Monday, May 21, 2018

WAC Softball Tournament 2018 Game 4 UMKC vs Utah Valley


        
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.

No comments:

Post a Comment