After an incredible season where we will collect the Advertising League Champions trophy this Thursday following a run of 8 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. It was time to continue our run for the double and the Playoff Champions Trophy. Having pressganged a team last minute to make it out and win our quarter final a couple of weeks ago, the victorious run of this years pirates ended with a fantastic and nail biting semi final against Cap Gemini.
Although Cap Gemini were bolstered by the return of Steve Rice at shortstop and we were missing Ange, Bridget and myself - everyone played a fatastic game where the combined might of Cap's international grade players only managed to wrestle the lead from us after a massive 8 innings!
Three times we were tied and twice we took and held a lead, but finally as the light faded and courtesy of some great diving catches from Staffie and Co - they took the lead in the 8th and held it to make the Final.
We now get to focus on the partying instead of playing this week. As always some memorable moments and (dis)honourable mentions.
“We had a fantastic semi final last night and we eventually beat the Pirates in extra innings 11-8. Chris, great game mate and it was good fun, you have an awesome bunch and congrats on winning the league!” - Staffie
"JB pitching with that wind - coped much better than Cap Pitcher" - Panda
Amy putting head and body on line stopping ball - and taking catch aimed straight at her despite Coxy trying to take it - let the girls play!
Jess second game and quick thinking pick and throw to first base for another out.
Bethan's left field hit just over top of 3rd base - and playing 2nd base for first time and making a great relay to JB to get Ricey out.
"Panda deserves a special mention for an outstanding performance in left field!! WOOO HOOO! He made me look good" - Jime
"Jime solid outfield and backing up infield" - Panda
Gray O and me for luring Capgemini's big hitting outfielder Goughie into a great out - having stood motionless watching a ground ball approaching him earlier, I made sure Goughie overheard me excusing it due to Gray O being completely blind! Goughie steps up and smack's a monster hit right field straight into Gray O's waiting glove.
So that's almost it for 2011, all we have left to do is - vote for the team awards (an email will come around shortly), dust off our best Pirate outfits and party hard on Thursday night. A massive thank you to everyone involved, I hope you all enjoyed it as much as me.
Only a few hours before last week's quarter final, the Pirates were precariously balanced on the precipice of a forfeit - which of course is no way for the league champions to carry themselves. So at the last minute and courtesy of some influential words from JB we were rescued by our heroines Jess, Nadine and Renee.
Comfortable again in the knowledge we had a full team, even if it was practically the first time our heroines had played - we sailed out on to Regents Park. The usual pre game rituals were honoured; a little warming up, knocking back a few beers in the sun, and since it was a quarter final - enquiring as to where our umpire was..... Fortunately Ronnie passed by having found his diamond abandoned and stepped in to umpire the Pirate playoff.
After the first innings, the Ba Baa's must have wondered how we had managed to win the league. Our top order batsmen failing to score a single run, and a myriad of errors whilst fielding allowed them a 3-0 lead. Only the second time all season we have been behind!
With such a poor start, I couldn't decide if the team just relaxed ready to accept their fate or if all thoughts of beer were put aside until the victory was ours - the next 6 innings were a master class in diamond pillaging. The Ba Baa's were only permitted another 5 runs and our batting sparked into life with scores of 5, 6, 1, 6, 5, 8 in the remaining innings taking us to victory and the semi finals versus Capgemini.
As always, memorable moments and (dis)honourable mentions from the crew:
A massive thanks again to Jess, Nadine and Renee for stepping into the breach.
All the girls getting hits and making it to base, especially Jess who contributed her fair share of runs - scoring 3 during her first game.
Nads putting her body on the line, and just missing an out having controlled a ball like a pro footballer - ouch. Gloves not knees...
Coxy managing a homerun from a ball he barely hit beyond the infield.
Free admission to spectators under 10 years old, a special mention for our supporters Rocco, Oscar and Louie.
Hook suddenly deciding he could steal bases and knew how to slide, followed by him becoming far too familiar with the Ba Baa's girl on second base.
Coxy trying to improve his batting rank and playing mind games with out number one batter - Rosey.
Coxy and his magnetic hands at short stop making up for his dishonourable mention above.....
A couple of home run and maybe game saving catches from Ant in the distant outfield. Those Ba Baa's were certainly hitting better than they did at the beginning of the season.
Great victory everyone. Time to prepare for the semi final and hopefully a second victory over the reigning champions - Capgemini.
The now traditional rain fell on the Engine Group Derby for the 3rd year in a row, surely next years match will be played under clear skies - or perhaps we should play beach softball somewhere :)
Although the rain fell, games continued throughout Regent's Park, however the Engineers were less enthusiastic to play than most - I suspect this is due to their love of the 'drinking side to softball' - they certainly are one of the better party teams.
The Pirates however love water and we pushed on making a solid start and preventing their batters from scoring a single run. Eventually the rain was too much for our Engineer friends and they opted for the pub instead of taking to the field.
So with another win / forfeit - the final diamond was ours and with that, the title - Division 1 Champions! A great season and a great performance by everyone - new and old hands. Next week the playoffs begin with a Quarter Final on Wednesday versus the Ba Baa's.
The warning signs were there - our strongest batters had been faltering over recent weeks, a couple of regulars were missing and the pressure of maintaining our undefeated run was building.
And so the fateful evening arrived - beneath grey skies and threatening rain clouds - our defeat - to the bats and gloves of The Coalition, a newly formed alliance between RKY&R and The Dealbreakers. It took a Coalition to sink us.
There is something about defeat when it comes to match reports, there always seem to be far fewer memorable moments and (dis)honourable mentions.
Thanks to Helle and Jo for helping out last minute
Bethan maintaining her extreme catcher efforts, tripping over a bike and almost diving head first into the nettles to take a couple of catches..... even though they were foul ball / third strikes
Good backing up by Gray-O in outfield and hitting cut-off even if there was a little too much juggling going on..... again.....
A myriad of infield and outfield errors allowing balls through and catches to be dropped.... That being said - the Coalition batting was usually hard and low hit balls, so there was not much opportunity for glory catches.
Alex and Rosey, patiently heading in out to right field innings after innings, and just watching the action as there was not single ball hit in their direction.
Jo sending me home at 3rd base and into a sliding collision with Faisal resulting in some minor swelling of the shin..... Apologies for having posted the pictures on Facebook / Google+ but I was a bit surprised at my newly acquired mutant leg.
Well with the loss finally behind us, it is time to get up, dust off the sand and head into our final game next week..... with victory firmly in our sights. The last game of the season before playoffs is - The Engine Group Derby.
A win next week will secure our position at the top of the table and as League Champions 2011...... So no pressure........
As we close in on the end of the season, we face the few remaining teams that can block our path to victory. This week it was the Glove Muppets - a composite team that has been defending their diamonds well over the years and with whom we have a 2 wins and 1 loss record.
Could their Muppet power and experience halt our last charge? Even with an automatic out in our favour as the Muppet's were short a girl - we made the game even harder as, like the previous weekends summer tournament, our batting was failing. I guess we could blame the very tricky cross wind...?
With batting averages down, we fought on and edged a lead after the first couple of innings. This wasn't held for long as they ran 3 past us to take their own slim lead of 1 in the 5th innings. With 2 innings remaining we regained the lead and locked them out to take the ball game at the top of the 7th. The final score was 12-8 and it felt closer.
As always a few memorable moments and (dis)honourable mentions.
Outfield didn't really have a lot to do apart from watch one or two hits sail over their head, thankfully they weren't grand slam hits. Panda did pick up one catch out there.
Coxy still in training / his own world, this weeks lessons were how to be cut-off......
A great effort from JB pitching through the cross wind and still nailing a few batters with strikeouts.
Fantastic catching from Bethan sending another Muppet back to their dugout.
Although the batting was way below our usual efforts - JB definitely made up for it. We were 2 down with no runs scored, as Ange steps into the box the cry from JB was simple - "Get on base and I will bring us both home!". Ange obliged reaching first base and JB stepped up to smash a monster hit clear out of the park. Job done.
Bridg having cup of tea on 1st base as the batter behind her is caught in outfield. Waiting for cream tea to arrive before even starting to consider moving to 2nd.
Perhaps aware of her missed base running opportunity earlier, the next innings Bridg decides to make up for it and runs to 2nd base completely oblivious to Alex still being there. As the ball is fielded to the Muppets shortstop. Amid frantic shouts from both sides, confusion reins. Alex turns round and is shocked to see Bridg beside him. As the realisation dawns.... Bridg begins a run back to one triggering their SS to make the throw to one. She steps back on to 2nd base and Alex legs it to 3rd. Phew.....
It was a hard fought game - especially on JB and myself - as we put bodies on the line to stop the charge of their runners. Jon briefly switched sports and became the linebacker defending 3rd base like a quarterback until he was knocked off his feet unceremoniously. I - having scooped up a great line drive hit right field (even if I do say so myself) - suddenly became an all American street racer playing chicken on Highway 66, charging headlong over first base towards the inbound batter. Ouch.
One last mention. Every year the league makes selection for their All Star team which travel to the USA for the equivalent of an Advertising World Series. We Pirates have an illustrious history and have been training rookies that have made the cut every year - and this tradition has continued. Although it is only the first cut - I have every faith that Coxy will make it to Vegas. So a big congratulations to Coxy.
With another win in the bag and our undefeated run towards total league domination continuing (just....) we end another week.
There are just 2 more games remaining before we enter the play-off's and next week we face The Coalition - although they were beaten soundly at the summer tournament - they will be a tough opposition.
As we enter the second half of the season that can mean only one thing - time for the summer tournament. As some may have noticed there is another trophy on the shelves. Having been Plate finalists and champions last year - this year we improved - making it to the Trophy Final but unfortunately ended as runners up.
So what else happened on another glorious summers day at the Old Deer Park in Richmond?
The day always starts early - and usually a little too early for many. This year that included Panda who responded to my 8.30 am text (checking he was still buying refreshments and ice for the cool-box) with........ "Whoops! Thought it was Sunday for some reason. Will be be asap!"
As the rabble of Pirates arrived we tucked into the bacon sandwiches picked up the schedule of games and made our way to Pitch 1 where we were to camp all day (Thanks to Tina for that one), it really does make a difference not packing up after every game and trekking across the park to another diamond!
GAME 1 vs. DDB "Paddington Pirates"
Win 11-2
I wasn't the only captain waiting patiently for late arrivals, our old friends and impersonators the Paddington Pirates were awaiting their pitcher for the first game of the day - scheduled to start at 9.30 - finally both our teams were ready to start at 10! Now a very short game, as no new innings was called within 10 minutes. However after only a 15 minute game we still managed to dominate DDB and take a first win for the day.
Coxy's performance at short stop was already receiving honourable mention but at this point he still was nowhere near getting the plays right, somehow the play in Coxy's head really could have been any base even when there were no runners. Is it really that complicated - have I forgotten?
With 5 minutes until the next game Jime aka Pesetas almost certainly took a quick power nap.
GAME 2 vs. Dunnhumby "Sharks"
Win 20-5
As with all summer tournaments we now know many of the players we face and Dunnhumby was no different with some fun banter on both sides, until the return of Captain Ed in his full softball samurai battle gear!
Captain Ed - Softball Samurai
Now although we dominated the sharks and took a convincing win 20-5, facing this Samurai Pitcher was the beginning of the end for our top order batsmen who proceeded to fail for most of the rest of the day (we know who we are - but just don't know what happened - had I started on the beers by this point?)
At this point an honourable mention must go out to the middle and bottom batting order who carried us when "we couldn't even buy a base!"
Regardless of this iminent failing, before the arrival of their secret weapon we did manage to bat through the order twice in one innings!
Dunnhumby also received an honourable mention from Panda for having "the most honeys", and............... with the game won - Jime aka Pesetas almost certainly took a quick power nap.
GAME 3 vs. JWT
Loss 7-8
Even though JWT were led by my Guerrilla captain Shauna and were bolstered with some very solid weekend players in Dan, Gary (and more importantly Jen). I still believed we could take them. At the bottom of the last innings and with two down already we needed a single score to draw, and two to win. Both Ange and I had managed to get on base. As I was waiting on second base knowing my "Flintstone-like running (Yabba Dabba Doooo....!)" would tie the game - and Ange would be hot on my heels to take the win - unfortunately Phil 's solid hit was picked up and the game was lost. I think after two solid wins we were a little slow to get started and chase down their lead.
With the first loss of the day - Jime aka Pesetas almost certainly took a quick power nap..............................
............................I should probably mention at this point another honourable mention to Jime for making it out after celebrating her "Life in the UK - 10 years drinks" the night before. And from the photos I have seen which included these three classics - it was an effort that clearly deserved a few power naps.
LUNCH
As finally a real break arrived - well a quick hour after 3 back to back games, we had drunk our initital supplies of beer and so a few pirates were sent ashore to pillage fresh supplies. With the heat of the sun quenched by more beer it was time to check out one of our remaining opposition in the week's ahead - the Coalition.
GAME 4 vs. The Coalition
Win 19-9
A storming return to form after lunch with a first innings of 11-0 being a lead too far for the Coalition to reclaim - more so as their pitcher "Wheels" grew increasingly grumpy at some close calls from the blue. A replacement blue was requested. And I think his frustrations were vented when Panda turned into third base - Nick called for him to slow and look - slowing him just enough to let "Wheels" make the tag out unavoidable. and hard. Woops.
I think it was at this point that Coxy's general confusion at what the play should be began to come good. As the pressure and stress of calling the plays eased, his fielding stepped up and we began to see him diving in all directions to take some great catches.
GAME 5 vs. Publicis "Lions"
Loss 7-10
Again probably stepped off the gas and took it a little too easy meaning there was just not enough time left to regain the lead. As I faced off against yet another team mate from the my weekend team - Bear proceeded to get in my head and call every one of my still failing batting perfectly - a ground ball to short, a pop fly to second - at least once I regained focus and powered it over the pitchers head. Phew.
So as we finished the group round with a second loss! It was time to wait our fate - had we done enough to make the Trophy final still? Yes both ourselves and the Coaliton had won 3 and lost 2 but since we beat them in the head to head we were through to show JWT what we could do.
With all this stress and waiting - Jime aka Pesetas almost certainly took a quick power nap. Haha.
TROPHY FINAL vs. JWT
Loss 14-15
So it was time to regain our honour and repeat last years performance, when having lost to Tequila in the morning shocked them with pure power generating a lead they could not recover from. Although the power had already been lost from our top order batters - the middle and bottom order continued to put the runs on. Whilst in the field everyone played solid with yet more superman diving from Coxy at short - and mostly getting the calls right - finally!
After the first innings we were down 1-4, but as the fielding tightened JWT scored zero for the next 4 innings! That was a great effort from everyone. And we had taken a solid lead. In the sixth innings we let them back in the game with a few errors and an improved batting performance from their star players. We still managed to stretch the lead and at the bottom of the 7th innings they needed an unlikely 6 to win....... Somehow the runs trickled in and eventually their MVP for the final - Ryan - stepped up and batted in the winning 3 runs with bases loaded.
A great game nonetheless and had I succumbed to their captains request for a timed game instead of a full seven innings we would have the win. My apologies - but it was a great learning for the younger players amongst us and locking those players out for 4 innings in a row was a great performance.
As we packed up our home for the day, to make our way over to tournament control for the awards ceremony - although the softball was over - the day had only just begun, but before I get into the evenings entertainment it's time for one last thanks to everyone for making it a great day and a few more honourbale mentions and awards.
The Pirates - Summer 2011 - Panda, Captain Rubble, Amy, Pau, Phil, Nick, Coxy, Alex, Jime, Bethan and Ange
Special thanks to Amy, Jime and Nick for being press ganged into the Pirates. Without them we would not have had a team.
The Jammy Dodger goes to Coxy for repeatedly catching up with Amy at 3rd base, the look of bewilderment as everyone is shouting to go back.
The Saving a Rookies Ass Award goes to Amy for repeatedly realising Coxy was on 3rd base with her and that she's been forced to run home - again. If it wasn't for the over throws she would have been stone cold out. More lessons learned Coxy!
The Homerun Derby Champion - declared a draw and shared by Phil and Coxy.
Trophy Final MVP was awarded to Ange.
And now onto the post tournament entertainment. With all the party teams having won both trophies and more beer to drink, the cool-box was brought back into play for some rapid chilling and we proceeded to chill out in the evening sun to some smooth tunes as we polished every last drop of beer before heading to the pub and catching up with all the others.
Well that was the plan until the Liz Baines inspired call for some beer Olympics aka - games of tag, wheel barrow racing and three legged racing.
As the last drops of beer were finished and the beer Olympics ended it was time for the traditional time back at the Sun Inn. More photos can be found on the Facebook page or via the Facebook Photos link at the top of this page.
A few memorable moments for me were - as always - providing the tunes for everyone including Jason Leonard, accepting the challenge of an arm wrestle from Nick for the last Jägerbomb - and holding it to a draw. And finally for eveyones entertainment - Nick's impromptu Hip Hop Karaoke.
Again another fantastic day and night. Thanks to everyone there and I hope this tempts a few more of you out next year.
Next game is on Wednesday versus the Glove Muppets. C'mon the Pirates!
It had taken a few year - but finally an old friend and ringer for the Pirates had led his own team through the divisions to face his old masters.
Regardless of Blow Up Media's fearsome "Blow Me" motto and a great victory against Betgenius coming from 16-4 down to win 32-20, they were no match for the Pirates as we rapidly deflated their team with run after run after run.
Having scored 13 in the first innings, this was followed with another 4, 9, 3 and again 13 making a total of 42 versus Blow Up's total of 4 after only 5 innings!
Although we had been playing for two hours and the light was fading, they did not wish to concede defeat by accepting a call of mercy. However once this offer was reinforced with talk of beers and the pub beckoning, the ball game was called.
Another victory to the Pirates! Well played everyone, solid base hitting throughout the game and great defensive fielding - as always a few memorable moments and highlights from the evening.
Absolutely everyone crossing the plate and scoring!
Gray O perfecting his juggling skills in the outfield followed by monster throw to Ange at 3rd
Bethan repeatedly targeting their poor 3rd base girl to get herself safely on base everytime she stepped up to bat.
A big thanks to Laura and Lola for stepping in last minute.
With the victory wrapped up it was time for some more Pirate Challenge action with Liz being the first girl to earn her shirt with a respectable time of 1 minute 20, and Gray O repeating the challenge to shave 4 seconds off his personal best and take 3rd place in the table from Rosey.
So it was time for the Pirate's to face off. Portland versus Paddington. Last year DDB had arrived smartly dressed and promptly commenced their warm up routine.
This year, having already met a couple of their Pirates at the Rookie trails (who had stumbled across our blog from last year.....).
They were determined to demonstrate their drinking side and did indeed show up with a galleon filled to the brim with plundered rum. Could this new tactic turn their crew into true pirates on the field?
Well Paddington's crew started well scoring 2 in the first innings and holding us to 3. A lead for us that we went on to stretch. After five innings we were 19-10 up and as our pirates eased off the batting and their crew stepped up in the last two innings we were held to the final score of 19-12.
Some high and lowlights from a good game.
A combination of JB and Panda's competitive side combined with some dubious umpiring calls and an ever encroaching outfield from DDB endangering the friendly Pirate banter.
A solid start to short stop by Coxy.
Chaunie trying to take out their pitcher eveytime she stepped up to bat.
Bethan's softball prowess and game knowledge continues, having made it to 1st turning to Panda and asking - "It's two down right Panda, so I run on anything right?"
A very well timed grand slam home run from JB in the 4th innings keeping our score ticking over when we were 2 down already.
Tia's safe glove at 2nd and her amazement that her “terrible hits” were actually getting her round the bases.
Gray O's newly developed and entertaining catching method known only as 'The Juggle'.
DDB's catcher stepping in for them at the last minute playing barefoot and in a dress..
After the win was sealed and the Paddington Bears (I mean pirates......) declined our "Pirate Challenge", Alex stepped up solo to earn his team shirt, although the second beer proved very keen to not to be drunk – he showed some decent determination in finishing with a time of 1 minute 15 seconds. Here's the video.
With a fair amount of beer to be drunk by pirates on both sides, we finished off the evening with an impromptu second game!
Although DDB didn't step up for the Pirate Challenge. We did continue on to the pub, getting through the beers fairly sharp courtesy of the usual drinking games, this week, 5's - for most of the evening.
This week our Pirates pillaged yet another diamond from Regents Park. This week's match report comes to you from our Rookie in waiting, Coxy.
"So Jon was partying and introducing Rocco to Ibiza and the Panda was....... well Waldie keeps secrets better than the Illuminati
Alongside 2 star players being absent there was also the matter of a 5 year old curse to overcome – to date whenever Waldie or JB are absence a loss follows closely behind...... and let it be known that Waldie keeps opening umbrellas in-doors at Fuel the problem was exacerbated
Well let’s get it out of the way – the curse was broken and is now forever broken. Thank god Alex was donning his lucky tights
Although there were certain parts of the game where the curse reared its ugly head, we were just too strong as a unit for it to prevail. There were definitely signs of team effort, one example being Bethan sprinting to pitch 10 with unconditional determination to ensure she didn’t miss the start of the game, as well as heeding cries from Chris reminding her to "Ignore the Physio!"
Ant needed to step up to the plate and fill in for the missing JB and Panda as pitcher – some pre match practice paid dividends, even though Will was poaching a lot of his Dads pitching practice.
We went out to field first, with Coxy’s short stop career opening with a dive into the ground with absolutely no chance of getting within stretching distance of the ball – we kept their runs to 2 for the first two innings even though we were looking a bit scrappy after our break since taking down Capgemini.
The sun was also blindingly low in the sky, but our opposition demonstrated their solution infield by laying down flat at 3rd and short stop to avoid the sun, although effective against the sun it was less effective against our batting....
We notched up 11 runs in the first two innings, overshadowing their 4.
In the third though following the excitement of music supporting a 5k charity race that nearly trampled us to death - we had began to flag, with 3 runs in the 3rd and nothing in the next three innings!
Luckily we held strong in the field and only allowed TBWA to score 3 runs over the same period. This was thanks to Bridge holding strong to a slide on second that she seemed to just brush off, Ang keeping the in-field in check and the outfield digging deep to a lot of low balls that skimmed across the craterous pitch
When we came up to the 7th, everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the vistory was ours and we could relax as we batted out the game and began to smash the ball all over the park running in another 9. Final score 23 – 7
Some other highlights included:
Grey O’s frustration at his dipping batting average – until a homerun struck and a celebratory cartwheel onto the home plate almost took out Ant
The deepening divot next to the batting plate, that we are sure Betgenius dug in order to slow down our hitting rate
Will coaching Ant into the glove of the outfield
Well done pirates!
Also special thanks to; Lisa for dragging herself to the park making sure we were not short of girls even though she should have been tucked up at home fighting off the plague, Ant for so valiantly stepping up as a stand in pitcher and everyone for maintaining our undefeated streak. I know from murmurings across the bars of Regents Park the name of the Pirates is being spoken in hushed tones.
Next week is another rest week before a straight run of games through to the play offs. Although there is no game next week, the All Star Rookie trials and a chance to play in Las Vegas start on Monday. I highly recommend the trials for both a chance of making the cut and another chance for some training and beers in the park.
The stars were aligned, the beer was cold, the Pirates were ready. With the honour of toppling Cap Gemini already having been achieved by Betgenius, it was our turn to send a message and prove our worth.
The game started tentatively with both sides locking each other out in the first innings, 0-0. The second innings saw another lock out from the Pirates and a lone homerun from Coxy taking us to a 1-0 lead. Cap Gemini matched this single at the top of the 3rd but our batting sparked into life with a grand slam homerun from JB and another homerun from Ant stretching our lead to 7-1.
Again we locked our opponents out and went into bat a 4th time confident of stretching the lead further.The 4th inning ending 15-1 to the Pirates with another homerun from JB and a first homerun to Gray'O'.
However the might of Cap Gemini who had never trailed by such a margin before, began to flex its muscles..... Their two international grade players began the fight back with some incredible fielding plays holding us to 2 runs in the 5th and then leading the batting fight back running 6 against us.
Top of the 6th innings, score 17-7, we were still confident but the opposition was revitalised and on fire. We were locked out again and allowed another 5 runs to be scored!
Top of the 7th innings, score 17-12, surely we could hold on, the pressure was building and errors were creeping in. Three outs were all we needed to win. "Hold on Pirates, just hold on!". Our worst fielding of the game allowed Cap Gemini back in, they scored 7, to take the lead for the first time!
The tide had turned and the wind was against us. We needed 2 to draw or 3 for the win. JB steps up to bat cracking a blinder, but the Cap Gemini outfield was fast and Jon was held on first base. Next up Ange, another great hit but only enough to get JB to second. The tension was tangible as we approached the lower batting order and a risk of impending outs. Third up to bat, a rookie all-star in the making, Coxy stepped up to the plate. First pitch a big swing and a miss! Strike!
"You do that again and your fired!" screams JB from second base.
Finally the pressure pitch, Coxy swings and hits! A huge fly ball deep to the outfield just beating their fielders. A homerun it was, and the look of joy on JB's, Ange's and Coxy's face as they ran in the three runs to win!
Awesome game everyone. A few more memorable moments:
Ange and JB teasing Staffie (Cap Gemini's captain) between 3rd and home plate in a run down before he stacked it over his own shoelace and was tagged out by JB.
Coxy running to 2nd base without tagging up, Goughie taking the catch, Coxy reaching second base, the look of bewilderment on his face as he begins to process the shouts of 'Get back to first!' and the look of fear as he sprints back to first just in the nick of time.
Lisa putting her body on the line stopping balls with a combination of legs, body, in fact anything.
A big welcome to Liz and Steph for their first Pirate game!
Pau basically fielding the entire left half of the pitch as usual.
We have a rest week scheduled now, but if anyone wants to hit the park after work for a little batting practise in the net, or any other coaching, just let me know.
The time for Game 2 had arrived, and the sun was shining again. The Pirates decended upon Regents Park with the intent of regaining some honour versus Proximity ,who in my absence last year, humiliated us.......
This year would be different and the intention was converted into reality from the very first innings. With exceptional batting from everyone, almost getting us through the order twice, even with an automatic out! The first innings ended 13-1. This advantage and lead was stretched mercilessly to 33-6 after 4 innings.
As the light faded and the lead was secured we did ease off a little finally bringing the game to finish at 41-10. All credit to Proximity, they didnt call for mercy and were gracious in defeat.
Some highlights courtesy of Alan the Panda.
Ange - Grand Slam home run, but didn't pop the chain..., body on the line stopping that line drive with her shin, and the collision with and flooring JB when going for the in-field fly ball
Coxy - missing / hurdling over the bases (it's softball not athletics), forgetting to run to 2nd when he was forced (might be Ange's bad base coaching), some nice hits
Rosey - THAT nonchalant catch in left field
Jime - hopping round the bases with an injured ankle, and having to repeatedly call Coxy off her fly balls.... and having to resort to hand signals to ensure he got the message
JB - hitting that home run and not even breaking a sweat, pitching as always
William - for catching
Gray-O and Hooky for definite improved batting
Ant - still watching the ball when running round the bases.... and great game awareness for a blind, mid air tag of the incoming runner.
Bridge - for making Ant run: just before the batter comes up, throws game ball to Ant at 1st, misses Ant at first, Ant running 25 odd feet after the ball and back again.
The ingame antics were topped off as we relaxed, basking in the glory, finishing of the remaining beers and when suddenly the Pirate's Rite of Passage awoke..... It was time for the athleticism of Coxy to be tested and he managed it well, toppling Johnny Posh from first place setting the new time to beat of 52.8 seconds (Video to follow soon).
Great game everyone! A well deserved victory. Next week's game is versus Betgenius, a solid promotion from Division 2 who apparently toppled the great Cap Gemini last night.
The first game of the season was upon us. Arriving early to warm up and shake off the rust from many winter months we preceded to crack open the beers and keep warm. Although the sun was shining, as Bridget 'checked in' to the Arctic on Facebook it was admittedly a little cool.
Our previously unknown opposition, a promotion from Division 2, arrived and were welcomed with a relaxed opening innings where our fielding warmed up allowing them a respectable 4 runs, reduced to 1 more run in the second innings and then they were locked out for the remainder of the game. Some great infield play and throws (ignoring my desire to roll around the grass excessively), a solid start from the outfield and an impressive jumping, stretching catch from Coxy in his debut game for the Pirates.
With our first game resulting in a win, a big welcome to Alex and Coxy, as well as a welcome back to Bethan and Bridgerama, great start to the season.
New team shirts should be arriving before next week's game, so the Pirate challenge and Rite of Passage will be back in action soon. Who will break the 60 second barrier?
A little reminder for the budding photographers amongst us, we are generally pretty poor at recording the seasons, so feel free to snap away. If you upload any photos to Facebook and tag Portland Pirates they will be pulled through to the blog photo page linked above.
