The Sluggers faced Impact in the second to last game of the season Tuesday night and had a little luck on their side.  For some reason we just couldn’t get the girls’ heads in the game and they were very distracted through the whole thing.

I’m sure the late start of the game didn’t help. The game had to be delayed for about ten minutes for the Impact team to get enough girls to play. We could have forced the schedule issue and the other team would have had to forfeit the game, but that isn’t how we want to win any game. Impact ended up with only eight of their original eleven team members showing for the game and it looked as though the right fielder didn’t even have a glove until the last second of the game start.

We had some conflict with the home/visitor position of the Sluggers team. Home team is typically placed in the dugout along the third base line and the visitors on the first base line. Well, the Sluggers had been unpacked and setup in the first base dugout even though they were listed as the home team for this particular game. Now I’m not going to blame anyone for this mistake (not Candice or Elza), but it did add to some of the distraction at the beginning of the game. We also had to negotiate over the issue of “girl pitch” or “coach pitch” for this game. If you recall the first Sluggers/Impact game was scheduled a few weeks ago during the coach pitch part of the season but had to be canceled due to a double booking of the field. This Tuesdays’ game was the makeup of that missed game and there had to be some coordination between teams on just what would be the best way to proceed. By agreeing to a girl pitch game the Impact coach agreed to allowing the Sluggers to stay in the dugout on the first base line. All of these stumbling blocks just compounded the fact that the Sluggers were already kind of out of it. I don’t know if it’s due to the end of the school year or the end of the season or maybe the heat of the day just made them a bit loopy but they weren’t the Sluggers I know.

Maybe I’m being too critical.  All but two of the Sluggers got on base and they did win the game. We had some exceptional pitching by Janessa and Jordan who were able to keep the Impact team from making more than just one or two base hits. Our catchers Alexis and Champagne also did well stopping the ball behind the plate and were very quick to it back into play.

The lack of hits by the opposing teams in the last few games has had an effect on our girls in the field. We can definitely noticed they have developed a false sense of security and there is a lack of urgency in their fielding. This could very much come back to bite them in the end.

The Sluggers had a few good solid hits and were able to win the game with two points.

One of the hits that really stands out was made by our second base Julia. Her hit not only got her around the bases to third but she was also able to knock in Alexis who was on first base. That hit was one of the best we’ve had all season and just shows just how hard the girls have been practicing.

The girls were distracted during the game and that often happens towards the end of each season.

Even with everything that seemed to be pulling them all in differnt directions they came together and did what they needed to. The Sluggers made the plays and points just like they were supposed to, so I guess I can’t be too upset.

Good job Sluggers!!! Just one more to go!

Final Score: 2-0

Check out all the Game 9 Photos

Next game – Thursday @ 6:00pm. 

Grab your green – Lets go.