Danny and I went for lunch between games. We both saw a coyote walking around the small
stream on campus. I didn’t see him try
to get into the game. Maybe he was going
to the graduation ceremonies at the Pan-Am. We went to McDonald’s. How did I end up
at McDonald’s two days in a row when I haven’t been there in years (for good
reason, their food isn’t good)? Danny
likes their coffee. He says it’s
good. I got a Value Menu chicken
sandwich, which as okay. Once again, I
gorged on Powerade to counteract the fluid loss from the heat.
This game between the Redhawks and the Lopes
was going to be the first elimination game of the tournament. The game started at 4:00, so there was still
plenty of hot sun. It did occasionally
duck behind a cloud to give some relief.
The SU fans and GCU fans may have been about equal. Both groups would prove to be passionate.
The Redhawks got the scoring started with a two-run
homer by Madison Cathcart in the
first. After the home run, the t-shirt
toss caught a fan by surprise as a shirt landed in her lap. She wasn’t even signaling for one. The Lopes turned a double play to end the
inning. 2-0 Redhawks. Grand Canyon’s first batter ran into a batted
ball and was called out. In the third,
the same thing happened to a Seattle batter.
The fans on both sides were grumbling at the home plate ump. 
The Redhawks loaded the bases in the fourth on three
singles. The first out came on a play at
the plate, and two more groundouts ended the inning. Grand Canyon also loaded the bases on three
hits in the bottom. They almost lost a
runner at home plate earlier, but she made it back to third as the bases
weren’t loaded at that point. Kendsey Hill singled in two runs next,
with Jordan Keeton singling in
another. The girls in the GCU dugout then
performed some sort of strange ritual. I
think they were throwing love out to the batters. 3-2 Lopes.
Madison worked a walk with style in the fifth. With three straight balls on her, while the
pitcher was starting to throw, she dropped her bat and started jogging to
first. The Redhawks threatened, but
didn’t score. In the bottom, Niki Gonzalez struck out, but made it
to first on a passed ball. This would be
costly. Bianaca Boling hit a two-run homer to make it 5-2 GCU.
Oh, boy. Here we
go. I said there was a big controversy
in this tournament. We’ll try to piece
this together. Madison singled. Bailey
Thompson singled. Nicole Bolasky singled to load the
bases. Madison scored on an error and
Bailey went to third. Nicole stole
second. Everything clear so far? Susanne
Morris hit a grounder. There was a
play at the plate and Bailey was . . .
The home plate ump never made a call. Unsurprisingly, both groups of fans were up
in arms. The umps called a conference
and came back with a decision. Bailey
was out at the plate. That seemed sort
of obvious. Further, Susanne, the
batter, was also called out. You’re
scratching your head. I don’t know what
happened. Did the runner at home interfere
with the catcher? Did the batter step
out of the baseline? I didn’t figure it
out while I was there. [Edit: The
official scoring was also completely cryptic.]
The Redhawks coach did not take this well. Neither did their fans. The ump ejected the coach, but had to live
with the fans. Danny and I were seated
on the left field side by the SU fans.
It got a bit uncomfortable. Danny
thought he noticed the coach coming back into the stands in disguise
later. Then there’s what I heard the
next day after Danny had heard some gossip.
The coach had actually mooned the umps, which was what got him run.
After the theatrics, Sara Dominguez singled in Nicole to make it 5-4 GCU. In the bottom, Kendsey came up big again with
a two-run home run dagger. The final
score was 7-4 Lopes. The Redhawks became the tournament’s first
casualty. It didn’t end easy. Maddy
Kristjanson struck out looking to end the game. She immediately started arguing with the
umpire, who ejected her and then walked away.
Maddy went back towards the dugout, threw down her helmet, and then
burst into tears.
Redhawk Madison
Cathcart gets a gameball for going 3 for 3 with 2 RBI’s. Kendsey
Hill gets a nod for GCU for going 3 for 3 with 4 RBI’s. Brianna
Aguilar pitched all seven innings for the Lopes, only giving up 4
runs. It was a good game with some lousy
umpiring. Even if they’re making the
right decisions, they weren’t making the decisions clear to the fans. As others there said, “They lost control of
the game.”
My goodness, it’s been a long day to this point and
there’s still a game left. Can Game 6
possibly top this?
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