Winter Haven Senior Softball

Ye Olde, Softball, Christmas Carol.

 

I will borrow from the words of the literary master himself, Charles Dickens, in describing todays AL game between team Scrooge and team Cratchit. I have endeavored in this ghostly little write up to tell a tale and humor my readers. May the spirit of Christmas visit every house and softball field. May all the ball players wives, out there, show the spirit of Christmas. (Hint) You might consider gift wrapping a new bat and leaving it under the tree for your husband. Nothing say’s Merry Christmas, to a softball player, like the words Miken. I hope my tormenting rendition of Dickens’ tireless classic does not cause the gifted author to haunt me, like Jacob Marley haunted Scrooge.

 

Cast of Characters for the visiting, Scrooge team: Rivera, Witmer, Edwards, Smith, Ayers, Vandenberg, Constantine, JD, Fabian, Strait and Merritt.

Cast of Characters for the Home, Cratchit team: Gonzalez, Farinas, Laffoon, Matta, Pepin, Benson, Ray Roy, Coffman, Bocelli, McPartlan and Hawbaker.

 

The vintage Dickens’ novel starts with these words, “Marley was dead to begin with. There was no doubt about that.” In this softball tale, so was team Cratchit, dead, without a doubt. We died at the plate and in the field. There were not many big hits, on offense. On defense, drop balls haunted the team like the spirit of Christmas past.

Who was to blame for the Cratchit team’s wretched state? Ebenezer, JD Davis, thats who! It was JD, the tight fisted pitcher, who squeezed every out from the Home team’s lineup. For Ebenezer Davis, giving up a run was “Humbug”. The game was 7-0, after 3 innings of play.  For Team Cratchit, “we wore the chains we forged in the field, we made them link by link, yard by yard”, just like Jacob Marley had done. Our mistakes would make even Scrooge’s mentor, pleasant old Fezziwig, sick with grief.  We had reason to ponder Dicken’s words, “No space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused”. In other words, missed opportunities with the glove and the bat will kill a team. 

 

Team Scrooge were like misers; they grabbed all the runs for themselves and would not share any of the gold. Witmer, Edwards, Smith, Ayers, Constantine and Davis were responsible for putting 5 shillings into the safe, in the first inning. It would have been charitable for the Scrooge team to share some of their wealth in this game. However, you could almost hear them say the words of Ebenezer Scrooge himself, “If they would rather die, . . . they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” Although, being softball players, their quote would ring out something like this; “If they would rather lose the game, they had better do it and decrease the surplus innings.”

The spirit of Christmas past must have visited team Scrooge, because they let up in the 4^th inning, team Cratchit staged a small come back. Just like Tiny Tim, who eventually gained use of his legs, Tiny Nick Matta regained the use of his legs that had failed him for years. Nick ran for a triple in the inning. Pepin, Benson, Coffman Borelli and McPartlin all added hits, which led to a 4 run rally. After 4 innings the score was team Scrooge: 9- team Cratchit: 4.

Team Scrooge would not give up their lead even after the ghost of current innings came to visit them. Their wealth grew and they would not share, not even “a pence”. By the bottom of the 7^th inning, they lead 20-6. It was then that the ghost of future innings appeared and said, “it’s almost 11 AM and you will need to stop playing soon”. Team Scrooge had a change of heart. They watched as team Cratchit scored 3 runs, in the bottom of the 7^{th ,} then asked them if they wanted to bat in flip/flop mode. Tiny Nick Matta said; “God Bless us, everyone, that’s enough softball for today” and the game ended then and there. Final Score: Team Scrooge: 20- Team Cratchit: 9.

 

As we approach the holidays we would do well to keep a few of Dickens’ quotes close to our hearts.

“For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.”

“And it was always said of him,(Scrooge), that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!”

 

WP: Davis

Leading Hitters:

Rivera: 4/5.

Witmer: 4/5.

Edwards: 3/3 with a walk and a sac.

Smith: 3 / 5 with a double.

Ayers: 4/4 with a walk.

Constantine: 3/ 4 with a triple.

JD: 3/4.

Farinas: 3 / 4 with two doubles.

Matta: 3/ 4 with two triples.

Pepin: 4/4.

Benson: 3/4.

Coffman: 2/ 3.

Borelli: 3/ 4 with a double.

McPartlan: 3/4.

Written by: Nick Matta.