And I wonder, still I Wonder, who'll stop the rain.

 

Game # 11 – June 27th, 2023

Hurtin' Units vs. Inglorious Batsters.

Hurtin' Units lose 17-8

Team Record 2-8-1

Coventry Park - The weather for this game was damp (not sure if damp qualifies as a weather word), the rain had fallen for the last few days and the park was a little soggy. The temperature was in the mid-20s, there was a strong breeze, an overcast sky with threatening clouds. In the morning rain fell heavily, I went over to the diamonds, in the afternoon, to get the low down on field conditions. There was a bit of standing water on all 3 diamonds, but if we got no more rain, it would probably drain/evaporate away. Brad Young actually went to the diamonds and did some raking maintenance before the games. Thanks, Brad. The official start time was 7:00pm, start your stopwatch.

At game time, the Units were down 3 players, Tom H., Nick and Jamie were missing for this game. Tom with injury and Nick at his daughter's graduation and Jamie recovering from surgery. We picked up Kevin Moore as a sub.

So in my last (not my last, last was about MYSTERY GUY, but the one before
that) Hurtin' Units post, I was feeling a little frustrated with what was going on with the time of the games. Dave S. sensed my frustration and like a good president gave me a call and we had a great discussion about time and a little bit about the time rule. The one thing that was bothering me from the last game was that we were told, if the game goes past an hour and 15 minutes it goes back to the previous inning. This is not how the rule reads! The rule is “ If an inning has begun before 1 hour and 5 minutes has elapsed, it must be completed.” It does not go back to the previous inning score, it must be completed.

The Hurtin' Units season has been a struggle. We have had moments when we looked unstoppable and then other moments when we just looked like any that could go wrong, would go wrong. This week we have 2 tough games and coming into this game we are winless in 6 games. This week we play the Inglourious Batsters and the Gamblers, both are tough outs. I'm not going to cry over spilled milk, but I think we have only had a full squad once or twice this entire season, we have guys who work shifts, guys who have had family or job commitments and a couple of injuries that have prevented us from fielding a complete team every game. This is probably the same for most teams, but I think it has played a part in our record.

Breaking News: In my last post (the real last post), the news broke that the Units have signed a free-agent player, but that mystery player has been sent to the Saskatchewan Sasquatch for two weeks on a conditioning stint. Hopefully, Mystery Guy will help the Hurtin' Units get back in the win column. Welcome aboard Mystery Guy.

Units' vs Batsters.

The Units were the home team in this game and we played the game on the Coventry # 3 diamond. Coming into this game the Inglourious had a record of 6-3-0.

Game Time: In the top of the first inning, the Batsters sent 4 batters up, 1 got on, 3 got out. In the bottom, the Units sent 4 batters to the plate, 3 got on bases, and 3 also got out.

In the top of the second inning, the Basters would send 5 batters to the plate, and 4 would get on base, but through force outs, nobody scored in the inning. In the bottom, the Units would score 2 runs sending 6 batters up.

In the third inning, the Batsters would get on the scoresheet, scoring 3 runs. The Units would tack on another run also. The score after 3 complete innings was 3-3.

In the fourth and fifth innings, the Basters would score 3 more runs, and the Units also scored 3 more runs. After 5 complete innings, we were tied again, this was a very close game. In the sixth inning, the Batsters went down quickly ( 4 batters), and the Units would score 2 more runs to take a lead. 8-6.

Going into the 7^th inning ( yes I said 7^th inning, this was a night that I kinda hoped ended after 6 innings), the Batsters came out like we had stolen their lunch money, they pounded the ball all over the park, and when the diamond dust settled (there was no diamond dust, too wet from all the rain) the Batsters had put up 11 more runs on the board. Holy Crap, what just happened? We went from leading 8-6 to trailing 17-8. In the bottom of the inning, the Units were shell-shocked and went down quickly, 5 batters, 3 out. And just like that we are 2-8-1 with the Gamblers on Thursday night June 29^th.