The good news was that I didn’t have to get up
early. The bad news was that this 1:00
game would be in full heat. At least
there was a breeze. Actually, it was a
stiff wind blowing in, and it was still hot.
The wind just made it hard to hold an umbrella to get shade from the
sunlight. In spite of all the time I’d
spent sitting out in the sun yesterday, I felt rejuvenated today. I’m not even sure I should say this, but I
think the reason was that I didn’t do my usual morning exercises yesterday,
because of the early start time for the games.
It’s almost like my exercising has been what’s keeping me worn out and
tired all the time.
The attractive blonde ticker seller from yesterday had
moved to the tournament t-shirt selling tent.
I had actually thrown out some shirts from my closet earlier in the
week. I had run out of room. (How does someone so unfashionable have a full
closet?) I have more Aggie stuff now
than I know what to do with. However, I
wanted to talk to her and didn’t want to totally waste her time, so I bought
the tournament shirt. It was worth it in
that I’d finally properly introduced myself and got her name. When I got home and took a good look at the
shirt, I had to admit it was really nice.
So, it was a worthwhile purchase.
(I saw many people buying them, but not wearing them at the tournament
for some reason.)
It wasn’t all good before the game though. I sat down next to Danny again. Right after we got settled, an older cowboy
fellow carrying a couple of stadium chairs, lost his balance and fell backward
down the grandstand stairs. It all
seemed to happen slow motion, but nobody around was able to react quickly
enough. The cowboy fell on Danny before
he hit the steps.
Paramedics showed up almost immediately, as they were on
station nearby. Amazingly, both senior
citizens were okay. The cowboy was
laughing about it. His wife wanted to
make sure to recover the chairs. Danny
was okay and actually glad he was able to break the guy’s fall. He spilled his Pepsi, but the cowboy bought
him another one. (I spilled my cup of
water for about the third time this tournament and got it all over myself and
my notes.) The paramedics checked up on
both fellows a couple a times during the afternoon.
It was another great crowd for the Aggies, in spite of the conditions.
Lia Mosher from the
volleyball team was there. I wonder if
she’ll be able or allowed to play on the softball team next season. If showing up here is an indication, she
really wants to. Women’s Basketball
coach Brooke Atkinson was back. An Aggie baseball player came in and sat
nearby with an Aggie soccer player girlfriend.
They had team t-shirts on, but no numbers or names, and I didn’t
recognize them. Nice-looking
couple. Some of the Redhawks team was there. (No
sign of their coach or his rear end though.)
(Boy, was that an overly long intro.) Kayla
Green again started for the Aggies, who were the visitors for this game. I’d heard that she had been seriously bummed
out over her short start in the previous game. I love watching her pitch, but I wonder if
her thin frame is getting too worn out with her workload by this time in the
season.
Today would be Kelsey
Horton versus the wind. Round 1 in
the first inning went to the wind, as she popped out to short. The UMKC
Roos started off with Sydney Garcia
tripling and Ashlin O’Brien singling
her in. Kayla’s defense immediately
picked her up with Jeanelle Medina
catching a liner and then rest of infield combining for a double play on the
next batter. 1-0 Roos.
Nikki
Butler led off the top of the second with a single and Brandy Hernandez pinch ran for
her. Victoria Castro singled her way on next. Kennedy
Johnson was again in the lineup as DP.
She hammered one to straightaway centerfield. The wind was not playing any favorites
though. What looked like a sure home run
blew right back in.
Unfortunately, Brandy and Tori saw the situation
differently. Brandy thought the ball
would be caught and tagged up. Tori saw
it was going to drop in and kept going and passed Brandy. That’s an out. The rally kind of died there. That was a hard situation to judge, so I
can’t blame either of them. It also
gives you an idea of how hard the wind was blowing. Kayla struck out a pair in the bottom and
appeared to be in a groove.
In the top of the third, Rachel Rodriguez drew a walk to get to first. Round 2 of Kelsey and wind again ended with
the wind knocking down another sure home run to center into a flyball out. I think she hit that ball as hard as she
could too. Surprisingly, Rachel tagged
and went to second. She was picked off
once there, but they didn’t get her, and she still stole third.
Fahren
Glackin hit into an easy groundout to short, but I think the
wind may have affected the throw, which sailed out the reach of the first
baseman. Rachel scored and Fahren went
to second. Nikki, another home run
hitter, decided to cut down her launch angle and hammered a double, which
brought Fahren in. 2-1 Aggies.
In the bottom, the Roos continued to slap at the
ball. I think they’d decided beforehand
not to fight the wind. The Aggie defense
looked good. They cut down the lead
runner twice on plays that other teams might not have attempted. That sparkling defense continued in the
fourth as the Aggies turned another double play. Kayla got the third out looking and came out
of the circle smiling.
Rachel singled her way on to start the fifth. The wind had died down a little when Kelsey
came up. She fouled one a mile into the
parking lot, but settled for lining a single.
Fahren singled, but ended up at second as Kelsey got thrown out trying
to take third, but Rachel scored. Nikki
came up next and didn’t care what the wind was doing as she clubbed a two-run
homer. Amy Bergeson then singled and was doubled in by Kennedy. 6-1 Aggies.
Kayla gave up a double in the bottom of the fifth. She’d get two outs, but Faith Willis would drive in a run.
Sydney then homered to chase Kayla from the game. Analise
de la Roca came in in relief and finished the inning with a strikeout. 6-3
Aggies.
Top of the second, Caity
Szczesny walked and then Rachel traded places with her on the fielder’s
choice. Kelsey versus the wind, Round
4. This time she tried going opposite
field, but flied out. Rachel tagged up,
deked the fielder, and then took second.
She was almost toying with them on the basepads today.
Fahren must be living right. She again hit into what should have been a
groundout that turned into a run-scoring error.
Nikki came up and repeated her last at bat with another two-run
homer. 9-3 Aggies. Analise worked a scoreless bottom and caught
a shoe top line drive.
Amy and Kennedy got on to start the seventh. Jeanelle then hit a hustle triple down left
field line to drive them both in. Caity
doubled her in. Kelsey drove in a run
with a fielder’s choice. Finally, Fahren
doubled her in. When the dust settled,
it was 14-3 Aggies. That would be the final score as Analise
finished off the game.
The Roos were now eliminated, but Sydney Garcia had a great game, going 3 for 4 with an RBI. Kayla
Green flashed some of her good stuff today, but was hittable. Some great defense and Analise de la Roca notching a couple of strong innings sealed the
win. All of the Aggie starters had a hit
today. Kelsey Horton lost to the wind, but still got a hit and drove in a
run. [Edit: In an interview later, she
admitted she was trying too hard to set the school season record for home runs,
which she was one away from in this game.]
This was definitely Nikki
Butler’s day. She accumulated a gaudy
line of going 4 for 5 with 5 RBI’s.
That’s two games with double digit runs for the
Aggies. They now breeze (see what I did there) into the championship round. (I, on the other hand, had a bear of a time
writing this. I forgot that the Aggies
weren’t the home team and had to do some rewrites.) The Aggies’ opponent will be determined by
the next two games.
On to Game 8.
No comments:
Post a Comment