Gracious in Defeat?

In today’s game we had a “booty call”, the home team took the field and had their booty handed to them by the hot hitting, visiting team.

This overwhelming loss made me research some other great defeats in history.

The Battle of Edessa occurred in 259 AD when Emperor Valerian with a 70,000 strong Roman army marched into Persia to end Persian advances into Roman territory. The outcome was an overwhelming Persian victory and the entire Roman army was decimated.

The naval Battle of Midway. Admiral Yamamoto of the Imperial Japanese Navy attempted to invade the American navy base at Midway Island. U.S. Navy intelligence broke his codes and anticipated the attack. The Imperial Japanese Navy lost four fleet carriers in three days partly due to the decision to refuel their aircraft simultaneously on the flight deck, making the fuel hoses and aircraft vulnerable to bombing.

 The Six-Day War, in response to Arab threats of invasion, Israel launched surprise air attacks which almost completely destroyed the Air Forces of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, then launched a series of ground, air, and naval attacks which saw the capture of the Sinai from Egypt, the West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria, and heavy Arab losses in personnel and material.

In football, the Michigan football team outscored opponents 550-0, during the 1901 Season. They had impressive wins of 128-0, 89-0 and no victory less than 21 points. Even more astonishing is that the team didn't let an opponent score a single point the entire season, making them the ultimate blowout team.

 In August of 2007, The Texas Rangers rounded the bases at a dizzying pace and became the first team in 110 years to score 30 runs in a game, setting an American League record in a 30-3 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles started out winning that game 3-0.

One of my favorite scriptures is Isaiah 51:3, The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

One team certainly had an Eden experience, while the other team’s bats were dry as a desert.

Eden team: Coffman, Laffoon, Butler, DeRidder, Edwards, Scarbrough, Lopez, Matta, Pepin, Farinaz, Dampier, Merritt and Lee Baker.

Desert Patrol: Herb O, Zelazny, Witmer, Finnegen, Giordano, Marino, Constantine, Regen, T. Smith, D. Hill, Wells and Bess.

The desert team had no highlights; their ESPN reel for this game was all lowlights. Trying to find a run in their scorecard is like trying to find a Gatorade outlet in the Sahara desert. The Desert Patrol managed only 2 runs in nine innings. They were shut out for seven innings, in a row. They had a total of 16 hits the entire game. Give credit to opposing pitcher, Nick Matta and the Eden defense for turning composite bats into sand.

During their time at bat, team Eden feasted like kings on the home teams pitching. When things are going your way, the softball looks like a lamb chop to a hungry wolf. The oasis team scored 20 runs in eight innings. Ron Butler scored all 4 times he batted; DeRidder, Lopez and Matta all scored 3 times in their at bats.

Final Score: Eden 20 – Desert Patrol 2.

In sports, we all know fortunes can change quickly. Football coach Lou Holtz said it this way, “You're never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you're never as bad as they say when you lose. Next game things may be different. For now, if you see a player from the Desert Patrol team give him a Gatorade and a solid bat that has a few hits left in it.

Leading Hitters:

• Herb O: 3 / 4 with a double.
• D. Hill: 2 /3.
• Butler: 4 / 4.
• DeRidder: 3 / 4 with a triple.
• Lopez: 4 / 4.
• Matta: 4 / 4.
• Pepin: 3/ 4.
• Dampier: 3 / 4.

 Submitted by Nick Matta