The first league game: slo-pitch

So it was the real thing on Sunday. We were ready, rarin' to go, and rather dapper in our blue uniforms. And I even had three fans who came out to jeer cheer me! Yay for Muffin, Suzie, and my guy!

It was so-so close, but in the end we lost 15-13. Our bats were crackin' some wood, but our fielding definitely let us down. There were too many errors from our team -- in reality, an inability to stop infield hits that would have prevented plenty of runs from scoring. But we also had some awesome plays when it counted. And not that I was without error myself -- my fielding was fine, but I had a baserunning error that I'm still kicking myself over.

Still, it was our first game and we did OK. Personally, I went 3-for-3 at bat, with 2 RBI's and a run scored. I had some good catches at 1st base, and caught an infield fly. I had that one baserunning error, but managed to do some other good stuff around the diamond -- including two star-riffic slides that left me with ugly wounds on both my left shin and my left elbow. The first slide wasn't executed all that well -- can you blame me? I'd never slid before in my life!!! -- but the second slide saw me avoid the tag at 3rd base, from where I eventually scored my run. Yippee!

I tell ya, it was tons of fun! And, while my second and third hits were infield dribbles that I managed to convert into singles with some pretty solid speed to 1st, my first hit was a whopper. Well, for me, anyway. After a full count, my hit went over the head of the shortstop and was easily the best hit I've ever had. And, again, given the fact that my slo-pitch has been pretty limited to now, that's not a huge achievement. But still, I was pretty damn stoked to have a great hit after having taken a full count. Yay me!

Oh ya, and there was the other little point about my accidentally blocking runners along the baserunning path. OK, I'm the rookie -- please remember that! But I really need to remember to step out of the baserunner's path as I'm watching the play develop, instead of mistakenly blocking his or her path to 2nd. Must remember, must remember, must remember.

Next game: Thursday night!