The BLUR girls took to the field on the cold spring morning to begin the 2010 season, hosting INFERNO.
With the rainouts of 3 of our pre-season practices and the slightly inconsistent energy that BLUR brought to their pre-season scrimmages, a few questions still lingered about their upcoming performance. Had we covered enough during practice? Were we ready? Even Mother Nature had a question for us as the rain clouds hovered over the Castro Valley High School fields. Would we get this game finished before the rain hit?
It was now time to see if BLUR could answer those questions as the umpire called the start to the game.
1st Inning
The BLUR girls took to their defensive positions to start off the game. Birthday girl, Lexie started us off at pitcher to get things going.
The 1st INFERNO batter came to the plate. After an initial ball, Lexie got the batter swinging for 2 follow-up strikes, the batter took a swing at the next pitch and connected, sending a grounder toward 2nd base. Rachel, reacting quickly collected the ball and turned to make the throw to 1st. Natalie caught the ball, but unfortunately lost her balance and the ball touched the ground and the runner was safe. The 2nd batter came out a little more aggressively and took a swing at Lexie’s 1st pitch. Lexie got her to swing again for a 2nd strike. The batter got a piece of the next pitch and sent another ball bouncing toward Rachel at 2nd base. Once again, Rachel reeled it in and, this time, successfully connected with Natalie to get the 1st out of the inning. With the runner advancing to 2nd on the last play, the 3rd INFERNO girl came to the plate. Swing. Strike 1, runner successfully stole 3rd base. Swing again. Foul ball. Strike 2. The batter connected on Lexie’s 3rd pitch, but popped it up. The ball hit the ground in foul territory. The next 3 pitches saw Lexie lose the zone for a minute and the count was now full. Lexie composed herself and this time threw a strike. However, the batter was waiting for it and took a swing, connecting with the ball and sending to the outfield for a single and bringing in the 1st INFERNO run. The next batter came to the plate and also swung her bat aggressively. After a couple of foul ball strikes and a ball, the batter fouled again to stay alive. On the next pitch, the batter took the ball for a ride to the outfield for a triple and scoring another run for INFERNO. A little shaken, Lexie walked the next batter, putting INFERNO runners on 1st and 3rd. Slowly finding her rhythm, Lexie got the batter to swing for a strike, but the runner on 1st stole 2nd on the play, putting INFERNO into scoring position. With the count full, Lexie targeted Hylah’s glove and got it past the batter, striking her out for the 2nd out of the inning. A walk on the next batter loaded the bases. Battling with the next batter, Lexie had the count at 3 and 1. On the next pitch, the batter tried for it but missed, bringing the count to full, but the ball got past Hylah and INFERNO sent their 3rd base runner. Hylah collected the ball and turned to toss the ball to Lexie covering home, but the runner beat the ball to the plate and scored. A ball on the next pitch loaded the bases again for INFERNO. Lexie went back to the rubber determined to put a stop to the INFERNO rush. The 1st pitch came in hard. Strike 1. The batter attempted a bunt on the next pitch, but missed. Strike 2. Throwing a ball on the next 2 pitches brought the count to 2 and 2. Lexie refocused and threw a strike on the next pitch that got the batter swinging and missing to get her 2nd strikeout of the game and the 3rd out, closing out the the 1st half of the inning, with INFERNO up by 3.
Rachel started BLUR off in the 1st. The INFERNO pitcher started off strong with some accurate pitching, getting Rachel to bite a couple of times and eventually getting the strikeout. Janessa was up next. In similar fashion, the INFERNO pitcher threw some heat to get 2 strikes on Janessa. But, after throwing a couple of balls, the count was at 2 and 2. The INFERNO pitcher lost her groove on the next 2 pitches to put Janessa on base. Lexie was up next. Once again, the INFERNO pitcher got ahead in the count with 2 initial strikes, but this time she kept her composure and got Lexie to swing for the 2nd out of the inning. With a BLUR runner on 1st, Hylah came to the plate. Wanting to make something happen, Hylah swung her bat and connected with the ball. She sent a hard grounder toward the INFERNO 2nd baseman, who was able to pick up the ball and make the throw to 1st, getting the 3rd out of the inning and keeping BLUR scoreless in the 1st.
INFERNO 3 – BLUR 0
2nd Inning
Lexie was back at the rubber to pitch in the 2nd. BLUR knew that they needed to put up some defense to try to hold INFERNO. The 1st batter came to the plate. After an initial strike pitch on the 1st batter, Lexie walked the batter and put a runner on 1st. With the count at 1 and 1 on the 2nd batter, the next pitch was inside and got past Hylah. The runner on 1st took the opportunity to advance to 2nd base on a steal. Now at 2 and 1, Lexie got the batter to swing and miss the next pitch to even it up, but the next pitch brought the count to full. Lexie dug deep, took a deep breath, once again drilled it into Hylah’s glove and got the batter to swing and miss to get the strikeout. The INFERNO girls were now more anxious than ever to continue their tear in the 1st inning, so the next batter came out to try to make something happen. A strike and a ball on the 1st 2 pitches put the count at 1 and 1. The batter took a swing at the next ball and connected, sending a grounder toward Rachel at 2nd base. Rachel picked it up and threw it to Natalie to notch the 2nd out of the inning. The next INFERNO batter came to the plate motivated to put the ball in play. On Lexie’s 1st pitch, she swung hard and connected, sending a hard grounder toward Kas at Short stop, seeing her first action of the day. Kas got in front of the ball and picked it up. She turned to throw to Natalie, who was, once again, waiting for the ball at 1st. Kas released the ball as the runner approached 1st. Natalie stretched to make the grab as the runner crossed the bag. OUT! The BLUR defense put on a show, but more importantly held INFERNO scoreless in the 2nd.
Now it was BLUR’s turn on offense. Natalie came to the plate to start us off. Swinging at the 1st pitch, Natalie missed the ball for strike 1. Gritting her teeth on the next pitch, Natalie swung her bat hard and made contact, sending the ball fast through the infield toward 2nd base. The INFERNO 2nd baseman managed to scoop up the ball and turned to make the throw to 1st, beating Natalie to the bag and getting the out. Kas was up next. Kas took the first swing and connected for a foul ball. Strike 1. The next pitch came in low, but Kas tried to get it and missed. Strike 2. The next pitch came in hot and took Kas by surprise, striking her out. Anna came to the plate to take her turn at bat. Anna took a swing at the 1st pitch and missed. Strike 1. A ball on the next pitch brought the count to 1 and 1. Anna connected on the next ball and sent a slow dribbler down the middle of the field as Anna took off for 1st. The pitcher had to rush to go get the ball. She stood up and rushed her throw to 1st as Anna crossed the bag and turned for 2nd as the ball bounced out of the 1st baseman’s glove. Anna must’ve thought that she couldn’t get to 2nd safely and decided to turn back to 1st, however on a lucky bounce, the 1st baseman was able to gain control of the ball and place herself in Anna’s path back to 1st. She was able to apply the tag on Anna to close out the 2nd inning. BLUR’s 2nd offensive attempt proved to be as unsuccessful as the 1st, but it was now the BLUR defense’s responsibility to keep things interesting.
INFERNO 3 – BLUR 0
3rd Inning
Natalie came in to pitch in the 3rd and for the 1st time this season. Getting warmed up, Natalie walked the 1st INFERNO batter. On a bunt attempt, the 2nd batter popped the ball up. No one was able to reach it before it hit the ground in foul territory. Strike 1. Natalie threw a ball on the next pitch, but quickly recovered and got the batter to swing on the next 2 pitches, striking the batter out. The 3rd batter proved to be more of a challenge as the 1st 2 pitches missed the mark, bringing the count to 2 and 0. On the next pitch, the INFERNO batter hit a hard grounder toward Kas at short stop. Kas fumbled the ball as she was coming up with it and the runner made it safely to first, putting runners on 1st and 2nd. Natalie was able to get the next batter to swing at the 1st pitch for a strike, but the count eventually reached 3 and 1. On the next pitch, the batter connected awkwardly and sent the ball bouncing down the middle of the field. Reacting quickly, Natalie grabbed the ball and connected with Lexie, now at 1st, to get the 2nd out of the inning. The next INFERNO batter came to the plate and, once again, was eager to get her team’s original momentum back. Natalie threw it wide for a ball on the 1st pitch, but got the batter swinging on the next to bring the count to 1 and 1. A ball on the next pitch followed by another swinging strike brought the count to 2 and 2. Finally, another ball brought up full count and the pressure was on. Could INFERNO score in this inning or could Natalie shut them down. Settling in for the next pitch, Natalie brought her hands together as she focused on Hylah’s glove. The batter dug her feet into the dirt to get ready for her swing. Natalie stepped forward and brought her arm around to deliver the pitch. The batter gripped her bat tightly and brought her hands back to wind up for the swing. Natalie released the ball and as it approached the plate, the batter let her hands go. The bat came around and went under the ball. Hylah caught the pitch and Natalie successfully struck out the batter, giving the BLUR offense another crack at INFERNO.
Katelyn started things off in the 3rd. Swinging on the 1st pitch, Katelyn missed the ball for strike 1. A ball on the 2nd pitch brought the count to 1 and 1. Katelyn made contact on the next pitch and sent on high toward the INFERNO short stop. The short stop made a small adjustment to get under the ball and caught it for the out. Nikki was up next. The pitcher had trouble finding the strike zone and Nikki got on base with a walk. Jahlan was up next. The first pitch got past the INFERNO catcher for a ball and Nikki was able to steal 2nd. A few pitches later and it was full count on Jahlan. Jahlan held her bat on the next pitch and the pitcher threw a ball and Jahlan also made it on base, putting BLUR runners on 1st and 2nd. Up next was Olivia. The 1st pitch on Olivia went high for a ball. On the next pitch, Olivia took a swing for a strike, but getting a jump on the ball, Nikki and Jahlan both advanced to scoring position on a successful steal. A ball on the next pitch brought the count to 2 and 1 and with a passed ball on the next pitch, bringing the count to 3 and 1, Nikki took off for home. The INFERNO defense was caught off guard and was not able to get the ball back to the plate in time and Nikki ended the drought and put BLUR on the board. Jahlan stole 3rd on the play. The next pitch was a ball and Olivia got on base, putting BLUR runners on 1st and 3rd. Jessica was up next. With the count at 1 and 1 on Jessica, the next pitch missed it’s mark again and got past the catcher. Jahlan took off for home and also crossed the plate to score. On the next pitch, Olivia broke for 2nd and BLUR continued to put on the pressure in the inning. The following pitch was another passed ball and Olivia took the opportunity to advance to 3rd and put herself into scoring position. Finally, Jessica walked, putting BLUR runners on 1st and 3rd. The 1st pitch on Rachel went high and Jessica took 2nd base. A couple of pitches later, with the count at 3 and 1, Rachel went after the ball and missed and, as the ball got past the catcher, Olivia took off for home. This time the INFERNO defense was ready and tagged home for the out on Olivia. Finally, a walk put Rachel on base. Going hot and cold, the pitcher alternated balls and strikes, bringing the count to 2 and 2 on Janessa and a walk on Janessa loaded the bases. The INFERNO pitcher finally lost her groove on Lexie and Hylah’s next at bats, walking them both and bringing 2 more BLUR girls home. INFERNO was forced to put in a new pitcher. At 2 and 0 in the count, Natalie went after the next pitch and connected, sending a hard grounder down the 3rd base side. The INFERNO girl on 3rd was able to collect the ball and made the throw to 1st, beating Natalie to the bag. The INFERNO defense stopped the BLUR rush, but the damage was done and BLUR was able to take the lead for the 1st time in the game.
INFERNO 3 – BLUR 4
4th Inning
Natalie was back in to pitch in the 4th inning. The 1st INFERNO batter came to the plate. Natalie threw a strike on the 1st pitch and alternated balls and strikes, but eventually lost the battle and the batter got on base. The next batter came out swinging and hit one into foul territory. Again, Natalie struggled and this batter got on base as well. With runners on 1st and 2nd, Natalie turned her attention to the new batter at the plate. The 1st pitch was a ball and the runner on 2nd took off for 3rd. Reacting quickly, Hylah got up to throw her out at 3rd, but the ball was just out of Katelyn's reach and it got past her. The runner turned for home and scored before the BLUR defense could get the ball back home. Natalie got the batter to swing at the next pitch for a strike as the runner on 1st successfully stole 2nd. The runner stole 3rd on the next pitch as Natalie worked to full count on the batter. Unfortunately, the next pitch missed the mark and the batter got on base. Natalie worked hard against the next batter, but with the count full again, another ball loaded the bases. A walk on the next batter brought another INFERNO runner home. It was a difficult decision, but, with BLUR now trailing by 1, Lexie was put back in as pitcher to get us out of the inning. The 5th batter came to the plate and Lexie threw a 1st strike pitch, but followed it up with a ball. Lexie got the batter to swing at her next pitch for the 2nd strike. Going for the strike out, Lexie hung one over the plate. This time the batter hit the ball, but sent it high over the infield. Natalie, now at 1st, got herself under the ball to make the easy catch for the 1st out and, like clockwork, Rachel moved in to cover 1st. Natalie flipped the ball to Rachel to get the out on the runner, who hadn't tagged up, coming back to 1st. Then Kas moved in to cover 2nd to try to get the runner coming back to 2nd but wasn't able to get a handle on the throw from Rachel - un unbelievable near-triple play. In all the confusion, the runner on 3rd, who actually did tag up, was able to easily cross the plate and score. The damage was done as INFERNO regained the lead and was now 2 up on BLUR. Lexie turned her attention back to the job at hand and the new batter taking her position at the plate. Lexie threw smoke to get the 1st strike as the remaining INFERNO runner stole 3rd. But the effort was academic as Lexie put her next 2 pitches together to strike the batter out, bringing the BLUR offense back out to take their cuts.
Kas started us off in the 4th. After a ball on the 1st pitch, Kas sent one into the INFERNO outfield for a single. Anna was up next. After a strike, Kas stole 2nd on the next pitch, which was also a strike. A ball on the next pitch brought the count to 1 and 2. Kas successfully stole 3rd as Anna took a swing and missed the ball, striking out. With Kas on 3rd, Katelyn came up to the plate to take her turn at bat. The pitcher halted her motion, resulting in an illegal pitch, which allowed Kas to advance and score. After that, the INFERNO pitcher seemed to lose her rhythm and walked Katelyn. Nikki was up next and the pitcher continued to struggle. Katelyn was able to steal her way to scoring position as the pitcher walked Nikki. Jahlan was up next and the pitcher, still trying to shake off her earlier error, eventually walked Jahlan and loaded the bases. Olivia was up next. The pitcher managed to get a couple of strikes through, but, at full count, hit Olivia in the foot on the next pitch, sending her to 1st and bringing another BLUR runner home. Continuing the string of balls, the 3rd pitch got past the INFERNO catcher and Nikki took off for home. Nikki beat the INFERNO defense to the plate and scored, regaining the lead for BLUR. INFERNO decided to switch their pitchers once again. With the pitcher switch, the umpire lost track of the count and was forced to award a walk to Jessica - hey, it was everyone's 1st game. This loaded the bases once again for BLUR. Rachel was up at the plate next and came out swinging aggressively, but the INFERNO pitcher wasn't having any of it. A strike on the 1st pitch got past the catcher and Jahlan took off for home and crossed the plate. Foul ball strike on the 2nd pitch. A strike on the the 3rd pitch saw the runners steal to put BLUR back into scoring position, but Rachel was sent back to the dugout once again. A walk on Janessa loaded the bases. Lexie was next up. The pitcher, finding her groove again, threw a 1st strike pitch. On the 2nd pitch, Lexie took a swing and missed the ball, but as the ball got past the catcher, Olivia saw an opening and took off for home. INFERNO was able to pick up the ball and get the out on Olivia before she crossed the plate, bringing the 4th inning to a close.
INFERNO 6 – BLUR 8
5th Inning
Lexie was back at the rubber in the 5th. Struggling to find her rhythm, Lexie walked the 1st batter. A walk on the 2nd batter put INFERNO runners on 1st and 2nd. Still trying to find her pitch on the next batter, with a count of 2 and 0, Lexie lost control of her next pitch and hit the batter, loading the bases. She lost control on the very next pitch with the following batter and brought an INFERNO runner across the plate on a walk. The 5th INFERNO batter came to the plate and Lexie tried to take her mind off of what had just happened. Lexie delivered the 1st pitch. Ball. Then, the 2nd. Ball. On the 3rd pitch, she lost control again and made it 3 girls in a row, bringing one more run in. It was time to consider switching pitchers again, but held off to allow Lexie to work 1 batter at a time. A passed ball on the next batter brought 1 run through on a steal, leaving INFERNO runners on 1st and 2nd. But 1 strike among a few ball pitches walked the batter and reloaded the bases. With the count a 2 and 0 on the next batter, the INFERNO runners stole on a pitch that got by Hylah, bringing another runner through. Then Lexie was able to string a couple of strikes together to bring the count to 2 and 2 as the runners stole to move into scoring position. A passed ball on the next pitch and the runner on 3rd took a shot and made it safely home on a steal. But, getting back to work, Lexie was able to strike the batter out, notching the 1st out of the inning. Facing down the 8th INFERNO batter, Lexie, rediscovering her groove, threw a strike on the 1st pitch and the runner on base made her way to 3rd. Another strike pitch got the batter to swing and she sent one into foul territory. On the 3rd pitch, the batter made contact and sent the ball down the 3rd base line. With a runner going to 1st and a runner going home, Katelyn decided to try to prevent the score and get the out at home. The ball went high and forced Hylah to stretch for it and it hit the end of Hylah's glove, eventually hitting the ground as the runners advanced safely. Shaking it off, Lexie went back to work on the net pitcher. Bringing the count to 2 and 2 on the next batter, Lexie got the batter swinging and struck her out. And, as if riding the momentum of the strike out, Lexie put 3 good pitches together to get the last INFERNO batter out of there to put an end to what would be INFERNO's last offensive shift of the game. INFERNO, however regained a sizable lead that BLUR would have to try to overcome if they were to win the game.
Lexie was up 1st in the inning to complete her unfinished at bat. After a couple of balls and strikes, the pitcher was able to get Lexie to swing to send her back to the BLUR dugout. Hylah was up next. Again, the INFERNO pitcher brought the count to 2 and 2 on Hylah, but Hylah refused to go down and stayed alive on foul balls. Eventually, the pitcher walked Hylah to put a BLUR runner on base. Natalie was up next. The pitcher threw a ball on the 1st pitch. The next pitch got past the catcher and Hylah made it safely to 2nd on a steal. The next pitch was a strike, but Hylah was able to steal her way to 3rd. The count now full, Natalie took a hard swing at the next pitch and send a low fly ball through the infield. Unfortunately, the INFERNO 1st baseman reacted quickly and made the grab for the 2nd out of the inning. With the door closing on the game, BLUR had to do something if they were to overcome the INFERNO lead. Anna was up next. A passed ball on the 1st pitch and Hylah successfully crossed the plate on a steal. The pitcher had trouble on the next few pitches and got behind in the count eventually walking Anna. On the 1st pitch to Katelyn, Anna stole 2nd on a passed ball. She continued to steal aggressively on passed balls and put herself into scoring position. The pitcher was not able to get Katelyn out and gave her a walk, putting BLUR runners on 1st and 3rd. Nikki was up next. On the 1st pitch, Katelyn stole 2nd. Ball. BLUR was threatening to score again, but finding a groove, the INFERNO pitcher strung 3 great pitches together, getting them by Nikki and getting the final out of the inning to preserve their lead and handing BLUR their 1st loss of the season.
Final Score
INFERNO 13 – BLUR 9
Game Ball
The Opening Day game ball was awarded to Natalie. Primarily the award was given for her heads up play in initiating the action that resulted in our double play (almost a triple, in fact). But upon review of this game, Natalie had a great day at 1st and although she was pulled from the rubber in the 4th inning, she also put in a solid pitching performance in the 3rd. Great job Natalie!
Special Mention
It was Lexie’s birthday on Opening Day and although we couldn’t get her the win on her birthday, BLUR put in a great performance. We owe you one Lexie. Happy Birthday!
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