Larry Survives Trip to San Clemente as Split City Continues Run with OBI

On a long and lonesome highway, east of Blythe, C.A.
You can feel the eyes upon you,
As your vette spins outa control...

Well, something like that anyways... Larry survived the trip to San Clemente on Thursday night, however harrowing the spin and backwards trip across the desert transpired. And so did OBI !!!


After scoring 4 runs in the 5 inning Game 1 effort on a mere 9 hits, OBI went all Split City on Old Glory to win game 2 14-9. The evening was fun on the Launching Pad (aka Field 3) as OBI welcomed back KC for a visit and he collected 4 hits on the night including a Big Fly.  DC topped that with 2 HRs of his own on the night including a Grand Slam.

Game 1 was all about being quietly offensive. Tom was the only player to collect 2 hits. Same number of Sac Flies that Matt had in the game.  It was all about first inning defense as well with Old Glory hitting well and posting an opening 10 spot...

DC's 2nd inning lead off Home Run was our first run. Matt followed in the 3rd with his first Sac Fly. Down 15-2 going to the top of the 5th, with the bases loaded, Clint and Matt hit productive Sac Fly outs and the game was over one batter later.


Game 2 started with a two-out 2 spot by Split City (errrr, OBI) as Mike Doubled (first of three in the game) in a run and JR singled following to score him. In the second inning, Tom and Clint started with singles and were pushed across by Spillane and KC's singles (the latter with 2 outs).

Old Glory scored 3 to pull within one run but Mike's second Double was followed by Kyle's Double pushing the lead to two runs.

In the next two innings both Defense and Offense shone. With two outs in the top of the 4th, Michael ran down a deep drive in RF making an over the shoulder catch to end a scoring threat. Topping that in the top of the 5th, the infamous 6-8-5 putout on a ball that would have loaded the bases work out well as DC ran down the popup, Tom fielded the deflected ball and threw to Clint at 3B for an important force out.  Old Glory scored no runs in either inning.

Meanwhile, on offense, DC connected for a satisfying lead extending Grand Slam with one out in the 4th inning to score 4 including Spillane, Jakob and KC. Then in the 5th, KC hammered one out to LF scoring Spillane and Jakob. With Matt scoring in front of those 3, the lead extended to 13-3.


Game should have been over there but the Umpire thought it was only the 4th inning. Game On !!  And Old Glory put up a 4 spot to answer back in the 6th. OBI pushed across one and it could have been more but for a Double Play that included a tag out at the plate.

After a less painful top of the 7th, the split was in and folks were happy once again in the city...

The blog is back for a week, maybe more...

Stats for this season are being calculated and are anticipated to be posted on Monday evening!

Split City Returns After Larry’s No-No

On the wind swept plains of Victory Lane Sports Park, a call from the corn fields whispered across the Launching Pad that is Field 3... The conspiratorial whispers from the first base dugout stayed muted as Larry pitched into the fourth inning with nary a hit by the opposing team.


The 2-0 lead after two, blossomed to 10 in the third and topped at 23 after a 13 run outburst. No one realized the real story... In the dugout,,,


After two innings, the score was still close and discussion turned to Midlife Crisis not scoring any runs. At this point, there was more in what was not said than confirmation of the shutout. After a 1-2-3 third inning, the tension was mounting but no words were spoken about what was going down on the field.

After a 13 run top of the 4th, One Bad Inning led 23-0. This forced Midlife Crisis to score 9 runs just to stay in the game. To do this they needed an OBI type rally. They first needed to get a hit or One Bad Inning History would unfold in front of our eyes. With two outs in the fourth inning,,, a ground ball got by the first baseman,,, and well,,,

Larry faced 3 over the minimum in the 4 inning No-Hit Shutout. A ground ball to third in both the first and second innings that would not stay in the glove, caused the throws to be just late at first base.

Then with two outs in the fourth inning, a third ground ball went to first base and allowed another runner. Slightly misplayed, ticked off Joe’s glove and bounced into right field. The discussion was quick and unanimous, the bounce of the ball was true and an error accessed.

One out to go! The unspoken words between J.R. and Michael were carried between them as adrenaline flowed freely in the near empty dugout. A scary yet lazy fly ball fell deftly into the shortstops glove and history was made by Larry Schouten and the One Bad Inning Defense behind him,,, a 4-inning No Hitter indelibly etched into the fabric of everything OBI.

Congratulations Larry!!! Congratulations OBI!!! Thank you softball gods for allowing us to witness such an awesome event,,, even if we did not speak of it until afterwards.

Both J.R. and I were once again able to breathe following the final out. Wonder I did how long I had really been holding my breath…

Annnnnnnd then Split City showed up in game 2’s 11-20 loss. But who gives a shit?

This night was all about Larry’s No-No… Does not get any more special than that…

Those Guys Again...

One Bad Inning had another close visit from sleepy ol' Split City, to no avail... Those Guys were able to hand us another sweep, winning the games by counts of 21-9 and 12-9...

OBI was extremely consistent in everything except starting lineup and the batting order. Had late afternoon add ons, folks running late, and people hitting out of order. But that all worked out as Brent hit 3rd and Brian T. in the clean up spot where he was good for two Big Flies on the evening.

The consistency portion of the effort:

9 - Runs scored in each game
18 & 19 - Hits in each game
36 & 37 - At Bats in each game
21 & 12 - Runs Given up in each game

Extraordinary Efforts on the night:

Brian T. with his two HRs including a 3-run shot in the bottom of game 1's first inning. This gave us a 4-1 lead which was our only lead that lasted to another innning... Just Sayin'

Clint had hits in his first 6 ABs and was 6-7 for the night...

Fill-In Juan had 5 hits but did not wear pajama bottoms...

Pretty much everyone else had 3 hits and scored a couple runs ,,, yeah!

Michael had a triple in game 1 while both Clint and Juan doubled in Game 2. That does it for any / all extra base hit talk.

Consistent yet Cray Cray,,, Sad yet Demented ...

We may be short a player or two this week but should bounce back next week and have a good 14 in the lineup. Just feels like that sort of season... ;~) Play Ball !!!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly ...

This past Thursday, One Bad Inning lost two to KG/AB (aka The Heights). Split City made a brief showing in Game 2, but left faster than Matt after game 1 due to a sore hand (aka he is lonely)...

Great, two sentences in and I am already spewing negativity in the form of masturbation jokes. Oh, prolly should not have explained that one. Ummm, may standard out comes next,,, but I digress...

This weeks movie review is a 1966 Italian epic Spaghetti Western story played out across the confines of Field 2 at Victory Lane Sports Park. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly film is seen as a highly influential example of the Western film genre and one of the greatest films of all time.

The games played on Field 2,, meh,,, not so much...

The Good = 32 Runs Scored in 10 Innings.
The Bad = 51 Runs Allowed in 9 Defensive Innings.
The Ugly = Giving our opponent 4,5,6 outs during a few innings, conservatively speaking... 

Our offense continues to be a work in progress in the upper divisional play. Our Defense is typically one that keeps us in games... Needless to say, improving our "D" will go a long way to ensuring we play more like Split City over time.

Game 1 was all about our first inning offensively as we sent 12 men to the plate scoring 6 runs.

Game 2 was much more competitive as we were tied at 9 after 2 innings and jumped ahead by 8 going into the bottom of the 4th inning. The second inning explosion included 3-run Home Runs from both J.R. and John...

Brothers John and Brian Bartinelli had 7 hits in the contest and were 12-14 for the night. J.R. had 6 RBIs in his 3 Game 2 At Bats... Jayse had 2 Triples,,, and Tom & Michael each had 3 hits...

Everyone contributed in both games and as we continue to do the same,,, Split City will come back and eventually be kicked to the curb by Let's Take Two ...

Okay, a lame Sweep reference but hey, at least you have a blog entry to read. Oooouuuuuttttt !!!

By The Time I Get to Tampa,,, the TOC Will Be Starting ...

In a magical land far, far to the east of Phoenix, there lies a little town called Lakeside, FL... Ya, I know this should have been Orlando but that just did not work for me...

OBI will be representing at the SSUSA Tournament of Champions as Michael Lee will be playing with the 55+ Major division AZ Legends. It really is more impressive sounding than reality. That said, this tourney is of higher prestige than the World Championship tournament in Vegas each September.

But the realllllly importante' thing is,, Life is slowing down enough that I feel like writing again. In fact, later this month, the musical group PreCog will be releasing a song (Love is...) that I wrote lyrics for and gifted to them. Ya, pretty sappy... But it shows that the creative mental juices are flowing again...

Am almost caught up on the stats and will be posting again after we play this week. Anticipating 2016 final stats dropped into the blog before I head to Floriday...

Laters !!!

The Postman Always Rings Twice ...

It has been said that time and space are relative... And we all need more space because over time, we get more relatives that seem so dependent upon us adults...

And in a land, not too far, far away,,, there currently is a young couple who are on the precipice of changing their names from Brittany and Jayse, to Mom and Dad...

Yes, it is true... A wonderful and magical land where Walk-Off HRs are found on field 6, where improbable but legendary three Triple games fall like wildfire when there is not a score book in sight,,, the beauty of family will be bestowed upon the Meyer family.

The only real bad news is,, we will be missing Jayse for at least one week due to impending Daddy Duties.

Oh, and I found the answer to that silly opening title. If the postman always rings twice, you prolly need a new doorbell... 

ps. If you are reading this post while escorting your gal in the hospital hallway, you may want to FOCUS on Job 1 ... Congrats Jayse and Brittany !!!

Split City Makes a Triumphant Return to end 6-Game Skid

Split City showed up this week and helped (4-8) OBI move into a tie in the lower half of the standings. The 10-9 Game 1 victory over Warning Track Power was our 3rd win against them this season. Only other victory was against League Leading DL, who are a spirited 11-1 (Yes, we gave them their only loss of Season 4).

With only one week to go till the end of this season, our chances are slightly less than nil to make the playoffs. However, we will get to experience our first Week 8 Double Header that means absolutely nothing,,, or slightly less than nothing as it were...

My thoughts drift forward to Season 5 and the fine recovery effort that I believe our bats will be awake and ready to take on... In preparation, I am very interested in a few logistical and not nearly metamorphic thoughts:

-- First, we are carrying 14 players on the roster at this time and we can drop the Season League Fees from $55 to $50 for next season.
-- Next, if you are interested in getting some time at another position, come see Clint, Spillane or I and we will work it into the mix the next couple of weeks. The caveat here may be player availability (aka Who Shows and Who Does Not, Just Sayin')...
-- Third, the second point may be mute if they break up our division into upper and lower tourney brackets... 
-- All that said, I am just writing this line so that I have some additional words to use as filler with my thoughts wavering due to an upcoming meeting that I do not want to attend,,, but I digress.

From the category of what reallllly happened against WTP:
-- Matt and his injured knee were a collective 6 for 7.
-- Clint owned a patch of grass in deep 1B/very shallow RF collecting at least two hits there that actually may have backed up on the green...
-- Jayse had four hits and played well defensively.
-- Juan almost killed the pitcher and hit 2 HRs.
-- Spillane finally avoided defenders with his well hit balls. Go Chris !!! 2 Triples.
-- Brian was consistent picking up a HR and a triple in his 4 hits.
-- Erin was hot and cold a the plate with 3 hits in Game 1 and 3 At Bats in Game 2... He did stay on his feet for multiple catches in the OF.
-- Tom followed up his Week 5 performance (included a HR) with 3 hits and a Sac Fly.
-- Larry consistently found a hole in the stacked defense and finally hit a screaming slow roller to the third baseman who was playing SS,,, for another hit.
-- JR had a big hit in Game 2 to help us get back in the game, though hit the ball consistently to his friend in LC for outfield practice.
-- Paul was another hot/cold player, but the big news was that having him run the bases for the injured or for himself was risky business.
-- And finally Michael, 4 hits a walk and unfortunately, made the final out with tying runs on base in Game 2...

Stats are still in progress... Update coming soon.