MCSN: July 17th

New Covenant

Week 6 Recap

Wed, July 18, 2007

Covenant's Lindsay Hansen delivers a pitch against the Mustard Seeds The Game of the Week had a lot of intriguing elements: two evenly matched teams, three different scorekeeping changes, confusion, a blowout, a nail-biter, and swirling wind conditions...all in one hour during the 9 AM game between Covenant and the YMYF Mustard Seeds.

The Seeds jumped out to an apparent 7-run first inning, capped by Ben Rowe's inside-the-park grand slam. However, the Seeds' Sarah Schabilion didn't touch home plate until after Rowe crossed the plate. The ump initially deemed it to be a play that must be appealed. Thus, the first inning ended with the Seeds up by a commanding 7-0 margin.

"We were feeling really good," said Seeds manager Joshua Hall.

Not so much for Covenant manager Chris Carter.

"After the 7-run Mustard Seeds 1st inning, I realized that the battle was with ourselves and our own determination and resolve to win, and not with the Mustard Seeds," reflected Carter. "When Mat Smith is bringing the heat from the mound, you better expect and respect it or he will sit you down like a misbehaving kindergartner in Shannon Carter’s class. With lightning quick outfielders like Miguel, you just hope as a batter that you can pull the trigger and have the ball land in a gap, and there aren’t too many of those as we found out. The game was much closer than the 12-11 final would indicate."

At the midpoint of the second inning, a non-involved assistant coach told that the ump that perhaps it was not an appealable play but instead an ump's call on the basis that Rowe passed up Schabilion at home plate, thus causing an automatic out and wiping out the last two runs. The ump agreed that it seemed to make sense and thus removed 2 runs from the Seeds' score. So instead of being up 7-1, the score was changed to 5-1.

The Seeds still led 7-6 heading into the top of the 6th (and final) inning. With two runners on and no outs, Carter lofted a routine pop fly that caught part of the swirling winds and unexpectedly sailed over Hall's head at the last minute for an improbable three-run home run to give Covenant a 9-7 lead.

"Last week, I mentioned my Achille's Heel was fielding ground balls," explained Hall. "Well, this week it appears as though the softball gods (just kidding) decided they were going to have a little fun at my expense and change things up a little. Instead of having a hard time with ground balls, I had a hard time with [a] fly ball. Honestly, I had that ball played perfectly and was settling in the for catch when the next thing you know, a gust of wind sends it over my head."

Covenant added two more baserunners when Ryan Oberly hit a two-out single to right-center that went under Seeds' RFer Ben Rowe's glove. Oberly took advantage to score another 3-run inside-the-park home run (really a single and 3-base error).

This put Covenant up 12-7, but incorrectly informed the Seeds that the score was 11-7. Moreover, the ump conferred with Paul Petschelt, a former umpire of 18 years, regarding the appeal play at home plate. Petschelt said the play was indeed only allowed as an appeal, matching the ump's original determination. Thus, in order to do the right thing, the ump informed both managers that the two runs would be added back to the Seeds' score. This made the score 12-9, instead of 12-7, in favor of Covenant, but Covenant had told the Seeds that Covenant had 11 runs, not 12.

Got that?

"[The two runs added back] worked out great as it meant we had fewer runs to score in the inning to tie/win," said Hall.

The Seeds loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning and Joshua Hall drives a double to score two runs, cutting Covenant's lead to 12-11. But recall both teams were under the impression Covenant only had 11 runs.

"League rules state the managers, not the ump, is responsible for keeping track of the runs scored," said Rob Tong, who valiantly tried to ump the bizarre game. "Don't look at me if people can't count. I can't count either."

"I thought we tied it [based on the score Covenant gave us], so my third base coach held me up at third [on the double] to play it safe for the win," explained Mat Smith, who represented the winning run.

"Next up is our LF who has been placing the ball really well all season," added Hall. "He hits the ball down the 1st base line and stumbles out of the box for the final out. Keep in mind, we thought the game had ended on a tie, but after the game, I was told that Covenant had miscalculated the runs they scored and they had one more than us for the win. Going into that last at bat, had we known we were down by three runs we would have definitely sent that runner at 3rd. Would they have scored had they gone home, we'll never know."

Carter had a different perspective.

"The real story of the game is about the unselfish and valiant play of Ryan Oberly, who battled through the pain of a dislocated shoulder (or worse) and a tough first inning to provide the game-winning homer in the final inning to give us the cushion we needed for victory," he said. "Furthermore, how can you overlook Bill Bertsche making a diving grab in the bottom of the 6th inning to rob a game-winning at-bat from Miguel Rodriguez. They will be talking about Bill’s golden glove effort for years to come."

Covenant is now 2-2-2 while the Mustard Seeds fell to 2-4.

The Saltier-In Focus Classic game would be honorable mention for Game of the Week honors. Saltier squeaked by with a 5-4 win.

The game was scoreless for the first 3 innings. Then Saltier put up 4 runs in the top of the fourth inning, but Classic wouldn't lay down as they put up a 4-spot of their own in their half of the inning.

It stayed tied until the 6th inning when Saltier shortstop Bill Van Tuinen hit a home run over the fence to give his team a 5-4 lead. Classic had the tying run at second base in the bottom of the seventh but was doubled off when Van Tuinen saved the game with a snag of a line drive and the toss to second for the double play.

"Nothing I could've done [differently]," Classic manager Anne Marie Misovich said. "Gary Lockwood was as stellar as always, striking out 7. Chris Salapatas quite capably filled in for Tim Tunney at 3rd. Roberta Hansen handled the ball well at 2nd. It was her first game back off the DL and her first time on the field in a non-catching position since last season. And Aleris Fraats also quite adequately covered for an injured Brad Hansen at 1st. All of our fielding was pretty tight. Our batting was good, but their fielding, too, was pretty airtight."

Van Tuinen agreed the game was every bit as close as the score indicated.

"I was definitely concerned about losing," he said. "We knew right from the beginning that we were going to be in for a battle. It just goes to show that on any given Saturday any team in this league is beatable. I don't think we got caught looking ahead, either."

It was a moral victory for Classic against one of the top teams in the league.

"I was missing 3 of my 6 players who are batting over .500," Misovich explained. "Despite that [and players playing out of position], we managed to only lose by ONE [run] to the team that was (prior to last week) undefeated. I'm really pleased with my team's performance and quite honestly wouldn't have done anything differently. I'm sorry we're not playing them again in the regular season when ALL of my regulars are in attendance so we can just beat them and get it over with."

The past two weeks have been the lowest scoring for Saltier all season.

"I can't really put my finger on our offensive woes this week," Van Tuinen pondered. "We hit a ton of foul balls that led to strikeouts and our base-running has been a little erratic the last couple of weeks. Steve 'Methusaleh' Mason continues to swing a hot bat, but us younger guys need to start helping him out. I wasn't really expecting more than a few pre-game prayers out of him this year, but he's really come through. But give In Focus a lot of credit...they made plays when the balls were hit to them and their pitcher is a maestro at painting the corners."

Saltier improved to 5-1 while Classic dropped to 2-3-1.

In the 10 AM game, Rock Salt handled Crossroads, who was playing without reigning league MVP Michael Thate (serving on a missions trip to Africa). So did Rock Salt expect an easier game without Thate to contend with?

"Truthfully, we did expect an easier win," Rock Salt manager Tim Kurtz said. "However, their good pitching and solid defense really quieted our bats. I personally think that Michael Thate's absence made them a better team. In fact, Rock Salt strongly encourages their manager Anthony Halpin to cut him from the roster for the rest of the year."

"You can't replace a player like Thate but we play as a team and are bigger than any individual player," Crossroads manager Anthony Halpin said. "We have not had our full lineup for a single game this year so when we all get together then we are going to be a real force."

Halpin subbed admirably for Thate at shortstop but the team lacked the offensive punch to threaten Rock Salt.

"I was happy with our performance against Rock Salt," Halpin said. "We had a couple opportunities to score more runs but we couldn't get a 'big' hit. Overall, our defense played pretty good and Rock Salt really only had one big inning. If it wasn't for that, then we would have had a better chance to win."

Rock Salt remained tied with Saltier for the league's top record at 5-1. Crossroads is now 2-4.

In the 8 AM game, the YMYF Defenders allowed the most runs of any team against the In Focus Cowboys but prevailed 15-4.

On offense, the Defenders would've added more if not for the rocket arm of Cowboys CF Tony Matoian.

"It's like having Thate in the outfield," Defenders manager Rob Tong said of Matoian. "Think Thate, but bald."

The Defenders' Steve Borgstrom launched a home run over the fence, joining Rock Salt's Eric Liu and Van Tuinen on the day. Nine different players have gone yard this season now.

The Defenders' Brian Pace hit his second inside-the-park home run to offset the psychological sting of Defenders pitcher Steve Adie watching a called strike three.

"Steve has both walked and struck out looking this year," Tong noticed. "Weird. It's like Paris Hilton doing a documentary on bio engineering...twice."

Tong was robbed of a hit when Cowboys shortstop Phil Nelson dove and snagged his line drive. Deja vu later when Nelson did it again on Borgstrom's line drive.

"MVP! MVP!" chanted Pat Nelson, Phil's wife.

“MVP! MVP!”

- Pat Nelson after her husband dove to snare two line drives

"Amazing," said Tong, shaking his head. "Last year, Tina Stalker robbed me of a hit on a line drive. This year, it's Phil Nelson. Maybe next year, it'll be Steve Mason."

The Defenders are now 4-1-1; the Cowboys are 0-6.

This week is Intra-Class Rivalry Week as In Focus Classic battles the In Focus Cowboys, Rock Salt takes on
Saltier, and the YMYF Defenders challenge the YMYF Mustard Seeds. Also, Crossroads and Covenant go
head-to-head, with both teams featuring a contingent of YMYFers. All games are expected to be all-out wars...or will they be lovefests?

"Rock Salt will 'out-love' Saltier," said Kurtz. "We strike out? Compliment the pitcher. Reed gets an out at first? Give him a hug. Bill hammers a home run? Pat his tush. By practicing borderline-inappropriate displays of affection, we hope to keep Saltier back on its heels."

Ew.

"I'm just hoping there are enough softballs at the field in order to keep the game going with all their sluggers," responded Van Tuinen of Rock Salt's trio of heavy hitters (Liu, Brian White and Ryan Varney). "Their lineup is really strong so we're hoping our defense is solid and our hitting comes back and then it should be a good game."

"The key to the game will be defense," agreed Kurtz. "If we can prevent the big hits, we'll have a good chance. If, in the rare case, Saltier batters are running lots of bases we ask them to be careful as 'accidents' can happen. Capisce?"

Van Tuinen hinted at incentive for attendance at the Salt game.

"One of the highlights of the game should be the unveiling of the 'Salt Shakers', which will be Salt's cheering section/cheerleaders," he said. "I'm not really sure who they'll be cheering for, but I can guarantee a lot of shakin', which means we'll all be winners."

If that wasn't offensive enough, how about Salt puns from Van Tuinen?

"Some questions I have for the game saturday include: Will all this Salt make for the game of the season(ing)?" he asked. "Will the winning team be accused of A-salt? Will all these Salt references lead to any Pun-ishment from the league office?"

[League office: Yes.]

Misovich was just as courteous in advance of the In Focus clash.

"I'm looking forward to a fun game against our fellow classmates," she said. "Although I'll miss Cowboy and his Cowgirl....it won't be the same without them!"

And Hall also declined to make any guarantees about the Battle of YMYF.

"I expect it's going to be a great game, both offensively and defensively for both teams," he said. "I'd be really surprised if either team scores more than 10 runs in the game, and if I were a betting man, I'd have to say that YMYF was going to win. :)"

"I've been looking forward to this game for a while," Tong said. "The Seeds are proficient hitters and solid defensively. They should be 3-3 with a win over Covenant if not for a gust of wind and one misplayed ground ball. It'll be a lot of fun."

Carter continued the theme.

"As we look to next week we are preparing for a battle with Crossroads," Carter said. "Coach Halpin has taken over for Thate at shortstop, and after last week's effort, we might be looking at a new MVP at shortstop. The guy has lightning quick reflexes. Dare we say 'En Fuego'. I can see why Adam Dunn is his hero. To top off the order, you have Kelly Conlin who on more than one occasion was willing to roll through 2nd base to break up a double play. Then you have Christine Jun who is willing to stop a line drive with her throat! With that kind of dedication from your female players, I just don’t know how you can coach against that. I will be sure to have my 2nd baseman in pads when Kelly comes rolling through!"

Funny how everyone talks trash until it's the week before you play them.