Ah, who doesn’t love fall college softball? Okay, I didn’t know they were playing either, except my dad noticed a little blurb on the sports page announcing that the Aggies were playing on a couple of weekends this month. I missed the Saturday game to go to the volleyball game. Have I been cheating on the softball girls going to these other women’s sports? I’m sure they’ll get over the betrayal.
Sunday’s announced double header was a rivalry game versus UTEP. I had seen the Miners on the local TV news the other day playing a double header at home. They have some nice lawn seating near the stands. I figured between Aggie and Miner friends and family and that old man that shows up to all the games, I wouldn’t be the only one there. Although that is an intriguing thought. Maybe they’d invite me up to the booth to call a couple of innings. The girls might bring me on field to be the bat boy.
Pulling into the parking lot, I could hear Rascal Flat’s I Like the Sound of That playing over the stadium speakers, a rare country song on the PA. The “Gameday” banner was out in front of the front gate. The WAC school flags were flying in the outfield. A few umbrellas were popped open by fans at the top of the stands to block out an unexpectedly bright, warm sun. I could hear girls shouting as they took infield. At least I’m now sure there’s a game scheduled.
Well, there’s no one selling tickets and the gates wide open. I guess these games don’t count, so they’re not charging for them. I’m not going to complain about a freebie. Oh, there’s no program. The concessions are also closed. This is problem, since it’s hot and there’s no water or vending machines anywhere nearby. We’re going to be missing a couple other things here in a few minutes.
The Aggie girls were taking a spirited infield practice inside. Four catchers were geared up and taking turns behind the plate doing drills. I immediately noticed that several UTEP fans were filing in, and I only saw a few Aggie shirts. The old man wasn’t even there. On the left side of the pressbox was a pair of strange skybox/pavilion-like things sitting atop the grandstand. They didn’t look finished and, in fact, flimsy to where I wouldn’t want to be sitting near them. We’ll see what becomes of them next year. I could see the baseball team out playing in their stadium through the screen of trees between the two stadiums. It looked like batting practice and infield.
Some of the regular senior crowd was there in their regular spots as I took my seat. They were talking politics. They were talking about yesterday’s volleyball game and Friday’s soccer match. They were chatting about the baseball playoffs. Maybe I should have sat in closer and joined the conversation since these were topics I could speak on.
The game started without an anthem. There wasn’t an American flag out there anyway. There was also no PA announcing anything. (The music went off right before the game started.) The scoreboard was off. Okay, it really was just a practice/scrimmage game. About two batters in, I chucked trying to keep a scorecard. I was going to be missing too many names.
I recognized #14 Kayla Green immediately out in the circle. I was hoping I’d be seeing her pitch today. The rest of the girls I had to have my memory jogged on. Several familiar faces had graduated and were gone. A senior lady was shouting out encouragement to the girls by name, which helped. One of them had a printed roster. #2 Alexis Maynez was behind the plate and was presumably going to be the Aggies’ main catcher. I liked the way she worked. She was constantly working up chatter and shouting out encouragement to Kayla.
The 1st inning started with a loud, “Let’s go Miners!” Oh, crap. The other team’s fans don’t just outnumber Aggie fans, they’re louder. The Miner bench also started off the game really loud. Not to worry, Kayla had it covered and came out throwing hard. There was one troubling mis-pitch off her leg, but no harm done. The team is still wearing last season’s uniforms. I guess the new Underarmor uniforms will get rolled out next year for the baseball and softball teams. The Miners looked pretty good in their Underarmor uniforms.
In bottom of inning, I noticed the Miner third baseman (Woman? Player? Person?) had really short hair as opposed to everyone else’s long hair. Seems more practical. #18 Rachel Rodriguez led off. The Aggie serenade started immediately for her, “Oh Rachel, you’re so fine!” They’re still in great voice and hearing that would have been worth the price of admission. #10 Amy Bergeson came up with an infield hit. The bench yelled out, “Amy is Awesome!” She then awesomely stole second. Coach Kathy Rodolph then got into some sort of protracted discussion with the umpires. “It’s a scrimmage, coach! Let it go!” shouted a Miner fan. Unfortunately, this would set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. Regardless, after #17 Kelsey Horton got on (I think, no scorecard here), a delayed double steal would give the Aggies a 1-0 lead.
In the 2nd, Kayla finally threw her trademark offspeed pitch for a strikeout to end the inning. An Aggie fan commented, “That pitch should be against the law.” #3 Victoria Castro and #8 Hayley Nakamura came to bat that I recognized. Hayley’s sister and teammate, Brennalyn graduated last semester. Hayley’s also gone with fairly short hair. Megan Hart and Tatyana Battle from the volleyball team made an appearance for a couple of innings, causing a bit of a stir in the senior section, who recognized them. I was hoping to say “hi” and thanks for the autographs yesterday, but didn’t have the opportunity before they left.
In the 3rd, Amy made a great diving catch in left field. Ah, I remember those. She hasn’t lost a step. Another fan asked me what the score was. I regret to say this was my only interaction with anyone at the ballpark today. In the bottom, the UTEP ended the inning with an offspeed pitch so slow, it might have qualified as a knuckleball to strikeout Kelsey. The Miner fans laughed. Aggie fans voiced their concern that while the defense may be better, the offense may be lacking.
On to the 4th and a loud double drives in a runner from second for UTEP, making the score 1-1. The crowd erupts. Kayla, a bit flustered, ends up balking the runner to third with no one out. This leads to another rules discussion with Kathy and the umps. The UTEP fans get restless. It was a good break. Kayla came back and got three outs and stranded the runner. A kid running off for a foul ball was called back by one of the seniors, telling him it went into the dugout. He came slinking back and one of the ladies told him, “Good effort.” In the bottom, Aggie fans got on to the ump after a strikeout. “That was one strike on the batter, two strikes on the ump!” shouted a fan.
In the 5th, Kayla was throwing even harder by the sound of the ball hitting the mitt. In the bottom, things got interesting. A dropped throw let a runner on first and a pinch runner took second. It was a controversial safe call that UTEP fans erupted over. The Aggie bench got loud enough to shout them down. An error let another runner on. Then the catcher double clutched on a bunt. Bases full. I think the Aggies got in their heads with their cheering.
From here, there’s a fielder’s choice RBI. A hit by pitch reloads the bases. Kelsey walks and drives in another run. At 3-1, UTEP brings in a new pitcher. #30 for the Aggies comes in (who I don’t recognize). It’s power versus power with a hard fastball against a big swing. After two strikes, there’s a score on a wild pitch, 4-1. Then there’s a double, 6-1, and the Aggie bench goes wild. Two singles, including one by Alexis that just clears the infield off the tip of the second baseman’s glove, reloads the bases. The Aggie girls start chanting. Hit by pitch drives in a run, 8-1. A single drives in a run, 9-1. The trail runner is thrown out at home and a strikeout finally ends the inning.
In the 6th, a new catcher comes in for the Aggies. Kayla drops in an offspeed wicked enough to irritate UTEP fans and their coach. #22 Fahern Glackin comes in to finish. She gives up a single that gets the UTEP bench into it. A foul ball pops up behind the screen into my section, getting me into the game. It falls into the senior section, no damage done. One of umps spoke to a fan sitting in the front before the start of the bottom of the inning. They seemed to be discussing the score or the rules. I hadn’t seen that in a game. Another thing I hadn’t seen in softball was the pitcher batting for herself, but that happened with Fahern. Some fans brought in a sack of snack food. The smell of fiery Cheetos filled the air. In the 7th, Hayley made a great stop and threw out the runner at first. The last two outs were flyballs to right. I think those were the first two fly outs of the game. Game One final, 9-1 Aggies. Still worried about their offense?
During the intermission, I stood in the shade and reapplied sunblock. I saw a UTEP player using the public bathroom. Are there no bathrooms in the visitor’s clubhouse? That would be a travesty. For Game Two, the afternoon sun became more brutal, and I still haven’t had a drink. Even worse, the UTEP fans all returned for the second game. The Aggie seniors, tired of the heat, left to watch football. In fact, it seemed to be just me and the Aggie bench left rooting for the Aggies. I’m at a Miner home game.
The Aggies put out a mostly fresh squad of player, many of whom I don’t recognize. #21, who is not the graduated Karysta Donistrhorpe, is in to pitch. Not having her name is going to make this recap awkward. [Edit: She's Samaria Diaz.] UTEP has also put in some new players. Their new pitcher, #88, grunts like a tennis player when she throws, a really loud one. I could swear I heard somebody in the Aggie dugout making fun of the noise, which is probably why other pitchers don’t do it. The grunting worked on the first two batters. Kathy called a timeout. The next batter got a hit right afterward. Good talk.
Between innings, Kayla was out of the dugout, goofing around. She seems like a livewire. In the top of the second, UTEP singles to bring in a runner who got on via an error. 1-0 UTEP. A lady comes in carrying two boxes of Papa John’s pizza. I can smell it from the other side of the section and am officially miserable. In the bottom, #24 Corrin Green comes up. Catcher’s interference puts her on (I think, again no scorecard). A single and a hit by pitch load the bases. A wild pitch brings in the first Aggie run. An Aggie run then scores on a bunt. Actually, it’s way more complicated. Two runners ended up at third on the bunt. The trail runner tried to go back and the pitcher missed the throw to second, and then the runner scored from third. Error? Fielder’s Choice? Help?
By the 3rd inning, the baseball team is done. I kinda hoped they’d come over so I could ask if they have any games coming up, but they did not. #30 for the Aggies homers to left. I wish I knew who that was. Corrin gets a serenade from the dugout during her at bat. A lady comments, “You have to be a cheerleader and a softball player on this team.” Darn straight. The short-haired UTEP third baseman made a great catch just off the ground on a hard liner. I respect good plays by the opposition. #4 for the Aggies then homers to right. Again, I don’t know who that is. #12, who might be Kennedy Johnson as per last season’s program, got the serenade “Do something baby!” and #7 got a clapping song. Even the UTEP fans were finally impressed. 4-1 Aggies.
In the bottom of the 4th, we finally get a new UTEP pitcher. Thank God. Aggie #1 got the chant, “We want some Bran-day!” I assume her name is Brandy and she’s really small. She beat out an infield hit and then stole second. A UTEP fan behind me called that before it happened. #1 then took third on a wild pitch and scored on a fielder’s choice, 5-1 Aggies. She’s got some hustle.
In the 5th, the Aggie third baseman made a great stop and threw out the runner at first. That might have been Corrin. She was mobbed coming off the field, and I didn’t get the number. Corrin did lead off the bottom of the inning with a hit and there’s another steal of second. At this point, the UTEP crowd officially turned ugly after all of those close plays at second not going their way. The home plate ump, who’d been getting the brunt of the criticism (because he was closer than the second base ump), had his mask off, and I could tell he was about to pop. Then there’s a steal of third after a strikeout. The crowd is now livid. This gets the UTEP coach involved too. I can hear a bit of it, “So you’re admitting the call was wrong and you’re not fixing it?” Then there’s a single driving in the run, 6-1 Aggies. The Aggie bench cheers loud enough to drown out anything else.
In the 6th, Aggie #21 is throwing even harder. Whoever she is, she’s throwing a heck of a game. A great double play ends the top of the inning. In the bottom, UTEP fans are cheering every Aggie out. There’s no drama in the 7th as #21 closes it out. That’s seven innings and one unearned run. Let’s keep her on the team.
The teams lined up and slapped hands and said “Good game” in fashion mechanical enough to make you think they probably didn’t really mean it. The Aggie girls went to the circle and said a loud “Thank you!” in unison. I don’t know if they were thanking the Miner team there, certainly not their fans. They weren’t facing me, their only remaining fan in the stands, so I’m not sure who they were thanking. In any case, two convincing wins over a rival is always great to see, especially in front the rival’s angry fans.
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