Tuesday - May 11, 6pm @ D-LITES

Coming off of their 1st victory of the season, BLUR was energized to take on the D-LITES for the 1st time in the season in this, BLUR’s 10th game (of 12). The D-LITES, much like BLUR, have had a tough time in the 2010 season as most of their games resulted in losses, but they had the added hurdle of having their schedule plagued by rainouts for much of the season. The D-LITES, at this point, were still somewhat of a mystery to BLUR as well as the league. And with BLUR buzzing from their victory against the SMASHING PANDAS, they needed to stay focused and not underestimate the D-LITES if they were going to build on the previous game’s performance. Playing this game on a weeknight, which has been proven to be a BLUR weakness throughout the season, it would be a tall order for BLUR to come out of the game with another victory. As the game got underway, with D-LITES at home, the BLUR offense was up first.

1st Inning
Facing a pitcher and a defense that we had not seen all year, since this was our 1st game against the D-LITES, BLUR had to proceed cautiously. Leading BLUR off as she has all year, Rachel was up 1st. Rachel split the 1st 2 pitches with the D-LITE pitcher. A low pitch, then a swing and a miss brought the count to 2 and 2. On the next pitch, Rachel was hit by the ball and took 1st base on a walk. Katelyn was up next. Katelyn took a swing on the 1st pitch. She fouled it off for strike 1. The next pitch got past the D-LITE catcher and Rachel stole 2nd. The pitcher threw a strike on the next pitch and Rachel rolled the dice and went to steal 3rd. The D-LITE catcher got up and threw the ball to 3rd, slowing Rachel’s step. Confused whether to turn back to 2nd or not, Rachel quickly found herself in a pickle and, after a couple of throws between 2nd and 3rd, got tagged out for the 1st out of the inning. A ball on the next pitch put Katelyn on base with a walk. Lexie was up next. A foul tip on the 1st pitch put a strike in the count for Lexie. Unfazed, Lexie took a swing at the next pitch and fouled it off for strike 2. On the 3rd pitch, Lexie was determined to find that hit. Unfortunately, she missed the ball and struck out as Katelyn successfully stole 2nd base. Hylah was up next. She held her bat on the 1st pitch and the D-LITE pitcher was able to thread the needle for strike 1. Seeing the strike pitch, Hylah took a swing, but missed for strike 2. The pitcher lost her groove on the next 2 pitches and brought the count to 2 and 2. On the next pitch, the D-LITE pitcher found the strike again. Hylah took a swing at it, but misjudged her timing and struck out, sending the BLUR offense back to the drawing board.

Lexie was in to pitch to start the BLUR defense off. On the 1st pitch, Lexie lost control of the ball and hit the batter, putting a D-LITE runner on base quickly. Lexie recovered on the next batter and threw 2 strike pitches in a row. But the batter was swinging and fouled both off for strikes 1 and 2. The next pitch missed and the runner successfully stole 2nd. Another ball evened up the count at 2 and 2. On the next pitch, the batter connected and sent the ball out over the BLUR right center field. Rachel ran into position under the ball and made the catch for the 1st out. The next D-LITE batter came to the plate. Lexie battled with the batter. At 2 and 1, Lexie’s pitch got passed Hylah and the runner stole her way into scoring position. Lexie continued to battle with the batter until the count was full. A ball on Lexie’s next pitch put D-LITE runners on 1st and 3rd. The 4th batter took a swing on Lexie’s 1st pitch for a strike and the runner on 1st stole 2nd. With D-LITE runners now on 2nd and 3rd, the batter got a hit on Lexie’s next pitch. The ball rolled through the BLUR infield toward short stop and the D-LITE runners took off. Kas picked up the grounder and threw to 1st for the 2nd out, but D-LITES brought 1 run home to get on the board. Lexie got back to work. Lexie split the 1st 2 pitches with the next batter. Lexie lost control of her pitch again and hit the D-LITE batter, giving her 1st base on a walk. With runners on 1st and 3rd, the 6th D-LITE batter connected on the 1st pitch, sending it Kas’s way again. Kas got her glove down and collected the ball, but from her position on the infield, made an awkward throw to Natalie that didn’t quite reach. Natalie stretched to make the catch, but dropped it and the runner made it on base and brought another run in for D-LITES. The 7th D-LITE batter came to the plate. Lexie threw high on the 1st pitch and the batter fouled one off to bring the count to 1 and 1. A passed ball on the next pitch moved the count to 2 and 1 and Lexie had to quickly cover home to prevent the runner on 3rd from coming in. Throwing balls on the next 2 pitches, Lexie walked the batter and loaded the bases. Lexie seemed to find her groove again as she threw 2 strike pitches in a row, including one that the 8th D-LITE batter tried to hit, but missed. On the next pitch, the batter tried again and connected, driving the ball to the BLUR outfield. The BLUR defense was caught napping as the ball hit the ground in the grass in the middle of 3 BLUR defenders and 2 runs scored as the batter got a single. The 9th D-LITE batter came out swinging. She fouled off Lexie’s 1st pitch for strike 1. Lexie missed on the next 2 pitches, but a swing and a miss brought the count to 2 and 2. The next pitch missed the mark for full count. Then, Lexie took a deep breath, relaxed and threw her next pitch right down the middle. The batter read the strike and took a swing. She missed the ball and struck out, but the damage was done as the D-LITES took a comfortable lead early in the game.

BLUR 0 – D-LITES 4

2nd Inning
Natalie was up to start things off in the 2nd. She took a swing on the D-LITE pitcher’s 1st pitch for a strike. On the 2nd pitch, Natalie got a piece of it and sent a low fly ball over the infield. The D-LITE’s short stop was able to bat the ball down with her glove to hold Natalie to a single. Anna was up next. The 1st pitch got past the D-LITE catcher and Natalie quickly stole 2nd. Anna held her bat out for a bunt on the next pitch for a strike, but Natalie was able to make it to 3rd on a steal. The D-LITE pitcher missed on her next 2 pitches, but, on the next pitch, Anna took a swing and fouled the ball off to bring up full count. The next pitch came in a bit low and Anna held her bat, but the umpire ruled it a strike and Anna struck out. Olivia was up next. The pitcher’s 1st pitch went high and the other went low, as she overcorrected. Olivia tried to swing on the next pitch, but missed to bring up 2 and 1. After another ball pitch moved the count to 3 and 1, Olivia got a piece of the next pitch and sent a fast grounder down the 3rd base line. On contact, Natalie took off like a shot for home. The D-LITE 3rd baseman charged the ball. Coming up with the ball, the 3rd baseman realized that it was too late to get Natalie out at home and opted to let her score in order to go for the out on Olivia. The 3rd baseman turned, fired the ball and connected with the 1st baseman just before Olivia hit the bag to secure the 2nd out of the inning. Kas came to the plate to take her turn at bat. Kas took a swing on the 1st pitch and tipped it foul for strike 1. The next pitch came in low to even up the count. Kas tried to connect on the next pitch, but missed it to add another strike to the count. Then, the D-LITE pitcher fired on in. Kas connected and sent a fast grounder through the D-LITE infield on the 3rd base side. The D-LITE short stop rushed in to collect the ball. She made a hard throw to 1st and the 1st baseman secured the ball for the 3rd out on Kas.

With BLUR only able to put 1 point on the board, the D-LITES were looking like a tougher test than originally anticipated. Natalie was brought in to pitch in the 2nd to give the D-LITES a different look. The 1st D-LITE batter fouled off Natalie’s 1st pitch on a bunt attempt. Natalie’s next 2 pitches were high. On the next pitch, Natalie fired one in to Hylah’s glove and the batter took a swing and missed to even up the count at 2 and 2. The batter didn’t want to go down without a fight and got ready for Natalie’s next pitch. Natalie fired another heater toward the batter. The batter saw the strike and released her bat. The ball flew just over her swing and Natalie got the strikeout on the 1st batter. Natalie battled with the next batter until the count reached 2 and 2. On the next pitch, the batter connected and sent the grounder through the infield on the 1st base side. Anna, playing 2nd for the 1st time in the season, couldn’t quite get to the ball and it got past her and the runner was safe at 1st. The next D-LITE batter came out swinging. She fouled off Natalie’s 1st pitch. Then, a passed ball on the next pitch evened up the count and allowed the D-LITE runner to steal 2nd. The batter fouled off Natalie’s next pitch on the swing and got behind in the count. On Natalie’s next pitch, the batter made contact and popped the ball high up above the BLUR infield. 3 BLUR defenders converged on the dropping ball. No one called for it and all of them backed off at the same time and the ball hit the ground in foul territory giving the batter a single on the play. The 4th batter of the inning was up next. Natalie’s 1st pitch hit the ground and the runner on 2nd stole 3rd. Hylah threw the ball to Janessa to try for the out, but the ball got there a hair too late and the runner was safe. On the next pitch, the batter connected and sent the ball into the BLUR outfield for a single, bringing home 1 run for the D-LITES. With the 5th batter at the plate and runners on 1st and 2nd, Natalie threw high on her 1st 2 pitches. The next pitch hit the mark, but the one after that was high again and the count reached 3 and 1. On the next pitch, the batter took a swing and connected. The ball was headed out to right field, but Anna was able to scramble to make the catch on the fly for the 2nd out. The runners were caught off base. Anna attempted the double play at 2nd, but overthrew the ball and the runner on 2nd flipped around and ran for it as BLUR rushed to collect the ball in the outfield. The outfielder threw the ball home, but the runner was able to beat the ball to the plate to add another run to D-LITES’ growing lead. Natalie started to struggle and walks on the next 2 D-LITE batters loaded the bases. With the 8th D-LITE batter at the plate, Natalie quickly regained her strike and got one over the plate. On the next pitch, the batter took a swing and connected. On the bounce, Natalie reeled it in and, with plenty of time, Natalie turned and threw the ball to 1st for the 3rd out.

BLUR 1 – D-LITES 6

3rd Inning
With the D-LITES’ lead and confidence growing, there was still a lot of time left in the game. BLUR was still trying to find a way to get back in the game as Jahlan started us off in the 3rd. The D-LITE pitcher struggled to find her pitch against Jahlan. After reaching a 3 and 1 count, the pitcher walked Jahlan and BLUR was on base. Nikki was up next. The pitcher continued to struggle. The D-LITE pitcher only managed 1 strike in 4 pitches. Her last pitch was a ball and Jahlan successfully stole 2nd. With the count at 3 and 1, Nikki took a swing at a high pitch and connected. Unfortunately, she sent the ball straight back to the pitcher on a line drive and, on the fly, the pitcher was able to make the catch for the 1st out. Jessica was up next. Jessica split the difference with the pitcher on the 1st 2 pitches. On the next pitch, Jessica took a swing and connected, sending the ball bouncing up the middle of the D-LITES’ infield. On the bounce, the pitcher moved in and caught the ball. She turned and threw the ball to 1st. The D-LITE 1st baseman was able to make the catch just before Jessica stepped on the bag, to get the 2nd out on Jessica. Janessa came to the plate as, potentially, BLUR’s last chance batter of the inning. The D-LITE pitcher’s 1st pitch was low and inside for a ball. The next pitch was high for ball 2. Janessa held her bat on the next pitch, but the ball found its mark and the count was at 2 and 1. Janessa took a swing at the next pitch and fouled it off, evening up the count. The D-LITE pitcher, knowing that the next pitch could close out the 3rd for the BLUR offense, got back to the rubber and prepared for her next pitch. Janessa got herself ready. The pitcher stepped forward and threw the ball hard and straight. Janessa read the strike. Misjudging the speed, Janessa took a cut, but the bat was just ahead of the ball and Janessa struck out.

Still struggling to find an opening in the game, BLUR tapped Hylah to pitch in the 3rd. Hylah started off slowly against the 1st batter. She struggled to find her strike, but couldn't get one over and, after 4 pitches, the 1st batter got on base with a walk. Hylah continued to struggle against the 2nd D-LITE batter and, once again, in 4 pitches, she walked the 2nd batter, putting runners on 1st and 2nd. The next D-LITE batter came to the plate and she was eager to get a hit. The batter took a swing at Hylah's 1st pitch and missed for strike 1. Energized by her 1st strike, Hylah got the next one over as the batter held her bat and scored the 2nd strike. A passed ball allowed the runner on 2nd to get herself to 3rd on a steal. And, another 2 pitches missed the strike zone to bring up full count. Playing the odds, the batter held her bat on Hylah's next pitch, but Hylah found the strike again and got it past the D-LITE batter, striking her out. Riding the wave, Hylah got back to work against the next batter. Hylah's 1st pitch missed, but after the 1st one, every pitch was on target and Hylah notched a 2nd strikeout in a row. Hylah started to cool off against the next D-LITE batter. Once again, Hylah couldn't find the strike and a walk on the batter loaded the bases. With a new batter in the box, Hylah shook off her previous pitches and found the strike. Unfortunately, the batter was ready and took a swing. She connected with the ball and sent a fast grounder through the BLUR infield on the 1st base side. Katelyn moved in to collect the ball, but the ball rolled to a stop and Katelyn had to adjust to reel it in. Katelyn scooped up the ball and threw it to 1st, but the ball arrived too late and the runner was safe as 1 D-LITE runner crossed home, increasing the D-LITES' lead to 6 points. The next batter was up. Hylah refocused and found her groove quickly. She threw a strike on the 1st pitch and got ahead. On the next pitch, Hylah found the strike again, but the batter took a cut and fouled it off. A ball on the next pitch brought the count to 1 and 2. Then the batter foul tipped the next pitch to stay alive. 2 more missed pitches by Hylah brought up full count. It was do or die for Hylah against the batter. Hylah collected herself and tried to throw her best pitch to get the batter out of there, but the batter had other plans. As soon as she saw the strike, the batter released her swing and connected, driving the ball into the BLUR outfield. With the bases loaded, a hush fell over the crowd as it looked like the ball would hit the grass. Rachel, from her position at right center, zeroed in on the ball and moved in to get under it. She opened up her glove on the run and at the last moment brought it up above her head and made the catch for the 3rd out of the inning.

BLUR 1 – D-LITES 7

4th Inning
With the clock ticking on the game and BLUR trailing by 6 points, things looked bad for the BLUR offense as they had yet to show up for this game. They were trying their hardest, but the D-LITES defense was stifling them successfully up to this point. The BLUR offense needed to find some kind of opening if they were going to get back in this game. Back at the top of the lineup, Rachel came to the plate 1st. The 1st pitch on Rachel missed for ball 1. On the next pitch, the pitcher lost control of the ball and hit Rachel. After a moment to recover, Rachel took 1st base. Katelyn was up next. The 1st pitch was low and outside for ball 1. The catcher dropped the ball and Rachel took off and successfully stole 2nd. On the next pitch, the pitcher lost control again and hit Katelyn, giving her 1st base. Lexie was up next and the pitcher continued to struggle. On 4 consecutive pitches, Lexie got on base with a walk and the bases were loaded. Was this the opportunity BLUR had been waiting for? Since the pitcher was visibly struggling, it was time to make her work for every strike as Hylah took her turn at bat. The 1st pitch went high. A passed ball on the next pitch got away from the catcher and Rachel made a run for home. The D-LITES defense rushed to gain control of the ball to get the out on Rachel, but Rachel stepped on the plate before the catcher could get there and scored. When the dust settled, the pitcher got back into position. Hylah continued to hold her bat as the pitcher continued to struggle. A walk on Hylah reloaded the bases for BLUR. Natalie was up next. Natalie held her bat and, on 4 pitches, she took a walk, keeping the bases loaded and bringing Katelyn home. Anna was up next. The pitcher managed to gain full count, but Anna held her ground and the D-LITE pitcher's last pitch missed and Anna walked, bringing Lexie home. Olivia was up next. Continuing to let the pitcher give up runs, Olivia held her bat as well. The pitcher managed full count again, but a walk on Olivia kept the bases loaded and brought Hylah across the plate. Kas was up next and it was more of the same. A walk brought Natalie across and kept the bases loaded. Jahlan was next and a walk brought Anna in to tie up the game. The D-LITES were forced to bring in a new pitcher. Nikki was up. The new pitcher had to warm up quickly. She couldn't find her strike and a walk on Nikki brought Olivia in and put BLUR in the lead for the 1st time in the game. Jessica was up next. The 1st pitch on Jessica was ruled a ball. Then, the pitcher strung to pitches together to bring the count on Jessica to 1 and 2. Jessica was forced to protect if she wanted to keep BLUR's momentum. Jessica fouled the next pitch off and stayed alive. She took a swing at the next pitch and missed, striking out and giving up the 1st out of the inning. Janessa was up next. The 1st pitch was high for ball 1. The pitcher found her strike again and evened up the count. The next pitch got loose and Janessa had to duck to get out of the way. Unfortunately, she left the bat out and the ball hit it and went into foul territory for strike 2. On the next pitch, Janessa connected and sent a grounder through the infield. The D-LITE 2nd baseman made the stop and when she turned to throw to 1st, Kas took off for home and scored. The ball reached 1st before Janessa and the D-LITES got the 2nd out of the inning. Having gone through the lineup, Rachel was back at the plate for the 2nd time in the inning. The pitcher got to full count. Then her last pitch got past the catcher, walking Rachel. As the D-LITES tried to retrieve the ball, Jahlan took a shot at home and scored as Nikki, right behind her made it to 3rd. Katelyn was up next. She took a swing on the 1st pitch and missed for strike 1. On the next pitch, Katelyn connected and sent the ball toward the D-LITES' 2nd baseman. The defender was able to make the stop and threw the ball to 1st for the 3rd out of the inning.

Lexie was back at the rubber in the 4th. Lexie threw a strike on her 1st pitch. The D-LITE batter, knowing that the D-LITES needed a comeback, took a swing and fouled the 1st pitch off. Lexie cooled off a bit and threw balls on her next 3 pitches, but followed them up with a strike to fill up the count. The batter took a swing at Lexie's next pitch and sent a grounder up the middle of the infield. Lexie grabbed the ball and threw it to Natalie at 1st for the 1st out of the inning. Lexie got the 2nd batter to swing at the 1st pitch and got it past her for strike 1. Lexie's next pitch went low to even up the count at 1 and 1. The batter fouled off Lexie's next pitch and a ball on the pitch after that brought the count to 2 and 2. Lexie dug deep for her next pitch and fired one in with authority. The batter saw the strike and let her bat go. The bat missed and Hylah caught the ball for the 2nd out. The 3rd D-LITE batter came to the plate. Lexie's 1st pitch came in low. The batter fouled off Lexie's next toss to even up the count. The next pitch came in too high, bringing the count to 2 and 1. Then, the batter fouled another pitch off to bring the count to 2 and 2. Sensing that her chance to make something happen in the inning was coming to an end, the D-LITE batter took a swing at Lexie's next pitch. Lexie drove the pitch in and threaded the needle to get the strikeout on the 3rd D-LITE batter to preserve the newfound BLUR lead.

BLUR 10 – D-LITES 7

5th Inning
It looked like the tables were turned late in the game, but, with a little time left on the clock, the umpire called a start to what would be the final inning of the game. BLUR had to preserve their lead in this inning if they were going to take home their 2nd win of the season. Lexie was up 1st to lead BLUR off in the 5th. Fighting against the D-LITE pitcher, Lexie inched her way to full count. The next pitch missed the target and Lexie got on base. Hylah was up next. The D-LITE pitcher started to struggle. Her 1st pitch on Hylah went high and Lexie stole 2nd base. The pitcher’s next 2 pitches were outside as well and on the 3rd pitch, Lexie took off for 3rd. The catcher got up to attempt the throwdown, but Lexie beat the ball to the bag and was safe. A ball on the next pitch walked Hylah and put BLUR runners on 1st and 3rd. Next up was Natalie. Again, the pitcher continued to struggle and her 1st pitch got past the catcher. On the ball pitch, Hylah took off for 2nd and, with Natalie on 3rd, the D-LITE catcher let her have it. The pitcher was able to get a strike across the plate on Natalie, but with 3 ball pitches in the mix, Natalie walked and loaded the bases. Anna was up next and she came out swinging aggressively. On the 1st pitch, Anna took a cut and connected, sending the ball bouncing down the middle of the infield. Anna took off for 1st and the runners were on the move. On the bounce, the D-LITE pitcher got a hold of the ball and, displaying good situational awareness, decided to go after our lead runner. She made the quick toss to the catcher standing at the plate and got the out on Lexie to prevent the score. Olivia was up next. She split the difference on the 1st 2 pitches with the D-LITE pitcher. On the 3rd pitch, Olivia took a swing and hit a low fly ball over the D-LITES’ infield. The short stop, moved in and made the catch on the fly for the out on Olivia. Hylah, not paying attention to the ball and anxious to score, left from her lead off position and gunned it for home, failing to tag up. Quickly, the short stop flipped the ball to 3rd base to get the out on Hylah as she stepped on home plate.

With D-LITES at home and regulation time expired, they got one last chance to attempt a comeback. Natalie was tapped to close the show for BLUR. Natalie threw high on the 1st pitch. She followed it up with a strike as the 1st D-LITE batter held her bat. Natalie threw another strike, but this time the batter took a swing and fouled it off to bring the count to 1 and 2. On the next pitch, the batter got a hit and sent a grounder through the BLUR infield on the 3rd base side. Kas charged and scooped up the ball. She came up and threw the ball to Lexie at 1st. The ball came in high and Lexie had to jump to make the catch. She came down on 1st base and landed just as the runner was crossing the bag and the umpire ruled it an out. The next D-LITE batter came to the plate. Natalie traded with the batter on the 1st 2 pitches. Then, the batter got a piece of the next pitch and drove it out into the BLUR outfield for a single. The next batter came up and, after battling with Natalie to reach a count of 2 and 2, she also got a piece of the ball and sent the ball out into the BLUR outfield for another single. With runners on 1st and 2nd, the 4th batter came up to the plate. Natalie’s 1st pitch was a ball and the runner on 2nd stole 3rd to get into scoring position. Natalie’s next pitch was a ball again. This time, the runner on 1st advanced to 2nd on a steal. After reaching full count, the batter stayed alive by fouling off Natalie’s next pitch. Motivated by the contact, the batter took a swing on Natalie’s next pitch, but missed and struck out for the 2nd out of the inning. The 5th D-LITE batter came to the plate. After alternating between balls and strikes on the 1st 3 pitches, the batter took a swing and hit the ball. She sent it rolling through the infield toward 3rd base. With 2 outs, the runners were on the move. Janessa moved in to pick up the rolling ball, but when she came up with it, she wasn’t sure where to go and in the confusion, all the D-LITE runners were able to advance safely and 1 run reached home. With the tying runs on base and 2 outs, the 6th batter came to the plate to face-off against Natalie. Natalie started off strong with a 1st strike pitch, but lost her rhythm on her next 3 to bring the count to 3 and 1. On the next pitch, the batter hit the ball and sent a grounder down the 1st base side of the BLUR infield. Lexie charged the ball and picked it up. Then she ran back to 1st to get the 3rd out and ended the game.

Final Score
BLUR 10 – D-LITES 8

Game Ball
BLUR came out on top in the game. It wasn’t a pretty win, but it did mark 2 in a row for BLUR in the season. There wasn’t a lot of offense generated by BLUR in the game other than a couple of steals from 3rd. The win came primarily by allowing the struggling D-LITE pitchers to walk our batters in. It was the opportunity the BLUR needed to take home the W. With that said, there weren’t any big offensive plays to speak of. There were some great defensive plays: a few strikeouts by our pitchers and a couple of clutch catches in the outfield by Rachel. But, there has been 1 person throughout the season who has always displayed a positive attitude and always represented BLUR well on and off the field. Even when bad things happened, she always had a big smile on her face. So, for that, Nikki was awarded the game ball! Great job Nikki!