The Mightier 'Cats

Great game last night 'Cats! Here's another recap by Evan:

The Mighty Green put up a valiant effort in this one, folks, but the 'Cats trademark tight D and timely hitting came through when it mattered in a hard fought 21-14 win.

The softball gods attempted sabotage by popping Edward's tire and jamming my chain in my bike frame (I think undefeated records offend them), but we were undeterred. Edwards set the tone with a blast to left field, which fired up the team in black and resulted in the Mighty Green's (once-burned) left-fielder playing SUPER deep all game, providing lots of opportunities to drop them in. The Green responded will some small ball in the bottom half to tie the game at 1-1 after one. 

The bats then came alive for the Cats, with four more runs in the second and a mercy in the third - solid hitting and base running from all involved. The Mighty Green got some runs back after a few defensive miscues, including my first (but not last) Brett Lawrie-esque "trying too hard" play of the game (sorry Mike, that fly was yours), and we managed to just get ahead with a score of 13-12 after four innings.

In the fifth, the 'Cats scored a couple but found themselves at two outs. Then Ian hit a sneaky, just fair flare to right and turned on the jets for a triple. Court beat out a throw to first, getting to second on the errant throw, and the rally was on. With runners and second and third, Binstock looped a shot just beyond the outstretched shortstop (honourable mention to the Mighty Green SS here, he was on point) and two more runs came in. A two out mercy inning - that had to be pretty demoralizing for those other guys.

Other offensive highlights/notables: Andrea hit the ball hard and, if she didn't get on base, at least moved runners over. Wexler frustrated their infielders with her grounders in the dust. Brendan flew out in the first inning for his first out of the season (ok, maybe his second). That guy doesn't get out. Me sending Pugsley to her doom when she had no business going first to third on a single (my "trying too hard" play two). Dave T not getting into a single base running snafu (not once!). Edwards spraying the ball all over the field at will. Me beating out a Brett Lawrie end-of-the-bat baby grounder. Mike hitting his second home run of the game (or was it three?) hustling around the bases - because I was telling him to - despite the fact that Binstock had already scored the seventh run of the inning. Oops.

With the 'Cats comfortably ahead, all we needed was some shut down innings in the fifth, sixth and seventh. The outfield made some adjustments and Ian and Mike were perfectly positioned when the opponents tried for looping singles to center and right. Brendan hard charged some grounders and Dave plucked some throws out of the aforementioned dust. In the seventh, Binstock decided to take the game over, with a solo double play featuring a highlight reel grab and hold at first by Dave. That was followed up by a pop into shallow right, which Binstock chased down all the way from short. Collecting the ball on the one-hop, he fired a throw across the diamond to Edwards who tagged out the runner trying to stretch it into a triple. That decision was almost as questionable as when I tried to score from second on a ground out. "Trying to hard" play three.

Great game 'Cats. Next game is Wednesday at Riverdale West against the Eggplant Pirates. Good luck!

Balls BUSTEDDDDDDD

Arriving at Withrow last evening to see the 'Cats warming up alongside opponents The Ball Busters, casual passersby would have been forgiven for mixing up which team possessed the undefeated record and which were struggling further down the standings. With so many guys that they fielded two full defensive squads and many of them tall, athletic looking types, the Busters sure looked the part. Unfortunately for them, they did not play like it.

Yes it was classic DangerBall last night, as the 'Cats got off to a sluggish start and were quickly behind 3-0 (much to the delight of the Busters). From there the defense went into shut down mode and bats woke up. While there was only one home run (thank you Binstock) on the evening, strings of singles and doubles and one totally bizarre triple (thank you Ian) meant runs piled up and the Busters' spirit was broken. Highlights include all four Lady Cats hitting and running hard, Dave baby-stepping down to first even as it was abundantly clear his flare to right was going to drop in, and Edwards bent over huffing for air after yet another sprint around the bases from his awesome night at the plate/on the base paths. 

Defensively, it was probably our best showing of the season. Binstock had three solo double plays, taking full advantage of the Busters' tendency to hit slow bouncers up the middle with a runner on first. In the outfield, adjustments were made after the three run first inning (read: we moved in...) and the Busters put up goose eggs in four consecutive innings. We were solid all around, with a shout out to Edwards for a lunging snare of a line drive in the seventh.

Great game, 'Cats! Our next is on Tuesday next week at McCleary against Howard's (the league Commissioner) team The Mighty Green. They are always a solid squad, so let's bring our A-Game and keep our undefeated record alive!

DCats Relaxin'

Week 7 Standings

Here are the standings for week 7. See you all next Wednesday at Withrow!

Never Mess With A Lady Cat

Rogers' Big Red Machine learned that lesson the hard way last night in a 20-17 defeat, spurred by the great play of Andrea "Nener" Nene. Rocking our bitchin' new unis, we came ready to roll over Rogers to keep the undefeated season going. After a fast first inning where the defences dominated, the Dangercats had something going in the second when Nener stepped to the plate. With the competition showing no respect, Nener kept the rally going and gave the offence the kick-start it needed.  Nener was on base the whole game, with 2 RBI and 3 runs scored (great hustle!) in what turned out to be a hard fought, back and forth affair.

The Little Red Machine had the home field advantage and took the lead a few times but the 'Cats always had an answer. With triples (!) from Brendan, Ian and Terp, multiple dingers from Mike, Prime and Binstock, and the ladies crushing it with J-Lo all night, the Rogers' fielders were scrambling. To add injury to insult,  Jenn nailed their second baseman in the head and Evan beaned a base runner in the kidney. The Cats were clearly taking a little revenge for last year's tough loss in the finals. In the end it came down to some smart base running, bend-but-don't-break defence and another solid effort with the bats for an all around satisfying victory over the league's douchiest team. Good work 'Cats! Next game is a week today - the 18th at Withrow.  

New Shirts!!

Week 5 Standings

Here are you standings for week 5. Enjoy the week off and remember, next week's game is Tuesday, July 10th against "The Big Red Machine" at McLeary Park.