WIth the summer firmly in the rear-view mirror, an autumn chill blanketed the city on this Opening Night of the Yorkville Fall Season. Sheets of drizzly rain were intermittently falling throughout the day. The turf fields of DeWitt Clinton were the location, so we knew that the game would not be called unless the rain became torrential. It never did, so we showed up to the field ready to start the new season. As fate would have it, our opponents were the folks from Amalgamated Bank, who we swept in the summer on our way to the title. We knew they would be eager to beat us, and sure enough, they have re-tooled from last season and have brought in some new blood. After the pleasantries were exchanged between the two managers, it was time to play ball.
As the away team, we came up to bat first, and were able to scratch out a run, Mike driving in JT with an RBI double. That was all we would get though, and Amalgamated put a 4-spot up in the bottom of the frame. It did not help that we gave them some extra outs to play with, yours truly being at the forefront of that. However, we battled back with 4 runs of our own in the top of the 2nd. The bottom of the order came up big, with Karim, Amy, and Margaret all getting RBIs. Mano also had an sac fly in the inning. Now we were up 5-4, but we were never able to take control of the game. Pat and JT each had solo home runs in the middle innings, but that was all the scoring we would get. Our bats struggled to put together rallies, and let's give credit to Amalgamated for making most of the plays they needed to make. Meanwhile, they did big damage to us with a couple of 3-run home runs, both of which were legit shots that you can only tip your cap to. We also made some nice defensive plays to keep us close– Mike with a nice assist to first base, and Amy with a heads-up catch behind home plate. Amalgamated had an 8-7 lead heading into the bottom of the 6th, and they were able to pad their lead with two big insurance runs. In our last licks, we were only able to muster a single before we were closed out to end the game. Final Score: Hounds 7, Amalgamated 10.
It's been a long time since any Hounds team has been 0-1. In fact, it's never happened. But, there is a first time for everything, and there is no reason to get hung up on trivial matters. It won't matter that we started 0-1 if we go on to win the championship. But, we are going to have to improve our play if we are to be contenders. Right now, I see our biggest deficiency as being on the offensive side. We are in a bit of a hitting slump as a team. Maybe it's time to hit up the cages.
