THE WINNING STREAK COMES TO AN END
Team comes up short offensively to finish the tournament at 4-1 and advance to B Final
OTTAWA-The Fun Bunch just couldn't get going offensively in their final game of the tournament. The turning point probably occurred in the second inning when steve "downtown" saunders came to bat with two out and the bases loaded. He patiently let the first pitch go by, off the plate by a good foot or two, but chased an even worse second pitch--high and outside--to send a fly ball to the warning track for an out to lose out on a glorious opportunity for four much needed runs. Defensively, the team was very sharp with two magnificent catches by Alison "bulldozer" Hale in right rover, and another one by Nancy "knock em out of the park" Harris platooning in that position. "knock em out of the park" had previously sacrificed life and limb to keep an off-line throw in play , catching the ball hard off her nose in the process. "I'm ok, I'm ok", she said through gritted teeth as "field marshal" ran over to check on her, determined to stay in the game and do her best to help the team. Glen "the wrangler" Rankin also made one of his trade-mark sliding catches to rob bass line station of a hit and keep the game within reach. In fact, even Patti "gazoo" Anderson, decided she wanted to join in on the action and tried her best to snag an easy fly. But sadly, the ball would not comply as it hit the edge of her glove and landed softly on the grass. "Darn it, I didn't even scream or anything", she said dejectedly after the play. Down 12-3 heading into the bottom of the "endless" seventh inning, steve "downtown" saunders lead off and kept the ball in the park to save the precious home runs for when needed. Unfortunately he was forced out at second when "bulldozer" hit into a fielder's choice leaving a runner at first with one out. Paolo "slip-n-slide" Daros got the green light and parked the first home run of the game to score two much needed runs and make the score 12-5 as the fun bunch started chipping away at the lead. Richard "wild thing" Bujold then came to bat with two out and chances of a comeback fading fast. "wild thing" drilled a liner to the fence for an easy double. However, the bass line station fielder crumpled to the field as if shot by a rifle and began writing in agony. "keep running til the umpire calls time out", screamed pitcher steve "field marshal" saunders as "wild thing" complied and scampered home on a very odd in-the-park home run. The score was now 12-6 and that missed opportunity at the grand slam was coming back to haunt them as the next batter up grounded out and they headed to the B final with a respectable 4-1 record.
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