Wednesday, October 11, 2017

NM State Softball Exhibition Game 9-30-17

I hate to be cryptic in the title, but I just don’t know who the Aggies were playing.  I wasn’t sure if I was reading their shirts correctly, which seemed to say “Lady Chaps.”  That can’t be right.  I noticed at least one of their fans wearing a UTSA shirt (University of Texas-San Antonio, not to be confused with USTA, those tennis people, who I kept misidentifying them as last year).  The Aggies have played them before (2-11-17), and I don’t think green and gray are their colors, nor was this team the Roadrunners.  I guess we’ll go with Lady Chaps, regardless of how incorrect that may be, for the rest of the post.

I arrived at the softball complex directly from the volleyball match.  I wasn’t entirely sure if there was going to be a game there, because their schedule was a bit vague and their Twitter feed hadn’t put up any updates.  I could see people in the stands and a team bus outside, so that was a good sign.  I peeked over at the baseball field.  Coach Brian Green on the Aggie Coaches Show had said that they would be playing inter-squad games for the next few weeks and that the public was more than welcome to come out and watch.  I saw a couple of people in the stands, but no game on the field.  I did briefly see some players exercising.  Maybe next time.

The sun was hot, but a few big clouds would obscure it about half the time.  I kept taking my sunglasses on and off and putting my umbrella up and down.  There was a stiff breeze, but it didn’t affect the fans, only the flight of balls in the air.  There was actually a decent crowd for a game that didn’t count.  The regular senior crowd wasn’t there (nor the old man).  It was a lively bunch.  They were shouting out criticism and encouragement and ragging on the umps, for the whole game.  A fellow in front of me was, I think, an Aggie player dad.  He was particularly vocal.  Behind me was a dad from the other team doing some shouting.  These guys were nowhere near as obnoxious the soccer fans.     

I arrived during the break between the games of the double header.  With no program, I’m sort of guessing about some of the Aggie lineup.  Kayla Green was at first.  I’m not sure if she pitched in Game 1.  I was pleased to see Kelsey Horton at second.  This would indicate she was over her injury.  Diminutive local girl, Brandy Hernandez, was playing at third and a clear fan favorite.  She was also practicing pitching on the sidelines before the game, multi-talented.  Destiny Blueford was at short.  Amy Bergeson was in left.  Victoria “Tori” Castro was in center.  I don’t know who was in right with the long, dark hair, but I think I heard her called Nicole.  I’m not sure who was catching, maybe Shelby Shultes.  A new girl was pitching.  I heard her called Louise and “Weezie,” so we’ll go with that.

Weezie looked pretty good to start with a pair of strikeouts.  The Lady Chaps then sent up a very large girl, who their fans called “Ya-ya.”  Uh oh, I thought, These kind of girls usually mean trouble on the softball field with a bat in their hands.  Sure enough, she easily doubled.  It’s hard to believe her and Brandy Hernandez, who might be less than half Ya-ya’s size, are playing on the same field.  Softball seems like a very democratic meritocracy in that respect.  Kelsey, with an entirely different build, looked good fielding a popup to end the inning. 

In the bottom, the Lady Chaps pitcher had on a face mask.  I assume everyone wearing one of those has taken a ball to the face, so congratulations on your courage for going back out to pitch.  Their catcher worked up lots of chatter, which I like.  Whether it’s useful or not, I don’t know.  Amy led off with an infield single.  She then stole second and took third when the pitcher forgot about her.  Brandy, with several fans in the crowd, singled her in, 1-0 Aggies.  A new cheer came out of the Aggie dugout, “Do it again!  We like it!”  Brandy then stole second.  Kelsey sacrificed her to third, and Brandy would score on a fielder’s choice, 2-0.  Destiny also collected a single before the inning ended.   

To the second, Kelsey made another good catch and seemed to be moving well.  Admittedly, I’m not just watching Kelsey for her good looks; I wanted to see if she’d recovered from her injury.  Weezie didn’t get a strike call in one at bat.  The crowd reacted very badly.  I’d be critical of them taking this exhibition game too seriously, but Coach Kathy Rodolph came out of dugout and said to everyone, “That was a good pitch!  Keep doing that!”  You could tell this really was an exhibition game, because in a real game, she’d get tossed for showing up an umpire like that.  The frame ended without further controversy.     

Nicole singled to start the bottom of the second.  She advanced to second on a high wild pitch.  The Aggie bench sang out, “Lower, lower,” then in a lower register, “Lower, lower.”  If they didn’t play so well, I’d question the amount of time they must spend on harmonizing and working out new material.  Kayla came up and popped up on the first base line.  She collided with the first baseman and flattened her.  I can’t believe just wrote that sentence.  Thin, wiry Kayla shouldn’t be flattening anybody.  Moreover, as per the rules (which the fans and Kayla didn’t seem to know), she was out on interference (but could have legally left the baseline in such an instance to avoid contact with the fielder). 

This is not the kind of play we want to see, especially in an exhibition.  If you want to hit other girls on a field, play soccer, you can completely get away with it about half the time.  Coach Kathy came out to send Kayla back to the dugout, as she was still standing at first base, and to check on the hurt player.  The girl had the wind knocked out of her and had to get a nasty scrape treated by a trainer.  The fans and the Aggie bench applauded her as she resumed her position.

Back to the action, Amy doubled.  Brandy singled and drove Nicole in, 3-0.  (This is the kind of play we want to see.)  Brandy stole second.  (This all seems familiar.)  Kelsey came up and doubled to center.  Oh, that’s that sweet swing of hers.  That looked good.  Amy scored, but Brandy was called out on a play at the plate, 4-0 Aggies.  Between innings, Kathy argued with umpire.  No, actually, in measured tones, she told him that he was wrong and apparently didn’t know the rules, but she didn’t argue because it was an exhibition.  Try to do better.  Yeah, that was right in front of the grandstand and we all heard it.            
  
Top of the third, after a walk, Destiny made a great play deep in the hole to force the runner at second.  A caught stealing ended the frame.  Tori got a drive down the line, but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a double.  The ump at second was calling everybody out if it was close, but nobody seemed to pick up on that. 

Caity Szczesny came in to play center for the fourth.  Ya-ya had and epic at bat when she came up.  The wind robbed her of a home run and she had to settle for a walk.  A new battery came in with Samaria Diaz pitching.  It looked like she was using a new windup.  It looked looser and more powerful.  The new catcher may have been Kennedy Johnson, from hearing that name on field. She had really great hair under that catching helmet.  Speaking of catchers, is Alexis Maynez not on the team anymore?  I liked her, her catching, and she’d figured out the hitting.  Kayla Green was also replaced by Nikki Butler.      

In the bottom, Nicole singled.  A new girl without a number came up.  Nicole was out on a fielder’s choice on a grounder.  The new girl stole second the catcher nearly hit the pitcher trying to throw her out.  Amy got off the ultimate bunt: the ball somehow completely stopped on the ground right in front of the plate after being hit.  While the catcher admired the improbable physics of the situation, Amy took second.  The new girl tried to take home in the fracas, but was thrown out.  The crowd was angry again over the call.  Amy took third during the pitcher’s inattention right after.  It’s basically just funny at this point, because you know she’s wondering if she could steal home standing up.  Unfortunately, Amy decided to let her teammates get an RBI was left stranded.

What happened next is a little clearer in retrospect.  Kathy had not been having a stress-less game.  The irritation may have started in Game 1, when I wasn’t there.  I’m not sure exactly happened in the previous inning to trigger an explosion, but it happened.  Kathy took the team out of the dugout and dressed them all down in front of everybody.  This friendly little exhibition was turning into an opera where everybody dies in the end.          

After that tirade, changes were made in the top of the fifth.  Brandy was called off the field and replaced at third with the new girl without a number.  I thought I heard “Buddy” called out for her.  I must have mis-heard that, certainly it’s not a given name, but we’re going with it.  She had shorter hair than the other girls and had sunglasses on the whole time.  Jeanelle Medina went in at short (assuming that’s her with the #9).  (I’m hating writing this.  I’m not even sure who I’m talking about.)

The “pep talk” didn’t work out as the Lady Chaps got a two-run homer.  It was somewhat wind-aided, but that still counts, 4-2 Aggies.  The opposing bench piped up at this point.  Ya-ya also singled in the inning.  In the bottom, Kelsey got a serenade from the bench during her at bat.  She grounded out and didn’t run hard.  In this case, I wonder if her wheels are still a bit too tender to go all out all the time.  Caity, who also got sang to, got an infield single that she stretched to a double. 

Kelsey’s defense wasn’t suffering.  She made a great running play on the infield in the sixth.  She may have worked on playing second a bunch in the off-season.  In the bottom, Nicole singled and took second on a wild pitch.  An FC by Buddy got her to third.  (I have this vision of people yelling at me, “You’re getting every name wrong!”)  Amy drove her in on another fielder’s choice, 5-2 Aggies.  Brandy came in to bat.  She got via an error, but was thrown out trying to steal. 

The Lady Chaps led off the seventh with a double to right.  I couldn’t really see the play in the corner, but the coach apparently didn’t like it.  Nicole came out and Tori came in.  Next was a strikeout, a single, and then a run-scoring single, 5-3 Aggies.  Ya-ya was at bat again with the bench cheering for her, but the game ended on a double play.  Or not.  They played out the bottom for the exhibition.  Nikki got sang to during the frame, but that was all that happened.  Now we’re done.  5-3 Aggies was the final.

After the teams shook hands, the Aggies went to circle and said “Thank you!” to everyone.  The Lady Chaps then upstaged them.  They went directly up to the grandstand and said together, “Thank you for coming to our game!  Bird is the word!”  It was so cute.  I wish knew who they were.  As for the Aggies, they got rimmed some more by the coach.  Even out in left field, her voice was carrying loud and clear.  My impression is that the team seems pretty good.  Amy Bergeson is on a mission to take every base.  She’s going to be fun to watch.  The new girls looked good.  I’m not sure how all the pieces are going to fit together or where they’re going to play, but I’m not worried. 

Starving in the early evening from only having a bowl of cereal in the morning, things finally aligned for me to get that Roadrunner Pizza large pepperoni that I’d been wanting for a month.  It’s hard to believe you can work up that much of an appetite just sitting around for a couple of games.  One of the guys there immediately complimented my “Aggie Empire” shirt.  This shirt is the greatest.  Right after I walked out, I think one of the cheerleaders went in, not in uniform of course.  Maybe I could have gotten another compliment or at least complimented her and the rest of the Spirit Squad on their relentless energy and efforts during the games.  The pizza was delicious and a great way to top off the day.             

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