There were some definite question marks at the beginning of the game. Mills showed up in red, and then played like he was on the take for most of the game. After a couple of runs scored via infield hits and a double off the wall, Storm looked like they would minimize the damage, but with two outs a ball was hit to short centre. Many Storm players started walking towards the dugout, especially as they heard Mills call, “I got it, I got it, I got it.” When you say I got it that many times, you must have it, right? Well, Mills did. It went into his glove. And then dropped to the ground. Highly suspicious.
If that wasn’t suspicious enough, Mills was leading off the game. He hit a foul ball that Brian attempted to catch while playing catcher for the other team, but missed. Since Mills’s first attempt to get out didn’t work, he tried it again by fouling strike three back to the catcher. Brian caught it this time (not that it mattered), and Mills started the game with a strikeout. Joey tried to get Storm back in it with a triple and Duran cashed him in with a sac fly, but Storm trailed 3-1 after the first.
The second was essentially a repeat of the first, as Storm only scored one while the Isotopes scored three. At the end of two, Storm hadn’t even made it through the order yet. Storm shut the door on the Isotopes, opening the door for a comeback, but…. Storm couldn’t score in the third. This was where Mills tried yet again to throw the game. After the Isotopes missed a cutoff Mills hesitated. Yes, that’s right, he hesitated. The guy who normally does not stop at all, hesitated on an overthrow, then decided to go and got thrown out at third base ending the inning. It was time for Mills to take off that red shirt.
The Isotopes put up a positive two in the top of the fourth to drop Storm to negative six (8-2) and Storm was going to need to find some energy to neutralize the score. They finally managed to put up more than one run in an inning. Joey started with a double. Lance and Al also doubled. Ken and Jeff singled and Storm scored three and still trailed by three.
The fifth was the inning of the chicken as both teams laid eggs on the scoreboard. The Isotopes added another run to extend their lead in the top of the sixth and then Storm finally remembered how to hit. Duran, trying to protect a 47 game hit and run scored streak, led off the inning with a triple. Lance drove him home. With two outs and Storm still trailing by one, Jeff hit a high pop fly that fell in between three Isotope defenders. He hustled to second, and when they overthrew second Jeff hurried to third. Sam singled, and then Storm made a fantastic decision to send in a courtesy runner for the youngest player on the team. Greg came up with a huge double to the fence and Duran, acting as Sam I Am, scurried around to score. The inning ended when Brian hit a foul ball that Joey, as catcher, sprung into action for and made an extreme effort catching the ball with his bare hand to end the inning.
At this moment, we must pause and reflect on the mid-season tournament. One of the reasons Triple Play did not want to give Storm a catcher, was that they claimed that Storm does not provide catchers to opposing teams. The opposite is true. Storm players relish the opportunity to get their teammates out. In this case, Joey made a play in a one run game to end an inning and a rally.
This meant that Storm had to neutralize the Isotopes to remain with a positive score. Al decided he was going to take care of it mostly by himself, ranging far out of his three foot radius to field a fly ball and then catching a line drive right back at him.
Storm 10 - Isotopes 9
|
Boxscore |
||||||||
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
Total |
|
Isotopes |
3 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
|
Storm |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
x |
10 |
Notable Boxscores:
Joey - 2 for 3, double, triple, 2 runs
Lance - 2 for 3, 2 doubles, 2 runs, RBI
Al - 2 for 3, double, 2 runs, 2 RBI
Ken - 2 for 3, 2 RBI
Jeff - 2 for 2, 2 RBI, double, run
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