Winter Haven Senior Softball

Welcome To The Jungle

We had a King Of The Jungle game at WHSS, in the AL, on 5/25. It was like a lion battling a tiger, or a hippo battling a croc. The  competition was fierce, but in our case, also friendly.

The Beasts: Gutenberger, Coffman, Quinones, Hern, Witmer, Scarbrough, Skidmore, Pope and Wells.

The Predators: Hicks, Rad, Matta, Guzman, DeRidder, Butler, Coffman, Vandenberg and Miguel.

The Beasts came out of the box like a cheetah. Fun facts: a cheetah can purr, but not roar. The black tear marks around their eyes help keep the sunlight out of their eyes as they hunt. Cheetahs can reach speeds of up to 75 mph. Think about that next time you are driving at 70 mph. Which side of a cheetah has the most spots? A: The outside.
The beasts purred, hunted and ran the bases at high speeds to score three runs in the first. Laffoon, Hern, Witmer, Scarbrough, Skidmore and Pope were on the attack.

The Predators came out in the 1^st inning like elephants. Fun facts: Elephants, of both sexes, grow tusks. (In Alabama, the tusks are loosa, {Tuscalossa}). 1/3 of the elephant’s tusk is not visible, it is embedded in the elephant’s head. An elephant can lift 660 lbs. with its trunk. Roughly the body weight of DeRidder, Matta and Quinones combined. Grouch Marx once joked that he shot an elephant in his pajamas, how he got in his pajamas, he will never know.  These players used their elephant strength to score in the first. Rad, singled, Matta, tripled, Guzman, singled as the Predators put up a pair of runs. After the first inning the score was Beasts: 3-Predators: 2.

The Beasts scored 4 runs in the 2^nd inning. These players roared like a lion: Laffoon, Quinones, Hern, Scarbrough and Skidmore. Lion facts: lions are the second largest feline predator in the world after the tiger. The males are slightly bigger than the females, yet will generally only live for 10 years to the female’s lifespan of 10 to 14 years. They now only live in the wild in the south, Sahara Desert and in parts of southern and eastern Africa. Historically lions were also found from Greece through the Middle East to northern India. Lions have vanished from over 90% of their historic range, with the biggest decline occurring in the last 2 decades. They are now extinct in 26 African countries. Lions are religious animals. They prey frequently, and prey as a family. After 2 innings the Beasts lead 7-2, over the Predators.

The Predators played like Tigers in the 4^th and 5^th innings. We scored 4 runs in each of those innings. Like a Tiger, the Predator players stayed low to the ground and used cunning to sneak up and pounce on our prey. Hits by Miguel, Hicks, Rad, Matta and DeRidder accounted for the runs in the 4^th. Hits by Coffman, Vandenberg, Hicks, Rad and Matta accounted for the 4 runs in the 5^th. Tiger facts: A tiger can weigh up to 800 pounds. No two tigers are striped the same, every one of them has a slightly different pattern. Tigers are solo hunters. Tigers are not afraid of water, they are strong swimmers. They will often cool off in streams or pools of water. What do you get when you cross a tiger and a snowman? A: Frost-bite!  After 5 innings the score was Beasts:10 - Predators: 12.

The Black rhino, the cheetah, the lion, the Ethiopian wolf and the Mountain gorilla are some of the endangered animals in Africa. That makes them rare. An endangered species is an animal species existing in such small numbers that it is in danger of becoming extinct. We had a rare feat accomplished today in the AL jungle game and it happened twice. Both Nick Matta and Eddie Hern hit for the cycle. As far as I know, neither player is in danger of becoming extinct.

The game came down to the last inning. The Predators were leading 15-10. The Beasts had been shut out in the 6^th-8^th innings. They were like hungry hippos in the 9^th. They scored 7 runs to take the lead.  Hits by Laffoon, Quinones, Hern, Witmer, Scarbrough, Skidmore, Wells, Guttenberg and then Laffoon Quinones and Hern filled the hippo’s belly. They took the lead 17-15. Hippo facts: The name Hippopotamus comes from the Ancient Greek 'river horse'. An adult Hippo needs to resurface every 3 – 5 mins to breathe. To warn off rival males, they open their huge mouths and display their long, curved canines! They also make loud grunts and aggressive splashes in the water. Some softball players act in the same manner. What did the hippo call his father? A: HippoPOPimus.

When the Predators came up in the bottom of the 9^th, we needed 3 runs to win the game, 2 runs, to tie. We were ready to strike like a crocodile. Croc Facts: They can be found in all inhabited continents with the exception of Europe. Crocodiles really do produce tears. Because, while eating, they swallow too much air, which gets in touch with lachrymal glands (glands that produce tears) and forces tears to flow. But it’s not actually crying. Their top swimming speed is 9.3 mph. For reference a Great White shark can swim as fast as 25 mph. Olympic gold medalist, Michael Phelps tops out at 6 mph. I could probably reach 30 mph in the water, if I had a Great White, a crocodile and Michael Phelps chasing me. Do you know the difference between a crocodile and an alligator? One you'll see in a while and the other you'll see later. The Predators were only able to score 1 run in the 9^th. The Beasts were Kings of the Jungle, this time. Final Score Beasts 17- Predators: 16.

Beasts that took a bite out of the ball:

Laffoon: 4/7.

Quinones: 4/7, with two doubles.

Hern: 7/7, with a HR, triple, double and 4 singles, (Cycle).

Witmer: 4/5, with a SF.

Scarbrough: 3/6.

Skidmore: 6/6.

Predators who hunted down hits:

Hicks: 4/6.

Rad: 4/6, with a double.

Matta: 6/6, with a HR, triple, two doubles and a single. (Cycle).

Guzman: 3/5, and a SF.

Butler: 4/6, with two doubles.

Coffman: 3/6.

Miguel: 3/6.

A gorilla was walking through the jungle when he came across a gazelle eating grass in a clearing. The gorilla roared, "Who is the king of the jungle?" and the deer replied, "Oh, you are, Master." The gorilla walked off pleased.

Soon he came across a zebra drinking at a water hole. The gorilla roared, "Who is the king of the jungle?" The zebra replied, "Oh, you are, Master." The gorilla walked off pleased.

Then he came across an elephant. "Who is the king of the jungle?" he roared. With that, the elephant threw the gorilla across a tree and jumped on him. The gorilla scraped himself up off the ground and said, "Okay, okay, there’s no need to get mad just because you don’t know the answer."

Written by Nick Matta