Lab Rats End Zeppelins Playoff Run

The Zeppelins season ended on a game that spanned two nights and was finally finished in near darkness.  In the first round of the playoffs LED was set to face off with the State Police Crime Lab “Lab Rats.”  After one inning of play on Tuesday the teams were driven off the field by the crazed Kickballers who demanded all three fields at the park.  The teams agreed to meet again on Thursday to resume play.  At the end of that first inning the score was tied 4-4.

LED fielded 13 players and tallied 20 hits, including two doubles and a triple last night.  But despite such a strong offensive performance, it wasn’t enough to overcome the work of the Rat homerun hitters.

Picking up the game at the top of the second inning last night Chelsea “Wellsee” Harris led off with a line drive to left for a single.  With one out, Jayson Newell knocked a single up the middle to put runners at first and second.  With two away, Gary pulled out a double to right center but Chelsea was thrown out at the plate when third base coach Will “Rounding 3^rd” Day decided to test the right centerfielder’s arm.  Unfortunately, her arm was fine.

The Rats took an early lead at the bottom of the second when as their first four batters crossed the plate, aided by a 2-run homer.  The Zeppelins then shut them down with solid defense at first and third bases to end the inning.

At the top of the third the Zeppelins got on the scoreboard starting with a Steven Grissom single up the middle.  Lauren Stuart then moved Steven to second with an infield single.  Eric Burton followed with another single to move Steven to third, and Stephanie Hartman’s single up the middle gave her the first Zeppelin RBI as Steven crossed the plate.

Back on defense at the bottom of the third Eric made an ESPN-worthy grab at shortstop, making a huge vertical leap to snag a hard-hit line drive.  Then, with two outs and a runner on base, one of the Rat homerun hitters knocked a short one to right field which resulted in another score.

Trailing 5-1 the Zeppelins rallied at the top of the fourth and picked up two more runs.  Leadoff batter Christian Pennington, in borrowed cleats and sans Zeppelin jersey (he is moving and everything is packed away), hit a pop up in front of the first baseman down the line.  The Rat dove for the ball just as Christian reached the same spot.  After the crash Christian got up and continued on the make it to first safely.  Offered a pinch runner he waved it away insisting that he was fine.  Fine he appeared to be as he motored from first to home on a David Carter triple over the right fielder’s head.  David then crossed the plate as well when Chelsea hit a sacrifice grounder to the shortstop, who had to make a running catch which left him no play for home.  By the end of the inning Christian benched himself due to the injury to his arm he could now feel once the adrenalin had subsided.

In the bottom of the fourth the Zeppelins dug deep and held the Rats scoreless.  The Rats second homerun hitter knocked a blazing line drive between first and second but was shocked to find he was out as Paige “Dottie” Ovens nabbed it on the run.  Paige then threw the next batter out at first and the final out came from Steven at first base unassisted.

Neither team was able to score in the fifth inning.  On defense, Rick “ROI” Ward struck out the first batter.  After a single by the next Rat batter, Chelsea turned a double play to end the inning when she snagged a hard-hit line drive at third and hummed it to first, catching the Rat runner off the bag.

During the inning some of the Zeppelin ladies noticed that Michal Pernici has a pre-pitch ritual at the plate.  Why didn’t anyone notice it before?  Had he ever done it in previous games, previous seasons?  Perhaps the “Pernici Wiggle” is reserved for when his beautiful wife Margaret is in the stands with a perfect view of him from behind.  Whatever the reason, it worked, because he hammered one to right center for a single.  A team vote resulted in a resolution to memorialize the wiggle in the famous rituals list (see number 10 on the list below) and keep it in next season.

With calls to “Do it for the business plan” and with Eddie James in a rally cap, the Zeppelins narrowed the gap further in the top of the 6^th when Rick stretched a solid single into a double on an overthrow at first.  David moved him to third with an infield single, and Chelsea tallied her second RBI of the night when Rick crossed the plate on her single behind the second baseman.  The score was now 5-4.

But the Rats blew it out in the bottom of the sixth when the sun was going down and visibility was dangerously low.  With two runners on, the second Rat homerun hitter put one well over the fence in right center.  The Rats were now up 8-4.

The game ended at the top of the 7^th when, in near darkness, the batters struggled to see the pitches and no runs were scored.  The final score, including the inning from Tuesday, was 12-8.

The Zeppelins had a great (albeit Corona Punch-free) season and faced some quality opponents.  Coach Linda Regira reminded everyone that the only good news about losing last night was that the team does not have to face the Department of Children and Family Services next week.  Everyone is already looking forward to next season and will be hitting the batting cages in the upcoming months.  The LED Executive Team is encouraged to continue their emphasis on recruiting when making new hiring decisions.  And on a final note, Will emailed the players with, “I’m springing for sliding shorts for next year to all those that need them (that would be everyone) and changing my jersey from Rounding 3^rd to Sliding Home.”

Singles:  Chelsea (2), Eddie, Jayson (3), Paige, Gary, Michael, Steven (2), Lauren (2), Eric, Stephanie, Christian, David

Doubles: Gary and Rick

Triple:  David

RBI’s:  Chelsea (2), Stephanie, David

Many thanks to all who STEPPED UP TO THE PLATE for LED.

PLAYERS:  Chelsea Harris (Communications & Marketing), Christian Pennington (Business Incentives), David Carter (BRAC Liaison), Eddie James (Business Development), Eric Burton (Business Incentives), Gary Beadle (IT), Jayson Newell (Business Development), Lauren Stuart (Business Development), Michael Pernici (Lead Development), Paige Ovens (Business Development), Rick Ward (Business Development), Stephanie Hartman (Small Business) and Steven Grissom (Deputy Secretary).

FANS:  As always, LED fans are the best in the league.  Margaret and Crawford Pernici (Michael’s wife and 8 month old son), Doug Kopp (Internal Auditor), Jennifer Berthelot equipped with camera (Communication & Marketing), Brandon (Chelsea’s boyfriend), Leigh Ann Burton (Eric’s wife), Will “Rounding 3^rd” Day (Business Development) coached third.

 

TOP TEN FAMOUS BASEBALL RITUALS

1. Joe DiMaggio would always run from the outfield and touch second base before going into the dugout.

2. New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada hits barehanded. Posada believes in the superstition that urinating on your hands help avoid calluses and hardening of your skin and regularly does it throughout the season.

3. Hall of Fame third baseman Wade Boggs would take exactly 150 ground balls during practice. Boggs would eat a chicken before every game. When he would enter the batter’s box, he would draw the Hebrew word “chai” meaning “life” in the dirt before taking pitches.

4. David Ortiz rests his bat against his leg, spits on his right hand, and clap when preparing for the batter box.

5. Turk Wendell used to wave from the mound to the centerfielder, who would then wave back. Wendell would brush his teeth and eat four sticks of licorice between innings he was pitching. He would also crouch down every time the catcher stood up and would stand up when the catcher would crouch.

6. Red Sox Pitcher Tim Wakefield would eat a pound of spaghetti before any game he is starting.

7. Roger Clemens would soak in extremely hot water and have the hottest possible muscle liniment applied.

8. Mark McGuire would wear the same cup from his high school playing days until it was stolen.

9. Brendan Donnelly would throw away the undershirt he wore during the game if he pitched poorly.

10.  Michael Pernici would perform the world famous “Pernici Wiggle” before each pitch while at the plate.