FUN BUNCH MAKE IT TWO IN A ROW
Solid team effort contributes to tight victory over Brawlers
OTTAWA-Facing their toughest rival to date, the never-say-die fun bunch pulled out all the stops to mount a come-from-behind win to beat the new-look brawlers. Staggering out of the starting gate, the fun bunch soon found themselves behind 5-2 after a couple of innings when the brawlers surprised them with a rock-solid lineup of hitters. With a new contingent of clearly experienced women to complement their rag-tag band of men, the brawlers will be a team to be reckoned with this season. The fun bunch meanwhile were without the services of Scott "boom boom" Saunders who was serving a one game suspension imposed by team co-captain Steve "field marshall" Saunders--dished out for his insubordination in the last game. Playing at Morrison diamond, both teams had a vast outfield at their disposal, however the sub-par field maintenance by city workers left the park with knee deep bundles of hay that wreaked havoc with the defense all game long. Once again, Richard "wild thing" Bujold was up to his old roller-coaster of hijinks to keep the crowd fully entertained. Pitching to Steve "downtown" Saunders, "wild thing" failed to get out of the way of a solid liner back through the pitching mound, earning himself a large welt and a tongue lashing from Saunders who was furious at being put out by his own player. Trying to play his way out of the doghouse "wild thing" followed that up by an in-the-park homerun consisting of a monster blast and some alacritous base running. Not content to quit while he was ahead, "wild thing" then proceeded to juggle a routine fly ball in a seeming audition for America's Got Talent before tumbling to the ground only to have the ball bounce off his head and land in the grass leading to an ill-timed double. Then the roller coaster swung fully into "descent" mode as "wild thing" left Martin "the gazelle" Desjardins flailing wildly at home plate as he struck him out with a series of terrible pitches as he wilted under pressure. Apart from the sideshow put on by "wild thing" the rest of the game was rather uneventful. It was a back-and-forth affair that featured solid hitting and defense from both teams. Noteworthy were a couple of terrific high-speed attempts by "the gazelle" to catch wayward fly balls as he dove mid-air with outstretched glove only to miss them by the slightest of margins but not for lack of effort or timing. As the top of the ninth inning rolled around, the fun bunch had only a precarious 14-12 lead. Instructing his team to "play like champions", Steve "downtown" Saunders strode confidently out to the pitching mound and proceeded to pitch a gem. With a demoralizing display of hitting prowess, the fun bunch batters dissected the brawler defense. Perhaps the defining moment of the inning occurred when captain Alison "bulldozer" Hale came to bat with two out and "downtown" on deck. Still pitching, "downtown" pleaded with "bulldozer" to dig deep and get on base so he would get one final at bat. With a playful wink, "bulldozer" crushed the first pitch into the gap for an easy single once again coming through with a clutch hit to lead by example. Saunders followed up with a scorching triple to clear the bases and drive in the fifth run of the ninth as he was left stranded at third by the next batter as the inning came to an end. Now up 19-12, the fun bunch knew what the brawlers were capable of after two five run innings during the game as they apprehensively made their way onto the field. A fortuitous hard liner to short for the first out lead to a quick three-up three-down inning as the fun bunch won their second game of the season.
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