Kickball: Game 2

My team (The Freqs) now sits at the very bottom of our division in kickball.  Last Wednesday's loss came in a 'heartbreaker' play at the bottom of the 5th and final inning.  [Random note: our team is made up of about 8 dudes and 17 chicks - and so far, it seems like everyone is showing up.  One of my co-captains suggested that we actually have TOO MANY people at our games.  That's a new one.]

Tied 0-0, we were in the field with two outs, and they had runners on first and second.  A woman on the other team bunted towards third.  Our catcher - a big, Asian ex-Marine guy -  ran to retrieve the ball, and got it quickly.  He then ran towards third base.

If our catcher had held on to the ball or thrown it back to the pitcher, we would have had 2 outs with the bases loaded and a chance to pop up the final runner (or otherwise get the last out) and salvage a tie.  Instead, he inexplicably threw the ball over the heads of both their baserunner on third and our third basewoman.  Their baserunner got the walk-off run as a result.  Game over.  I was thinking as he threw, "Why didn't he just hold the ball?"  After the game, the catcher berated himself in classic Marine fashion: "I blew it, man!"  Oh well.  It's just kickball, right?   

As for me: because our game started at 6:30 (who the hell can make a 6:30 game?), I just made it in the 4th inning for my single at-bat.  I took a called strike and a ball, ran up acting like I was going to blast the ball...and bunted to third, which in kickball pretty much guarantees you will be safe at
first.  A teammate kicking after me did the same, and got lucky when their first baseman bobbled the relay.  So I was on second with two outs. 

At this point in kickball, you can't bunt to third because there is a force on all three bases.  You have to try to kick into the outfield and take your chances.  I knew I had to run unless she popped up, and it was two outs anyway.  So as soon as she made contact, I took off.  Unfortunately, she kicked towards third.

One thing their team (and mine) didn't anticipate is that I am damn fast.  Still.  Yeah, I can't run long-distance anymore because of my back, and yeah I'm a lot heavier than I used to be.  Bt I can still run in spurts, and I started life as a sprinter, so I've still got speed.  By the time their catcher got to the ground ball, I was more than halfway to third and he didn't have time to get it to the third baseman - so he had to throw directly at me.  He had to rush his throw, but since he was so close he had time to size up the situation first.  Instinctively, I started to slide.  The ball hit my lead knee just as I was bringing my foot down on the base, and I was called out.  My captains actually protested the call, but to no avail.  Both teams complimented me on my baserunning.  I said, "Thanks, but I still got called out."  And I told myself: 'Remember, it's only kickball.'  The worst part was how sore I was after such a short play.  God, I'm just not in the shape I used to be in.

At the happy hour after the game, we made up for our kickball follies by dominating the flip-cup table.  We defeated all the competition for about two hours...and for at least one of those hours, our 7-man flip-cup team was comprised entirely of women.  Hey, at least we're good at something. 

links: digg this    del.icio.us    technorati    reddit