MCSN: June 14, 2008

Two Much

Week 2 Recap

Wed, June 18, 2008

Fire and Ice's David Zuperku lets it rip against the Carter Administration

The Carter Administration suffered a crisis of confidence Saturday after being thoroughly dominated by Fire and Ice 20-4 in the 8 AM game on the main diamond. The Carter Administration had high hopes early in the game when assistant to the manager Bill Van Tuinen made a catch straight from the Sports Center highlight reel to rob Mat Smith of a base hit. Fire and Ice would not be cooled so easily though, and they beat back the opposing team with bats of fury.

Possibly literally beat back, as several members of The Carter Administration left the field wounded: Franz Lucas hurt his hamstring and Van Tuinen sprained his thumb (yep, his thumb). Manager Chris Carter is also rumored to join the injured list soon.

"The physical toll of the season is already piling up, despite our rigorous off-season training schedule," confided Van Tuinen, while nursing his thumb in the locker room. "Coach Carter would never admit it, but he's been playing with mildly chapped lips all year...it has forced him to cut short his pre-game speeches, and I think we've been a little flat because of that."

Manager Chris Carter was too busy applying chap-stick (Burt's Beeswax #4) to comment.

Fire and Ice rebounded from a 4-hit performance in their season opener last week to showcase both strong defense and offense Saturday, as they gave up only 6 hits and accumulated a staggering 22 of their own. David Zuperku went 4-for-4 at the plate and, along with Jacob Dodds, nabbed the team's first set of home runs.

Fire and Ice manager Mat Smith plans to blaze through The Emoticons this week in what should be an exciting matchup. "We're right in the thick of things, and our confidence is starting to 'heat' up," said Smith. "[But] we will have to elevate our play if we are going to beat the team with the ugly yellow shirts with over excited faces."

Meanwhile on the open diamond during the same time, the Emoticons had 11 reasons to get excited: they won over Calvary,11-7. After jumping off to a quick 5-0 lead in the 1st inning, the Emoticons continued to rely on crackerjack hitting to secure the win.

"We didn't have a single batter strike out the entire game," raved manager Anthony Halpin. As this article went to print, Halpin vowed none his players would suffer the "walk of shame" for the rest of the season.

The Calvary's manager, Rob Tong, isn't letting the first loss of the season get him down.

"Crossroads started off 1-2 last year and ended up winning the championship," Tong explained. "We're emulating their model. Oh, except we don't have Thate. Bah! Minor details."

Tong is questioning his players' loyalty though. "Even though we were short-handed and [the Emoticons] are an elite team, we staged a late rally," said Tong. "That tells me a lot about our team. Not 'Our team won't go quietly' but more like 'Some of our players are afraid to show up against an elite team.' And we're going to be down even more players this week this coming Saturday against the Eagles. If my math is sound, that means the Eagles are more elite than the Emoticons. Wait...I got a 'D' in math."

“[Fire and Ice] won't be very happy when they realize they are playing a real softball team (us), instead of [one] equivalent to a girls' junior high team.”

- Anthony Halpin in reference to the Carter Administration, which was routed by Fire & Ice

The Emoticons plan to keep Simone "The Slinger" Halpin on the mound against Fire and Ice this week, and expect her to continue to strike down batters from her perch of pitching perfection. Manager Anthony Halpin is basing the Emoticons' winning strategy on his wife's pitching and his opponents' pride.

"I'm hoping that [Fire and Ice is] a little overconfident after their thrashing of the Carter Administration," said Halpin. "They won't be very happy when they realize they are playing a real softball team, instead of [one] equivalent to a girls' junior high team."

[Reporter's Comment: OOOOOOOOHHHHH! Snap!]

Like the Emoticons, The Moody Blues also earned an early lead by scoring 5 runs in their 1st inning against the Eagles. Despite rallying several times and cranking out 9 runs in 2 innings, the Eagles fell to The Moody Blues, 18-10. Ellie Manabat (Is that last name coincidence or destiny? You decide.) got her first RBI of the season with Moody Blues' female talent loading the bases.

"I'd say the best moment of the game [was when] we had three ladies on the base pads, one at the plate, and none at the bench!" raved manger Ali Stolzenbach. "If we can get that kind of production out of the bottom of our lineup each week, we should be a strong opponent throughout the season."

Sean Proctor added to the chorus of Moody Blues' bats with his first grand slam and 4 RBI's, leading the team to a 2-0 record.

Along with The Moody Blues, the Barn Burners joined the league's shrinking circle of undefeated teams Saturday. Despite having to yield their diamond to a city league team in the 5th inning, the Barn Burners managed to edge out the Living Stones in a 9-8 nail-biter.

Gary Lockwood, pitching for the Living Stones, hurled fast and furious change-ups from the mound throughout the game. However, the Barn Burners' sturdy defense kept them from toppling. Nicki Heemstra wildly caught a fly ball in right-center field, shutting down Pastor Steve Mason before he rolled over first base early in the game. As tension mounted and time ran out in the bottom of the 7th, the Living Stones loaded the bases and fixed their hopes on the last hit, an infield pop-fly. All eyes followed its trajectory, until at the last second Kyle Radcliff snatched it from the air and ended the game amidst shouts of triumph and defeat.

This week, the Barn Burners meet the Carter Administration, and Bill Van Tuinen is showing nothing but respect.

"Sam Baturoni likes to play a lot of macho head-games on the mound so we'll need to come to the game ready for that," says Van Tuinen. "Sam has combined the intensity and power of Roger Clemens with the wit and charm of a young Tony Danza. I don't know whether to love him or hate him, but right now he's the boss."