Good Season Ends with a Thud

(I said "losers, not "lugers!)

We won our first two games of the playoffs to reach the championship game, but that's where the dream season ended. I won't give a lot of details because I'm tired and I want to go to bed, so here is the gist.

In game one we were down three runs in the bottom of the 7th. I led off the inning with a base hit to left center. I made it over to third and with bases loaded, Scott it a walk off grand slam.

In game two we played even for awhile, but eventually we pulled a way for a solid win.

The championship game opened up with the longest inning we've had in a long time. The team we played scored 16 runs in the top of the 1st inning. Back to back home runs (and nearly a third) combined with errors put us in a huge hole. We scored 1 in the bottom of the 1st. We lost 23-5 to a team we did beat this year. Bottom line is they had the ball really well and we didn't.

I feel like I played really well offensively and defensively this year. I'm looking forward to the next softball season, whenever that may be.

Ok, I'm exhausted. Good night.

Softball Follow-up

I forgot to mention out team is probably leading the league in double plays this season. If my calculations are correct, we have turned nine double plays and one triple play this season. It helps to have a 6' 4" shortstop with a good glove. We have made our share of errors this year, but I feel we have the best defense by far.

Softball Playoffs

We will try and fit in the playoffs all in one night, Thursday, October 28th. We play the winner of game 1 at 7:30. If we win, will will play again at 8:30. The championship game is at 9:30 if we make it that far. Three wins in one night...we can do it.

Softball Regular Season Ends

We swept a doubleheader last night to end our regular season 7-0. The playoffs start next week, but I'm still waiting on the schedule.
I pitched all seven games this season and delivered my fair share of offense. Last night's games were a struggle early on, but we finally got our bats going.
The first game we were down 6-2 in the bottom of the 6th and then scored 12. We held them to 3-up, 3-down in the 7th to win.

The second game was frustrating due to errors and hitting the ball right at the other team, however we played good enough defense late and scored a few timely runs. We were down 9-8 going into the bottom of the 6th and scored one run to tie it 9-9. We held them scoreless in the top of the 7th and won a gapper to right center to end the game 10-9.

I took a line drive off the hand in the last inning of the last game, now my right index finger feels like its going to pop. It's all blue and green, but should hopefully be better in time for next weeks playoffs.

Election

I was going to write a long rant about the election and our crop of candidates, but I thought I may offend friends or family if I posted what I really wanted to say...so I 'll just say this:

I have never disliked two candidates platforms more than I dislike Jack Conway's and Rand Paul's. I stop short of disliking them personally, because I don't know them, but that is merely a technicality. I won't even mention the candidates favored around the country...blech!

Does spitting in the ballot bubble count as filling it in?

Metal Detecting Excursion

This post is directed at Mark and Dad. It has been a long time since I've been out metal detecting. With the weather fianlly turning cooler, and hopefully with some rain on the way to soften the ground, I would like to get out and hunt. I don't have any recommendations for locations, but would like to plan a trip somewhere. Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas.

The "Softball" Bats

The last two games of our regular softball season is Thursday night at 6:30 & 7:30. We will then enter the playoffs. We are currently 5-0 and will hopefully be able to eek out the last two. I will put my pitching record on the line as well and then hopefully will be able to pull off a "Halladay" like performance in the playoffs.

Or For Those Visual Learners...Poetry in Motion

Please forgive the commercial.

"Bat's Softball Goes 5-0 as Tabler Pitches Back to Back Gems"

The Bats softball team swept a double header last night to extend their record to an unbeaten 5-0. The first game we slowly extended the lead each inning with timely hitting. Three double plays also helped.

My offense was decent, but not great. I hit the ball solid, but only went 1-3 in the first game and 2-4 in the second. A good diving snag on a line drive by the shortstop in the second game cost me a hit.

My defense was the best part of my game tonight (yes...I was pitching). I turned one double play on a well hit grounder back up the middle and I beat the runner twice while covering on plays at first base. The first time, our first baseman flipped the ball to me and I had to dive for the bag to beat the guy. It was a good chance for me to get dirty.
I was thrown out at the plate coming from second in the last game, but everyone saw I was safe. The guys glove was on the back side of the plate as I slid in. The umpire even laughed and shrugged saying "the throw beat you," but I could tell he knew he missed it.

Buckle B Gets a Grip

Up through July, I had not shot a round of golf out of the 70's all year. However, my last five rounds of golf have been in the mid-80's. I know I won't get a lot of sympathy, but shut up...this is my blog.

I felt helpless trying to figure out what was going on and it has been disappointing because I have played some very nice courses lately. I have never been a model of consistency when it comes to my golf game. Sometimes I can hit a shot few golfers can pull off and other times it looks like I've never played the game before.

I dislike driving ranges. The only time I appreciate them is to hit a few balls before a round or if I am in desperate need to find a swing thought or make a change. My recent play sent me to the range and, surprisingly, it was a success.

I won't tell you this will change my game forever...I'm sure I'll be working on something else before the end of the year. But for now, I feel confident with my ball striking again and that feels good. This is what I did.

I rotated my right hand about an 1-1/2" towards the top of the club at address. That's it. My right hand was getting too far underneath which made it hard to strike the ball crisply and with the compression I needed for distance and control. By moving my right hand slightly, I can now feel the club between my right thumb and forefinger. Now, instead of my right palm facing the sky at impact, it is facing down and towards the target.

Basically, I went from this:

To this:

Roy McAvoy may be able to explain it better than I can

Ryder Cup

The U.S. gave a good effort in the singles matches, but came up a little short and lost the cup 14-1/2 to 13-1/2. The rookies played better than I expected. The one rookie I thought would do well didn't play so well all week; Matt Kuchar struggled.

Tiger Woods also played better than I thought he would winning several points along with Steve Stricker.
Anyway, the picture below is a neat shot from a duffed Tiger Woods pitch shot. The ball actually hit the camera. I love the overall expression of the crowd...especially the guy on the right with the cigar. Nice!