Final Game Victory

I was reminded a few days ago that we had played Hobgood Green earlier in the season, so I looked it up. It was the long 7 inning 3 – 3 tie played on an April Thursday evening. We didn’t hit well that night, but David’s 3 innings and John Fulton’s 4 innings kept us in the game. It was David’s turn to pitch again, so I thought we’d stick with the same recipe. We won 8 – 5 even though everyone didn’t play their best game…though many did.

David had another strong first inning on the mound, catching a pop and striking out the next two. Offensively we started strong. Corey walked on four pitches and stole second, then Will lined one past the centerfielder on the fly for an RBI triple. Clay then had his own RBI triple, and Andrew singled him home. On a full count Jake was hit. Nick fouled several pitches off to hang tough and work the count full, before striking out. David dinked a hit down the right-field line for an RBI double.

In the second Hobgood scored three runs, but David mixed in three more strikeouts. Jake almost made a spectacular catch in center on a ball hit far over his head. He didn’t get a good jump, but raced back and got a bead on the fly, even though he was looking back directly into the late afternoon sun. At full speed the ball glanced off his glove, and Jake fell hard to the ground, reopening elbow and knee wounds. Will said from his shortstop position he heard Jake emit a loud shout as he hit the ground. His fall reminded me of Nick’s plop in left-center a few games ago. Rightfielder Russell ran a long way over to back up the play. Jake was banged up, but stayed in the game. It was a great effort by both Jake and Russell.

The only second inning highlight was Josiah. After getting hit by a pitch, he had second base stolen. His foot hit the bag as the fielder held his glove on top of the base, but the umpire called him out. I didn’t have a good view, but I saw third-base coach David Poisal striding purposely toward the umpire between innings, and thought I was going to have to restrain him (not really!). That call didn’t go our way, but later in the game several others did.

David had to face only four batters in the third, striking out one. Russell made a nice play at second, ranging far to his left to field a grounder. He threw to Clay for the out at first. Then when a pitch got away from the catcher Corey, he flipped to David covering the plate to nail the runner trying to score from third. Ready to put in another pitcher, I asked David as he ran off the field if he wanted to pitch another inning. He smiled and nodded, saying, “Yeah, I’ve got my changeup working!”

John Fulton had a one-out walk in the third, and raced to second on a wild pitch. Will doubled him home, then Clay singled home Will. Andrew singled, and then Jake singled, knocking in Clay. The Warriors now led 7 – 3.

We continued our fine defensively play in the fourth. Third-baseman Clay ranged almost to the fence to catch a foul pop for the first out. David then struck out his seventh batter of the game for out number two. The next batter hit a long drive to the fence in right-center. I expected centerfielder Curtis to run down the ball, but rightfielder Josiah outran him to the fence. Josiah made a great throw to cutoff man Will in short center. Will turned and fired to Clay at third. Coach White and I were standing in the dugout door, and we had a great angle to see Will’s throw sail past the batter as he ran to third. The throw beat the runner to third by several steps, and Clay applied the tag for an easy inning-ending out.

Against a tough new pitcher, David led off the fourth with a walk. He stole second and took third on a passed ball. He couldn’t score when Russell beat out an infield hit. Michael walked on a full count to load the bases, but we couldn’t drive them home…though Christian came close.

With John Fulton now pitching, the first two batters in the fifth hit hard grounders to Will’s left at shortstop. Will was able to reach the first one on the run, and made a nice cross-body throw to Josiah at first. Will had to dive for the second grounder. For years I’d been pointing out MLB shortstops making the same play, diving then basically performing an immediate pushup to quickly get back on their feet for the throw. WiIl had never done this before in a game, but he executed the play perfectly for two quick outs. John Fulton ended the inning with a strikeout.

We got a two-out insurance run in the fifth. The Hobgood first baseman made a nice catch of John Fulton’s foul pop, robbing him of an at bat. Corey was hit by a pitch, and it took a perfect throw by the catcher to nail Corey stealing second. But Will singled and stole second, and scored on another RBI single by Clay. Andrew followed with his third hit of the game.

As the darkness grew, we started another inning. The defense continued to make plays. Clay fielded a grounder at third and threw to Nick at first for out number one. Russell caught a high pop for the second out. Then Russell again ranged far to his left and left his feet to secure a ground ball. He hopped up and fired to Nick just in time to nail the runner, ending the game. A fine win for the Warriors.