OTTAWA- In what appeared to be a case of "deja vu all over again", the Fun Bunch faced Bass Line Station(BLS) for what seemed like the second week in a row. Although technically they played "the mustangs" last week, there were a lot of familiar faces in the BLS dugout. It seems "the mustangs" are in fact just the farm team for BLS, the battle-hardened-take-no-prisoners-win-at-any-cost team of triple-A elite players. Despised league-wide for their antics of stacking their team to win the tournament every year, this game was going to be a true test of Fun Bunch fortitude. Glen "the wrangler" Rankin summed it up best when he calmly surveyed the other team warming up, resplendent in their head-to-toe baseball regalia and remarked, "let's beat the snot out of them".

Thankfully the weather cooperated and they had perfect conditions unlike the week before where temperatures hovered slightly above freezing. The Fun Bunch also fielded their largest team of the season and one of the biggest turnouts ever--five women and seven men--only one short of a full contingent due to a broken toe for Rowena "scoresheet" Sams who was forced reluctantly to sit out a game after kicking a box of drywall mud in anger over the last game. Once again, however, the Fun Bunch continued their annoying habit of spotting the other team a big lead to start the game.

Down seven runs after the first inning and a half, it was co-captain Alison "bulldozer" Hale's turn to tear a strip off her teammates for their lackadaisical performance. "For pete's sake would you guys please try your darndest", she reprimanded them in her firmest tone doing her best to instill fear and respect. Stifling back chuckles and guffaws, her teammates appeared ready to ignore her request until a rather large shadow appeared from behind. Steve "field marshal" Saunders was not impressed with the lack of respect the team was showing his co-captain, and let them know what he thought rather matter-of-factly. "You heard the young lady you maggots. Now wipe those stupid smirks off your face and get out there and start playing ball", he admonished them at the top of his lungs causing BLS to sit up and take notice.

Given their marching orders, the Fun Bunch responded with seven runs of their own in the next two innings while keeping BLS to only a single run closing the gap to 8-7 for BLS after three innings. "Bulldozer" got on base to lead the charge bringing steve "downtown" saunders to the plate. With his little brother scott "boom boom" saunders set to pitch, "downtown" once again calmly gave him sage advice. "toss it in like a beachball", he cooed, immediately putting "boom boom" at ease. When the first pitch came in way outside, the fun bunch dugout let out a collective gasp and "boom boom" made a loud gulping noise--you could hear a pin drop. "that one's not too bad, but I know you can do better. Now think beachball right over the plate", "downtown" calmly and melodically instructed his little brother instantly soothing his frayed nerves. Wasting no time, "downtown" absolutely pummelled the next pitch into oblivion. Yes, it was only a two run shot, but "downtown" knew he had to give the team a morale boost--and pronto--to right this listing ship. Mission accomplished. The sheer magnitude of his mighty blast had the effect he was looking for. Shoulders slumped over in the BLS dugout. Spirits lifted and smiles broke out in the Fun Bunch dugout. All of a sudden - they were back in the game!

The rally continued with Richard "wild thing" Bujold stretching out a double to be driven in by "boom boom" for the third run of the inning. Next inning was even better with home runs from Mark "polygon" pintar and Clark "pound em back" lawlor, to bring the score to within one run. At this point, however the Fun Bunch were out of home runs so would have to get creative for the next six innings.

Despite the fact that the Fun Bunch women were all making solid contact with the ball and driving it deep, they were for the most part not getting rewarded as balls that would usually drop in the gap, were being drilled directly to the outfielders. Patti "gazoo" Anderson continued her torrid hitting, drilling the ball hither and yon, but again with such force that the outfielders were able to reel them in. Nancy "triple threat" Harris was the sole exception. She went a perfect five for five, spraying her hits around the infield and down the line with precision to have a perfect night.

The boys struggled somewhat once they ran out of home runs -- hitting four balls over-the-fence-for-outs-- unable to keep the ball down. Leading the charge was "pound em back" with two undisciplined home-runs-for-outs. Even "downtown" hit a rare homerun-for-out despite holding the bat upside down in an attempt to quell his unharnessable power. Alsas, it was futile as the ball sailed over the deepest part of center field despite his valiant attempt."Sorry guys", he apologized, "I'm just not capable of keeping it in the park. Maybe I'll try a plastic bat and whiffle ball next time".

In a dramatic moment on the field, "boom boom" drilled a well placed single up the middle in the fourth inning. Despite his cat-like reflexes, "field marshal" was unable to dodge the incoming missile completely and it careened off his calf for an out to be hit by a ball for the first time in 30 years. Yawning and shaking off what might have debilitated a lesser player, "field marshal" consoled his little brother and continued pitching--like water rolling off a duck's back.

As the game continued, the Fun Bunch now clung to a narrow lead. Leading the team's renaissance was clearly Richard "wild thing" Bujold. Playing second base, it seemed like he was involved in every play--cutting off throws from the outfield, snagging line drives, relaying grounders to second, throwing runners out at first--he did it all and with aplomb albeit not always gracefully. Not content to rest on his laurels, he continued to lead by example at the plate where he went four for four as he aggressively ran around the bases including a highlight reel steal of third. Feigning a walk back to second, he timed his play perfectly and took off for third as soon as the outfielder let his guard down. Building up some serious momentum (wild thing is not a small man), he was coming in hard to third and realized stopping might be an issue as the ball sailed in simultaneously. Reaching third a heartbeat ahead of the ball, "wild thing" attempted to "drop anchor" and stop. With the laws of physics not cooperating, he continued to travel past third much to his horror. Tilting is head he caught an unimpressed "field marshal" , arms akimbo and watching the spectacle with derision as he floundered in the dirt like a beached whale. Summoning all his competitive drive "wild thing" jabbed out blindly with his right toe and caught the edge of the base just before the tag was applied. "SAFE", the umpire screamed and the Fun Bunch dugout erupted in spontaneous applause. Feeling pride wash over him, "wild thing" struggled to his feet. Making a feeble attempt to clean his uniform, he stirred up a huge plume of dust before he removed his cap and took an awkward bow and smiled--his face barely recognizable through the thick layer of dirt. Chants of "MVP, MVP", could be heard from both dugouts. "Wild Thing" just stood there and took it all in. Realizing this might very well be his defining moment, a tear escaped and trickled down his face--march of the gladiators could be heard faintly in the distance. The Fun Bunch--spurred on by "wild thing's" heroics finished out the inning to beat Bass Line Station 17-14.