VA Peninsula Fall Tournament Videos

Some videos from the VA Peninsula Fall Tournament have been loaded online by Justin Schauf, Bryan Freed, and Daniel Shaw. For those addicts jonesing for some kickball action, check them out!

Round 1: New Kickheads vs. Kick A$$


Quarterfinals: Pop Pop vs. Kick A$$


The Wentworth Trophy® Finals: JFK vs. The Situation

Winter Kickball Registration is Open!

Wishing everyone a fun and safe Thanksgiving holiday! One thing I'm grateful for is all of the friends I've made playing WAKA Kickball (not to mention my beautiful wife)! Also, grateful that we have the opportunity in Hampton Roads to play this great sport almost all year long!

Registration is now open for WAKA VA Raptor! The only winter kickball league in the 757!

• Games played every Saturday afternoon at Gosnold's Hope Park in Hampton from 1/25 through 3/15!
• 2 League Parties!
• Kickball specials at the league's post-game sponsor bar (details coming soon!)
• Teams of all different skill levels will be playing this season. It's not even Thanksgiving and we already have 6 friend groups forming!

The deadline for team registration is January 17th. To join, visit www.kickball.com/varaptor!

Hope to see you all out on the fields this winter! If anyone has any questions or needs anything, please let me know! Also, be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more information on the VA Raptor season and other upcoming events like The Ugly Sweater party in December!

Brent Wentworth
Sr. Community Coordinator
WAKA Kickball
   

Fall 2013 All-Peninsula 1st Team

We're down to the final 11 players. The top vote getters at each position. The Fall 2013 All-Peninsula 1st Team!

Another perennial All-Peninsula standout is The Situation's Courtney Efird. She's an all around awesome player, but if I had to highlight one part of her game, it's her ability to kick away. If we had a longest kick contest with every woman in the league, I don't know if Courtney would win. But I certainly wouldn't bet against her and her powerful leg!

About time Randy Devlin showed up for more than 1/2 his team's games. Congratulations on earning 1st Team All-Peninsula in what was definitely the toughest category, Utility!

Another season, another All-Peninsula award for Amanda Doolittle. She's made a name for herself as being one of the best female kickball players in the 757 by consistently getting on base and playing lock down defense at third.

In his last season of WAKA VA Peninsula, Scott Duncan went out with a bang. The talented first baseman lead The Situation to a 2nd Wentworth Trophy® by driving in runs by the buttload. His ability to hit a gap is unparalleled. Which is why he is also among the league leaders in intentional walks each season.
But his contributions didn't just end at the plate. On the other side of the ball, he's become a tremendous first baseman. Duncan's ability to stretch and snag a ball gives The Situation that extra fraction of a second difference between getting an out and letting a base runner on. Seriously, have you seen his splits? 

I mentioned above that Scott Duncan drove in a ton of runs. Well, you can't do that if there aren't players on base ahead of you. That's where Jeremy Edge comes in. As the lead off of the league's top offense (7.36 runs per game) it all starts at the top. Edge's ability to paint the line makes him almost impossible to get out. Once on base, he's a cagey base runner. Always knowing when to push the envelope and take the extra base.

The definition of a 5 tool player. Is there anything that Gene Efird can not do well? Quick answer: no. Amazing defense at the charger position. Efird's extremely quick to the ball and has a cannon for an arm. Seriously, he tosses a chest pass harder than most chargers' over hand throws. In the semi-finals, I had laid a perfect bunt down the line, only to find myself out by half a step after a Gene strike to first. (yeah, yeah, I know I don't exactly have A+ speed, but still. It was a great play).
On offense, he can bunt well if needed. But his ability to crush a ball is what gets the most attention. Just ask April Moore. In the quarterfinals of the Fall tournament, he crushed a Mark Flores fast ball about 50 yards for a home run, and a damaged car!

Pop Pop's Hassan Dubose is a hard throwing lefty who has the ability to absolutely dominate a game. Exhibit A: In the season finale against Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Hass had 3 strikeouts to go along with his 2 foul outs in Pop Pop's 3-0 victory. That's 33% of all the outs in that game! Ridiculous.

In my opinion, The Situation's Kyle Lewis is the most fundamentally sound bunters in all of kickball. Very rarely will you see him kick a ball farther than a 2 feet away from the foul line. And popping up? Forget about it. That's not how Ky-Lew rolls.
The word on the street is that Lewis is retiring from the game after this season. If this is the case, the game is going to be losing one of the best. But he's going out on top. A Wentworth Trophy® and a 1st Team All-Peninsula award!

Pound for pound, the best pure athlete in the league. Lenora Harper's quickness gives her an advantage very few ladies can match. An advantage she leverages to get on base, time and time again.

Alex Noctor contributed another great campaign behind the plate for Pop Pop. One of the quickest catchers in the league, Noctor's range allows him to make plays on balls that a lot of catchers just can't. On the offensive side, Noctor is a reliable bunter and a solid kicker who stretches opposing defenses.















In the immortal words of young runner 314: Speed kills. And Jillian Simms has that in spades. She has used that quickness along with gifted bunting skills to become one of the most difficult outs in the league.

Fall 2013 All-Peninsula 2nd Team

We continue our All-Peninsula announcements with the 2nd Team! Please join me in congratulating the following!

If you ask Boom head coach Phillip Baltzis about his teammate Bailey Brown, he'll have no shortage of praise. "Bailey's got exceptional speed, which allowed us to put her at 3 in the lineup. She's a very good bunter. Always moved the runners," Baltzis went on, "Very positive influence on the team. Feisty competitor. Very sound defensively. Knew what to do and where to go when the ball was kicked to her. 100% effort at all times. A typical Boom lady!"

Without a doubt, The Situation's Blake Kalaikai is one of the best kickball pitchers of all time. Very few pitchers have the lethal combination of speed, power, and break on their balls. The dominant righty has a way of keeping kickers baffled and lead The Situation defense to a league low 0.82 runs allowed and their 2nd Wentworth Trophy®.

When one thinks of the prototypical catcher, they usually think of shorter, skinny guys (Guy Sumrell, Eric Stevens, Roger Jackson, etc). At first glance, The Situation's Matt Coup doesn't seem to fit that mold. However, he's great at reading a kicker, coming out of the box quick, and throwing absolute strikes to first base. In fact, his arm is probably what stands out the most about Coup is that he has a rifle for an arm. No matter how nice the bunt is, if he gets his hands on it, he's got a chance at getting the out.

I had a difficult time finding a picture of Pop Pop's Dani Buchanan to use for her trading card. When I messaged her to see if she had any pics of her I could use, she replied, "No one takes photos of me picking daisies in the outfield."
Well, the reason Dani spends so much time 'picking daisies' is because no one wants to kick it out there to her. With her combination of range and sure hands, anything in the air to her quadrant of the field is an out.

There have been many strong armed chargers that have competed in WAKA VA Peninsula, but perhaps none more powerful than Pop Pop's Dom Smith. The ball literally hisses as leaves his hands on the way to first base. The best comparison is that it looks like the throws from the old Nintendo game, "Super Dodgeball". He uses that arm to gun even the fastest runners down and earn yet another All-Peninsula nod.

 Kick A$$'s Jamel "Juice" Fitzgerald had a breakout year. For a while now the scouting report on Juice noted his elite speed, but what good does that do you if the bunts are popped up? Well, this Fall, Fitz took great strides to eliminate that issue. In improving his technique, he's developed into a high caliber top of the lineup threat for KA and one of the toughest outs in the league.

As a 5 O'Clocker teammate of Nikki LeBlanc, I can't tell you how many times I've seen her make running or diving catches while patrolling right field. She's a veritable human highlight machine out there, always playing hard and coming up with a big out when the 5OC need it most. It's not hard to see why she continues to make the All-Peninsula teams year over year.

Pop Pop's Nick Schmidt suffered a knee injury prior to the start of the Spring 2013 season that had him on the shelf until October. When he finally recovered enough to make his debut, he picked right up where he left off. The steady hands and nice range at first give his infield teammates a nice target to hit and his line drives at the plate did not lack power.

There was a bit of controversy (if you could call it that) when the All-Peninsula ballots were released and JFK's Daniel "The Condor" Shaw was not on the pitchers list. The hard throwing rightie is a dominant presence on the mound. His 7 foot wing span and huge hands allow him to deliver the ball to the plate with precision, speed, and movement. Why wouldn't he be on the pitchers ballot? Well, that would ignore the fine work he did all season at first base for JFK as well. He split time between both positions and provided excellent production with whatever coach Bryan Freed asked him to do. These facts were not lost on the voters, who named Shaw to the All-Peninsula in a very loaded 'utility' category.

Josh Waldrop has made an All-Peninsula team in every season in which the honor has been bestowed. What else is there possibly to write about him? He can place a line drive anywhere on the field, he can paint the line with a bunt, and he covers more ground in the outfield than most outfielders. Waldrop is just an all-around stud.

Kecia Warner is the spark plug that powers the 'Springa engine. The speedy Warner can place a bunt with the best of them. Several middle inning rallies were started with her at the plate. Kecia's coverage in the outfield is also something that turns heads. Perhaps most notably, her running catch deep into foul territory killed a Chubby Gangster comeback effort and secured a Rumspringa win late in the year. It's possible that Kecia may be the most well rounded female kickballer in the league.

Fall 2013 All-Peninsula 3rd Team

At the conclusion of each WAKA VA Peninsula season, the polls open and the members of the league vote on which players they feel had the most outstanding season at their position. Out of 348 players, 33 players are honored with the distinction of being an "All-Peninsula" player!

Let's take a look at the 3rd Team!

The "Utility" was created to recognize the players who contributed to their team by playing multiple positions. Few people, if any, embody that definition more than Pop Pop's Alex Jackson. Whatever the team needed, whether it was first base, charger, or catcher, AJ stepped up and performed at an elite level. At the plate, the speedster was a difficult out for opponents with well placed bunts. But just like on defense, he is far from one dimensional. His line drives are some of the most deadly on the Peninsula. The 5 O'Clockers know what I'm talking about. His laser in week 3 gave Pop Pop a big early season walk off victory.

I remember years ago when Ashley Carte first began playing kickball down on the south side. Although clearly athletic, she was not a natural to the game. She played on mostly lower tiered teams and did not do much to stand out. However, over the years, she's worked hard to get better and is now among the top female kickballers in all of Hampton Roads. With added skill and technique, her athleticism is now a weapon for The Situation. Carte's great speed and bunting had her putting pressure on opposing defenses and earned her well deserved recognition from the league.

Free Ballin's Mark Flores has been one of the hardest throwing pitchers in the league for the past 3 years. This has made him a staple of the All-Peninsula team. But what's really stood out about Flores is the work he's put in on the offensive side of the ball. While once a somewhat one dimensional defensive specialist, Flores has developed into a dangerous line drive kicker in the middle of the Free Ballin' lineup.

Ballsagna had one of the most potent offenses in the league this Fall, scoring 7.18 runs per game. A big part of that devastating lineup was Nicole Graziano. The former Ms. Plesha can paint the line with a bunt or drop a bomb into the outfield with equal skill and consistency.
Defensively, she holds it down on 3rd base. You'd have better luck trying to pick on someone else than to kick towards her sure hands.

One of the biggest off-season moves was Pop Pop's acquisition of outfielder Nathaniel "Jorts" Johnson. Fresh off of a Wentworth Trophy® victory with Kick Ass, there was a lot of pressure on Jorts to deliver for Pop Pop. And certainly he did, stepping into the middle of the lineup and providing a lot of the 'pop' in Pop Pop. But just because he's adept at kicking away doesn't mean he's a one trick pony. As he will be quick to tell you, he's got 'big man speed' and sneak a bunt down three.

 JFK's Josh Joyner has some of the best pure instincts of any outfielder in WAKA VA Peninsula. He just always seems to know where the ball is going off the foot and seaks it out. Kickers who get frustrated trying to bunt on against the stellar JFK defense found no more success when they tried to kick away thanks to this ball hawk in center.

Eat. Breathe. Sleep. Kickball. Very few individuals play more kickball than Boom's Kim Morgan. The obsession with playing has helped her improve season over season. Defensively, she's one of the strongest women in the league. Nothing drops if she can get her hands on it. Offensively, she's a good bunter and has a strong leg when kicking away.

Nique Williams is a beast. Playing the hot corner can be tough. Often times right footed kickers will lace liners down the line that even the best players struggle with. Not Nique. She handles the position and makes it look easy. Which makes me jealous, since I make the most routine plays look incredibly difficult. I don't know how she does it.

This veteran kickballer has been building a reputation as being one of the most consistent and reliable players in WAKA VA Peninsula. Mike Ramey bunts well up either side of the field, kicks deep balls to right, and displays soft hands on first for Rumspringa.

Eric Stevens has a motor that never stops. With boundless energy, he explodes out of the box and gobbles up bunts. If you put any air under your bunt against Stevens, you're probably going to find yourself sitting back on the bench a few seconds later.

Few kickers are more feared in the league than the 5 O'Clockers' Wes McClain. With good reason. Push your outfielders back and he'll rip a line drive right in front of them. Pull them in, and he'll crush one over their heads.
At the charger position, the best word to describe Wes is 'unorthodox'. From where he lines up (almost directly behind the pitcher) to his wind up and delivery (a hooking slingshot soccer style throw). But another word to describe it is 'effective'. McClain has hosed a lot kickers with some laser throws to first. And that's why he's an All-Peninsula player yet again.

3 Up 3 Down - Episode 57

VA Peninsula - End of Season Tournament / Party!

Kickballers,

We've finally reached the climax of this great season of Fall kickball! On Saturday, we will crown a champion and celebrate afterwards at Longboards! Let's go over all the details:

The tournament schedule is posted online at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjKkiopJDjWgdFc0MkRWVGxKMHFLcFBPdXFVRHlkenc&usp=drive_web#gid=0

Some notes for the tourney: 

• The tournament will be held at Gosnolds Hope Park, 901 E Little Back River Rd, Hampton, VA
• Games kick off at 9 AM. Unlike the regular season, we do NOT have a time limit for each game. We want to ensure that each game is decided with at least 5 innings. Now with that said, we want to continue to be respectful of the schedule. To keep the tourney on track, we ask that you ensure you're team is ready to go at the scheduled game time.
• Home and away is not decided by rock, paper, scissors. The higher seed has earned the 'home' advantage.
• If a game is tied after 5 innings, it will go to "Kansas City" rules. 8 players in the field (4 male / 4 female) and a runner starting on 2nd base. For a full overview of the KC rules, please visit the official WAKA League Tournament Guidelines.
• Reffing: We do have assigned reffing duties for the first couple of rounds. Afterwards, we will ask for volunteers from players who are not currently playing. Please let me or Keith know if you are willing to volunteer for some of the later round games. We will be very VERY grateful!

PARTY!
https://www.facebook.com/events/755147474502013/
Longboards
Stoney Creek Ln, Newport News, VA 23608
7:00 PM
4 kegs for kickballers, $2.50 PBR pounders, $2 Pints, $4 WAKA Bombs, $5 Select Appetizers!

Let's blow the roof off of Longboards on Saturday night!

Thank you all for an awesome season so far! Looking forward to closing it out in style. Please let me know if you have any questions or need anything at all!


Brent Wentworth
Sr. Community Coordinator
WAKA Kickball

3 Up 3 Down - Episode 56

Ballsagna serves it up to PBJ

     Well, the top chefs of each team got to cooking up some strategies and pretty much made it a close call!  They both looked delicious!  But Ballsagna came out as the tastier delicacy that evening. (Anybody got milk?!)
      Ballsagna struck first with 2 runs to 1 in the first innings.  Pitchers Brent "Jean Man" Obershaw of PB and J and John "Vroom Vroom" Vrooman of Ballsagna served them up hot!  In fact, Vrooman achieved yet another strike out in the game adding it up to.....who knows what but I bet its a big number. (Dammit, stat man! :/) Speaking of stat man, that reminds me of George Kiriazidis and his awesome catch at the pitchers mound in the second inning.  With ducks on base and 2 outs, a pop up was kicked between pitcher and 1st base.  George actually left the mound (There, I said it.) and went after the ball and went for the diving catch!  It was a great manly moment in kickball history as he sacrificed his body to get under it for a last minute catch.  Or maybe he just bumbled his way there and accidentally fell under it?  We still aren't certain, but hey!  A catch is a catch!  (I hear there is undeniable evidence that there is video of him actually getting off the mound for this ball but it hasn't surfaced yet as of right now, this very minute, even as I type, in the present, here and now.)
     In the final innings PBJT intentionally walked the last of the line up, Irene Mitchell, to break up the top of the line up and prevent Ballsagna from scoring, but head chef George had his own trick up his sleeve.  He instructed Irene to purposefully stand off the first base bag so that she could be called out before the pitch.  It worked, but left Irene extremely confused. After explaining the situation thoroughly to her, she was asked if she understood.  She firmly nodded her head yes and said "No." She still seems to be befuddled and bewildered by this baffling, mystifying, perplexing, overcomplicated event...but the top of the line up remained intact and that's what matters!
     With the score at 2-1 anything could happen, and Ballsagna pulled ahead with 2 more runs in the next inning with help of an interference call on third leaving Mark "Rabbit" Thompson safe.  PBJT battled back and got out of that inning and pounded back when they came up to kick. A non-foul call down 1st base allowed PBJ to score and pull ever closer.  With 2 runners on base at 1st and 3rd and 2 outs, a well placed kick could get things going again, but it wasn't meant to be.  The final kicker was thrown out and Ballsagna pulled out a win with a score of 4-2.

Now for dessert!
Nicole Graziano kicked perfect bunts down 3rd and made it on base twice!
Brian Neal is super hot at charger!  (Actually, he's super hot anywhere!)
Patrick Jones gets a special shout out for his sticky fingers and catching impossible throws to 1st.  I think he's part Spiderman...
Speaking of sticky fingers, Stephen "Hands made of McGlue" McGrew (hey, I'm an NCIS fan and I can have a TON of fun with that last name!!), Tim "Beatdown" Paetz, and Brandon Accordino all seem to NEVER drop anything that comes to them.  The outfield is totally COVERED with these dudes, no problem!
Jon Lenard is turning into an ON BASE MACHINE!!!!
I could go on and on but I've got something in the oven.... "catch" ya later!

BALLSAGNA....FACE!!!!

Thank you, Veterans!

On this day, we honor the men and women who have served in our Armed Forces. Without the sacrifices of our brave soldiers, sailors, and marines, we wouldn't have the opportunity to be free and play a silly game like kickball. 

With 348 players in VA Peninsula, it's not surprising that we have several vets in our kickball community. I want to take a moment to recognize many of them!

• Nikki LeBlanc, 5 O'Clockers (Navy)
• Randy Devlin, 5 O'Clockers (Air Force) 
• Brent Wentworth, 5 O'Clockers (Army)
• Brad Gault, Balls So Hard (Navy)
• Michael Bailey, Balls So Hard (Marines) 
• Matt Harness, Balls So Hard (Air Force) 
• Anna Boffo, Ballsagna (Air Force)
• Irene Mitchell, Ballsagna (Air Force) 
• Denny Leonard, Ballsagna (Army)
• Mike Harvey, Ballsagna (Air Force) 
• Andy Tapley, Battlestar (Navy)
• Brian Heth, Battlestar (Air Force) 
• Ed Aaron, Battlestar (Air Force) 
• Theodore Phillips, Chaotic KILFs (Army)
• Chuck Simerick, Chaotic KILFs (Coast Guard)
• Kayla Via, Chaotic KILFs (Air Force) 
• Eric Schessl, Chaotic KILFs (Air Force) 
• Rob Kroll, Chubby Gangsters (Coast Guard)
• Anthony Leevy, Chubby Gangsters (Marines) 
• Kim Merritt, Chubby Gangsters (Navy)
• Nick Garrity, Foul Balls (Air Force)
• Joe Preseault, Foul Balls (Air Force)
• Jesse Rogers, Foul Balls (Navy)
• Bobby Weaver, Foul Balls (Air Force)
• Chris "Bundy" LeBlanc, Free Ballin' (Air Force)
• Chris Tanner, PBJT (Coast Guard)
• John Hagler, PBJT (Navy)
• Adam Nusbaum, PBJT (Air Force)
• Jeremy Smithey, PBJT (Army)
• Jason Burnette, PBJT (Air Force)
• David Griffin, Pop Pop (Navy)
• Jimmy Wilcox, The Situation (Marines)
• Anthony Williams, The Situation (Army)

Thank you all for your service! You are greatly appreciated!!!

*Note: I am sure that we missed some vets. If you have served, please let me know and I'll be happy to update the list! We want to ensure everyone is recognized! 

Trunk-or-Treat!

I don't know about you, but I was surprised how successful last weeks Trunk-or-Treat event went. I assumed some teams would throw something together, and there would probably be a clear winner because someone obviously tried harder than others. O contraire mon frere, over half of our teams had a trunk in the parking lot and even more dressed up for the occasion, which made it very hard to actually pick a winner. A lot of blood, sweat, and beers went into making these trunks and I was pleasantly surprised at not only how well they turned out but how much fun all the teams were having with each other in the parking lot.

If you didn't get a chance to see the trunks or team costumes, here are some of the ones I could find pictures for:

Rumspringa as Men in Black

Free Ballin' as a life size Beer Pong Game

Foul Balls as Life Sized Game of Words With Friends (or Scrabble for those who don't have Smart Phones)

Ball & Chain Gang were locking people up in the parking lot!

JFK decided to scare the shit out of everyone with their pythons and creepy child molester van!

Boom! as Dynamite (get it?!)

Chubby Gangsters just dressed up. They were a Halloween Party for Halloween!

Eric Schessl and his Vampire Jeep (Thanks for the tricks!)

PBJT handing out all of their nepotistic memorabilia.

Pop Pop were Beer Pong Playing Zombies

And the winner of the 1st Annual WAKA VA Peninsula Trunk-or-Treat contest is:

Balls So Hard and their Tailgate Dragon and Shots of Fireball and Cider!

Bar Buzz - Best Parties. Best Games. Best Friends.

Best Parties. Best Games. Best Friends.

I joined WAKA for market research. I hate organized, team sports. I loathe being judged on my athletic capabilities, which is zero. But I joined WAKA because I planned a failed attempt at a charity kickball tournament and I wanted to see what the players wanted and what the leagues were like. I guess everyone has their own story of why they joined; their husband did it, their coworker convinced them, they didn’t have any friends, they wanted to play the game professionally. Whatever the reason is, it’s yours.

Now I kind of went into this thinking “this is going to be part of my job. I’m going to learn some stuff, network a little, drink a lot, then I’ll stop and do my tournament.” I thought to myself “I have plenty of friends and I really don’t need any more. And plus, any group that advertises ‘best friends’ as something you’ll get out of it, is usually wrong…or maybe I’m just cynical.”

So now here’s the thing, those statements were made three seasons ago, and I’m still here…sorry guys. I think it’s because I saw so much friendship, fun, competition, and excitement, and I wanted it all! I have a lot of friends, in a lot of different groups and walks of life, and kickball has become one of my favorite groups by far! And being in the league for 3 seasons now, I’ve also changed teams each season. Which is so hard to do! Each time I get nervous that my team won’t be as fun as the last one, and each time my doubts are washed away.

That’s what WAKA is about. It’s not about the Wednesday night game, or the Wednesday night bar, it’s about the people. The people you play those games with, the people you drink with, the people you invite to your weddings, and the people who stick with you outside of the games and the parties and WAKA. So this edition of the #BarBuzz isn’t going to the team who partied hardest at Trunk or Treat last week, and it’s not going to the team who bought the most shots. The belt this week is going to the team who has shown dedication to each other on and off the field, in and out of the bar, and generally just being a really good team of really good friends.

Congrats to Rumspringa. It's not just the fact that Troy has tried to convince me that you all win every week, or that you have your song. It's that I know y'all are more than just a team. You're a history and a future. And I'm so excited to be part of that!

Ballsagna Gets Lightly Toasted by The Situation

     Yep, lightly toasted.  As in...not a big time, blow-out butt whoopin'! Team Ballsagna was bracing for a major defeat, and went out there knowing that they had to play at their best to even be in it.  Well, surprise, surprise!!  Ballsagna held their ground and didn't flinch.  The Situation came up to kick first and it was 3 up, 3 down.  John Vrooman pitched some wicked ones as the Situation team kept popping bunts up back to the pitcher and charger positions for easy outs throughout the entire game. In fact, Vrooman was able to shut out the top of the line up TWICE with his super pitching skills! Day-yammmmm!! ;)
     The first 2 innings were shut outs on both sides.  Brian Neal made some awesome charger plays throughout the entire game with precision throws and quick scoops, and cat-like reflex catching techniques.   Hmmmmm, the words 'cat' and 'scoops' make me think of something else, but his performance was far from that!  I'd have to say....BRILLIANT!! High five to Neal for nailing it all night!  (Wait, what??!) Patrick Jones must have dipped his fingers in super glue or something because everything stuck in his hands at 1st base. Not one bobble! Perfect throws, perfect catches. BOOM!!
     The third inning is where the action began.  The Situation got in 2 runs before Ballsagna could stop the bleeding.  Ballsagna then had 2 on base and 2 outs when it was kicked deep in right field.  Both runners tagged and ran affter the ball was caught, but Nicole got tagged out and the run in score didn't count. Craaaaaaap....
      The Situation decided to kick the sh** out of it for the remainder of the game and one got past Center Fielder Tim Paetz.  He got turned around and then lost it but it was so close.  Instead of a sweet catch, it was a sweet home run kick bringing the score to 3-0.  Is it possible to score 3 runs in one inning to tie the Sitch?!  Heck, no one knows but Ballsagna tried their best. Holding them to no runs in the 4th and 5th inning, Ballsagna managed to load the bases with 2 outs.  Tim "Beatdown" Paetz booted one into right center for a wicked line drive that looked impossible to get under in time to drive everyone home!!!  Oops....no wait, that didn't happen... with a super wicked kick came a super wicked catch to end the game.
      Congrats to Sitch for another win.  It was close and super fun playing this team! Ballsagna was able to keep things close and had a win/tie within reach.  It was oh-so-close! There were no silly errors made by either team and it definitely made things interesting.
     I wish I knew some Sitch names because I'd be throwing them all out there right about now.  The young lady in right that caught a fly ball that bounced off her first, but she kept with it and was able to catch it again...the dude (Update! Gene Efird!) that launched the ball out into center field so hard that 5 minutes later the ball finally radioed in for permission to land...the person (Update! Noelle Walsh!) who got under that right center kick from Tim...Hell of a catch!
     We enjoyed playing you guys!  South side douchers ain't so bad.... ;)

 Random photo that has absolutely nothing to do with the game...

Some of the old Ballsack crew! Alison Easterday, Karen "Silent Killer" Savell, Joe Stumpo, Nicole Graziano