OTTAWA-The Mustangs--a new team fashioned from castoffs and also-rans of the Bass Line Station juggernaut--went down to defeat at the hands of the fun bunch for the second time. The team did a appear a bit stronger this outing however, with a couple of new women recruits who were solid players.

Before the game started, the captains conferred briefly to make sure both teams were ready. "We only have three women right now, so the rules say we can play with six guys", the mustang captain stated matter-of-factly. "Actually, dingle-nut, the rules say you can play with five guys and three women", team co-captain steve "field marshal" saunders retorted, promptly correcting him. "However, tonight we'll cut you some slack and let you play with six guys--but that will be the last time we do so", "field marshal" continued magnanimously.

The game was to start at 6:15, but as usual, by 6:20 the fun bunch were still missing a few players. Although Clark "pound 'em back" Lawlor said he and Kathie "daredevil" Adare would be late, John "hans solo" Devries was nowhere to be seen. Making an executive decision, "field marshal" told Corey "too tall" Ploegman to "suit up", so they could start the game.

The youngsters Leah "road runner" Morrel, Mark "polygon" Pintar and neophyte Jess "bulls-eye" Belanger were the first three to bat, and all got on base to load the bases and all came in to score on base hits from Alison "bulldozer" Hale and Nancy "southpaw" Harris.

In the second inning, once again "road runner" and "bulls-eye" got on board as well as Corey "too tall" Ploegman to load the bases. By this time, John "hans solo" Devries had decided to show up after a leisurely dinner including a fine cabernet sauvignon. Typically, batting at the bottom of the order, it was a rare opportunity for "hans solo" to come to the plate with runners aboard. Wasting no time he hit the first pitch smartly to left field. With a buffeting wind the ball continued to carry, farther and farther. As the wind hit a crescendo , the ball cleared the home run fence for "hans solo's" first ever grand slam home run. As his teammates congratulated him , "too tall" ran to pick up the game ball, for everyone to sign as a memento to commemorate this inaugural occurrence.

The Mustangs meanwhile were struggling offensively as they quickly went down 13-2 after three innings. This despite a couple of gargantuan hits from one of their new recruits, a powerful looking woman, who put the ball over both "pound 'em back's" head and then "hans solo". In fact, doing his best impression of richard "wild thing" bujold, "hans solo" ran back for the ball--which he clearly misplayed--and made a stab at it with his glove. Momentarily, snaring the ball in the tip of his webbing--his glove briefly resembled an overstuffed ice-cream cone. But alas, the ball squirted loose--like a greased pig at the county fair--and dropped to the ground with a plop, before "hans solo" compounded the mess by booting it farther into the outfield, for yet another error.

The game was a pretty routine drubbing, but had a couple of eventful moments as well. Mark "polygon" Pintar made an aggressive play, taking an extra base by running to third. As he arrived safely, he was unceremoniously plunked in the head with the ball. Stunned, he fell to the ground and appeared to lose consciousness. Soon, he sensed the light dim around him, and opened his eyes to see "field marshal" standing over him, arms akimbo. "ok, son let's get you up and get some ice on that welt. You're going to have a bit of a headache but you'll live", "field marshal" reassured him and pulled him to his feet. A little woozy, he stumbled to the dugout to ice down his quickly enlarging forehead.

In the sixth inning, scott "boom boom" saunders came to the plate. "field marshal" took a couple of steps back. "boom boom" had drilled him with a line drive right up the middle a couple of games ago and "field marshal" decided he needed a couple of extra feet to get out of the way should he try to do that again. As if on queue, "boom boom" drilled the ball, head high, directly at "field marshal". Displaying almost unnatural reflexes, "field marshal" spun to the left to avoid the incoming projectile. Missing his body entirely, the ball unfortunately hit one of the strings on his glove. As the play happened so quickly, both teams looked on in stunned silence unsure what exactly had transpired. Even though no one realized the ball had hit him, "field marshal" called his brother out as it was clearly the right thing to do.

In the fifth inning, Clark "pound 'em back" Lawlor came to the plate with no one on base. Before the words "don't hit a solo shot" were out of "field marshal's" mouth, "pound 'em back hit the first pitch over the fence for a wasted solo home run--their third and last one allowed for the game. His selfishness was compounded when the next three batters loaded the bases for "field marshal", who came to the plate, now unable to hit the ball over the fence for an easy grand slam. He glared at "pound 'em back" before delivering a clutch double instead.

The game was never close. Although the fun bunch went scoreless for two innings in the 6th and 7th, the mustangs could only score three runs to make the score 17-11. In the eighth inning, the fun bunch turned the thumb screws and scored five more runs. After the mustangs managed only a single run to make the score 22-12 in the bottom of the inning, they conceded defeat.