Round Two Summary; Fall 2007
Softballs: 19
Dirty Pirate Hookers: 20
11/12/07, Monday, 6:00 PM @ Coyne Field
Round Two of the 2007 Fall Playoffs pitted the hard hitting Softballs against the Dirty Pirate Hookers. The Hookers prevailed as soon as the ball flew off the bat of Mark M to score the speedy Todd S from 3B.
Although the final tally suggests a close slug fest, the Hookers never trailed at the end of any inning. Anytime Softballs scored, the Hookers response was swift. John C was asked his thoughts on why the game ended close: “Just extra effort…people were trying to do too much to put it away…it’s not football. You gotta stick with your game; we got away from that a bit toward the end. You still have to run the bases properly…hit your cutoffs…make your plays.” He also said he wasn’t disappointed with any facet of the Hookers’ game: “We just need to keep our heads and play within ourselves…you can’t hit a 5 run homer…”
Deryl B started the game beguiling batters with a dizzying array of floaters, hooks, and changes. Deryl’s junk found no favor, however, with Blue whose strike zone had both teams baffled. Regardless, Deryl shut Softballs out in the first and turned the game over to Ben Ho with a lead in the 3rd. Ben Ho, who throws a flatter pitch, had more luck with blue’s strike zone and managed to contain Softballs until the top of the 7th.
John C employed an unusual 5 person OF—pulling the 2B to short center when Softballs men were batting. This arrangement proved effective, but at times seemed to cause some confusion when the Hookers didn’t play deeply enough to fully exploit the advantage. Confusion aside, the Hookers were never burned for vacating 2B and John C felt it was a plus overall.
Offensively, the Hookers quickly answered any challenge by Softballs who fully exploited the cold hardened ball, a stiff wind blowing out to left, and their fancy composite bat by launching massive bombs to LF and CF. The Hookers instead relied on a proven big field approach using hard line drives to the gaps to score their runs.
Surely line drives are not as glamorous as blasting bombs that run the risk of being caught, but prove very effective at turning the lineup over. Softballs found it nearly impossible to keep the Hookers off the bases with the Hookers posting an impressive .578 OBP to Softballs .521 OBP--although both teams seemingly sent waves of batters to the plate. Every Hooker contributed to the onslaught except for Brett B who ran into bad luck by launching several bombs that would’ve gone out of any fence wrapped park.
Despite Softballs tying the game with a huge 7 spot in the top of the 7th, the Hookers were unimpressed. A nearly great catch by Matt T would’ve sent Softballs packing sooner—the wind held a mid-LF pop up fair and somehow Matt T managed to glove it. His momentum carried him a bit too far and the ball struck the heel of his glove leading to several runs. “Amazing effort…I don’t know how he got there…” said John C. There was some sourness on the part of Softballs with complaints that Ben Ho intentionally walked one of their guys. “I don’t know nothing about that” said John C. “Think about the situation, 1 out, runners on 1B and 3B why the hell put more runners on intentionally? We’re playing for outs there…”
Todd S started things off for the Hookers in the bottom of the 7th. His speed forced an E-6 and he ended up at second on the rushed wide throw. Christina ripped a single to move Todd over to 3B and Mark M finished the Softballs season with another big Hooker hit.
Things won’t be any easier for the Hookers tonight as they face the well balanced Albany Med or the hard hitting Underdogs.
Although the final tally suggests a close slug fest, the Hookers never trailed at the end of any inning. Anytime Softballs scored, the Hookers response was swift. John C was asked his thoughts on why the game ended close: “Just extra effort…people were trying to do too much to put it away…it’s not football. You gotta stick with your game; we got away from that a bit toward the end. You still have to run the bases properly…hit your cutoffs…make your plays.” He also said he wasn’t disappointed with any facet of the Hookers’ game: “We just need to keep our heads and play within ourselves…you can’t hit a 5 run homer…”
Deryl B started the game beguiling batters with a dizzying array of floaters, hooks, and changes. Deryl’s junk found no favor, however, with Blue whose strike zone had both teams baffled. Regardless, Deryl shut Softballs out in the first and turned the game over to Ben Ho with a lead in the 3rd. Ben Ho, who throws a flatter pitch, had more luck with blue’s strike zone and managed to contain Softballs until the top of the 7th.
John C employed an unusual 5 person OF—pulling the 2B to short center when Softballs men were batting. This arrangement proved effective, but at times seemed to cause some confusion when the Hookers didn’t play deeply enough to fully exploit the advantage. Confusion aside, the Hookers were never burned for vacating 2B and John C felt it was a plus overall.
Offensively, the Hookers quickly answered any challenge by Softballs who fully exploited the cold hardened ball, a stiff wind blowing out to left, and their fancy composite bat by launching massive bombs to LF and CF. The Hookers instead relied on a proven big field approach using hard line drives to the gaps to score their runs.
Surely line drives are not as glamorous as blasting bombs that run the risk of being caught, but prove very effective at turning the lineup over. Softballs found it nearly impossible to keep the Hookers off the bases with the Hookers posting an impressive .578 OBP to Softballs .521 OBP--although both teams seemingly sent waves of batters to the plate. Every Hooker contributed to the onslaught except for Brett B who ran into bad luck by launching several bombs that would’ve gone out of any fence wrapped park.
Despite Softballs tying the game with a huge 7 spot in the top of the 7th, the Hookers were unimpressed. A nearly great catch by Matt T would’ve sent Softballs packing sooner—the wind held a mid-LF pop up fair and somehow Matt T managed to glove it. His momentum carried him a bit too far and the ball struck the heel of his glove leading to several runs. “Amazing effort…I don’t know how he got there…” said John C. There was some sourness on the part of Softballs with complaints that Ben Ho intentionally walked one of their guys. “I don’t know nothing about that” said John C. “Think about the situation, 1 out, runners on 1B and 3B why the hell put more runners on intentionally? We’re playing for outs there…”
Todd S started things off for the Hookers in the bottom of the 7th. His speed forced an E-6 and he ended up at second on the rushed wide throw. Christina ripped a single to move Todd over to 3B and Mark M finished the Softballs season with another big Hooker hit.
Things won’t be any easier for the Hookers tonight as they face the well balanced Albany Med or the hard hitting Underdogs.
| Boxscore | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Softballs | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 19 | 23 | 1 | |
| DPH | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 26 | 2 |
| Player | PA | AB | H | W | K | SF | S | 1B | 2B | 3B | HR | TB | XB | R | RBI | Avg | OBP | Slg | Iso |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christina | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.571 | 0.571 | 0.571 | 0.000 |
| Erika G | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 0.667 | 0.667 | 0.667 | 0.000 |
| Jessica G | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0.571 | 0.625 | 0.571 | 0.000 |
| Jo Ho | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.400 | 0.333 | 1.000 | 0.600 |
| Tracy Z | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.143 | 0.143 | 0.143 | 0.000 |
| Ben Ho | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 3.000 | 2.000 |
| Brett B | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Deryl B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.500 | 0.500 |
| John C | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 0.500 | 0.500 | 1.000 | 0.500 |
| Mark E | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.250 | 0.250 | 0.250 | 0.000 |
| Mark M | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0.875 | 0.875 | 2.125 | 1.250 |
| Matt T | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 0.750 | 0.750 | 1.875 | 1.125 |
| Mike F | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.500 | 1.500 |
| Todd S | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0.571 | 0.625 | 1.143 | 0.571 |
| Totals: | 45 | 44 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 44 | 19 | 20 | 17 | 0.568 | 0.578 | 1.000 | 0.432 |
| Pitchers | IP | R | ER | H | K | BB |
| Deryl | 2 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Ben Ho | 5 | 14 | 12 | 17 | 0 | 2 |
