The Mob
Clapham Softball Club
Match report, 19 May
When I got to our home pitch last night at 6.30, I was surprised to see the entire opposing team (Hyde Park Squares? Or ThunderCat Squares? we'll just call them Squares) warming up, with just a few lonely Mobsters on the sidelines sort of stretching and getting ready. They were ready and we were, well, not. I'm afraid to say that turned out to be something of a foreshadowing of what was to come...
The sky was blue, the sun was shining (straight into the eyes of the third-baseperson, shortstop and left field), and the wind was 'blowy' as the Brits like to say. It started off really well (once home plate arrived, thanks Paul B!): lead off hits all around from Sam, Erika, Al, Kendell (should I just call myself 'me' from now on?), Andy, Sharon, Mark, both Saras, Greg and Jack (or at least that's how this match reporter remembers it). We started off with a great lead. Of at least 5 I think. And we shut down the Squares, allowing just zero or one run per for the first few innings*. Mob highlights for the first few innings include: Sam's single or double hit that he turned into a homer with some stellar base running, Sam catching almost everything that was hit to the left side of the field, Al's great pitching and fielding, Erika's two excellent hits, my play at Catcher with Sharon's excellent catching skills at First sealing the deal, Greg's fielding, Andy's pickle (that's a rundown to the non-Americans) which he survived, and everyone's bats (Sharon crushed one over the second basemen as well!). For the first few innings.
Then Tom showed up. I'm not saying the two are necessarily related, but things went steadily down hill from there. We fell apart. There was more than one strike out. We started to let balls go by us in the field. The Squares kept getting runs, and we kept getting out. Of course there were some good moments: Mark had a great inning-ending catch at second, Al kept pitching well, Sam kept catching everything in sight, and Erika had another great hit (a double!) which unfortunately ended in a sprained ankle at second base. We could complain that the umpires had a few calls that went the wrong way, but in the immortal words of Jack: A good team doesn't need luck. (Actually he was talking about something completely different and said it about a man, not a team, but I'm sure he'd stretch to this interpretation.)
Cue a 0 - 2 start to the Mobster season. We lost 13-10. Tom said that it might finally be time to hire (at no pay of course!) Martin to be our fitness coach. Paul B. said it was going to be all hitting at the next practice. Ho hum.
Anyway, it was fun and we were definitely the best looking team out there. C'mon Mob, let's get a win next week!!
* your match reporter forgot to keep track for the first few innings, so there's poetic license, the memories of others, and just plain rubbish reported above. Better than nothing?
by KK
The sky was blue, the sun was shining (straight into the eyes of the third-baseperson, shortstop and left field), and the wind was 'blowy' as the Brits like to say. It started off really well (once home plate arrived, thanks Paul B!): lead off hits all around from Sam, Erika, Al, Kendell (should I just call myself 'me' from now on?), Andy, Sharon, Mark, both Saras, Greg and Jack (or at least that's how this match reporter remembers it). We started off with a great lead. Of at least 5 I think. And we shut down the Squares, allowing just zero or one run per for the first few innings*. Mob highlights for the first few innings include: Sam's single or double hit that he turned into a homer with some stellar base running, Sam catching almost everything that was hit to the left side of the field, Al's great pitching and fielding, Erika's two excellent hits, my play at Catcher with Sharon's excellent catching skills at First sealing the deal, Greg's fielding, Andy's pickle (that's a rundown to the non-Americans) which he survived, and everyone's bats (Sharon crushed one over the second basemen as well!). For the first few innings.
Then Tom showed up. I'm not saying the two are necessarily related, but things went steadily down hill from there. We fell apart. There was more than one strike out. We started to let balls go by us in the field. The Squares kept getting runs, and we kept getting out. Of course there were some good moments: Mark had a great inning-ending catch at second, Al kept pitching well, Sam kept catching everything in sight, and Erika had another great hit (a double!) which unfortunately ended in a sprained ankle at second base. We could complain that the umpires had a few calls that went the wrong way, but in the immortal words of Jack: A good team doesn't need luck. (Actually he was talking about something completely different and said it about a man, not a team, but I'm sure he'd stretch to this interpretation.)
Cue a 0 - 2 start to the Mobster season. We lost 13-10. Tom said that it might finally be time to hire (at no pay of course!) Martin to be our fitness coach. Paul B. said it was going to be all hitting at the next practice. Ho hum.
Anyway, it was fun and we were definitely the best looking team out there. C'mon Mob, let's get a win next week!!
* your match reporter forgot to keep track for the first few innings, so there's poetic license, the memories of others, and just plain rubbish reported above. Better than nothing?
by KK
The Mob Roster
Al Morin, Andy Stock, Greg Howarth, Jack Bremer, Mark Carroll, Sam Gibb-Cohen
Erika Hertel, Kendell Kennedy, Sarah Giles, Sarah Hamnett, Sharon Furlong
Man of the Match:
Erika Hertel, Kendell Kennedy, Sarah Giles, Sarah Hamnett, Sharon Furlong
Man of the Match: