Because we're not playing this Friday, Oct. 31st, I am going to do the Halloween edition for today’s game, 10/28.
Remember NO GAMES THIS FRIDAY due to a tournament at the DiamondPlex.
As I was going up the stair, I met a man who wasn't there. He wasn't there again today...Oh, how I wish he'd go away. (The Invisible Man).
Halloween, or All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve, is a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries, on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. Typical festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, decorating, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting attractions, playing pranks and telling scary stories. In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows' Eve, include attending church services, having Fall Festivals with games, food and hay rides. In my house, Halloween is what we make it, a fun time for the kids to dress up in amusing, but not scary, costumes. For me personally, it was the day I gave my life to the Lord Jesus, in 1974.
Our Halloween teams today included some scary players.
The Hitting team, Zombies, had these spooky characters: F. Gonzalez, Benson, Duff, Alumbaugh, Giordano, Butler, Scarbrough, Pinnick, Hill, Lopiccilo and Merrick.
The Sitting team wore the Super Hero’s costumes: Jose’ “the Flash” Rivera, Jim “Batman” Laffoon, Joe “Captain America” D’Herin, Tommy “ Iron Man” Hamilton, Les “The Hulk” Jacobson, Freddy “ “Spiderman” Dampier, Kirk “Robin” Coffman, Dave “ Bible Man” Hartley, Nick “Superman” Matta, “ Wolverine” Vandenberg and Josh “Frozone” Wells.
The Hitting teams players were the Villains, or movie bad guys. Actually, all these guys are good guys and great ball players, but someone has to play the “foil”, or bad guy, for the sake of this write up. This team had their share of monsters, or should I say money stars. To prove it, they hit the ball on the money, like stars. This team had the following players: Ron “the Predator” Pepin, Don “ the Terminator” Keller, Brian “ King Kong” Busch, Juan “ the Scorpion King” Toro, Terry “Darth Vader” Smith, Don “Assassin’s Creed” Witmer, Chris “ Jaws, the Shark” Constantine, JD “ the Big Bad Wolf” Davis, Sam “ the Joker” Lopez, Poke “the Raptor” and “Shere Khan” Fabian.
The Hitting team, or Zombies, were given their name for a reason. They played today’s game like it was the “Night of the Living Dead”. For sure, this team was loaded with some great ball players, but their hitting was grim today. In an almost eerie fashion, this teams bats were as silent as the grave. The Zombies were shut out, 5 of the 7 innings in which they batted. Instead of marking RBI’s in the scorebook, they wrote RIP. The Zombies waited until the clock struck twelve to have their biggest inning, in the 7th , they scored 3 runs. Giordano, Butler, Scarbrough and Pinnick broke the chilling silence, as they scratched out a few runs. It was not enough to keep them from being buried at the bottom of the three team game.
Since the Zombies’ Jack O’ Lantern had burned out early, the real game was between the Super Heroes vs the Villains. The Fielding team, Villains, were a tough bunch, their bats were menacing, their lineup scary. The Predator, Terminator, King Kong, Darth Vader, the Assassin, Jaws and the Big Bad Wolf went on a rampage on the field, in the 2nd and 3rd innings. This team was a terror, everyone from little Red Riding Hood, to Roy Scheider, was afraid of the damage this team could do. They sunk their teeth into the lead, after scoring 8 runs in the first three innings.
After 3 innings of play the score was Zombies: 0- Super Heroes: 2- Villains: 8.
If you were rooting for the Super Heroes to counter the evil forces of the Villains, the 4th inning was your inning to cheer. Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, Spiderman, Robin and Superman were all true action heroes, scoring, or knocking in 4 runs, to fight their way back into the game.
After 4 innings the score was Zombies: 2- Super Heroes: 6 – Villains: 8.
In the 5th inning, the Super Heroes had their backs up against the wall. With two outs the chances of scoring looked gloomy for the marvel team. Just when you thought the inning would be over, “Flash” , Rivera used his speed and forced an error. Jose’ reached first base on a bad fielding play, caused by his speed on the base paths. Then the “caped crusader”, Laffoon, singled and so did “Captain America”, D’Herin, to load the bases. That was all “Iron Man”, Hamilton, needed to see. Tommy put the heavy metal to the ball and singled in two runs. ‘Hulk” Jacobson ended the scoring that inning, by “Hulk smashing” a double, to score Hamilton. Just like in a Halloween apple bobbing game, four runs bobbed across the plate. All this occurred after two early outs had menacingly threatened to end the party, before it started that inning.
Not to be out done, the hitting monsters had a howling good time of their own, in the 5th inning. Pepin, tripled to get the party going, Keller, then terminated the ball with his 12 gage, auto loader, Miken bat, as he smashed a double. Busch, Toro, Smith, Witmer and Constantine all feasted on singles. That is what I call a Monster Mash, seven hits, with no outs, in the inning. The Big Bad Wolf came up to bat, he just needed a sac fly to end the inning, by scoring the 5th run. So, JD huffed and puffed his way into hitting a deep fly, to right field, which scored the 5th run of the inning.
After five innings of play the score was Zombies: 2- Super Heroes: 10- Villains: 13.
In Halloween terms, a dark mist started to cover the moon. The Villains owned the night, or in this case, the day. It looked like the Villains would rule the game. Not so fast, let me interrupt this Halloween, terror vision, nightmare, with a shot of super power, from the Super Heroes team!
The Super Heroes had already scored 4 runs, in the 4th and 5th innings and they were not done, in fact, they were just getting warmed up. Coffman, Hartley, Matta, Vanderberg all singled to open the 6th inning. There was no kryptonite to stop them. After Josh Wells hit a sac fly for the first out, in the inning, Laffoon, D’Herin and Hamilton used their super hitting powers, to drive in five runs.
After 6 innings, the score was Zombies: 2- Super Heroes 15- Villains 13.
Would the two run lead hold up for the Heroes, or would the Villains stage a last at bat rally and put a grisly end to the Heroes game? The Zombies, (Hitting team), were first up in the top of the 7th. We already chronicled their mini rally, where they added 3 runs to their score, that’s all the candy they would get. The hero gang came up for their last whack at the softball piñata. With runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs, Matta looked over the field from the batter’s box, he liked what he saw. There was a hole between 1st and 2nd base that you could drive the “Grave Digger”, monster truck through. He took the first pitch and drove it through the hole, to score the team’s final run and give his team a little insurance. They now lead by 3 runs.
The Villains could now become the softball heroes, if they could mount a rally in the bottom of the 7th. They gave it a good shot; Pepin singled, he then took 2ndafter a fly out. With one out, Busch singled in Pep; they were now down two runs.
Busch then took 2nd base, after another fly out. With two outs, Darth Vader, Terry Smith, stood at the plate. His team needed to score twice, to tie the game. Terry used the power of the force, to hit a double, to right field, to drive in Busch. The Money Stars were alive and well. They were now down one run, with two outs, on the board and one foot in the grave. However, there were no treats to be had, only a trick. Freddy Dampier, cut a hole in the Villains trick or treat bag and all the candy fell out. Freddy recorded the 3rd out, when he caught a fly in right field to preserve the win.
Final Score: Zombies: 5- Super Heroes: 16- Villains: 15.
WP: Matta
Leading Hitters:
Giordano: 3/3.
Scarbrough: 1 / 2 and a walk.
D’Herin: 3 / 4.
Jacobson: 3 / 4 with two doubles.
Dampier: 3/ 4.
Matta: 3/ 4 with the game winning hit.
Pepin: 4/ 4 with a triple.
Busch: 4/4 with a triple.
Smith: 3 / 4 with a double.
Witmer: 3/ 4 with a triple.
JD: 1/ 2 and a sac fly.
submitted by Nick Matta
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