FUN BUNCH STUN AQUABATS
Team beats league champions and move to 2-1 with a defensive gem.
OTTAWA — In a game that looked like it might be rained out, the Fun Bunch huddled under their umbrella’s and listened with trepidation as Steve “field marshall” Saunders read them the riot act. “You call yourselves ball players? You should all be ashamed to wear the Fun Bunch pinstripes after our last game”, he hollered over the inbound hurricane. When the clouds parted, the Fun Bunch knew exactly what must be done and proceeded to execute the battle plan to a “T”. Like the proverbial sows ear turning into a silk purse, Fun Bunch hitting—officially declared dead on arrival after last game—was successfully resuscitated. Leading the way was commander-in-chief Alison “bulldozer” Hale who rallied the troops by jarring two teeth loose from the Aquabats first baseman when she ran—shoulder first—across first base as he foolishly interfered with her as she bore down. “Sorry about that chief”, she chortled as he dug his teeth out of the dirt. Sporting a mouthful of blood and an anguished look he mouthed “fwank you” back to her. Oh but she wasn’t done yet. Newly rejuvenated after her successfully batting practice she proceeded to crush a pitch over everyone’s head for a stand-up double in the following inning. “If I was ten years younger that would have been an in-the-parker”, she said matter-of-factly as she tapped her cleats at second. Not to be outdone, Richard “wild thing” Bujold put on his own impressive show with a couple of spectacular plays to stop the ball and flip to Saunders at second base as he writhed in the wet clay. Maybe the prettiest play of the game occurred when Martin “the gazelle” Desjardins bore down on a well placed single up the middle, stabbed it with his glove and in one deft flick deposited it again in the outstretched mitt of Saunders—without ever handling the ball directly. “Spectacular is all I can say”, said the truly impressed shortstop. Rowena Sams generated some excitement of her own when she proceeded to beat out an infield hit, then advance to third on a single--by digging hard--and finally trot home on the next play to single-handedly manufacture the first run of the game. “I felt we needed a kick-start after our last outing”, she wheezed breathlessly after crossing home plate. The big inning came when Steve “downtown” Saunders lined a ball to the fence for a triple and then a couple of batters later the second of the “bash brothers”—Scott “boom-boom” Saunders—came to the plate and deposited the first pitch over the right field fence for a five run inning. But this was a team win with everyone contributing—including the plethora of fans who showed up to shout out their encouragement. Let it be known that the Fun Bunch have fired a warning shot over the bow of the Controllers who beat them in the regular season and will be their first opponent at 10 AM Sunday morning.
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