Analysis of the Legion of Doom, (2nd game)

I'll be honest, I don't remember a whole lot of details regarding this game. I was having too much of a good time being goofy, obnoxious, and injury-prone. Still, I did notice a few things, and one of them was that we were as efficient a team as we are ever going to get.

1) I agree in that the Legion of Doom are a good team to face who have the character and ability to keep every game within reach for both sides. One could tell they were having a good time and didn't take things so seriously. Every cheer they gave a teammate for a hit or defensive play sounded like it was a kind way of saying good for you.

2) They still have some solid hitters on that team, though I'm not sure what happened to the 2-3 guys who absolutely launched softballs in our first game against them. Whew. Our mixture of 4 across, 3 & short kept them puzzled all game!

3) The shorter woman who played third base yesterday (who also used to pitch until I psychologically quashed that interest) has a great glove with good reaction skills (usually).

4) Outfield defense was hit or miss on their end. I imagine that if we come out blazing with our bats against them again we should have continued success.

5) Many of their hits were ground balls, so despite our interest in doubling up or making a quick play of it, the main thing one needs to concentrate on is acquisition of that softball. The good thing is that we kept it in front of us all game, so well done.

6) Did you know that if you go on a pub crawl for 4 hours before a softball game, you will gain a perception of superhuman speed and an invulnerability complex? Dude, it's true.

Two general notes for the Fish:

It is sometimes tough to gauge how fast a runner is when he/she is running towards a base in real-time. However, one can usually get an idea of whether someone is going to be very fast, moderate, or slow when they are in the batter's box. Therefore, if one keeps in mind that a batter may not be the quickest on a hit, consider taking an extra second or two to make sure one has a good grip on the softball before throwing. If you don't need to throw it right away, give yourself a moment to make sure your leading foot is aimed correctly towards your throwing point and that your arm momentum will get the ball to the right place.

Also, consider using two hands. We all want that quick scoop or 'get it over with' catch that will allow us to proceed to getting an out. Unfortunately, there's been a few miscues where someone could have made a catch or scoop if they had used their other hand to make sure the ball gets in the glove. This applies to everyone on the field, not just the infield but the outfield as well. Just don't put that second hand IN the glove. (grin)

These are mainly notes for all the games that we have played than just that last one. An accurate throw with an ounce of patience will get that extra out that we will need to be sure we can end an inning quicker. An accurate catch will prevent the other team from thinking they can get away with cheap ones and start a rally. The more routine we make some of these plays the better we'll feel about ourselves and our team's abilities!

C A T F I S H 24, LegionOfDoom 16!!!

Well, well, welllll, Catfish! Nice game last night!

I'm not even sure where to begin. Let me just say first of all that the Legion of Doom is a really great team--friendly and funny, with a sense of humor about things and consisting of more than just a lineup of

b e e e f c a a a k e.

We lost to them in our opening game by just 2 runs, so we knew who we were up against. We went into this feeling well matched--not just win/lose-wise, but in sportspersonlike temperament.

Nevertheless, charming as they may be, they remain the Legion of Doom, and it was incumbent upon us Fish to make the fields safe for, well, non-Doom. And we accomplished that last night.

Our offense was impeccable. We were without JC, who typically provides some punch to our at-bats. But I believe everyone got on base. And if anyone didn't, they waz robbed. For all of our great hits, we were also robbed of a couple stellar smashes. David W in particular I recall being robbed of a line drive by their 3rd baseman. But Butters was a doubles machine; Ryan maintained, and Helke (who scared their pitcher out of his wits, he said so himself) and Jose renewed, their membership in the Homerun Club. Charles had a triple; Kate C, Rich, and Marc also had doubles; Erin got a double on an overthrow, and also another single; Evan forced a double with a smooth slide--actually, a crawl--to 2nd base (in fact his second crawl of the day, having pub-crawled all afternoon with some teacher buddies). Alexa, Greg, Will all had singles. And did I mention I myself got on base, twice? Incroyable!

And our defense--Fish!!! I'm almost speechless. We had not one double play, but two, thanks to Butters's and Ryan's quick thinking at first and shortstop. Catch behind the plate by Erin; great catches in outfield by Evan and Jose; catches by Kate on the mound. Fantastic pitching by Kate; we held them scoreless 4 out of 7 innings! They came back for a bit of a rally in the top of the 7th but they just couldn't quite make it over the Impenetrable Wall of Fish.

Let me close by saying again that this is a truly fun team to play, as well, which makes it all what it should be--happy softball fun.

Regarding our next game: next week is supposed to be a bye week, but it might turn out otherwise. Marc and I have decided that we will in fact reschedule the game with the Shadow Masks. This fits with league policy and we do have enough willing players. It will take place some upcoming Wednesday; we'll keep you posted.

Analysis of the 2010 Akamites

Well this should be a slightly different analysis than usual, for the Akamites showed us something yesterday that we don't often see in the KFC league. Of the nine required players to field a team, they only managed to ~eventually~ cobble 7 of them. By 5:30, the team had a mere 3 players standing around taking batting practice with us. I think that this was the most important fact regarding this season's Akamites. They don't have any heart or enthusiasm for the game.

That said, they did have a few things worth mentioning:

1) The Akamites win with their bats, plain and simple. Like the Shadowmasks and some of the LOD, these guys (and I mean only guys) are able to knock softballs with steady pop all throughout their order. Granted, there were only a few that really hit it lengthily, so expect most softballs to zip through the infield or drop in the short field.

2) Their defense isn't anything to get excited about. Fumbling softballs in the infield, easy pop flies dropped, some fly balls misjudged ... sounds like a Catfish team in our first game of a season! Still, they didn't seem to have it all together defensively. If we just hit well it should work out.

3) There were a few aggressive base runners, so we still need to be smart about what we can actually do to get outs. Keeping a force play on these guys is important. Outfielders should throw to second and infielders should be aware of the force play to avoid errant throws. Note: Last year, with a full team, these guys were nearly all obnoxiously aggressive on the bases.

4) I still like 4 across as a strategy, but this team didn't really utilize the gaps much. Therefore, a short fielder would be most helpful to keep grounders and short drops as singles.

5) Best player on that team is the guy who gave Rich a high five after an opposite field zinger down the line. Anyone who congratulates the other team openly about a great hit deserves recognition, for usually all one sees from these guys is stoic bulldozing.

These guys are beatable as long as we don't beat ourselves. Since they only got 2-3 runs per inning, our offense could have matched that on a good day. If softballs got to the right place more often, we could have made it a closer game or even won that last one. There's a good chance we show them the door next time.

Catfish 12, Akamites 17

Fish,

 

It was a hard-fought battle last night. And really, with scores like these, losing by 5 runs isn't so bad. Right?

 

Our defense was truly something to behold--from Katie H's grabs at 3rd, to Marc's falling on 2nd base to make the out, to Butters's amazing snags at shortstop, to David's fine catch in the outfield. They were scared, Fish, I could see it in their beady little Akamite eyes!!! And our bats were also nothing to sneeze at--Butters got a double, as did Rookie Rich; Greg, Charles, David, JC, Alexa got singles; and JC had a fine homerun during our 7th inning rally. There was also some aggressive baserunning, especially by Butters and Alexa. It was all there, Fish! It just wasn't quite enough to bring us home stomping all over them in victory.  

 

And let it be noted that we fought this good fight even though the Katie-Greg contingent was having a tough time, both of them getting bapped by the ball, Katie on her shin and Greg in his pretty face! Thankfully no serious injuries; but this shall not stand, Fish! We must avenge them!

 

I have big hopes for our next game, next week vs. the Shadow Masks. We need to keep the fires in the bellies burning until then.  And also keep them burning til the next time we meet the Akamites, which is July 13.