The Field was Hot, ...but that was about it.

I want to start out by offering a quick apology. I hurled every pitch last night with the intention of throwing strikes (I hope you all know that I would never sandbag The Glove), but it just wasn't my night.

The rest of you put together a very nice comeback scoring 7 runs in a very lopsided game. Under different circumstances, that would have been more than enough to secure a win (especially against those no-bat-swinging motherfuckers), but you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have... a Run Ahead Rule game that went against us this time.

On the brighter side of life, there were a couple of things to be happy about. Scott stepped in and offered up some solid pitching after a disastrous start to the game. Dylan consistently hit his cutoff man on his throws from the outfield, including a bang-bang fielding play that prevented a double on a well hit ball to right field. Plus, everyone played their best on a very challenging, very hot and very sunny day at the ballpark.

Player of the Game: Sarah Symons-Glegorio (aka SG, as she is known to her entourage) played a very solid game last night. She helped save a run with a force out at homeplate, and she lined a rocket for a solid base hit that scored a run in the middle of that 7-run 4th inning. SG has put together a few solid weeks of play behind the plate and swinging the bat; she likes to fly under the radar, but she does not go unnoticed. Thanks for anchoring our infield, and an extra special thanks for catching my shitty pitches :)

I want to officially welcome Matthew to The Glove. After many weeks of trying to fill that 6th man spot on our roster, I think we found the right man for the job. If you haven't spoken to him yet, introduce yourself and make him feel like he's part of the family.

I also want to thank Julia for filling in on such short notice.

And lastly, I want to thank all of you for the support you give me on the mound; I hear every word from each one of you behind me, as well as every one of you in the stands.

Played Hard and Put Away Wet

I am still wet from the game last night. Physically wet. Emotionally wet. It was a challenge playing in the rain; throwing a wet ball, catching a wet ball, playing on a wet field.

The game never should have been played, but once we got started it wouldn't have been fair to one team or the other to suspend the game because the score was so close, we kept going back and forth. I could sense everyone's frustrations (I'm sure everyone could see my frustration!), but in vintage Glove style we fought through the adversity and pulled out the win against a pretty solid team.

There weren't a lot of highlights, not a lot of web gems. I think it's almost enough that everyone made it through the game last night without getting hurt, but I need to point out two really amazing things:

1. Every single Glover got on base.
2. Every single Glover scored.

As far as I am concerned, I think there can be only one top play, one player of the game: Dylan Magierek. It reads like a childhood dream, and here it goes...

Bottom of the last inning. We're down by 1 run. Bases are loaded. Two outs. The count is 2 balls and 2 strikes... BAM! Dylan drills a line drive up the middle to score two runs, Smell the Glove wins on a walk-off hit. In a game that was wet and sloppy, the last play was perfection.

Great game last night everyone. I know it wasn't easy. Thanks for not giving up, thanks for playing hard.

One Bad Inning...

I want to reiterate something I said last night; in every possible way, except for the one that matters in the standings, we won that game last night. We started out the game with a very long and ultimately costly 1st inning giving up 9 runs, but thanks to some serious lockdown defense, Hammertime didn't score another run the rest of the game. And thanks to some timely hitting and perseverance, we made a very respectable comeback and lost 9-6. Everyone should feel proud of the effort.

Plays of the game:

1. Double play! Ali to Dan for the 6-3 double play. Ali fielded some hard hit balls last night (Hammertime had a lot of belly strength behind their bats), and she played some great defense. Dan also scooped up a very hard hit ball down the first base line for a nice force out to end the 4th inning.
2. The entire outfield played solid; Mark, Kendra, Dylan, and Jonanna. I have to single out Mark only because he had the most balls hit to him last night, but all four of you are like a steel curtain out there. When I stand on the mound, I don't have a single doubt that you guys have my back.
3. Top Play of the Year so far... Runner on 1st base, Hammertime hit a line drive over shortstop, and the runner on first base tried to stretch his base running to 3rd base; Mark fielded the ball in rhythm and came up throwing on the run to 3rd base where Ali, of course, is already in perfect position to catch Mark's throw. In a bang-bang play amidst a cloud of dust, Hammertime got nailed.

BOOM!

Now, on to the awards...

Iron Woman Award: Ali Brown. Ali played a pretty amazing game last night, and she did it with a huge burn on her left (glove) hand, but you couldn't tell by the way she was fielding and swinging that bat. Respect.

Player of the Game: Abbey Rhode. Abbey is one of those consistent players who comes to play each and every week. Last night, she brought her glove, her bat, and a mental toughness that fueled our comeback from a big deficit and made the game respectable. Abbey went 3 for 3 at the plate, scored twice, played some great defense with some force out plays at 2nd base, and she brings Leticia to the game every week to help us keep score and cheer us on. In every way possible, great game, Abbey.

Special thanks to Jim for filling in at shortstop last night. A little bit of a miscommunication left us unexpectedly short handed last night, Jim stepped in at the last minute and played really well. Thanks, Jim.

THURSDAY

The Glove made the bunny hop from J to the H league.

Respect.

One other change to note (I hope it's not too big of a deal), but we will now be playing on Thursday evenings. The schedule just got posted online, and there will be a permanent link on our website.

Click here for the Online Schedule

Because of the day of the week change, please take a close look at our schedule and let me know if this poses any problems for you. As you all know we're playing with a pretty lean roster this year to maximize playing time for everyone. I'm really hoping this new schedule doesn't cause conflicts for any of you.

On a slightly different note, the game that was rained out last night will be rescheduled after the 2nd half of the season, but I don't have any more information than that right now; I don't know if it will be on a Thursday or other night of the week, and I don't know for certain if it will be played the week following our last game. As soon as I know anything about it, I will be sure to let you know.

From the glass half full perspective, we finished in 1st place for the first half of the league! I hope the weather and patchy game schedule didn't leave any of you feeling less than satisfied; we played some great softball, we have a lot to be proud of. I can't wait to unleash the fury of The Glove on the H league!

Sad Face :(

Run! Run Ahead! Run Ahead Rule!

We won another hard fought game last night, but for better or worse, it was called early due to the Run Ahead Rule... again, 14 - 4 this time. And we basically did it in less than 5 innings; we got 4 at-bats and scored 7 runs in one inning.

This keeps happening to us; we win big and the games end before time is up. I asked a few of you after the game if we are just 'that good' or if our opponents aren't 'that good.' The answer I heard from all of you put a smile on my face.

"We play good defense."

I feel like a proud father because I want that to be our focus. Defense wins games. Even though we have dominated 3 out of our 4 games this season offensively, it's nice to hear you all credit defense as our team strength.

Now, on to the awards!

Top plays:

1. & 2. Ali Brown gets two of these. She fielded two very hard hit balls right down the 3rd base line and forced the runners out at very critical times in the game almost single-handedly (glovely!) putting a halt to their comebacks.
3. Mark Zackowski. Filling in at shortstop for Scott is no easy task. Those are some big and sometimes smelly shoes to fill, but Mark played an amazing shortstop and made some solid plays, including a great catch on a hard hit low line drive.

Iron Man Award:

In the true spirit of The Glove, Scott Binney toughed it out last night and played without his support brace to show us how rugged he really is. He played a solid outfield, he hit twice and scored twice. It just goes to show when the going gets tough, the tough put on The Glove.

Player of the Game:

I debated listing Dan Neumann in the top plays category, but Thunder Dan deserves a highlight all his own. All season long, Dan has been a rock at 1st base, scooping up bad throws, showing good range on the field, getting timely hits and racking up the RBIs, but last night Dan made the most amazing diving catch at 1st base on a hard hit line drive going parallel to the ground then popping right back up like it was just business as usual. Just the way he doesn't miss a play on the field, Dan also hasn't missed a game or a practice. The Glove just wouldn't be The Glove without you. Great game last night, and great playing with you, Dan.

The Glove Knows the Score

I want to give props to Leticia for filling a critical spot in The Glove lineup. Scorekeeper.

Our team is playing with a lean roster this season, which means we don't always have extra people in the dugout to help keep score. As home team, sometimes it is our responsibility to keep the official book, but as we learned last year, sometimes it's prudent to keep a watchful eye on the other team to make sure they are keeping score carefully.

Let's all give a hearty Smell the Glove cheer to one of our most valuable team members, Leticia!