FUN BUNCH FINALLY WIN
Decimated team comes up big to break winless drought.
OTTAWA — A collective sigh of relief could be heard from Fun Bunch players, management and owners on Wednesday night as the down on their luck Fun Bunch came up big to beat the Brawlers 23-8 in a decisive victory. “Our best players came out last night and showed everyone what the Fun Bunch are capable of”, said recently re-instated team Captain Alison Hale, taking aim at the bevy of players who chose to skip the game in lieu of “other commitments”. “We’re in the heat of a pennant race, with two games to go before the tournament and on a three game losing skid to boot. It’s unacceptable to bail out on your team mates to attend a social function or hockey game or whatever”, Hale quavered in referring to AWOL players Scott “Boom-Boom” Saunders, Richard “Wild Thing” Bujold and John “Hans Solo” Devries who have earned themselves a one way ticket to the doghouse with their absence. Nevertheless, tonight was about the players who did show up and proceeded to school the Brawlers in “softball 101”. “Honestly, it’s hard to pick an MVP tonight because everyone played so well”, gushed rover Dom “The Dominator” Angelo. One worthy candidate might be third baseman Glen Rankin who had a stellar performance hammering two home runs—the second one scoring three runs—as well as making some exceptional plays at third. Outfielder Paolo Daros also stood out as he put on a hitting clinic, spraying balls all over the field with hard liners finishing the night 6 for 6 and showing his teammates what it takes to be successful come the tournament. “Steve told me to keep the ball in the park if no one is on base, so I tried my best”, Daros understated referring to player-coach and shortstop Steve “the hammer” Saunders. The Fun Bunch confounded the Brawlers all night with their speedy youngsters Tea “The Terminator” Derakhshan, and Angelo causing the infield to rush plays and throw the ball away at first several times. Add to that mix veteran power hitters Alison “Don’t Throw Home” Hale and Chantal “Bud Light Lime” Bujold and the Rebels were completely overwhelmed. Newcomer Dave “Lefty” Dawson came out to shore up the outfield and was particularly impressive given that he wore a right handed glove on the wrong hand all game. “I thought it was a joke initially”, first baseman Chantal Bujold said incredulously. Dawson, who retired from baseball ten years ago had been repeatedly recruited by Saunders to come out all year as a substitute. “Quite frankly the reason I’m here tonight is just to get Steve off my case”, a clearly exasperated Dawson sighed. That said, the game was not all clear sailing. Several times runners seemed to be confused about the “tag-up” rule or what to do in the case of a deep pop fly giving up valuable bases or making base running errors during the game. “It wasn’t a big deal tonight, but those are the plays that come back to haunt you in a tight game in the tournament”, remarked outfielder Martin Desjardins. An early inning miscue also resulted in a rare in-the-park home run when outfielder Daros charge a hard liner that proceeded to fly over his head. Rover Patti Anderson provided a lighter moment in the game when she screamed uncontrollably at an approaching fly ball. Sure-footed outfielder Desjardins came gliding to the rescue, however, resembling a gazelle in full stride, to make the catch and re-assure a visibly shaken Anderson. Another odd play had Glen Rankin contesting a “safe” call by his own umpire at second base. As Rankin strode of the field he muttered “ I was out by a country mile” leaving his teammates standing there nonplussed. Not content to let sleeping dogs lie, Saunders continued to argue heatedly with Rankin throughout the inning over the play but cooler heads prevailed as the Fun Bunch settled down to business. And saving the best ‘til last, outfielder Richard “wild thing” Bujold continued his playful ways by skipping the game and not bothering to deliver the bats to the diamond leaving his teammates to plead with the Brawlers to share their bats and even provide their own game ball. “Honestly, there is never a dull moment with ‘wild thing’ on our team”, chuckled Rankin as his teammates shook their heads in disdain.
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