The Zeppelin’s season came to a close last night against the Louisiana Workforce Commission after ending early due to lighting issues. The game had to be stopped in the sixth inning and the LWC Hammers were ahead at that point, so they took the win. But the Zeppelins played well against a highly ranked team that has played in the league for many years.
LED certainly had a more productive second season, doubling last year’s wins and making it into the playoffs. League Commissioner Eric Hatfield, who plays for LWC, commented at the end of the game, “You guys are getting better every year.” The goal for next season is to win a playoff game.
The Zeppelins fielded 12 players who tallied 15 hits, including a Steven Grissom double and an Eddie James triple, scoring 5 runs on a tough LWC defense. In fact, LED scored more runs against LWC than the Board of Regents in their last game, the number three ranked team.
It was a game full of highlights, including run-downs, an amazing double play, and a serious LED hitting streak. The cheerleaders were sorely missed. Sarah Vanden Broek attempted several times to get a cheer going from left field, and Jacob McConnell had his own personal cheerleader in the stands (wife Jessica), but it just wasn’t the same. Sarah lamented, “We need our cheerleaders. I wanted to scream DEFENSE, DEFENSE.”
Both teams took a few innings to warm up, but the third inning was a doozie. The top of the third brought a four-run hitting streak and the bottom of the third brought a smorgasbord of defensive action.
At the top of the third, Anne Villa started the hitting streak with a single, followed by a single from Sarah. Eddie James then knocked out a triple, scoring both Anne and Sarah, and earning the coveted “grand slam” award. Eddie tried to sneak home and ended up in the first run-down of the game. He managed to make it safely back to third and then crossed the plate on a double from Steven. Steven scored on a hit from Chelsea Harris.
In the bottom of the third, one of LWC’s quickest runners hit the ball to Rick Ward at shortstop who threw the ball to Steven at first. The runner tried to stretch the single to a double, and Steven shot the ball to Chelsea at second to tag him out. A few batters later, with runners on first and second, Rick fielded a grounder and was crashed into by the runner going to third. The runner nearly took his head off, which landed Rick on the ground, but not before he tagged the runner to tally the out. One of the Hammers happened to be a fire fighter and provided quick medical attention to Rick, who was sadly out for the rest of the game with an ice pack on his neck.
The Zeppelins tacked on a fifth run in the top of the fourth when Jayson Newell scored after singles from Melissa Moore and Jacob. When Jacob hit the ball to third, Melissa teased a dash for home to disrupt the third baseman, and had to dive back to reach third safely in the second run-down of the game. The maneuver stopped any play for the runner at first, allowing everyone to be safe all around. Anne and Sarah tacked on two more singles, but were left stranded on base.
In the bottom of the sixth, a LWC batter hit a short one-hopper to Johan Salen in right center who, throwing all caution to the wind, tried to throw him out a first and nearly succeeded. The next batter hit a pop-up between third and home, which Eddie snagged on the run. He threw a bullet to first to nail the runner who had left the base. Just as Eddie’s double play fired the Zeppelins up again, the officials called the game due to the fading light.
A small after-party in the bleachers was greatly enhanced by a Brenda Guess ice chest full of beer. The rally rake didn’t do the trick, but maybe with the extra at-bat in the unplayed seventh inning, the Zeppelins could have mounted a comeback. In the off season the Zeppelins will take a deeper look into the stats to come up with the winning combination for next season. It’s time to call in all of the researchers in Business Intelligence to get to the bottom of this.
On a high note, Jayson reported that the Pollina ranking results were out showing the Zeppelins at 48thlast season, but noting that they were moving them up to 22nd in the next release.
Singles: Chelsea Harris (2), Johan Salen, Jayson Newell (2), Rick Ward, Melissa Moore, Jacob McConnell, Matthew Wattigny, Anne Villa (2), Sarah Vanden Broek (2).
Double: Steven Grissom
Triple: Eddie James
RBI’s: Eddie James (2), Steven Grissom, Chelsea Harris, Jacob McConnell
Many thanks to all who STEPPED UP TO THE PLATE for LED.
PLAYERS: Anne Villa (Undersecretary), Chelsea Harris (Communications & Marketing), Eddie James (BDS), Gary Beadle (IT), Jacob McConnell (BDS), Jayson Newell (BDS), Johan Salen (BDS), Matthew Wattigny (FastStart), Melissa Moore (BI), Rick Ward (BDS), Sarah Vanden Broek (SEC), and Steven Grissom (Deputy Secretary)
FANS: Brenda Guess (BI), Chelsea’s parents Ann and Jim and her boyfriend Brandon, Jessica McConnell (Jacob’s wife) and Jennifer Berthelot (Communications & Marketing).
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