Between games, I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t bother
leaving for lunch. I noticed a line of
parents waiting for the Aggie team to exit their clubhouse. I was a bit more intrigued by a little spot
of shade by a pillar that was nearby. I
plopped down there and worked on my scorecards.
After the girls left, the Utah
Valley girls came by to use their dugout for the game. Yes, I saw my favorite, Basia Query go by. We
exchanged an awkward a smile and wave.
I’ll treasure the moment forever.
We hit peak hotness on the field. In this case, I’m referring to the
temperature, though metaphorically Basia also brought the heat. Looking at my extremely skimpy notes, I’m thinking
I wasn’t in the mood to write while sitting under a hot sun. There was no escaping it. Danny moved to a position in the center
grandstand directly behind home plate. I
was glad to sit there too so I could watch Basia at work.
While the Valley Girls were taking the field after being
introduced, they fist-bumped the umps on the way out. Right before the game, Basia shook hands with
the home plate ump. Entire team
fist-bumps I haven’t seen before, but I think catchers usually greet the
umpire. I also learned during the
introductions that I’ve been pronouncing her name wrong. The singer from the 90’s that I liked with the
same name pronounced it Basha. In this case, it’s Baysha. Now I’m curious
where she got the name from.
I’m aching a little here over the exotic-looking catcher. Let’s change topics. The UMKC
Roos looked really sharp in their uniforms.
Their pants were bright white with royal blue and gray tops. The Valley Girls got good and loud in their
dugout. It may have been where I was
sitting that I could hear them better than the Roos’ dugout. A couple of Aggie girls came back to watch
this game in spite of the heat.
The scoring started in the second with Caragh Morris driving in Madison Sisco from third with a sac
fly. 1-0 Wolverines. In the top of the third with a runner on, Kaylee Bott made an error (ruled a hit)
that let on another. Then she had a
mental error on the next play that loaded the bases. (I hated writing that. Kaylee
looks awfully cute out on field.) Kelsey Goodwin came up and tripled down the right field line,
clearing the bases. Olivia Fluehr followed that by doubling her in. 4-1 Roos.
The Wolverines came back in the bottom. Lyndsay
Steverson homered in herself and Peyton
Angulo. After another hit, Olivia
took the field to pitch and finish the inning.
In the fourth, Lia Lombardini
started the inning with a solo home run.
Kelsey Goodwin drove in
another runner, who’d gotten on via an error.
6-2 Roos.
In the sixth, a hit batter, another error, and two
fielders’ choices scratched out another run for the Roos. I remember the infield yelling at the pitcher
to throw to another base at one point, which she ignored. Ah, I saw you working there Basia during the
inning. After one ball call, she turned
her head to the ump and smiled, as she tried to sweet talk him. (That would have totally worked on me.)
The Wolverines would go out with a bang in the
seventh. Caragh absolutely bombed one to
left field and hit the field house beyond the wall. It was a great show of force, but the Roos would win it, 7-4. This was a pretty good game, but hard to
enjoy under somewhat harsh conditions. I
won’t say Utah Valley lost because of poor fielding, but three errors (and
maybe more than that) didn’t help. They
were perhaps playing with some nerves.
Meanwhile, the last-seeded Roos just beat the number two seed. They’re playing inspired.
The fans got another break as we waited for Game 5.
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