Dear Fish and Friends,
We were valiant in our efforts last night but it wasn’t quite enough to avenge ourselves against Roman Brushett.
But our efforts were numerous and courageous, as always. Leepin Leevs stepped up when we needed him to try his fishy paw at 3rd base, and he handled that challenge with grace and fishy fierceness; NaSlamWell Tickets Trippe had a bat of fire, with at least a triple and a big tater in the top of the 6th (he opened a ticket and promptly closed it); No Prob Rob made his glorious pitching debut, and bedazzled on the mound, while never shirking his duties at the plate; Butters “Big Bats” Elwell was batting as per usual, with doubles galore and a tremendous tater in the 6th, and also snagged line drives like a frog catching flies at shortstop; Evan “The Beast/Go Daddy Go” Mauser made his triumphant return to left field, where we’ve missed him something terrible, and also batted like a man who has been softball-starved for over a year, racking up singles, doubles, triples (which really should’ve been a tater); “Yes Way” José had a double and prowled the outfield like a lion; Kate Scaldwell Elwell pitched perfectly, bamboozling them on the mound, and wielded a bat of fire, with at least 2 singles; Dan Bouchard batted with burly brawn with at least a double and a single; Purple Haze Hasley batted like a beast and hustled behind the plate, as always; Big Rich Wladkowski, who would like to be known as the Babe Ruth of Pop Flies, but I said no, so you had some pop flies, you were just having an off-night Rich!—well, he batted with his usual calm power, and guarded 3rd base and the outfield like a tiger; Liz “The Lizzinator” got all up in their lizness, but kept her cool even when their pitcher was getting all up in her face with the high heat.
Now Fish Nation, you know I do not usually write of myself in these write-ups, because I feel my presence is in your faces all the time. But I do have to mention an incident that involved yours truly. The RB Captain, a very nice and well-meaning fellow who is perhaps a bit overly chatty and wont to give unsolicited advice, well we had a bit of a tangle when I was at the plate. He was the catcher that inning and he asked if perhaps I might like to take a few steps closer to the plate. I declined, having seen the very high and inside heat their pitcher had been throwing. At any rate I will admit this ruffled my fish feathers. And then when I hit the ball and was running to first, I looked to my right and—there he was, their Captain, running along beside me. He claimed it was so he could prevent any overthrow at first. All I can say is: I have never seen anything like this in my LIFE. You can consider my fish feathers even further ruffled. At any rate, you’ll never believe what happened next in the bottom of the 3rd inning, when I was playing 2nd. We had two outs, and RB Captain steps up to the plate. Here I’ll let co-cappy Purple Haze take over to describe the events: “Our own Captain Batty made a near impossible snag at 2nd base with a throw to first to get the back-seat-driving, overzealous, friendly yet fierce Captain of the opposing team OUT!!!”
That’s right Fish Nation, it was a thing of glory, I felt the angels sing. It felt as if a magical flying unicorn had caught that ball on the bounce and then dropped it in my glove with a satisfying plop. I then channeled none other than Dustin Pedroia as I calmly made the throw to first—not freaking out and throwing the ball behind me, or way up into the sky, or into the bushes, or what have you. When I think of it now, I still feel a warm glow inside.
And speaking of magical flying unicorns, we were blessed with so many adorable Fish Youth, the Fish of Tomorrow, cheering us on: Maggie the Magical Sprite, Rock Star Robley the Rookie, Amazing Edith the Beauty, and (Introducing!!) Isaac the Intrepid. You’ll see their shining faces in the accompanying photos. They lifted our spirits and kept us fighting throughout.
Please join us next week for final two games of the season, a mixed double-header: first we face Shadow Masks on the Women’s Softball Diamond, and then we finish off the season with the Whybunts on field 5A.
Yours in softball,
Judy
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