Gregorio making a great backhanded catch in center field. (Moffitt)

It’s playoffs time, the fruition of a season of hard work. Once again, the team has qualified to participate in the Middlebrook Division Consolation Tournament. This year, the team will be the number three seed. First up for Verdasys in the semi-finals is the number two seed “Up To Date”. If their previous regular season match-ups are indicators, expect a close and hard-fought game.

But if the team is going to advance, they will need to do without many of their star starting players, including Grimard, Muldoon, Colby and Nicole. Will the team be able to strategize themselves out of this handicap, or will post season glory elude the team once again?

As mentioned, many of the teams star starting players will be out for this playoff game. The team reported that Grimard, one of the team’s starting out fielders, was in Kansas City giving batting lessons to the Royals. Muldoon, another starting outfielder, was at home recovering from a bout of poison ivy. Utility players Colby, Nicole and Smith were unable to break prior engagements and would be absent.

Many argued that their absence alone would spell doom for the team. However, Coach Wolan was optimistic that the handicap could be overcome with careful placement of the players he was dealt. And dealer was reasonable.

Anchoring the outfield in left is star outfielder Elliott Eno. His presence alone gives the outfield a sharp boost in confidence. Starting in center field despite limited experience is Gregorio. Stella, Bhavani and Lijun were assigned to cover right field and whatever parts of the outfield Eno and Gregorio asked them to.

As for the infield, coach choose make Bergstein the keystone of the squad by placing him at shortstop. Bergstein has had made starts at short with the team was a nature choice. Making the start at third will be Aleksey. Despite not having any experience at position, coach went with him due to his past ability to effective play free infielder. Coach also felt that Bergstein would be best at directing him during the game. Covering second base will be A-WOL, whom coach said is effective at this position.

As for first base, coach decided to go with Darrell Teague. The choice is considered a bit of a risk because of Teague’ limited playing time this season due to being on IR from a knee injury. However, coach feels he was the best fit for the position due to his solid experience at first last season. Rounding out the infield at catcher is Usha. Why Usha? “If we need to make a quick play at the plate I know Usha will be able to make a play.”

As solid as the plan may be, it could not overcome the team’s recent lack of playing time. The team had not played in a game in almost 3 weeks, which would undoubted leave some players rusty. The best coach can hope for will be for the players to quickly shake off the rust and to not get down over any missed plays.

Sunny, cool but comfortable; very fall like. Sunset at 7:05 pm.

Top of one, Verdasys gets on the board early thanks to an RBI single by Teague. But that would be all the team would get as Lijun and A-WOL strange Gregorio and Teague.

The team’s lack of lack of playing time bled through in the bottom half of the first as Up To Date would rally for 4 runs. Elliott helped minimized the carnage with a pair of nice catches in left field, include a running catch of a ball that he initially bobbled. 4-1 Up To Date after one.

“Wolan, why are Stella, Usha and Bhavani together in the line?” That was the question posed to A-WOL at the top of the second. Little did anyone know what a good idea it would turn out to be. Here’s the play by play:

• Elliott leads off with a double.
• Stella sneaks in an infield single. Eno to third.
• Usha connects for an RBI single, both of which are career firsts. Eno scores. Stella to second.
• Bhavani fouls out. (One out.)
• Bergstein hits a head-high line drive to short. The ball is first defect off the top of the free infielder’s glove. The ball proceeds to the shortstop, who has the ball deflect off the top of his glove. The ball ultimately lands in shallow left field for an RBI single. Stella scores from second on a close play at the plate. Usha to second.
• O’Connor hits into a fielder’s choice. Usha out at third. Bergstein to second. (Two outs.)
• After missing the first three pitches, Coach Wolan gives Aleksey some motivation by telling him to imagine that the ball is a defect from Ruben. It must have worked as Aleksey connects for an RBI single. Bergstein scores, O’Connor to second.
• Gregorio follows with an RBI single. O’Connor scores. Aleksey to second.
• Teague hits, you guessed it, an RBI single. Aleksey scores. Gregorio to second.
• Lijun hits into a force out at second. (Three outs.)

Gregorio connects with A-WOL for an outfield assist. (Moffitt)

“I’d say the line-up is working pretty dam good!” said A-WOL. In all, the team scored 5 runs off of 7 hits to retake the lead with a score of 6-4.

Despite a shaky first inning, the team’s defense found its groove in the bottom half of the second to limit “Up To Date” to just one run. A solid job by Eno and Gregorio help keep runs off the board, including an outfield assist by Gregorio;

With a runner on first, a batter hits the ball to center field. This would normally lead to an easy advance to second for the base runner. However, Gregorio had other ideas and fires the ball to A-WOL covering second. The play is so quick that it beats the base runner for the force out.

“Up To Date” initially argued that the play was not in time, but rescinded as the play went to photo review. While the photographic evidence was inconclusive, Eno says that the runner was clearly out. “Unless A-WOL’s foot was not on the bag [when he caught the ball], the runner was out by a stride.”

Up To Date would enact some revenge in the third. Verdasys would fail to capitalize on a bloop leadoff infield single by A-WOL to go scoreless in the inning while Up To Date would score two runs of their own to take the lead. 7-6 Up To Date after three.

Top of four, Verdasys would rally once again. Here’s the play by play.

• Bergstein starts the inning off with a lead-off single.
• O’Connor follows suit with a single. Bergstein to second.
• Aleksey hits a pop-up near third. One out. To A-WOL's delight, O'Connor makes a fall on field retreating back to first
• Gregorio connects for an RBI double. Bergstein scores, O’Connor to third after making a fall on fielding trying to stop at the base.
• Teague hits an RBI double of his own. O’Connor scores. Gregorio to third.
• Lijun connects with an RBI single past second base into center field. Gregorio scores. Teague to third.

With Teague on third and A-WOL coming up to the plate, he asks A-WOL to “Hit me home”. He wasn’t disappointed.

• A-WOL hits an RBI blooper into shallow right field. Teague scores. Lijun to second.
• Eno fouls out. Two out.
• Stella hits into a fielder choice. Lijun out at third. Three outs.

When the smoke settled, Verdasys would score 4 run off of 6 hits to retake the lead.

Not to be outdone, Verdasys’ defense managed to keep “Up To Date” scoreless in the fourth and fifth inning to hold the score 10-7 Verdasys after 5. Gregorio made a great running catch in center field in the fourth while A-WOL somehow managed to end both innings by fielding a grounder to second and tagging the bag for the force out. This included a nice back-handed grab of a grounder hit to the second base bag in the fifth.

Diminishing lighting conditions forced the game to be called after 6 innings. (Moffitt)

By the time the 6th inning rolled in, the sun had set and the field was getting dark. Both teams agreed to let this be the final inning of play.

Top of six with Aleksey on board, Gregorio connects for a shot into center field. The ball gets by the outfielder and nets Gregorio a two-run ITP HR. The HR is his first as a member of Verdasys. But that would be all the team would get as Lijun and A-WOL both flew out into left field. Both balls were hit hard and netted “oh’s and “ah’s” from crowd despite being caught.

The team skipper of “Up To Date” claimed the bottom half of the sixth would be their inning. And it was. After challenging Eno’s and Gregorio’s outfield abilities in left and center fields for most of the game, the team decided to challenge right field. The move paid off as an “Up To Date” took advantage of both an inexperienced right field and diminishing lighting conditions to hit two ITP HRs and rally with five runs to tie the game 12-all.

By the time the seventh inning rolled in, it was obvious that the game could not continue. Both teams agreed that the score was 12-all and declared the game a tie or “double win”. The team skippers agreed to discuss with the commissioner on how to resolve the tie and determine the ultimate winner. To read about those talks, refer to Game Summary P1b.

On a side note, the “double win” is Coach Wolan’s first post-season win or tie since a 2004 post-season win with the GD Avengers.

Today’s post-game show has been brought to you by your local FDE Recruitment Office. “Be strong. FDE Strong”.

None of the team’s players stayed around for the postgame show. However, Coach Wolan did address the media with his usual game assessment and Q&A session:

“I want to start off by first saying how proud I am at how the team played today. Many critics said we didn’t have a chance because we were lacking our star players. Those who did come could have rolled-over and let Up To Date take the win, but they didn’t. In fact, many stepped-up to help fill the void, which ultimately allowed us to stay in the game.

"Overall, I don’t think I could have asked for more from defense, whether it be the infield or the outfield. Our base hitting was about what I expected, and our base running was excellent. Had it not gotten dark by the 6th inning, I think we might have pulled away with a win."

Q. What are your thoughts about Gregorio’s outfield assist? Do you think the runner was safe?

It was a good play. Period.

Elliott gave Up To Date much grief with great fielding in left. (Moffitt)

Q. Do you think the fact that it was 9/9/09 had anything to do with the outcome of the game?

Well, the game ended in the 6th inning. The number 6 is an upside-down 9. Today was the ninth straight game that we played without a rain-out. We had 39 total at-bats in the game. Perhaps there was a little numerological and astrological interaction.

Q. Do you think the other team was place hitting the ball, and if so, what was their strategy?

I think it was fairly obvious that they were challenging particular parts of the outfield during different parts of the game. They first tried hitting it Elliot in left field but got burned because he is such a great fielder. They then started pulling it Gregorio in center field, but again he made some incredible plays to make that an unviable option. That leaves them with just right field, which was covered by Stella, Lijun and Bhavani. My guess is that they were avoiding [right field] for most of the game because it was so heavily defended. But after it had gotten dark in the sixth, I think they decided to chance it in right field. It paid off as they were able to net two ITP HRs in the inning. I don’t think they would have been as successful had we had normal lighting conditions.

2 for 4 with an RBI. First AB was a pop-up to second. First hit was a pop-up to first that the first baseman bobbled and dropped. Had A-WOL not run through the play to first, he could have been out. Second hit was a blooper into shallow right field. Fielder had little chance of getting it unless he was playing shallow. Final AB was a fly ball hit into left field.

Made a basket catch into shallow RF after initially running out too deep. (And only after being told it was his ball.) Had trouble fielding grounder up the middle to the second base bag (including a “no play” after bobbling the ball), but eventually got the hang of it. Made final outs in 4th and 5th on such plays, including a backhanded grab of a grounder up the middle in the fifth.