HOUSE (Of Cards) FOLDS AS MIGHTY ZEPPELINS ATTACK
By Eddie James (pinching in as Coach and Blogger)
Wednesday evening the Zeppelins took the field against the House of Representatives. This looked to be the toughest challenge yet this season, as the House finished the 2012 regular season with the best record in the league at 6-1 and averaging just under 10 runs per game.
Deer Antler Velvet Spray Scandal
Coach Linda Regira was absent, but NOT on vacation as she had reported to her team last week. Monday evening the news broke about the suspension of Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun by Major League baseball for using performance enhancing drugs. Just hours later, authorities in Coral Gables, Florida detained LED Zeppelins’ Coach Linda Regira at the offices of Biogensis of America. The company’s labs were purported to be the supplier of illegal substances that got Braun his 65 game suspension. The Zeppelins were shocked to learn that Coach Regira had attempted to secure large quantities of deer antler velvet spray. Both Braun and New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez have been rumored to have been using the spray to boost their performance. To the company’s credit, they refused to provide the drugs, despite repeated and fervent pleas from Regira. A Biogenesis official, who asked to not be identified, told reporters: “For God’s sake, her team plays co-ed softball!” It would seem that the coach was quite unnerved about the strength of the House team, and was looking to give the Zeppelins any advantage possible. She was given a one week suspension by the Capitol Complex league, but is eligible to return next week. The team is thus far standing by their coach, but was sadly shocked to learn just how seriously she clearly takes the game. In her absence, Eddie James filled in as interim manager for this week’s game against the House.
1st inning
The first inning was all defense, as neither team was able to produce a base runner.
House 0 Zeps 0
2nd inning
In the top of the second, the House team showed the talent that earned them the league’s best record last year by putting the Zeppelins in a deep hole, scoring 4 runs with several consecutive hits. Undaunted, the scrappy Zeppelins fought back in the bottom of the second, scoring three runs of their own. Gary Beadle led off with a single, and advanced to second on a single by Melissa Moore. They were both driven home on probably the best hit so far this season, a triple by Victor Moore. With two outs, first-game rookie Devin Harrison drove Victor home with an impressive single in his first Zeppelin at bat.
House 4 Zeps 3
3rd inning
The House went 3 up-3 down in the top of the third, but not in the conventional way. A lead-off single was followed by a scorching line drive to right center. Paige Ovens cleverly enticed the House base runners to take extra bases when she appeared to let the ball get well past her. The relay throw went to Chelsea Harris, who threw a bullet to home plate. Seeing the ball waiting for him at home plate, the lead runner returned to third base, but the batter had already rounded seconded and was almost to third base as well. A throw to Eric Burton resulted in the batter being tagged for the first out, and Eric’s laser throw rifled to back to the plate wrapped up a very impressive double play. The third batter flied out to the infield to end the top of the 3rd.
In the bottom half, Christian Pennington doubled with one out. He moved to third base on Eric Burton’s single, and then scored on a double by Eddie James. Eric scored on a single by Paige Ovens, who ended up at second after an error in the field. Melissa Moore then ripped a line drive single to the outfield to drive in Eddie, but Paige was cut down at the plate trying to score.
Zeps 6 House 4
4th inning
With one out in the top of the 4th, the House got a base runner on an infield hit, but he was left stranded after groundouts by the next two hitters. The Zeps continued to pour on the offense in the bottom of the 4th with 5 more runs. Victor Moore led off with a single, and went to second on a fielder’s choice by Leigh Ann Burton. Russell Richardson then drove Victor home with a long double to the warning track in left center, a beautiful shot which he appeared to admire at the plate for quite a few seconds. He moved to third on Devin’s second single of the game, and was then driven home on a single by Chelsea. Matt Wattingy then hit a triple, sending home both Devin and Paige Ovens who had come in to run for Chelsea. Note: Chelsea was a very gutsy trooper, as she was pretty sick all day, but still answered the bell—and had to play the entire game as she was the required 4th Zeppelin lady on Wednesday’s roster. Christian Pennington then continued his best offensive game of the season, with a single that scored Matt, but was left stranded on base when the next two batters both failed to reach base.
Zeps 11 House 4
5th inning
Victor Moore came in to pitch the 5th and kept the House from scoring any runs. In the bottom of the 5th, LED continued to pour it on with 3 more runs. Paige led off with a single, but was out at second on a fielder’s choice by Gary. Melissa singled, and both Gary and Melissa then went home on Victor’s double, his third hit of the game. A grounder by Leigh Ann scored Victor, but she was cut down at first for the second out. Russell singled, but was left stranded when the next batter lined out to end the inning.
Zeps 14 House 4
6th inning
With a ten run lead, the first in their history, things were looking good for the Zeppelins. However, the question remained of how well they could handle such success, uncharted territory for LED softball . Eddie returned to pitch the 6th, but it was evident he was not doping or using deer antler velvet. The first two batters singled. The next batter grounded to Chelsea, who made a very heady choice to tag the runner moving over from first. With runners on first and third and only one out, the next hitter singled to load the bases. Things seemed reasonably in hand when the next weakly punched the ball just over the infield. On the next pitch to the plate, the Zeppelins’ defense melted on countless throwing errors by multiple players. When the dust settled, all three runners scored, as did the batter (Eddie claims to have blacked out during the play, which is plausible had one seen the throw he made during the carnage).
The horror of that error filled grand slam by the House by the Zeppelin defense carried over to the turn at the plate. The first two hitters made outs, but Christian Pennington continued his torrid pace with his third hit of the game, only to be left stranded as the next batter flied out.
Zeps 14 House 8
7th inning
Eddie took the hill again in the top of the seventh. A victory over the mighty House team was just three outs away, with the Zeps holding a comfortable 6-run lead. The House team again showed they don’t have any quit in them. They proceeded to send hitter after hitter to the plate. One run scored, then two more, then another, and the Zeppelin lead was down to 2 runs. Some solid defense by Melissa Moore helped keep the score in check at that point. So, with runners on first and third, and the go-ahead run at the plate with two outs, Eddie finally coaxed the House batter at the plate into a pop-up, and a historic win was in the books.
Records:
The third victory matches the cumulative total of wins in the entire history of the team, and they currently hold a 3-2 record in games played on the field.
The Zeppelins have now scored 32 runs this season in 5 games, already smashing the previous best of 23 in 2012, and still with 3 games to play. Twice this season the Zeps have scored 10 runs or more.
Victor Moore had the most productive offensive game in the history of the Zeppelins: He not only played 5 different positions on defense, he also went 3 for 3 at the plate with 3 RBI’s, and scored all three times. He missed hitting for the cycle by only one at-bat, needing only a home run to go along with a single, double, and a triple.
His wife, Melissa, nearly matched him, going 3 for 3 herself, with an RBI and two runs scored.
Christian Pennington also went 3 for 3, with an RBI and a run.
Unfortunately, Coach Regira’s pursuit of deer antler spray cast suspicion on the unprecedented batting performances by Christian Pennington and Victor Moore, and both were required to provide postgame urine samples. Fortunately, both players tested clean!
Hits: Eric, Eddie, Paige, Gary (2), Melissa (3), Victor (3), Russell (2), Devin (2), Chelsea, Matt, and Christian (3)
Doubles: Victor, Russell, Devin, Christian and Eddie
Triples: Victor and Matt
RBI’s: Victor (3), Russell (2), Matt (2), Christian, Chelsea, Devin, Leigh Ann, Melissa, Paige, and Eddie.
Many thanks to all who STEPPED UP TO THE PLATE for LED.
PLAYERS: Eric Burton (Business Incentives), Eddie James (Business Development), Paige Ovens (Business Development), Gary Beadle (IT), Melissa Moore (Business Incentives), Victor Moore (Melissa’s husband), Leigh Ann Burton (Eric’s wife), Russell Richardson (Business Development), Devin Harrison (BERG), Chelsea Harris (Communications), Matthew Wattigny (FastStart), and Christian Pennington (Business Incentives).
FANS: John Voorhorst (International), Mills Richardson (Russell’s son) and Raven Moore (Victor and Melissa’s daughter).
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