Well, we showed that we're pretty good at giving up late game rallies. In game one, we gave up six runs in our opponents last at bat to lose 14-13. In game two, we gave up eight runs in our opponents last at bat. Fortunately, we were able to manufacture a run in the bottom half of that inning to take a 17-16 win (phew!). Dan threw a strong game when called to action on the mound. Caven and Craig (fall ball!) both cleared the fence on a humid day with heavy air. And, Toddy was the super sub as we has basically on base all game. I guess we're just getting back in the swing as we begin our fall title defense.

We sure do love those late inning rallies, or better put, giving them up. Once again, we gave up some big numbers (eight runs!) in our opponents last at bat to give them a tie in game one. Blah! Although we were completely lifeless through most of the second game, we finally had a big rally of our own (another eight runs!) in our last at bat to win game two in walkoff fashion. Sweet! Not bad considering we had nine players, a guy subbing on the front end of a quadruple-header (thanks Jason!), another guy who hasn't played all summer (welcome Terry!) and a pitcher who was busy either tending to his groin or his newborn. Not bad at all!

Now we're cooking. Played a familiar team in game one and ten-runned them in six with a walkoff dinger by Lee. Ran up against a hard hitting team in game two. In the end, we out-slugged them (including a ten run fifth) for our first sweep of the season. Well done boys. Vikes performance at the Hogger left us a bit dreary, but it's a long season. Let's keep it rollin'. Thanks to Karl and Toddy for subbing in!

Came back against a beatable Lovold (we sank to their level early on) and then took another game from hard-hitting Dysfunctional (we played them last week two) as we were able to stick with them run-for-run, inning-by-inning. Pretty cool. Two more strong wins for another sweep. Let's keep it rolling!

Started off against a league bottom feeder After a slow start, we ten-runned them with a walk-off single by Dar. Game two was against the number one team in the league. They only had one loss. Basically, they hit it all over the park (and even one into Dar's knee) and we never really felt like we were in the game. Seriously, who beat these guys? This time, we found ourselves on the losing end of a ten-run rule. Win some and lose some and actually, our team batting average is still pretty sweet. Let's keep the bats hot as we close in on the postseason.

(from Craig) Truthfully, it just felt like a weird night. We lost to a not so good team that played pretty well against us. Combine that with a few fielding snafu's and they beat us by 10. The second game was more of the same, with the exception that we took it seven innings to lose. We didn't have our game and the opposition seemed to get it done. Like I said, we like looking like an underdog, and look out for our playoff bite.

Seriously? Who saw this coming? A bit unlikely... but oh so fun!

Well, it was maybe the most beautiful night of the year for softball and we had an overseas ace in the hole. Borrowed cleats, borrowed jersey and borrowed glove, but Mark was back in town (he's Hong Kong people) for our championship run.

Played the five seed in game one (we were the four seed). Evenly matched, but we were able to mount a late-inning comeback and win in walk-off fashion 11-10. Big plays included a timely dinger by Lee, a momentum killing double play with Caven snapping up a line drive and hitting Terry for double-up and a huge off the wall shot by Grant in the final inning.

We then had our traditional in-between game break including Beer, McDonald's and whatever health food Caven tracked down.

Ran into the number one seed the next game... and we smoked them (including a couple uncharacteristic home run outs on our part) with a total of 22 runs. The play of the game was Vad catching a shot out in deep left center and gunning the tagging runner out at home in the first inning. Huge momentum... and we never looked back.

Went into the final game a bit flat (and a bit hobbled between cramps, groins and an unusually interesting "bump" on Dar's leg), but, still had enough in the tank for a five run seventh inning rally (sparked by a huge clutch hit by Vad... yeah, we're glad he's back!) that captured the game. The game ended with a textbook Caven to Terry to Keith double play. You should have seen the look on Dar's face. Priceless!

A great night of strong fielding and clutch hitting (who are these guys?). Really, who would have thunk it? Hopefully the dynasty rolls into next year for our three-peat. Until then, have a fantastic offseason!

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(from Craig)
Johnny's memory of batters
Dar taking the punishment on the mound
Grant rocking the fence in game 1
Vads double play at home game 2
Lee's doubles leading to scoring the seasons most runs
Suki's walk off base hit game 1
Deibert coming off the plane, having a questionable first at bat and then rocking the cash box with hit after hit
Jeffy's timely hit in the final game
Terry's twist at second for the final double play
Caveman's setting up the double play, and sliding the ball to right off the bat to hit single after single
Keith's scoops on first

Despite coming off our worst week of the season, we put it all together, played exceptional defense, didn't put the game in the hands of the ump, and just got hits when we needed them. Great season boys, let's keep this streak alive.