Jagernaut Week 9 Recap... Bayside style!

Well, I’m back from my week off (sorry about no writeup last week, alcohol may have played a part in my absence) and Memorial Day festivities. Hope everybody had a good one! To make up for the missed time last week, I bring you a made-for-GMOT-special, written, produced, edited and directed by me, me, me and…me. Enjoy!

Week 9 action saw the Jagernauts face one of the newcomers in the Peninsula League, Saved by the Balls. So without any further ado, gather around and lets go!

The game started off as any other with two teams facing off on the beautiful kickball diamonds of War Memorial Stadium. . .kind of like the games between Bayside High and Valley, except without all of the dumb muscle headed football jocks and but fortunately with some of the best Jagernaut cheerleaders, Kathleen Krohn, Dottie Wood (on the DL), and of course, none other than this girl

Dan Moore and Liz Sims scored off of RKIs by Kim Merritt and Kevin Gitkos to lead off the game. In fact Liz went 2 for 2 with 2 singles and a run scored. The Jagernauts extended the lead to three in the second inning when Joe Mazzitti scored off of Kyle Wright’s first RKI of the season, and to four when Julie Kittelson scored off of Mike Ramey's RKI in the third inning

Defensively, the Jagernaut defense bent but didn’t break as they held ‘the Balls’ to only one run the entire game. Starting pitcher Kim Merritt did what starting pitchers in adult kickball leagues do…pregame a bunch and take a lead into the late innings. Merritt noted, “I may have or may not have had a few jello shots in the parking lot before the game and that may or may not have been after 5 or 6 beers. Maybe I should have taken some caffine pills to counteract the alcohol” (Justin’s note: No you shouldn’t have Kim, don’t you remember what happened to Jessie Spano when she got addicted to those pills in that one episode?)

"But ultimately," Merritt added "it was great kicking from the top of the order to the bottom of the order that got us the win."

SBtB’s did mount a good comeback in the 4^th inning when they got one run in off of strategic bunting and aggressive base running. In fact, ‘the Balls’ held their own for the entire game. They were able to get plenty of runners on base and I think with a bit more practice, they can definitely get some W’s under their belt. However, key plays by the Jagernaut defense held ‘the Balls’ to only one run. “I was so excited” said Jagernaut outfielder Julie Kittelson, (Justin’s note: you mean like this? ), when asked about her catch in the 4^th to end the inning and her run in the third. "I didn't get to play last week so I'm glad I could contribute this week!"

Kyle Wright added, “Getting that first RKI meant a lot to me. I felt the urge to dance..."

...But ultimately I didn't. I mean, I did probably have one in grade school at some point, but I don’t think anybody was keeping stats or doing sabermetrics back them (Justin’s note: I was, and no, you didn’t get any RKIs). The win this week just felt good after a couple of tough losses. Everybody came together and contributed. It was kinda like that time in that one dumb TV show where all the high school kids joined together and saved “The Max”, their local restaurant-hangout-thing (Justin’s note: That was S2E3)”

The Jagernaut defense held firm in the last inning as they held ‘the Balls’ scoreless to end the game. The final out was made by Liz Simms with an assist by Justin Arrington-Simms, in what turned out to be the final play of the game, and more importantly the final play before their marriage in one week. Don’t worry folks, I saved the game ball and am going to give it to them as a wedding gift. I hope they remember that moment as much as they remember the rest of their time together. And for those of you loyal GMOT readers, you may remember this pic as I am including it as a blast from the past.

Congrats to the soon to be newlyweds, Justin Arrington and Liz Simms!

Alright folks! Well the Jagernauts have the next two weeks off, though my sources (me) tell me that the kickball won’t stop as the Rum-Jager alliance will be practicing to pass the time. We’ll all come back in two weeks when the Jagernaut face The Emperors Club in the second to last week of this epic spring 2011 season. And with that, see you all next week!

***OK... I don't know who the f**k any of those people are, but those jerks did NOT contribute at all to this writeup...