OUR DAY IN THE SUN

Yes, it was blindingly hot under the interrogation lamp of Dairy 2 on Tuesday against the undefeated, first-place Griffons of the Art Museum. We have history with this field and with that team, some of it from our Renaissance Period and some from our quirky Post-Modern phase.
The Art Museum used to be what we referred to as a “five jeans team,” which meant that approximately that number of players on the field would, in fact, be wearing jeans. This is not to be confused with a “five sneakers team,” which I’m sure you can figure out, although the Art Museum was occasionally that as well.
One should not lose to a “five sneaker” or a “five jeans” team and usually we did not. The Art Museum has put away its denim past, however. It’s a really good fucking team. The Griffons swept the first half of the season, beating all seven opponents, and they didn’t do it with mirrors. Beat the Collar by 10. Beat the Tap by nine. Beat Franklin 12-10 in a great game.
Art has progressed from “five jeans” to “T-shirts” to “only has one bat” to “good bats” to “batting gloves” to “can turn double plays” to “wristbands.” There’s only one more level for them to go. “Eyeblack team.” I think they can get there.
Anyway, it was hot and you couldn’t see and you knew it was going to be a low-scoring game. We went extra innings with the Art earlier in the season on Dairy 2, only to lose in eight innings. That was a depressing game. And as we rolled along Tuesday, scoring just three runs in regulation, we knew it was going to probably take extra innings again. So it did.
Until I saw the scorebook, I thought it was only eight innings again. Turns out, according to Ron’s immaculate scorekeeping, that it was a nine-inning game and a 5-3 win over the Arties. What do you know about that? It seemed a lot hotter.
Where to begin? I’d like to thank the Academy. I’d like to thank Marcus and Brian Donlen for driving in a couple of runs in the top of the ninth. Otherwise, we’d still be playing. I’d like to thank Marcus yet again for starting an unbelievable double play in the bottom of the eighth that took the Management off the hook for a bonehead oversight that probably should have lost the game.
There’s a lot of thanking to go around, but I’d also like to thank someone that five runs and 14 hits in nine innings was somehow enough to win a slow-pitch softball game. In case there was any doubt, however, we will take it.
The Red Inks of the Pen & Pencil scrawled their signature win of the season so far, evening their record at 4-4 by knocking off the Griffons. Details? Sure.
We exploded for one run in the first inning and probably would have gotten more except for a couple of nice running catches in the outfield by the Art Museum. Donlen had the first of his two RBIs on the day in that inning.
The Arties tied it 1-1 on a solo shot by Darryl in the second, but we responded with two runs in the third inning. Russ Krause and Steve Lynch singled. Mark Nevins knocked home one run and Hayes scored another with a sacrifice fly.
That 3-1 lead lasted until the sixth inning when the Griffons scored twice to tie the game and make things nervous indeed. We had a right to be nervous, since we were in the midst of a stretch in which 15 batters would go up and down without reaching base. We were 1-2-3 in the fourth through seventh innings, which is hard to do.
In the bottom of the eighth, with one out and a man on first, Tall Kyle had an infield single that Brian Donlen was able to glove in the hole, but The Management fell asleep on the mound and the winning run scampered to an uncovered third base.
So, with one out still, and runners at the corners, it didn’t look so good. Dinky ground ball to the right side and the game is over. But the next batter hit an absolute rocket up the middle, which somehow became a good thing. The Management had the liner tick off his glove (10 years earlier and he would have had it), and Hayes gathered in the liner at short and threw a seed to Brennan to double off the runner at first to end the inning. It was not only a ‘wow’ moment, but it earned Hayes an official Sheila Ballen for State Rep beer cozy, and you know what those are worth.
Given new life, the Red Inks started a two-out rally in the ninth. Lynch and Nevins singled. Hayes knocked in one run with a hard grounder to second, and Donlen singled into left to send in some insurance.
Art got the leadoff runner on in the bottom of the ninth, but then it was three straight outs and the end of the proceedings. It was the finish of an excellent evening in the field. Art scored in just two of the nine innings and we pretty much limited them to three outs per, which is the key to winning these things.
There were some really nice plays. Donlen’s stab to the line in the seventh, then turning to throw out the runner from somewhere near the fence was remarkable. Marcus broke Julie’s glove with a throw. The Management tried to amputate his own left hand by using it (rather than the goddam glove) to stop a hard grounder. That was particularly smart. And then there was that double play in the eighth. Did we mention it earned Hayes a Sheila Ballen cozy?At bat, three hits for Donlen and Nevins. Two each for Hayes and Lynch. Top five in the batting order were 11-for-19. Bottom seven were 3-for-22. If we ever figure that out, we might get somewhere.
Well. Next week is another one. In fact, two. We play Monday and Tuesday. So get your running in. The Management would like to apologize to Tommy and Ron for not denting the scorebook, and to Jon Snyder and Mike Galan, who only got one swing. Better days are coming, although this one was pretty good.
(Photos by George Miller (top), Jon Snyder.)