Arriving at the fields for this, our 9th game of the season, BLUR was still shut out so far in 2010. BLUR put on some good performances so far, but the win continued to elude them. BLUR’s best performances were, surprisingly, the Saturday, 9am games, which comprised most of our Saturday’s this season. This game was not one of those. So, it left a big question mark as to which version of the BLUR team would show up to face the SMASHING PANDAS for the 2nd and last time in the regular season. Our last game against the PANDAS was a very tight game, hopefully BLUR could, at the very least, put on a similar performance and, at best, turn things around and shock the PANDAS with the first BLUR victory of the season. The umpire called a start to the game and, since BLUR was the home team this time around, the PANDAS’ offense was up first.
1st Inning
Natalie was in to pitch, leading the BLUR charge in the 1st. Getting warmed up, Natalie alternated between strikes and balls to bring the count to 2 and 1 on the 1st batter. The batter took a swing on Natalie's next pitch and missed, evening up the count at 2 and 2. Another ball brought up full count. Then the batter stayed alive by fouling the next pitch off. On the next pitch, the batter connected and the ball took a hard bounce on the dirt. The ball bounced back up and hit the batter on the run and the umpire called it a foul ball. Everyone reset. On the next pitch, Natalie burned one into Hylah's glove behind the plate and caught the batter holding the bat for a strikeout. The next PANDA batter was up. Repeating her performance on the last batter, Natalie alternated strikes and balls until the count was at 2 and 2. Then, like clockwork, the batter fouled the next pitch off to stay alive. Focusing again on Hylah's glove, Natalie let the next pitch loose. This time the batter took a swing, but missed for the 2nd strikeout in a row. The next PANDA batter came to the plate and seeing that Natalie was trying to pitch a perfect inning, tried her best not to let it happen. After strike 1 on Natalie's 1st pitch, the batter connected and sent the ball into foul territory behind 1st base for strike 2. The batter went after the next pitch and fouled it off to stay alive. Then Natalie threw the heat and got it by the batter for 3 strikeouts in a row.
Leading BLUR off in the 1st, Rachel came to the plate. The 1st pitch on Rachel came in high and she held her bat for ball 1. Rachel took a swing on the next pitch and fouled it off, evening up the count. On the next pitch, Rachel connected and sent the ball low over the middle of the infield. The PANDA pitcher reached out her glove and caught the ball for the 1st out. Katelyn was up next. Checking her swing on the 1st pitch, Katelyn prevented giving the 1st strike to the PANDA pitcher. However, she tried to swing at the pitcher's next 2 pitches and both were just off of the end of her bat. Katelyn held her bat on the next pitch and evened up the count at 2 and 2. On the next pitch, Katelyn read the strike and tried to get it, but, once again, the ball was just out of reach and Katelyn struck out for the 2nd out of the inning. Lexie was up next. Lexie came out swinging to try to make something happen for BLUR in the 1st inning. She took a swing at the 1st pitch, but her timing was a bit off and she missed the ball for strike 1. The pitcher's next pitch hit the ground. The next pitch came in high, bringing up 2 and 1. On the next pitch, Lexie connected and sent the ball rolling down the 3rd base line. The PANDA 3rd baseman got in front of it and scooped the ball up. She came up firing and connected with 1st base to get the out on Lexie and the 1st inning was in the books.
SMASHING PANDAS 0 – BLUR 0
2nd Inning
Natalie was back in to pitch in the 2nd. After splitting the difference on the 1st 2 pitches, the 1st PANDA batter hit the ball and sent the ball rolling hard through the infield and past 3rd base into the grass for a single. With a runner on base for the 1st time in the game, the PANDAS started to get their offense moving. Holding out her bat on a bunt and taking a strike on Natalie's 1st pitch, the 2nd batter bought time for the runner to steal 2nd. The batter took a swing on the next pitch and connected. On the bounce, Natalie was able to reel it in. She turned and threw the ball to Jahlan, but the ball came in a bit high and bounced out of Jahlan's glove and got away from her. The runner made it to 2nd on the play and brought in 1 run for the PANDAS. Trying to shake the last play off, Natalie took 3 pitches on the next batter before finding her strike. Once she found it, she wouldn't let it go. On the next pitch, the batter took a swing and missed and the count was at 2 and 2. Natalie brought the heat again and got her next pitch past the swinging batter for the strikeout. The next PANDA batter came to the plate. After trading on the 1st 2 pitches, the count was at 1 and 1. On the next pitch the batter took a swing and, again, the ball rolled through the infield into the grass. Olivia, playing left field, charged the ball and picked it up as the runner turned the corner at 3rd. Olivia threw the ball to Kas, playing short stop and Kas relayed the ball to Hylah at catcher. Hylah caught the ball before the runner reached the plate and got the 2nd out on the lead PANDA runner, preventing the score. With a runner on 2nd, Natalie's 1st pitch on the 5th PANDA batter of the inning went high and got past Hylah and the runner stole 3rd. After the count reached 3 and 1, the batter hit the ball, but it took a weird bounce and stopped a few feet in front of home plate. Scrambling for the ball, Hylah moved to pick up the ball as the runner on 3rd saw an opening and went for it. As the runner approached, Hylah fumbled with the ball and finally got it under control. The runner was moving past as Hylah turned to try to race her back to the plate. Trying to reach out for the tag, Hylah got off balance and fell on the dirt and the runner made it home. With a PANDA runner on 1st, Natalie's pitch went high and the runner stole 2nd. Natalie struggled to find her groove on the batter and after reaching full count, a walk on the batter put runners on 1st and 2nd. The 7th PANDA batter came to the plate. Natalie got the 1st pitch past her for strike 1. Natalie's 2nd pitch got the batter to swing, but the ball got past Hylah and the runners stole their way into scoring position. A ball on the next pitch brought the count to 1 and 2. The batter took a swing on the next pitch and connected, popping the ball high up over the infield. Janessa moved under the ball and caught it for the 3rd out.
Hylah was up 1st in the 2nd inning. The pitcher seemed like she wanted to play keep away with Hylah as her 1st 3 pitches missed their target. Finally, 1 pitch got through to bring up 3 and 1. Hylah took a swing on the next pitch, but missed and filled up the count. Hylah connected on the next pitch and the ball bounced hard over the charging PANDA 2nd baseman and into the grass for a single. Natalie was up next. She took a swing on the 1st pitch, but missed for strike 1. The pitcher threw high to even up the count at 1 and 1. Unfazed, Natalie took a swing at the next pitch and fouled it off. Then, the next pitch hit the ground and got past the catcher and Hylah was able to steal 2nd. On the next pitch, Natalie took a hard swing and sent the ball for a ride into the PANDA outfield. The ball hit the grass and the PANDAS had to scramble to get the ball back to the infield. Hylah hit 3rd and took off for home. The PANDA defense tried to go for the out, but the ball came in too high and Hylah scored. Anna was up next. Anna was charged and she wanted to keep the BLUR offense moving. She took a swing on the 1st pitch and missed for strike 1. She fouled off the next 2 pitches to stay alive with the count at 0 and 2. Watching the pitcher's release, Natalie took off for 2nd and Anna tried her best to connect. Unfortunately, Anna missed and struck out. Olivia was up next. On the 1st pitch, Olivia was hit in the ankle and took a walk. Kas took her turn at bat. She tipped the 1st pitch for strike 1. Kas connected on the next pitch and sent the ball through the 3rd base side of the field. The PANDA short stop came up with the ball, but didn't know where to throw it, which gave BLUR enough time to advance safely and load the bases. Jahlan was up next. The PANDA pitcher struggled to find her strike and Jahlan, having swung on one of her pitches for a strike, eventually walked and brought Natalie home to tie up the game. Nikki came to the plate to see what she could do. The pitcher threw her 1st pitch with bad intentions and got the 1st strike. Her next 2 pitches missed and Nikki got ahead quickly. But almost on cue, the pitcher found the strike again to even up the count. The next pitch came in high, but the umpire called it a strike and Nikki was sent back to the dugout empty handed. The pitcher started to struggle again when Jessica came to the plate. With 1 strike in the mix, a walk on Jessica brought Olivia across the plate to put BLUR in the lead. Janessa came to the plate swinging and got a hit on the 1st pitch. She sent the ball into the PANDA outfield and Kas scored. With the ball on its way back in, BLUR rolled the dice and tried to get Jahlan home. Unfortunately, the ball reached the plate 1st and the PANDAS were able to get the 3rd out on BLUR at home.
SMASHING PANDAS 2 – BLUR 4
3rd Inning
Lexie made her 1st appearance at the rubber in the 3rd inning. With BLUR taking the lead in the last inning, it was up to Lexie to keep BLUR in control of the game as she prepared for the 1st PANDA batter to come to bat. Warming up on the 1st batter, Lexie took a minute to find her strike, but after 1 strike on the 3rd pitch, she couldn’t win the ex change and the 1st batter got on base with a walk. The next PANDA batter came to the plate. After holding her bat on the 1st pitch for a strike, the batter took a swing on the next pitch and missed, bringing up strike 2. Lexie’s next pitch came in a bit too high and the PANDA runner stole 2nd. Another high pitch evened up the count. Then, another ball pitch brought up full count. One more ball pitch came through and walked the PANDA batter. On the pitch the runner on 2nd tried to steal 3rd, but Kas, now playing catcher, threw the ball to Janessa, who quickly walked the runner back to her original base. Finding her groove on the next batter, Lexie threw a strike on her 1st pitch. The batter fouled off the next one to bring up strike 2. Then, Lexie brought the heat and delivered the ball right to Kas’s glove for the strikeout. The next batter came to the plate swinging. She fouled off Lexie’s 1st 2 pitches, then, held her bat for the 1st ball in the exchange. She stayed alive on foul balls until the count reached 2 and 2. On the next pitch, the PANDA managed to get a piece of the ball and sent it over the infield. The ball hit the ground between 3 BLUR defenders just past the grass line for a single and the bases were loaded. After throwing a strike on her 1st pitch, Lexie threw another one in quick succession. This time, the batter was ready and swung her bat. The batter connected, but the ball popped up over the infield. Natalie, playing short stop for the inning ran all the way across the field to make the catch for the 2nd out. Natalie turned to 1st to try to get a double play as the runners were caught off base, but 1st was left uncovered and the follow-up play wasn’t in the cards. A walk on the next batter kept the bases loaded and brought 1 PANDA runner home. Lexie turned her attention back to the plate as the 7th PANDA batter took her position. Lexie’s 1st pitch went low for a ball. On Lexie’s next pitch, the batter took a swing and connected, sending the ball down the 3rd base line. Janessa moved in quickly to scoop up the grounder. She backpedaled to 3rd to get the force out and retired the side with the PANDAS closing the gap by 1 point.
Back at the top of the BLUR lineup, Rachel came to the plate to lead us off in the 3rd. Rachel fouled off the 1st pitch for strike 1. The next pitch came in too high and the count evened up. Rachel connected on the next pitch and sent the ball tearing through the 1st base side of the PANDA infield as she took off at full speed for 1st base. The PANDA 2nd baseman had to react quickly to make the play and she dove for the ball. Getting the stop, the 2nd baseman got off the ground in time to flip the ball to the 1st baseman and got the 1st out on Rachel. Swinging aggressively on the 1st 2 pitches, Katelyn missed and got behind in the count. Luckily, the PANDA pitcher started to struggle and couldn’t find her strike again. Katelyn got on base with a walk. Lexie was up next. The pitcher was still in the weeds. Lexie took a lunging swing at the 1st pitch for a strike, but the pitcher couldn’t build on it and eventually gave Lexie 1st base on a walk. With runners on 1st and 2nd, Hylah was up next. Not wanting to risk the big play, it was clear that the PANDA pitcher wasn’t going to give Hylah a good pitch. With the walk on Hylah, the bases were loaded for BLUR and Natalie was up next. On the 1st pitch, Natalie took a swing and connected, sending the ball into the PANDAS’ left field. The left fielder moved in and had to cover some distance, but she made it to the ball and caught it for the 2nd out. Anna was up next. The PANDA pitcher continued to struggle and a walk on Anna kept the bases loaded and brought Katelyn across the plate. Olivia was up next. In similar fashion, the pitcher walked Olivia and gave up another run as Lexie came home and kept the bases loaded. Kas was up next. The PANDA pitcher was more determined than ever to regain her strike. She threw hard on the 1st pitch against Kas, but the pitch was too high. Kas took a swing and missed the next pitch to even up the count. The pitcher gunned one past Kas and, this time, the strike was good. The PANDA pitcher saw her opportunity to shut down the BLUR rush in the 3rd and she focused on her next pitch. Kas was also ready for the next pitch. They looked at each other to see if they could figure each other out, but neither would easily give the other what they were looking for. The PANDA pitcher stepped to the rubber and Kas tightened her grip on her bat. Stepping forward to begin her pitching motion, the pitcher brought her arm around and threw the ball toward home plate. Kas saw that it was definitely a strike pitch. She stepped toward the pitcher to begin her swing and released the bat. The bat came around as the ball approached home. Just prior to contact, Kas’s swing dipped and allowed the ball to fly over the bat and reach the PANDA catcher’s glove for the strikeout and the end of the 3rd inning.
SMASHING PANDAS 3 – BLUR 6
4th Inning
With BLUR in the lead by 3 points, Lexie was back in to pitch. Lexie’s 1st pitch of the inning was high and inside for ball 1. The next pitch was equally high, but the umpire called it a strike, evening up the count at 1 and 1. Lexie traded with the PANDA batter on the next couple of pitches. Then the batter stayed alive on fouls until they reached full count. A ball on the next pitch walked the batter. The 2nd PANDA batter came to the plate. Lexie’s 1st pitch got past Kas and the runner stole 2nd. The next pitch was also low, but the batter took a swing for a strike as the PANDA runner on 2nd took off for 3rd. Kas got up to throw the ball to Janessa, playing 3rd, but the ball arrived a hair too late and the runner was safe. After reaching full count on the batter, Lexie threw high on the next pitch and gave the batter 1st base on a walk. With PANDA runners on 1st and 3rd, Lexie got back to work as the 3rd batter came to the plate. Throwing heat on her 1st pitch, Lexie got one through to Kas for strike 1. On the pitch, the runner advanced by stealing 2nd. The batter took a swing on the next pitch and missed for strike 2. Lexie missed the mark on the next pitch to bring the count to 1 and 2, but she managed to get the batter to swing and miss the next pitch for the strikeout and the 1st out of the inning. Lexie struggled and, after reaching full count, walked the next PANDA batter to load the bases. Lexie continued to struggle with the 5th PANDA batter and, again, after reaching full count, a ball on the next pitch kept the bases loaded and brought 1 PANDA runner across the plate. Trying to regain control, Lexie started off strong on the next batter and threw a strike on her 1st pitch. But, she battled with the batter until the count was full. This time, however, Lexie got the better of the exchange as she threw a strike on the next pitch, getting it by the batter for the strikeout and the 2nd of the inning. The 7th PANDA batter came to the plate and swung aggressively on Lexie’s 1st pitch. She connected, but popped the ball up over the BLUR infield. Hylah, playing 1st base moved under the ball to make the catch and the 3rd out, closing out the PANDAS’ offensive half.
Jahlan came to the plate to lead BLUR off in the 4th inning. Holding her bat on the 1st 2 pitches, Jahlan got ahead in the count early as the pitcher tried to locate the strike. On the next pitch, the pitcher found it, but Jahlan was ready and took a cut and connected. She sent the ball high over the PANDA infield as it drifted over the 3rd base side of the field. The PANDA short stop moved under the ball and made the catch for the 1st out of the inning. Nikki was up next. Splitting the 1st 2 pitches, Nikki took a swing on the next pitch, but missed. Luckily, the pitcher was off on the next pitch and the count evened up at 2 and 2. Nikki stayed alive on foul balls until she reached full count. A ball on the next pitch put Nikki on base with a walk. With a BLUR runner on 1st, Jessica was up to take her 2nd at bat in the game. The 1st pitch on Jessica came in low and she held her bat for 1 and 0. Jessica took a swing on the next pitch, but missed for 1 and 1. The next pitch came in hard and fast and Jessica, backed out of the box to avoid getting hit, but the umpire ruled it a strike. On the next pitch, a shaken Jessica held her bat, but the pitch was on target and Jessica struck out. Coming to the bottom of our lineup, Janessa was up next. The 1st pitch got past the catcher and Nikki successfully stole 2nd. The next pitch got past the catcher again and Nikki took off for 3rd. Recovering quickly, the catcher scooped up the ball and threw it to 3rd base. The PANDA 3rd baseman received the ball and turned just in time to get the tag on Nikki for the 3rd out, closing out the 4th inning and bringing out the PANDA offense.
SMASHING PANDAS 4 – BLUR 6
5th Inning
With the PANDAS trailing by 2, Natalie was in to pitch for the 2nd time in the game. Having cooled off, Natalie struggled to find her pitch on the 1st batter. After 3 missed pitches, Natalie finally found her strike to bring the count to 3 and 1. The batter fouled off the next pitch to fill up the count. On the next pitch, Natalie brought the heat and got the batter to swing for the strikeout. The 1st pitch on the 2nd PANDA batter of the inning, found its mark for a strike. On the next pitch, the batter connected, sending a grounder down the 3rd base side of the infield. Janessa moved in and scooped up the ball. She came up and made the connection to 1st for the 2nd out. Natalie got right back to work on the 3rd PANDA batter with a 1st strike pitch. Her next pitch went high and evened up the count. Then, on the next pitch, the batter connected and sent the ball deep into the BLUR outfield for a double. Natalie struggled on the next batter. Missing on all of her pitches, with the runner stealing 3rd on a passed ball, Natalie walked the batter and the SMASHING PANDAS had runners on 1st and 3rd. Natalie turned her attention to the plate to face the 5th PANDA batter of the inning. After splitting the1st 2 pitches, the batter connected on Natalie’s next pitch. On the bounce, Natalie rushed up to collect the ball. Checking 3rd, Natalie saw the runner take off for home with her head down. Natalie decided to go for the closer throw to Hylah at home as the runner approached. Hylah caught the ball and got the out on the lead runner to prevent the score, retiring the side.
Janessa was up to complete her interrupted at bat from the last inning. Janessa split the 1st 2 pitches with the PANDA pitcher. A foul ball on the next pitch and a ball on the pitch after that inched the count to 2 and 2. Then, Janessa stayed alive on fouls until the count was full. A ball on the next pitch put Janessa on 1st. Rachel was up next. After 3 missed pitches, Rachel was hit by the ball and took 2nd on a walk. With runners on 1st and 2nd, Katelyn was up next. Katelyn battled back and forth with the PANDA pitcher until the count reached 2 and 2. Katelyn took a swing on the next pitch and missed. Striking out, Katelyn was sent back to the BLUR dugout with the 1st out. Lexie was up next. The 1st pitch came in low, but the umpire called it a strike. Lexie fouled off the next pitch and brought up 0 and 2. Seeing that Lexie was swinging aggressively, the pitcher threw a change up on the next pitch. The pitch did its job as it caused Lexie to take a swing. With her timing thrown off, Lexie missed the pitch and struck out. Hylah was up next. Once again, it looked like the PANDA pitcher wasn’t going to let Hylah get involved in the inning as she threw a ball on her 1st pitch. Unexpectedly, the pitcher got one over for a strike, but, then continued feeding ball pitches to Hylah, trying to fake her out. With the count at 3 and 1, Hylah took a swing at the next pitch, but missed for full count. Then she fouled off the next pitch to stay alive. On the next pitch, Hylah tried for it and swung her bat. Unfortunately, she misjudged the speed and location of the ball and missed, striking out and closing out the 5th inning with BLUR in the lead by 2 points.
SMASHING PANDAS 4 – BLUR 6
6th Inning
With a 2 point lead and the clock ticking on the game, BLUR was poised to win their 1st game of the season. BLUR would have to play great defense to keep the lead as there wasn’t enough time in the game to start a 7th inning. Lexie was back at the rubber in the 6th. Struggling on the 1st PANDA batter, Lexie couldn’t find her strike and walked the batter. The PANDAS knew they needed to take the lead in the inning if they were going to take it away from BLUR. So, they started to run aggressively. On Lexie’s 1st pitch on the 2nd batter, the ball went high and the runner stole 2nd. Lexie’s next pitch was on target and the batter held her bat for strike 1. The next pitch got past Hylah for a ball and the runner stole 3rd. Lexie lost control of her next pitch and hit the batter, putting PANDA runners on 1st and 3rd. The 3rd batter came to the plate and showed bunt on Lexie’s 1st pitch. Drawing the strike, the batter held out her bat to buy the runner on 1st time to steal 2nd. On Lexie’s next pitch, the batter hit one down the 1st base side of the field. Natalie got in front of the ball, but on the way up, lost control and didn’t recover in time to make a play. The batter got a single and brought 1 run home, reducing BLUR’s lead to 1 point. With the pressure mounting, Lexie got back to the rubber and put her game face on. Throwing heat on her 1st 2 pitches, Lexie got ahead in the count early. Her next pitch was high and inside and brought up 1 and 2. With PANDA runners on 1st and 3rd, Lexie got the batter to swing and miss on the next pitch for the strikeout and the 1st out of the inning. When the next PANDA batter came to the plate, Lexie threw another 1st strike pitch to get ahead in the count. Lexie’s next pitch went high and the count evened up at 1 and 1. Lexie threw heat on her next pitch for a strike and the runner on 1st stole 2nd. Throwing heat on her next pitch, Lexie got the batter to swing and miss for the 2nd strikeout in a row. With 2 outs, and the PANDAS’ window of opportunity closing, BLUR was on their way to their 1st win of the 2010 season, but with the tying run on 3rd base and the winning run on 2nd, BLUR still had to close the show. Continuing her streak, Lexie got back to work on the batter. She threw her 1st pitch across the plate. The batter held her bat. Strike 1. Lexie got back to the rubber and set her feet. She started her motion, brought her arm around and released the pitch. The pitch was on target and the batter held her bat again, hoping for the ball to drift out of the strike zone. It did not. Strike 2. On the next pitch, the batter learned her lesson and didn’t want to go out without a fight. She took a swing and connected, sending a fast grounder through the BLUR infield. All the PANDA runners took off. Katelyn moved in and got the stop on the ball. She came up and flipped it to Natalie at 1st and got the 3rd out on the runner to end the game and score BLUR’s 1st victory of the season.
Final Score
SMASHING PANDAS 5 – BLUR 6
Game Ball
There was a lot of great play going around in this game. It was a team effort and it couldn’t have shown more in this game. There were a few key performances during the game. Natalie pitched a perfect inning early in the game, Lexie got a couple of key strikeouts in the 6th, and Hylah got a few crucial outs at home, just to name a few. But for getting the stop exactly when we needed it and making the connection at 1st that ended the game and gave BLUR their 1st win, the game ball was awarded to Katelyn. Great job Katelyn! And GO BLUR!!!
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