Well that was a waste of a perfectly good Saturday

When the WW club first began discussing the Summer EOS it seemed as though it would never happen. Too many guys out of town and just not enough interest. I mean, come on. Who wants to run around in the Texas sun every other hour when you could be at home doing something constructive... like anything but playing softball. After a few e-mail exchanges the push for fielding a Summer EOS team gained some momentum. Two days short of the deadline we had finally set our roster with 12 guys. Only 5 of which are regular WW players. A quick scramble to get enough WW jerseys together was successfully and the Summer EOS was a go.

The day long journey for WW began at 9:00AM on field two against Big Sticks. WW had faced these guys in the past and no one could recall them ever really being a threat. After only scoring one run in the top of the first, BS would take the lead by 4. WW would need a few innings to take control of the game for good. The nail in the coffin was Bryan Jones' 3-run home run off the scoreboard in the 5th. BS couldn't manage to get their offense going after the first couple of innings, but they were able to keep the game close enough to play all seven innings.

WW wouldn't play again until Noon so most of the players went their separate ways. The Jones' of course went to grab a beer (You can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning). Rik and Chris H went on to help two separate teams to victory filling in for missing players. JW, Melton, Mike Long and Byron went to Little Gus' and didn't have to wait too long to be seated at the counter. Now, I have a love/hate relationship with little Gus'. I get there, and I see all of these specials and I remember how good it was the last time I came. Then I start doing the math trying to figure out which special costs the least but comes with the greatest amount of food. I then precede to eat until I'm sick and begin to hate LG' for having such great food. I had the two eggs two pancakes special with sausage. It also comes with potatoes; which I hadn't had there before. This was far and away the best breakfast I've paid for in Texas. I'm coming out and saying it, Little Gus' is better than Poor Richards. Enough with the food review...

Next up for WW would be the Vipers. These guys were unknown to the WW crew but looked to be a formidable foe. The team definitely looked the part, and I overheard a couple of their players talking about where they played college ball. WW again would need a little bit of time to warm up and would have to struggle to maintain a lead, once again being the visiting team. Solid defense is what bought WW enough time to create a comfortable lead. WW would again play all seven innings and outlast the Vipers.

After an hour wait WW moved to field 1 and took on Next Generation. Again WW faced an opponent they had never meet before in competition so they weren't sure what to expect. A couple of guys from NG couldn't help but mention that they 5 guys that played college ball. I think I was more worried about the fact that their SS had neon green shoes. Actually he wasn't too bad. A couple of guys though he had good range but when you are playing in shallow left you kind of make it look like you have range. I don't really recall this game being too close. We were the visiting team again but we got ahead and didn't look back. Mike Long blasted a 3run shot to help put the game away and the WW bats made up for a couple of mental mistakes. The most notable play of the game was a pure hustle play by Chris H. Morris knew when he hit the ball that it was going to be a close play so he took two steps and dove to first. Unfortunately his hustle wasn't rewarded and he was thrown out by 50 feet. Very good effort though.

Two hours later WW would face off against Chipotle who had no problems moving through the lower bracket, run ruling a couple of teams along the way. WW would not have a problem against the burrito makers and would actually win their first and only run rule game of the day. The defensive play of the game came at the hands of Macek, who went all the way to the fence chasing down a towering fly ball only to stop at the fence... camp out for a few seconds and then make the catch with his back to the infield. I couldn't tell if he just got lost with a 'Who put this fence here' moment or it he just stopped to pray but he eventually reeled in the popup and put an end to a potential rally. Although WW won this game convincingly, we also suffered our biggest set-back of the tournament when Bryan Jones came up lame after his AB in the first inning with a hamstring injury. Byron moved to Right center to try and fill the void in the out field but after the game Bryan would not return to the defensive lineup and only saw one more AB in a pinch-hitting role. This win would put WW in the finals against the Saints who eventually manhandled Chipotle to win the losers bracket.

With Bryan Jones out of the lineup WW went on to face the Aints in the finals. WW would actually be the home team for the first time in the tournament but got off to a rocky start finishing the first inning down 3. The second inning was over quick and WW found themselves down 7-1. WW was able to stop the Aints bats for a couple of innings and was able to tie the game up by the fourth inning. The Aints would eventually take back control of the game and hand WW their first loss of the tourny.

Five minutes later we would start it all over again. This time around WW would be the visiting team and would have control of the game early. After the first couple of innings the score went back and forth. until time expired with both teams tied. We went to a full count extra innings format where WW would take a three run lead. The Aints then came up to bat with the meat of their order and had some solid clutch basehits to put the game away.

It was rough to play all day long only to see us lose to a team like that. This isn't unfamiliar teritory for WW. This happened a year or two ago against the same team, and I remember the same frustrated feeling. It sucks to go all day playing good, smart ball only to lose in with two outs left in the final inning. It really sucks to do that losing to a bunch of D-bags. Aside from Mike Cs lifelong friend Zad, these guys are just a bunch of thugs. They are pretty much what I don't like about softball. Running their mouths all the time, throwing behind runners and running their mouths all of the time. I think the problem with guys like these is that they never really played ball at a higher level so they don't know what it is like to play with class since they've never had an authority figure to teach them. They also haven't played against guys that would put up their crap. Whether or not they just weren't good at baseball or their parents couldn't keep from dropping them on their heads I just can't stand teams like that, and I really hate losing to them.

Thugs or not, the Aints were a good hitting team. Those guys play a lot of tournaments and probably treat softball much like we treat our livelihoods. For a bunch of once a week league players, I think it says a lot to be within two outs from beating a time like the Aints. Despite the physical errors and lack of hits with 2out RISP, which typically comes with playing playing ball for 8 hours out of the day we still played these guys tight and I believe that all of our guys left it all out on the field.