy rule, but they were able to muster nothing and went out in 1-2-3 fashion. Final Score: Hounds 15, T & J 2.
We're off to a great start in this 2nd season. League sources have confirmed that next week will be a grueling 6-team double-elimination tournament for all the marbles. It will be a long day of softball but we come into the day with some critical advantages, namely home field for our first game, our depth as a team, and the fact that there are some teams out there that have never seen us. The way we are playing right now, we are a very difficult opponent to beat. It is imperative that we go out and win that first game. Actually, according to my calculations, if we win the first two games we automatically advance to the final with our opponent needing to beat us twice to win, while we would only need to win once. This is ours for the taking, Hounds...
