Pandemics vs. DOE

It was a gloomy evening for the Pandemics last night as they squared off against the Department of Energy. One of the challenging things about being in 1st place is we carry a target on our chest and all teams come out for blood. DOE did exactly that last night showing up with a strong squad, most of whom were meeting for the first time. On our side of the field, we showed with a strong team, but insufficient numbers, requiring us to take an automatic out each inning and left us a player short in the field.

Despite the odds being stacked largely against us, the Pandemics still gave DOE a good fight. By reducing a few defensive errors, getting a few of the awful calls DOE made, and having all of our players, the outcome would have been different… But the stars aligned for DOE and it led them to victory by the final score 16-17.

A few shout outs for outstanding play. Andy Briggs played the game of his life, hitting 3 homeruns and one double. Drew Smith, after changing his entire wardrobe to remove a batting curse, got his bat cranking again driving in two homeruns…It must have been the pink underwear. Rebecca Ayer not only played a terrific game, but also served as the DOE punching bag. On defense, Ayer stepped in-front of several screaming line drives to prevent the ball from getting into the outfield. In the final inning, Rebecca was rounding 3rd on her way home to tie the game up and was clobbered by a DOE player in an effort to make the tag. The tag launched Ayer into a motionless flight that brought her laying a good 5 feet from the point of impact. She is accepting “get well cards” from players around the league.

Despite these great performances, the Pandemics suffered our first loss of the season. As people say about great teams that lose right before March Madness, this loss can be a good thing if we rebound with more determination to bring the championship home. I have no doubt we can finish the season strong, we need to keep our heads up and win our final season game against HUD next week, and then rally through the playoffs! Remember we still sit tied for first place, and a win next week puts us squarely in first place as the tiebreaker is based on points, and the team we are tied with hasn’t scored as many points as we have.

Please put next Wednesday on your calendar, we need a good showing. Thanks for all your support, I will send out more details on the game next week as it develops!

GO PANDEMICS!!