On a picturesque July evening, it was time for the Hounds to take the field at DeWitt. The opponents were perennial powerhouse Citywolves, a team we have never beaten. We came into the game knowing a win would get us in to the playoffs. Cap was out serving the final game of his 2 game suspension and Mike was once again at the helm.
As the away team, we came up to bat first and were unable to muster anything against the Wolves' pitcher. Margaret was our starting pitcher and she got touched up for 7 runs in the bottom of the 1st. Let's tip our caps to Citywolves, they have some tremendous hitters and were able to spray the ball all over the field with authority. They put on a hitting clinic, and there was little we could do to stop it. In the 2nd inning, we were held scoreless while Wolves put up another 2. We were held scoreless again in the 3rd and Iain came on to pitch the bottom of the frame. The Tailor would fare no better and the Wolves continued to rake. They took advantage of relatively minor Hounds mistakes to blow the game open. 6 runs in the 3rd and 5 runs in the 4th and the scoreline was now an embarrassing 20-0. We put up 3 consolation runs in the top of the 5th, but it was not enough to keep the game going. The first mercy-rule loss in Hounds history was complete. Final Score: Hounds 3, Citywolves 20.
I know it's tough to take a loss like this. I know I saw a lot of shell-shocked faces after this one. But the bottom line is this... we are still alive! A win in our next game gets us in to the playoffs. After that, all records and what happened in the regular season counts for absolutely zero. Anything can happen. OK, we were not the better team tonight but I'm telling you guys, no way CityWolves are 17 runs better than us. We just have to pick ourselves up here, believe in each other, and we can turn this thing around.
