The weather gave us just about everything we could ask for: overcast skies, low humidity, and a comfortable day on the field. A little less wind would have been nice, but we weren’t about to complain. We saved that for the seventh inning.
Defense struggled throughout the game. At times, it seemed like nobody had brought a glove. But there were a few bright spots: Ernesto made a fantastic fall-down catch worthy of an ESPN highlight reel, and Jorge snagged three balls at third—although one of those catches might have been made with his eyes closed. Then “the girl” got a lucky bounce on a shot up the middle and fired a rocket to first. Great plays, just few and far between.
Now let’s start the scoring story at the end, because the seventh inning apparently decided to become the whole game.
The visiting team Duke’s, coached by Ouding, entered the seventh with 12 runs. Wally’s EZ-Roofing home team also had 12, while Hill’s Family Fence middle team had 7.
With one out, Ouding singled and Nester doubled. The next batter flied out to center, leaving Duke’s one out away from the dugout. Instead, Shiere doubled, Rad singled, Ramon singled, BJ singled, and Boito doubled. Seven runs later, Duke’s had 19. That seemed like a comfortable cushion.
Family Fence set out to test exactly how comfortable. They made two outs fairly early, but the third proved much harder to find. Errors piled up, runners kept crossing the plate, and the inning went on long enough that the wind may have changed direction.
I’d tell you who did what, but Family Fence’s scorekeeper went missing in action right when things got interesting. Not a mark in the seventh inning. We know ten runs scored, bringing Family Fence to 17—just two shy of Duke’s. If anyone finds the scorekeeper, please ask him what happened.
EZ-Roofing finally got its last at-bat after waiting FOREVER. They couldn’t add another run, bringing a wild finish—and the seventh inning, at long last—to a close.
Final: Duke’s 19, Family Fence 17, EZ-Roofing 12.