Once Again, Extremely Sore

Not as bad as from the co-ed softball tournament, but just enough to make me groan as I climb the stairs.

I participated in yet another softball tournament last weekend. This time, it's was a men's tourney, but again, it was a stinkin' round-robin tourney.

Overall, we played 3 games on Saturday, 3 games on Sunday. How'd we do? Well, let me tell you about the comparison between the words Saturday and Suck.

Our first game on Saturday was against a team who eventually won all of their games during the tournament. It was an offensive slug-fest, as they put up 5 runs the whole game, while we managed a meager 2 runs. It was quite pathetic. The defense was solid, I'll give it that much. As for me, I couldn't find my swing. I changed bats a few times, going from a Miken to a Worth, eventually settling on a DeMarini. It wasn't until Sunday when I finally found my swing (by actually pulling the ball).

The second game wasn't any better, although we kept up our stellar D. We lost 5-3. I still couldn't hit, along with the rest of the team.

The third game was a disaster. By this time, we were all half-baked (literally, from sunburn). We lost BIG, finally ending the game after the 5th inning due to a run rule.

Highlights from Saturday:

• Bean Bag: While we weren't playing softball, we tried our luck on Mike's bean bag game. Mike and I were teamed up against Mitch and Dinker -- all the while sucking down Miller Lite like there was no tomorrow. Mike and I held a 3-to-1 game lead, then we blew 3 straight.
• Schrupp's: Later that night, we all hit it up some more over at Schrupp's. By this time, I was starting to not feel so well (tasting the foam in my throat -- not a good thing). We passed the time playing some old-school P&A and looking at old yearbooks and laughing at baby-faced Schrupp.
• Drunk: Regardless of what she says, Lacey was plowed after getting back from Schrupp's. If you stumble out of the car and tip over ... that's a good sign. Don't deny it, it's all good!

On Sunday, I awoke to a slight stiffness in my ass and my quads, but not too bad. We had to play our first game at 11:00 that morning, which wasn't too bad.

We won our first game against a bunch of whiners who were griping to the umpire about being in the batter's box when a ball is pitched. After we beat 'em, they left and never returned. Bon voyage.

The second game was against Robb's team, a match-up against the Goliaths of softball-lore. We even surprised ourselves by getting our bats back and driving in some key runs, until we got robbed on a crappy call when our shortstop was clearly safe at a sliding play at home plate. The momentum died just like that -- the ump said that our guy didn't touch home plate, but his fingers were clearly on the plate. Oh, well. We had a 4-run lead going into the 6th inning, then the other guys opened up for a 9-run inning. We only managed 1 run in the top of the 7th, which wasn't enough.

Our third game was against a bunch of drunks who were entertaining themselves at the local bar for a few hours. We opened that can up BIG TIME, ending the game in the 5th inning. It was a successful end to a long tournament, but we could have easily won 5 games instead of 2 ... just my opinion.

Highlights from Sunday:

• Bleeder: Mike continues to get all beat up and bloody from playing the great game of softball. After tearing his leg up during the co-ed tournament (and later on, picking the scabs completely off), opens up the same wound with a slide into second base. Our very own Scott Studwell on the basepaths!
• Bean Bag, Part II: Mike and I planned our revenge against Mitch and Dinker once again, but we fell 2 games to 1. It was all effectively cancelled due to food at Dinker's place.
• 'Roids: I surprised myself by pulling a monster shot over the left-fielder's head during the second game. The ball didn't leave the yard, but it was a shot that I personally haven't seen from myself since the ol' batting practice days. I usually consider myself a slap-hit hitter to right field, but I think I may have found something now with the pull-ball.
• The Grunt Heard 'Round the World: During the first game, Mike jacked one something fierce over the right-field fence, all with a delayed grunt. The bad news: we were over our 4-home run limit, so the dinger was an out.

Well, that was it. Another tournament this up-coming weekend (which should be a freakin' blast once again) and hopefully I will bring my digital to record some of the weekend festivities. But I woke up something too early this morning (my folks are adding a seasonal porch to their house) and I struggled through all the noise of pounding and wood-cutting.

I paid for it when I finally got out of bed, though. After my bat finally came alive on Sunday, thus much more running ... yeah. I hurt everywhere.