Sketch Dump: The Pony Book 14

I was introduced to Japanese wrestler, Hana Kimura, on a tribute episode on Ring of Honor Wrestling.  This poor beautiful and talented girl had a promising wrestling career and was even on a reality show.  Unfortunately, she ran afoul of some cyberbullying fans of the show and took it too personally and then took her own life.  It's fairly tragic.  Also, there's a sketch of CBU basketball player, Georgia Dale.  I'd noticed her in a game against the Aggies.  She is from Australia.

    

Like the above one, I spent a bunch of time on this sketch of Hana, but it's not quite right.  I filled in a couple of little sketches with it.  These are Twitch streamers Alyssa Zhu and Julie the Apprentice.  

The one on the left turned out okay.  These are still of Hana.  She changed her her color.

Here's one of K-pop singer, IU.  I liked the pencils too much to wreck it with my bad inking.

Lastly, here's a WWE wrestler, Alexa Bliss.  I liked her a lot, but then she went Goth and weird on the show.  There's also a couple of quickies from Crossgen's Meridian. 

Memorial Day Weekend and Spring Sports Recap 2021 Part 2

Part 1

Saturday 5-29-21

Though I’d gotten to bed late Friday night after month end processing, I’d gotten up only a bit late.  After exercising and showering, I tried to decide what to do next as Major League Baseball came on a Mexican channel.  It was the Devil Rays (the Rays in their throwbacks) against the Phillies.  I watched all of the first inning, where Austin Meadows hit a two-run homer to put the Rays up 2-0. 

 

Hunger finally made up my mind.  I left to run by the Barnes & Noble for a minute to look for a couple of magazines.  I couldn’t find the Archie digest I was looking for, but finally found the latest issue of Imagine FX.  The last issue I’d gotten didn’t really convince me to buy another, but after seeing that spectacular Pernille Orum cover, I was interested in taking a look at it. 

 

After two fruitless visits to the bookstore to find a copy, I finally looked online for a good image of the cover for wallpaper.  Unexpectedly, I found the issue available for free and downloaded it from what looked like a somewhat reputable website.  That sounds bad, doesn’t it?  It really didn’t occur to me that the whole issue would be posted up for grabs anywhere.  I’d planned on buying it anyway, but after reading it, only the Pernille material interested me.  If they sell it with a poster of the cover, I’d probably still want it, I thought. 

 

Today, there it was and it did have a poster inside.  Swell.  How much?  $17!  Owww!  The other issue I’d gotten was $20, but it was a third bigger and had a bunch of art I liked in it.  If it was $15, I could have probably still talked myself into it.  I’m just going to have to live with being a pirate.  (There was also a link in the PDF for a download of Imagine FX’s first issue.  Even with that, it still wouldn’t have been worth $17.)     

 

I went to McAlisters on the way back.  I’d run right into the heavy lunch crowd and had to cool my heels for a while waiting for my Chicken Avocado BLT.  I got back home famished after walking for the whole trip in 90-something-degree heat.  The sandwich was great.  Admittedly, anything would have tasted great.  Oddly, the bacon was actually weakest ingredient involved.  (Sidebar: I had one of these in 2019.  I didn’t even remember it.  I wrote, “It didn’t hold together well.”  The current sandwich is an improvement.) 

 

The game score hadn’t changed three innings later.  I got back in time to see the Phillies tie it in a painful manner.  Roman Quinn blew his hammy rounding third.  He had to be carried off.  The Rays eventually won 5-3.  I missed the go-ahead score, as I was flipping between this and another game.

 

Dad called.  He was out of town.  He’d gone with Joe to City of Rocks park and was about to eat lunch.  He hadn’t mentioned planning this trip.  I wasn’t invited.  He said he tried calling me, but didn’t leave a message or try my cell.  I guess I’ll see him tomorrow anyway.

 

The other game was Oklahoma versus Washington in the NCAA Softball tournament.  They said this was the first time they’d shown softball on ABC.  Last week, I’d hit the wrong numbers on the remote for the TV at work and saw a little of ESPN2 showing a softball game, which was by odd coincidence, Seattle U playing Michigan.  I’m sure the Redhawks, who’d beaten the Aggies to get in, were thrilled to be on national TV. 

 

The Sooner’s stadium was filled and an impressive facility with multiple stands, outfield seating, and free berm lawn seating.  The team is averaging 12 runs a game this season, including dropping 30+ runs on the Lobos.  The Huskies, meanwhile, were a 16 seed.  They’d been ranked in the national top 10 all year and were disappointed by the placement to the point of actually walking out after their selection.

 

I’ll say this much, in addition to some attractive players, both head coaches were pretty good-looking.  The Washington main pitcher was also catching my eye.  Admittedly, not the sort of girl I usually go for, but she was always flashing a pretty smile in the circle with a light shade of red hair.   

 

As for the game, OK dominated and won on a run rule, 9-1.  The crowd there loved their team.  One of the girls even came out for curtain call after a home run.  Afterward, the team went to the outfield wall with the years of their College World Series births on it, took it off, and carried it to home plate to have another year added to it.  They go into the CWS with a 50-2 record.

 

Flipping around, I saw 7’ of extra time as Chelsea beat Man City for the UEFA Championship, 1-nil.  I thought I read something on the ticker that this was the first time an American player had been on a championship-winning team.  There was also Mexican League Baseball on.  I couldn’t identify the teams.  It looked like an interesting game, but it couldn’t hold my attention, other than the rabbit mascot waving to the crowd.  Stadium was also showing indoor football later.  There was even outdoor football on Fox earlier.  It’s some kind of developmental league.

 

I was waiting for the Dodgers versus Giants game coming up.  Fox started showing games again on Saturday nights, basically exclusively Dodger games so far in my area.  The Dodgers swept out the Giants in San Francisco earlier in the month.  The Giants had been looking good up and surprisingly leading the division up to that point.  No one was surprised by the sweep.  With the reciprocal series in LA, the Giants have come back with a vengeance.  They blasted the Dodgers Friday night.    

 

The pregame showed Cody Bellinger back with the team.  The Giants picked right up from last night with the hitting, but good Dodger defense kept them from scoring in the first.  Though the Dodgers took a lead, Julio Urias proved very hittable.  He walked in a run in the second for a 3-1 Giants lead.  Donavan Solano at second made two errors in a row next inning leading to a run.  Buster Posey called time and talked to the infield.  He’s basically coaching the team.  Gabe Kapler just gets coffee and donuts for him. 

 

Donavan came up the next inning and hit a two-run homer.  I missed it live.  I was watching the end of Twister in Spanish on a Mexican station.  I couldn’t resist.  It’s such a big dumb, but entertaining movie.  It’s not Bill Paxton’s best or best-remembered role, but it was his biggest. 

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that Albert Pujols is now playing for the Dodgers.  I’d say this would help the Angels by finally getting rid of him, but Mike Trout is on the IL.  The curse continues.  Shohei Ohtani is meanwhile having a great season hitting and pitching.  He’s well on his way to being Andre Dawson: the league MVP on a last place team.  Anyway, the Giants continued to pour it on and won 11-6.  The play of the game belonged to Mike Yastrzemski, who handed a ball to a delighted child between innings, which was all caught on camera.  The little boy then handed it to a pretty lady next to him.  Power move, junior, especially with her husband right there.     

 

And there was playoff hockey between the Islanders vs Bruins.  I just haven’t sat down to try and watch any hockey since that Winter Classic debacle by Lake Tahoe.   I’m still smarting that I missed the NBC special on Mike “Doc” Emrick, who quietly retired before the season.  (It was bad enough losing “Uncle” Ted Leitner.)  Emrick was my actual favorite play-by-play announcer.       

 

The game looked pretty good as I was flipping between it and baseball.  The score went back-and-forth.  There was a big fight at end of the second period.  David Pastrnak scored a hat trick for Boston.  He picked a good time for it as there was a full house of fans there, who showered the rink with hats.  Boston won 5-2.  There was an empty net goal late.   

 

I tuned in for tonight’s Chihuahuas game and was surprised by ESPN Radio coverage of the Padres and Astros.  I had no idea that was on.  (I’m planning on checking for a day game on Monday.)  I sort of wish I’d been listening, but on the other hand, they broke away from the game in the 12-th inning to go to the local team.  That would have sucked, if I’d been more invested in it.  The Padres would win it as I saw on the out-of-town scoreboard in Dodger Stadium.  Apparently, Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a game-tying three-run homer to send it to extras.  Okay, now I’m sorry I missed that game.

 

I listened to a couple of innings and heard the Chihuahuas take the lead.  At sundown at around 8:00, the station powered down.  The only Rangers game of the three-day weekend that I could listen to (having lost the El Paso affiliate and still bitter) was coming on at that time.  I switched over to the after dark Amarillo affiliate to hear their game against the Mariners.  I’m only going to get so many opportunities to hear Eric Nadel and Matt Hicks calling these games this season.  The Rockies aren’t doing any night games over the holiday that I could listen to.

 

Reading an MLB article on possible beneficial trades for contending teams, they’d written about what a great fit Joey Gallo would be for the Yankees.  Indeed, they made a great case.  Just one problem, they never mentioned what the Yankees would be trading the Rangers in return.  I guess the Rangers should just do it for the good of the league.

 

The Mariners were playing with Jarred Kelenic, baseball’s top prospect.  The Chihuahuas had faced him on the Tacoma Rainiers in their first series of the season.  After hitting a couple of home runs and doing well, the M’s moved him up to the big league.  On the Rangers, they suddenly had a rookie phenom in Adolis Garcia, who I think is leading the league in home runs.  Meanwhile, the Rangers have been better known for getting no-hit twice this season.  (That’s okay.  So have the Mariners and the Indians.  I begin to wonder if the issue here isn’t that there’s several historically bad hitting teams in the league this year.)  One of those no-no’s was by Corey Kluber on the Yankees.  Kluber pitched one inning for the Rangers last season before having a season-ending injury. 

 

The two games nearly finished at the same time in spite of the hour difference in start times.  I really wish I’d just stuck with the Rangers game, since it turned out to be pretty good.  The Chihuahuas were losing bad when I checked back and the game was dragging.  Two-and-a-half hours in and they were in the sixth.  I just wanted the final score.  It could have been worse.  The crowd there endured a 12-5 loss that took three-and-a-half hours while they were waiting for fireworks.  The Rangers made it interesting in the ninth when they were down by 2.  The tying run was on base, but they lost 3-2.

 

Finally, after doing a drawing and giving up on doing any more writing, I sat down and watched Ring of Honor Wrestling.  Does that count as a sport?  Well, if watching a fake competition with real athleticism isn’t a sport, then I’ll start excluding any NFL coverage from this blog.  (No, I don’t get tired of saying that.)  Quinn McKay was darling as ever.  She was featured in several segments.  The feature match was an 8-man tag team bout, which was surprisingly entertaining.  With that, I went to bed early. 

Part 3

NM State Aggies vs CBU Lancers Baseball Game 2 05-15-21

 

Continued from Game 1.

 

During the intermission, we went back to Ron’s car.  He ate his overloaded footlong sub sandwich, while I wished I had something sweet to drink, or snack on, or a dessert.  Ron devastated his sandwich instantly.  He played part two of the “Origin of the high five” story.  Mike Rowe had expressed some regret over putting out the story, because as part of it, he’d said Billy Martin, the A’s manager, had introduced the g*y player to the team as a “f*ggot.” 

 

Billy Martin’s son had protested this allegation, so Rowe went back and did more research and found there was only one source for that story, a reporter.  The other players in the locker room at the time, and the g*y player in his published autobiography, never mentioned this ever happening.  This is only an issue because Billy Martin isn’t yet in the Hall of Fame as of this 2020 podcast.  This blows my mind.  Anyway, this apparently fake news could be used to keep Martin out.  Rowe felt like he was an unwitting accomplice in perpetuating this story.  Since the main participants are dead, there’s no asking them for clarification.

 

If there’s moral to this, Rowe probably shouldn’t have pushed the virtue-signaling part of this story so hard in his original version.  This isn’t even the first time something like this has happened from bad reporting.  Ty Cobb is usually dismissed in his baseball accomplishments because he was a reported racist.  It turned out that all accounts of that trace back to one book written by a reporter who didn’t like him.  Cobb was the grandson of an abolitionist.  He frequented Negro League games and is even quoted as saying that blacks should have been allowed to play Major League Baseball.  Don’t believe anything a reporter says without independent verification.                

 

It rained briefly while we were in the car (as we completely ignore my little rant, like it never happened).  When we came back in, a hot blonde girl had taken the dog’s owners’ seats, so there was no more petting.  (Somehow that doesn’t sound well phrased.)  That wasn’t a good trade, frankly.  Adam had blessedly announced that this was going to be a seven-inning game, since the first game had gone to extra innings.  Ron was clearly in agony from his bad back.  I don’t know why he didn’t bow out for today.   

Britt Graham would be in for the Aggies as catcher for Game 2.  The sky was still overcast, so the lights were on.  My notes for this game are a bit sparse, so it wasn’t that interesting and I was tired of writing by this point. (This might explain the opening digression.  I had to do some padding.)  Game 1, even with the delay, didn’t take that long, but double headers are exhausting even before they start.

 

Sammy Natera started for the Aggies and worked a quick first with a couple of strikeouts.  Harrison Spohn made a good play on a Zerek Saenz liner to start the bottom.  Spohn might have been hurt a bit on the play.  He had a little trouble on Kevin Jimenez’s infield hit on the next play.  KJ was called out on a stolen base attempt on the next batter by the ump at second, but only because he hadn’t heard the home ump call a foul ball.  In this game, the Aggies finally cashed in some runners.  Brandon Dieter drove Zerek and KJ in with a single.  2-0 Aggies.

 

The Aggies’ very attractive blonde trainer ran across the field between innings.  I think every guy in the stands and the opposing dugout watched her.  She is built to heroic proportions.  Natera cruised through another inning.  The bottom of the Aggies’ lineup went down in order in the second.

 

Marty Munoz drew a leadoff walk for the Lancers to start the third.  Their dugout erupted.  I don’t know if it was because he was popular there or because he’d worked the walk.  A very slick double play ended the inning.  There was an extended family sitting below us.  In the bottom of the third, grandpa took his granddaughter down to the bottom of the stands to more carefully explain the finer points of the game to her.  She started pawing at his mask until he took it off for her.  The Aggies also hit into a double play in their third.

 

Emerson made an appearance for Aggie trivia.  The sun came out, but then Emerson left for the day.  Darn.  Adam Young, on the radio call, kept warning the listeners that Natera tended to only be good for limited number of innings.  This was the limit.  The fourth started promisingly with KJ making a diving slide to field a grounder and get the first out.  The next out came 8 batters later.  In between, there was a walk, a double down the third baseline, a double steal, two hits, a walk, a bases-clearing double hitting the left field line, and a walk.  Then there was a flyout for the second out, and then a three-run homer.  At this point, the coach finally put in a new pitcher to finish the inning.  8-2 CBU.

 

Well, a lot of the tension in the game suddenly went away.  The Aggies didn’t give up at that point.  Dieter tripled.  The fielder lost his hat and hit the wall trying to field the ball.  Ronnie Allen drove him in.  CBU brought in a new pitcher, Jacob McCarvel.  That sounded familiar.  Adam reminded us; McCarvel had pitched in Game 1.  Tommy Tabak drove in a run with a single, and Zerek drove in a run with a blooper.  8-5 CBU.

 

Boom!  Spohn spoiled the comeback vibes quickly with a leadoff homer in the fifth.  Zerek jumped for it at the wall.  There was a delayed reaction by the umps to call it, as Zerek didn’t make the no-catch apparent by slamming his glove to the ground.  There’s a reason for that tradition.  It was one run, but it was enough to hurt the Aggies’ feelings.  Before the bottom, the PA committed the unbearable sin to playing a Taylor Sh*t song, Bad Blood.  I almost feel another rant coming on.  I used to be a fan.  Damn her and her politics!  I even liked this song.  Uninspired, the Aggies only managed a single in the bottom of the fifth.  I blame the song for the aborted comeback.  9-5 CBU.

 

The Lancers scratched out another run in the sixth to make it, 10-5.  The dog got close to the good-looking blonde that had taken his seat and successfully flirted with her.  (I’m not actually sure of the dog’s gender.  He was really furry.  Whatever.)  Zach Smits homered to left in the bottom of the sixth.  10-6.  One t-shirt was tossed to the crowd.  They’re scrimping a bit.  Nick Plaia in center made a great diving play to end the inning.

 

Spohn homered to start the final inning.  Joey Arellano, who came in to pitch the inning, did redeem himself a bit by picking off a runner.  The Aggies went down quietly in the seventh.  CBU wins 11-6.  Yay!  It’s over!

 

I’ll quickly hand out some gameballs.  For the Lancers, Ulises Caballero (love the name) had the initial big blow with his three-run double.  John Glenn had the killer blow with his three-run homer in the same inning.  Harrison Spohn went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI’s and two home runs, which were soul-crushing.  For the Aggies, I can only single out Zach Smits for going 2 for 3 with an RBI from a solo home run.  I was at least encouraged that they made a legit comeback attempt after that terrible sixth inning.

 

Ron was standing for the last inning.  He couldn’t sit anymore.  He was hopped up on painkillers, but they’d worn off.  I wasn’t confident he’d be available for tomorrow’s game.  We drove past the football stadium and there was some event going on there.  There were ticket takers, so we didn’t think it was graduation related (which was going on this weekend).  It’s a mystery.

 

After I got home, I tried listening to the Rockies and Rangers’ games on the radio, but neither of their out-of-town stations were coming in well.  I gave up and just listened to the Chihuahuas.  Tim Hagerty, on the radio call, was in a state of shock.  The pups were actually flirting with throwing a no-hitter at home.  It got broken up late, but given the usual scoring at Southwest University Park, it was amazing it lasted that long.

 

Meanwhile, I had to watch the latest Ring of Honor wrestling episode.  Quinn McKay, who’d gone from hosting to wrestling last week, was not there to intro the show.  She was still recuperating from her match.  There was a short backstage segment with her, but I’m not sure if that was shot before she had her match.  I’m clearly fascinated with this.

 

Okay, we’ve got one final home game to go.  We’re not feeling confident.

 

Onate Knights vs Carlsbad Cavemen Baseball 5-9-21

Actual picture of a ballfield at The Field of Dreams in Las Cruces, NM

If you haven’t heard of either of the teams in the title, you’re not from around here (Las Cruces, NM).  They’re high school teams.  Ron, apparently desperate to do something on the weekend, suggested going to this game this weekend.  You know I love baseball, but even I wasn’t sure I wanted to see a high school game.  I put off the decision for a couple of day hoping something else would come up.  Nothing did.  There wasn’t even anything on TV.  I agreed to go.  

 

Before leaving for the game, I saw this weekend’s episode of Ring of Honor wrestling.  Yes, we’ve all seen this show, whether we’ll admit it or not.  In my area, it’s on three different stations, including daily showings on Stadium.  It’s hard to avoid.  The show is discount, low-rent, knock off WWE professional wrestling.  My main interest in watching is seeing adorable host, Quinn McKay, introduce the program.  Well even the hosts have arch enemies in pro-wrestling.  Quinn has a grudge against the Women’s champion, Angelina Love.  Love pranked Quinn once and took over her backstage interviewing.  Then Love beat up Quinn in an interview.  After knocking her out, Love then wrote on her forehead. 

This set up a match between the two.  I knew that, even though she wasn’t wrestling on the show, Quinn had some experience.  During the prefight, she also said she’d been in roller derby.  For the match, Love was completely disrespectful and didn’t even know why she was lowering herself to do this.  The early match proved Love was much more experienced.  She did make a couple of mistakes, which Quinn capitalized on.  The plucky heroine had a chance.  However, outside the ring interference distracted Quinn until Love could finish her with her signature move, the Botox Injection.  (If you saw her, you’d understand immediately.)  Quinn was left beaten, broken, and humiliated.  Her co-hosts gave her a standing ovation for the effort.  She did a good job and really sold it. 

 

I was raving about all of this after Ron picked me for the game.  “It’s all fake,” he basically said.  “It’s not about the competition; it’s about the performance.”  (Like the NFL, except it’s not about the competition or the performance; it’s about the betting, and it’s just as fake.)  You don’t go to The Nutcracker hoping the Toy Soldiers dominate the Rat King and his minions because you bet $10,000 on them.  You just appreciate the graceful athleticism.  In any case, I think this was the first women’s match ROH has done in a year.  They’ve briefly shown some female wrestlers, but not in new action.  They had a show last year that was a tribute to a deceased female Japanese wrestler (and I didn’t get her name), but that was it.  Going back to fighting in front of a crowd and having the ladies go at it on a regular basis would help the appeal of the show.

 

You can probably tell how much I want to talk about this high school baseball game by now.  I should rename this post.  Ron has met the Onate coach at Aggie Baseball several times and thought he’d support him here.  We left about an hour early to get to the other side of town.  Ron had been to the Field of Dreams football stadium, but not the other adjacent playing fields.  We pulled into the baseball complex, except it was actually the softball complex.  Oops.  We got directions from an attendant.  We drove past a couple of soccer fields in use, drove past the football stadium because the road was blocked for construction, drove all the way around the block, and then drove past the softball complex, the soccer fields, and the stadium again before finding the inlet road.  This is a huge complex altogether, by the way.

 

It was $5 to enter.  There was no program and no ticket.  Your hand was stamped.  There were three fields.  One, which had a covered grandstand and was facing away from the gusty wind, had a game in progress.  That wasn’t our game.  The other two fields had teams warming up.  A group of parents were sitting on collapsible chairs under the shade of the small trees outside of one of the other fields.  They were all wearing Carlsbad Cavemen t-shirts.  One field had an Onate team getting ready to play a Carlsbad team, but some of the kids were really small.  We asked a fan and found out this was the JV game. 

 

Next door was the Varsity game.  The field had two small dugouts, a chain link fence surrounding the outfield, and a small electronic scoreboard.  There were four small sets of bleachers surrounding the field.  Netting covered the front of the stands and the top to protect from foul balls.  NMSU’s Presley Askew Field was a palace by comparison.  I thought the bathroom here was really big, until I realized it was the men’s and women’s rooms joined together without separate doors.  Be careful.   

 

I was wearing a turquoise-colored mask, since that’s one of Onate’s colors.  There were a half dozen security guards around.  Their only job was seemingly to make sure everyone was wearing a mask and making their rounds about the stands every five minutes to enforce that.  It was a bit like a baseball game held in a prison yard.  All of the players were wearing masks while playing, too. 

 

I suppose I also have to bring up that I’m not sure if the school is still named, “Onate.”  Because of BLM, they didn’t want the school named after the Spanish explorer who started the colonization of New Mexico.  I don’t follow the logic there either.  (Onate, admittedly, did not have good relations with the natives.)  I’d heard they were going to change it to Organ Mountains High School, after Las Cruces’ signature natural monument.  The school is located in the foothills of the mountains.  Also, the team wouldn’t have to change their logo, which is an “O.”  But then, that name was called cultural appropriation of Mother Nature, so I don’t know where this all stands.  I’ll go with Onate for the post until told different.     

 

We were there right at the scheduled start time, but the game was delayed for a half hour anyway.  The Onate Varsity team was on the other field wearing plain whites with no numbers on them.  They’d change to gametops after.  The stands were fairly crowded.  The fans seemed mostly for Carlsbad.  A couple of Mayfield High School players, baseball and softball, done with their games, came in a sat with their family.

 

No point in discussing any pretty girls there.  They’re all either married moms or under aged.  This is a definite strike against high school sports.  There was no Anthem before the game and only two umps on field.  It was in the 80’s for the game with no clouds.  The wind was gusting.  Every time someone moved on the infield, it kicked up a shower of dust.  On the other hand, the wind did keep it from getting hot.  I reminded Ron that the softball game we went to first was free and not facing the wind.  He was aware of that.

 

With no program, I decided I wasn’t going to bother with scorecards for the game.  Given later substitutions, this was a good call.  I could have gotten at least the first names of the Onate team from parents shouting them out during the game.  Regardless, I’ll be making up some names for this report for comedy purposes.  That said, I do have immense respect for these high school athletes.  These kids are showing, sometimes painfully, how hard this game is to play.  College and pro players only make baseball mostly look easy because they’ve had so much practice.  Watching warm-ups here, I was hearing strains of Carmen in the background.  (Bad News Bears reference.  I won’t be explaining the rest of the references.  I'd link to a video, but Youtube doesn't have it.)      

 

The Onate pitcher looked tall, but we were sitting at near ground level close to the field.  For the top of the first, he struck out the side, but also had two wild pitches, and hit a batter.  Amanda was a bit wild, but had her curve ball working.  By the bottom of the first, I’m complaining about sand in my eyes in my notes.  Good thing I wasn’t playing.  Onate had a single and a walk in the inning.  A great diving play by Kelly in the outfield ended the frame.  I’d seen him park his motorcycle outside before the game.  There was a definitely leisurely pace to this game.  It felt like the first inning took over 20 minutes.   

Carlsbad sent up Bob Horner from the 70’s Atlanta Braves as the first batter.  He got hit on the back.  Man, no respect.  There was another wild pitch.  On this one, Schroder twisted his knee.  He gamely tried to take practice pitches with an obvious limp, before the coach finally took him out.  He had to be helped off the field, but thankfully he could still play piano.  Shermy, the first baseman, took over.  We haven’t seen much of Shermy since the early 60’s.  The Carlsbad coach immediately took advantage of this change and called for a squeeze play.  Bob Horner scored.  The coach argued to no avail, as always.  Why do they bother?  A single drove in a run.  A . . . ah . . . developmentally disabled woman in the stands started yelling incomprehensibly.  It had all turned into some Avant-Garde movie. 

 

The coach went out and talked to the pitcher, but this resulted in a stolen base and a passed ball, which also advanced the runner.  There was another mound visit.  Obviously, they weren’t counting visits like they do in college and the pros.  I’d forgotten how much time these things took up.  Ron was getting bored.  A run scored on a wild pitch.  There was an infield hit, but finally a flyball to left field ended the inning.  3-0 Carlsbad.  In the bottom, there was an error by the third baseman that let on a runner.  Benny on the mound worked around that and a wild pitch by getting two strikeouts and a popup.  Coming off the field, he confronted his third baseman, “You’re killing me, Smalls.”

 

Dear God, we’re only starting the third inning and we’ve been at this for an hour.  I suddenly remembered why I knew that Carlsbad’s team was called the Cavemen.  They have a famous alumnus in Cody Ross.  He played for the 2010 San Francisco Giants during their World Series run and did well.  There is a dropped third strike, but the new Onate catcher does throw out the runner.  There’s a walk and another wild pitch.  A bad pickoff move sent the runner to third, who came home on a wild pitch.  After a conference with the coach, an outfielder exchanges places with the pitcher.  I’m guessing the teams only have a limited number of players.  Right after the exchange, there’s another successful squeeze play for a run.  A single drives in another run.  An overthrow by Lupus advances the runner to third.  The inning ends on a caught-looking strikeout.  6-0 Carlsbad.                    

 

They should really be serving beer here.  I don’t drink, but I might take one right now along with all of the Onate parents.  There’s a senior Carlsbad couple sitting in stadium chairs that are more like loungers.  They even have canopies over them.  This is the way to view games like this: in comfort (and taking a nap).  I’m getting a stiff back like I never get with my stadium seat when I’m watching Aggie Softball.  I have to keep getting up.  We should have watched the JV game.  It’s already over.  The side struck out in the bottom of the third.  Not much to talk about there.  Ron pointed out that the dugout players were the ones retrieving foul balls.  You could hear the clatter of their cleats on the pavement walking after them.

   

A hit went over Tanner’s head at short to start the top of the fourth.  The runner stole second soon after.  The catcher made a good play on a high foul popup for the first out.  Right after though, the runner took third for another stolen base.  A wind-aided double drove in that run.  The pitcher then made a good play on a comebacker for the second out.  Ron left for the bathroom a while ago.  He better not be sitting at a better game right now. 

 

There’s another hit batter.  A wild pitch advances both runners on.  A single drives in another run.  My rear end is getting real uncomfortable sitting here.  I keep shifting around, but can’t get comfortable.  The runner at first is picked off, but still stole second.  This is not Onate’s day.  Another hit brings in another run.  We get another new pitcher when a couple of players change positions.  I wouldn’t have been able to figure this out on a scorecard.  A sacrifice brought in a run.  There’s another wild pitch advancing the runners.  A diving rolling catch in right field mercifully ends the inning.  10-0 Carlsbad.

 

In the bottom of the fourth, the hot player girlfriends make an appearance.  From high school, to college, to the pros, you can rely on seeing hot player girlfriends at the ballpark.  Boy, were these girls smart not showing up for the beginning of this one.  Onate got a runner on via a single.  Lucy, playing out of position in centerfield, dropped the next flyball maintaining her .000 fielding average.  (“The sun got in my eyes.”)  The runner at first was still thrown out at second on the play.  Linus tripped on his blanket.  A strikeout ended the inning.

 

On to the fifth, the Onate coach warmed up the Charlie Brown on the mound, as the catcher had made the last out and was still gearing up.  The first baseman made a good play on a grounder down the line for the first out.  There was a strikeout and then a strikeout looking to end the inning.  Or not, the ump had the count wrong.  It’s been a long day for everyone.  A fly out ended the inning.  It was a bad sign that the scoreboard already had a zero showing for the bottom of the fifth.  I was over note taking by this point.  Onate went down quietly in the frame. 

 

Game 1 of this double header was scheduled for seven innings, but thankfully it ended on a 10-0 run rule after the fifth for the Carlsbad Cavemen.  Their pitcher got a big hand from the Carlsbad parents.  Some of the Onate players came out and hugged their moms.  I felt like I needed a hug, too.  This was two-and-a-half hours I really didn’t want to relieve writing.

 

Ron was back and asked if I wanted to wait in his car during the intermission.  I agreed.  We walked past Game 2 of the JV DH.  They didn’t even have anyone operating the scoreboard.  That brings up questions.  As soon as we got to the parking lot, I asked, “So, are you feeling real committed to Game 2 here?”  And with that, we left.  I’d wanted to go to Dairy Queen, but Ron was pretty sure they were packed.  I brought up What-a-burger next, but somehow we ended up at the downtown Coas used bookstore by my request.  I think I was too hungry to think straight.  Ron and I both got books.  (Well, I got a comic trade paperback.) 

 

Only because it was nearby in walking distance, we went to Zeffriro’s for pizza.  We’d had a great pizza there a couple of years ago, but now they were under new management.  The prosciutto one we’d had was no longer on the menu, but the one we had with pepperoni, bacon, ham, and mushrooms was really good.  I just didn’t need a pizza, since I was planning on getting one with dad on Sunday.  I didn’t need to overeat on it, but I didn’t think this pizza would survive microwaving as leftovers.  I really didn’t need to spend $27 on dinner.  The friendly waiter chatted with us about high school baseball.  He did confirm that Carlsbad fans did travel well.  He’d seen a game recently where they’d had a prospect that was about to get signed to a big deal by a scout.  I can’t imagine the horror of having a job scouting high school baseball in person. 

 

What have we learned?  High school baseball is for parents and under aged hot player girlfriends.  I’m sure there are many better high school games than the one we went to and Onate has played better, but now I’m totally scared off.  I told Ron I’d prefer to only see a more polished product from here out.  Ironically, I only went because I thought this might make for an interesting blog post. 

NM State Aggies vs Utah State Wolverines Softball 5-1-21

Basia Query

 

It’s not my best work.  On the other hand, I would probably do worse with successive attempts.  I’ve also been inking and coloring my sketches for some time (which I’ll post somewhere in the future), but I’d probably ruin this one doing that.  At least, it’s an earnest effort.  I’ll try sketching Basia again someday, but for now and needing a timely sketch, we’ll go with this.

 

Oh yeah, this is supposed to be an Aggie blog and here I am idolizing an opposing player.  I’d link to previous posts, but after a quick search, I see that there have done too many to bother doing so.  Suffice it to say, I am a fan of Utah Valley’s catcher, Basia Query.  I was real sure I’d never see her again, but I guess she took the eligibility exemption to play another year.  Our own catcher, Nikki Butler, did the same even though her other senior teammates left.  These girls are gamers.

 

After the last home baseball and softball series, Ron and I were inclined to go to see softball this weekend.  The baseball team didn’t look real good, while softball seemed to be clicking.  Also, this Saturday was going to be Senior Day and they said even the departed seniors from last year would be attending.  When I noticed the opponent was Utah Valley and took a look at their roster, we were going to see softball definitively. 

 

To bring things up to date, on Friday, Aggie Baseball lost to UTRGV, while Aggie Softball took a double header from Utah Valley.  Game 2 was especially notable as the Aggies came back from a 9-0 deficit to win on a walk-off home run by Maya Martinez.  Unfortunately for Ron, he went to the baseball game that day.  They’d moved up the game time by three hours, so there wasn’t much of a crowd with him.  He said that he saw a guy get a free hat for returning a foul ball, so now he was inspired to give his fouls back.  He also said there were a couple of hot lesbians making out in front of him at the game.  Maybe he was okay with watching the loss then.  There’s more to this story later.  

 

(Also Friday, I got to watch some of the Roman Reigns/Daniel Bryan championship match on WWE Smackdown.  There were stakes for this match.  Roman had put up his belt if he lost.  Bryant would leave the show if he lost.  The shocking thing about the match was that there were no shenanigans or outsider interference.  The guys just went at it for about a half hour.  Of course after the match, all that stuff happened, but I was impressed with the contest integrity.)

 

Ron picked me up and we went to Subway to get sandwiches.  We were still hoping to catch Game 2 of the baseball double header after softball.  I can’t say how much I love patronizing Subway with their mostly subpar food and their new spokes-bitch, Megan Rapinoe.  They’re so proud of their affiliation with her, they don’t even name her in their commercials hoping nobody who would be offended will recognize her.  All I can say is that Subway is convenient to our destination.  Ron impulsively went over to PQ Treats and ordered a shake.  This, of course, was a total breech of game etiquette.  Ice cream is for winners.  We haven’t even played the game yet.  We may be jinxing the team!  Of course I still ordered a Banana Cheesecake Frozen Tornado anyway. 

 

At the Softball Complex, there she was right away.  Basia had her long stylish hair tied up with a pretty pink ribbon and was warming up.  At the ticket window, her parents, my future in-laws, came up right behind me.  Basia actually came over and waved to them as we went into the grandstand.  Part of me really does want to ask my new mom and dad if they named their daughter after the jazz/pop singer from the 90’s.  I listened to Basia’s Time and Tide album all the time back then.  During team introductions, I noticed Utah Valley had nearly brought an entire second team with them.  They were also bigger, taller, more athletic-looking, and prettier than the Aggies.  I nearly change sides altogether, but Ron restrained me from going over to asking my new family for a Wolverines t-shirt.         

 

It was a perfect sunny day with a light breeze in the high 70’s.  I can’t believe my Frozen Tornado lasted 15 minutes until I was able to sit down and start eating it.  I can’t believe my willpower lasted that long with ice cream waiting to be consumed.  It was still frozen and stayed that way until I finished it.  A good, but late-arriving crowd showed up for the game.  There was increased capacity here and at the baseball stadium for this weekend.  Some good-looking young women came in and sat around us.  I invited a co-worker to come to the game.  He should have as he would have had plenty of girls to choose from.  This guy juggles hot Instagram girls.  He wouldn’t have had any trouble getting a date, unless he talked to Basia, then he would have had trouble from me.  

Aggie Baseball would be playing Game 1 of their double dip at the same time.  Ron and I both brought radios to listen to the game coverage, though we could see some of the game through the tree screen.  Adam Young was doing TV coverage for the softball game, so there was another announcer for the radio.  I never caught his name, but he was doing a good job.  I’ll mention more of his coverage during Game 2.                        

I didn’t have any trouble with the scorecards this time, so that must mean I got something wrong, but I’m not double checking it with the official scoring.  Souvenirs were tossed to the crowd before the game.  I piped up when I saw they were tossing out Aggie socks again and caught a pair.  These would be a gift.  My dad didn’t want them, but I gave them to a co-worker, who liked my pair and often wears novelty socks herself.  The game itself started off well.  Gabby Aragon made a diving catch on a liner.  The Utah Valley coach went out and argued that the ball was trapped.  The umps conferenced and let the play stand.  I cheered Basia’s first at bat.  I showed Ron my scorecard with the hearts on it by her name.  The Wolverines were not to be outdone in defense.  Emery Nielson at short made great snowcone catch on a Hailey Tanori liner.  The Aggies threatened in the inning, but didn’t score.  The dugout was good and loud in singing.

 

We saw a group of hot chicks tailgating in the parking lot when we came in.  They made an entrance in the second and went to the other side of the stands.  They looked familiar seeing them both times, but I couldn’t put my finger on who they were.  Also coming in was a family with a cute little boy and girl in cowboy hats.  It was too darling.  On the radio, Aggie Baseball scored in their game against UTGRV.  In the top of the second, Gabby made another great play in left.  She flagged down a foul ball after a long run fearlessly nearly going into the fence.

 The section of hot chicks yelled for t-shirts during a giveaway.  This would be funnier when I finally recognized them.  Gabby singled to start the bottom of the second.  Maya followed that with a double.  Then we have the inevitable weirdness.  Kendra Levesque grounded out to second.  Gabby was not going to try to take home on that, but Maya started from second anyway and kind of forced it.  The Wolverines may have been a little shocked for a second.  Gabby managed to slide in under the tag.  Block that plate, Basia!  It was too late.  Bad baserunning didn’t cost the Aggies at this point.  Hope Banales singled in another run.  The inning ended on Siena Sandoval catching a screaming line drive at third.  Sometimes softball pitchers wear wire facemasks, but softball third basemen need one as well.  2-0 Aggies.

 

Aggie pitcher, Matalasi Faapito, got two quick outs to start the third.  Jade Miller came up and hit a ground rule double that bounded over the centerfield wall.  It looked like one of fielders might have helped it over, but the umps didn’t think so.  After another hit, Linnah Rebolledo slammed a big three-run homer to left center.  Basia followed with a single.  Yay!  She nearly got picked off as she slipped making the turn around first.  Oops.  Mata finished the inning with a strikeout.  3-2 Utah Valley.  On the baseball field, the Aggies scored a couple of runs as a fielder fell as he lost the ball in the sun.  “Does the sun get the RBI?” said the announcer.  I noticed the Wolverine pitcher, Katie Zuniga, was working with her sleeves rolled up.  She rotated both her arms pretty hard in her delivery.  Kaya Bowen hustled a long single into a double, but Aggie Softball didn’t score in the bottom.

 

In the top of the fourth, Chloe Rivas came in to pitch. She gave up two singles, but didn’t allow a run.  At Aggie Baseball, the Vaqueros homered to make it 3-1 Aggies.  Zerek Saenz then drove in two runs to make it 5-1.  There was an announcement recognizing Aggie Softball’s community service last year.  The award was given to the hot chicks in the stands.  Ah, now I recognize them.  I’d like to think that revelation would have come quicker if they’d worn their uniforms, but maybe not.  I finally clearly saw the diminutive and iconic Brandy Hernandez.  When she took off her sunglasses, I had to catch my breath seeing the stunning Jeanelle Medina. 

 

More souvenirs are tossed to the crowd.  Brandy called for a giveaway and got what looked like a fanny pack.  Do the players not get any swag while they’re playing?  The little boy with the cowboy hat ran down a foul ball and got an Aggie hat.  In the bottom of the fourth, Hope got a hustle double as her popup fell in between three fielders, but that was the only noise the Aggies made that inning.  For the final out, Peyton Prigge on first, fell down to field the ball and crawled to tag the base. 

 

To start the fifth, it was announced that it was 77 degrees and sunny here and in Orem, Utah, where Utah Valley is.  Aggie Baseball loaded the bases and scored more to make it 10-1.  Ron is starting to get irritated with me for insisting on going to softball.  Chloe deflected a grounder on the first batter that resulted in an infield hit.  Chloe came back to make a good play on the next batter, as she got the grounder and threw out the lead runner.  Basia grounded out again in the inning.  Darn it!

 

The Aggies rallied in the bottom of the fifth.  Ramsay Lopez drew a walk.  Nikki singled.  Antuanett Dean came in to pinch run for her.  Kayla grounded to short, but the ball went right through the wickets.  Ramsay scored just under Basia’s tag.  I can imagine Basia being a bit frustrated by this point, but she’d get her redemption on the next batter.  Gabby grounded to second and Kyla Hardy threw home to get Dean.  From here, the Aggies’ questionable baserunning got worse.  Gabby went to second and beat the throw back into the infield.  Kayla then tried to score and was thrown out at the plate.  There’s your standard double play.  I was cheering for Basia.  Ron was ready to throttle me.  Co-Coach Cat Heifner charged out to argue the third out.  I’m not sure what the basis of it was.  Obstruction?  The umps conferenced and let the play stand.  3-3.

 

I took no notes on the top of the sixth for some reason.  Jade Miller drove in Laynee Betancur to make it 4-3 Utah Valley.  At least I was still keeping the scorecard.  The Wolverines brought in a new pitcher for the sixth.  Maya greeted her with a home run on the first pitch.  Hope then split the outfielders on a single.  Hailey doubled and Hope turned on the jets to score and give the Aggies the lead.  An overthrow into the field moved Hailey to third.  (I called it an error, but there wasn’t one announced.)  Utah Valley’s coach argued the call, but there was no umpire committee meeting this time.  A wild pitch scored Hailey right after.  (I don’t think it was a passed ball.  My feelings for Basia had no effect on my ruling.)  Again, no notes for the seventh, but Chloe closed it out.  Aggies win 6-4!  On the baseball field at about the same time, the Aggies won 12-1.  Chris Jefferson pitched a 7-inning complete game. 

 

We’ll hand out gameballs.  Maya Martinez did it again to the Wolverines with a home run.  Hope Banales went 3 for 3 and really has a set of wheels.  Chloe Rivas got the win as she went four innings and only gave up a run.  For the Wolverines, Linnah Rebolledo gets the nod for her 3-run homer.  And of course, Basia Query wins my heart.

 

The Senior Ceremony felt a little rushed, which was sort of okay, since me and Ron wanted to get over to the baseball field.  The Wolverines’ seniors were recognized first, starting with Basia.  She was all smiles collecting a rose from an Aggie player.  The Aggie seniors from last year were then introduced.  I think Victoria Castro and Amy Bergeson, previous graduates, were in the crowd for them.  I heard AD Mario Moccia say the next day that he didn’t think these girls still all lived in town, so they were just here for the ceremony.  

We’ll miss Brandy Hernandez’s cannon arm.  We’ll miss Caity Szczesny’s name.  She’s a good player, but I think some unspecified illness or injury cut her playing time short.  We’ll miss Shelby Shultes’s extraordinary ability to pinch hit home runs.  The kids in the cowboy hats were her relatives.  We’re missing Jeanelle Medina’s good looks more than ever.  She’s let her hair glamorously grow out.  Jeanelle’s best known for her sure hands playing the infield.  That being the case, it was pretty funny when she fumbled her bouquet.  Nikki Butler, our only still-playing senior, came out with a dog and her family and a long list of playing accomplishments.  The PA played Don’t You Forget About Me after the ceremony.

This time for sure, this is my last softball game of the season.  I’ve enjoyed the games I’ve seen and the team is leading the conference.  Though pleasant out, Ron and I were both a bit baked and slimy with sunblock.  We went out to get to baseball.  The Wolverines were already loaded on to their bus, so there were no tearful goodbyes between me and Basia.  That might be for the best.  I might have been compelled to say something if I’d run into her.  I have to suspect I’m not the only non-Utah Valley fan of hers, not to mention all the fans of the team.  There she goes breaking hearts across the WAC.  I admit I’ve had some fun with this bit.  In any case, good luck to Basia in her future endeavors.