Not wanting the Relief Society Sisteren to feel they have any advantage over the brethren I set up my traditional Game Nite Table. A Patriotic table cloth, some of my wife's hand painted firecrackers & other patriotic crafts, a photo & some potted flowers. Someone decided the table also needed to be adorned with a pile of sunflower seeds. I later found out it was Cortina 2nd Ward Lori Ann McCluskey's kid, running amok as usual......
But first the games-
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| Photo by Jodola via Flicker, available and modified under a Creative Commons Attribution License |
6:30 PM Cortina 3rd VS Nauvoo Station
You gotta love the enthusiasm of Cortina 3rd Ward showing up in Black & White T-Shirts emblazoned "Cortina 3rd Ward DOGS." Especially since it meant Travis Padilla wouldn't be wearing his usual puke orange Texas Longhorn "Fork 'Em" shirt......
It's also tough trying to be a "cool & nonchalant" Young Adult Male. One fellow strode up to a small gathering of team mates & single sisters, causally tossing his ball glove on the table with an "I'm so cool I can do a 'No Look' toss and land my glove on that table" look on his face. The table is about 4' wide. He missed it, hitting the far edge and looked in horror as his "I'm so Mr Cool I can lob my glove anywhere & make it stick" look faded as fast as his glove bounced off the table. So tough......There was a new player for Nauvoo Station. A recently baptized fellow names Ryan. Glad to see him playing. Playing Church Softball opened the door to me for church membership, much the the chagrin of many I'm sure!
Game time was a few minutes away & Nauvoo Station had only 7 players. They asked if a couple of the sisters who'd come to cheer could play. Even tho I knew it would IMPROVE the skill level of the team I said "Sure," figuring if Cortina 3rd Ward had any illusions about prevailing as our Stake Champions they ought to be able to beat a team with girls on it! Mind you, Cortina 3rd Ward was absent it's best player. The power hitting & master fielding 3rd Baseman, Skye Fagrell, who being a Seminary Teacher @ Corona Del Sol High School, felt compelled to attend a mandatory Church Education Services meeting. And one of the sisters that wanted to play was the former Higley High Girls Fast Pitch All Star power slugger, Pitcher Jill Rosenhan. Turned out 10 players finally were present and the sister's participation was not deemed necessary. Silly boys......
The game started with Nauvoo Station's Yoshi ripping a rocket at 3rd base that careened off the 3rd Baseman's glove and still had enough juice on it that it took a jagged hop & scooted past the left fielder to the fence. Yoshi, showing exceptional- and here to for not seen speed- raced to 3rd base. The Short Stop's relay throw was short armed into the ground after about 25' & rolled another 50' to 2nd base......It did not look like it was gonna be Cortina 3rd Ward's finest game. The inning ended with Nauvoo Station leading 9 - 0, with the only thing looking good for Cortina Ward was their shirts.
Sam Garlock, arguably Nauvoo Station's best player- I say arguable since you could make a good argument that someone else was Nauvoo Station's best player, but we won't get into that- had to leave for what he termed a business meeting but assured his team he's be back for the Championship Game. Famous last words! Jill Stepped in & took his place.
Cortina 3rd Ward batters seemed baffled by Grant Garlock's pitching motion, (Yes, that's Sam's brother. The Garlock boys are constantly bickering about which of them is the best looking, It's an argument neither can win, especially if someone else is thrown into the comparison......) anyway, Grant had his odd, halting motion, he sticks his glove straight out toward the batter, bends his knees like he's about to genuflect then rises in slow motion to release an underhand shot put like pitch that seems to float toward the plates at a speed that would not even register on a Radar Gun. Grant had commented earlier to one of the Nauvoo Station Sisters that she had not been to any of their games long enough to see him make any "good plays." There's a reason for that & it's not because she hadn't been staying to watch the full games, either!
2nd inning score 12 - 0. Even the "Dogs" shirts were starting to lose their bark.
The 3rd inning did not get much better for Cortina 3rd Ward as Scott Potter was called out looking at a 3rd strike that barley nipped the mat. One of those pitches that the Umpire has to get on his knees & look at the dirt imprint of the ball to see if it grazed the mat. The Umpire was Scott's teammate. Scott just smiled & walked back to the dug out showing exemplary sportsmanship regardless of whatever he was thinking in his mind on the long walk back. Then he had to turn around to Umpire while the fellow that just called him Out batted. On a similar close call Scott called a ball on a close pitch that also would have been a 3rd strike. Fortunately for that batter it was called a ball as he hit an Inside Park Home Run on the next pitch. BOTH pitches were correct calls, by the way.
Score after 3 innings 12 - 3.
A Cortina 3rd Ward Sister left saying she had a Relief Society Activity to attend that promised to be more exciting than the hitting exhibition the Cortina 3rd Warders were putting on,
Up to this point Nauvoo Station's power hitter Ole had pounded out his 2 hits of a least 300'+. Trouble was they were 300' UP and only 150' out. Cortina 3rd Ward knew once Ole started turning around and bouncing balls off the fence that their nite would only get worse!
Then came the 4th inning lead as Cortina 3rd Ward came up to bat. Now, I don't know how exciting that sister's Relief Society Activity got, but the Cortina 3rd Ward batting got REAL interesting at this point! They's score's 10 straight runs before their 1st out and eventually score 16 runs to forge a 19-12 lead.
Nauvoo Station answered with 2 runs in the 5th inning. (Even Jill had a base hit to equal Sam's productivity at the plate for that game, so there was nothing lost in Sam's absence!)
The score was now 19-14 with a few minutes of game time remaining. Nauvoo Station had to close out Cortina 3rd Ward to get another chance to bat and pull out the game.
It was not to be. Austin McGilvary (or is it McCalvary or MacGillivary?) his team knows who I mean, Austin, who IS the Calvary when they need a "big hit", laced out his 3rd hit of the nite- another inside park home run to seal the victory as time ran out for Nauvoo Station.
And several Cortina 3rd Ward cell phones popped out to speed dial Skye Fagrell- "We won! Championship Game @ 8:30 PM. CAN YOU MAKE IT??" "Tell the CES Director you're sick & need to go home. Say anything, just get here by 8:30 PM!!"
7:30 PM Defending Stake Champions Ironwood VS perennial Stake Runner Ups Cortina 2nd Ward
I thought the Ramada roof might fall down as some Cortina 2nd Ward wives who normally shun the ballpark for Bunko or Book Club strolled in- Lori Ann McCluskey & Cheryl Lynn Blinston in particular. Heather Roberts (who has stopped by to cheer her husband a couple times this year), Margaret Marques (whose husband was playing his 1st game in a few years) & Heidi Ann Lambert (who was a frequent attender) also showed up. Even that Whiting woman managed to show & stay for the game instead of dropping her kids off expecting ME to babysit them. The sisters said they wouldn't miss the game for a anything! No, that's not a statement of support like you're thinking. What they meant was they showed up to gab and wouldn't "miss it" if they missed any of the game action. In other words, they were oblivious to the actual game and did not miss what they missed. Make sense now?
Ironwood went scoreless in the 1st inning while Cortina scored 2 runs with Kyle McCluskey hitting an inside the park home run. Kyle was motoring his fastest & barely had enough gas in his tank to make it all the way around to score. Maybe it was his gas that propelled him down the home base path to score......but he did score.
Undaunted, Ironwood scored 6 in the 2nd inning while Corina 2nd was blanked. Ironwood added 6 more in the 3rd inning.
About this time a 5 gallon paint bucket showed up near the Ramada surrounded by several small boys each emptying water bottles into the bucket. Some of the kids were the notorious Martineau Gang of boys, so I suspect one of them pulled the bucket out of his pocket. There were 2 kids at the drinking fountain filling up more water bottles. I brought the situation to the attention of the nearest sisters to warn them of possible water splashing their way & to watch out for a kid going head first into the bucket. Then I walked away.
Cortina 2nd was blanked for the next 3 innings. Sometimes one team gets all the good bounces and the other the bad breaks. Being on the odd end of the breaks was Cortina 2nd Ward's fate this nite! A shot by Grady Nix, hit so hard it left the Game Ball lopsided, went right at the left fielder. A little trajectory & it would have been a Home Run. With an infield as lumpy as ours it would seem impossible every ground ball could take a hop to the ironwood infielders, but they did. Not even Rocky's frying pan like glove could miss a good ground ball that nite!!
A 5 run rally in the 5th breathed new life into Cortina 2nd Ward but Ironwood was relentless scoring in each of the last couple innings to pound out a 19-13 victory which garnered Cortina 2nd Ward their 4th straight Stake RUNNER'S UP Status. The Cortina 2nd Ward Team motto is "If we can't be handsome, we can at least consistently win 2nd Place!!"
8:30 PM Championship Game Ironwood VS Cortina 3rd'
As with Mighty Casey's NO SHOW at the plate in the historic poem, there would be no Mighty
Skye Fagrell to aid the Coritna 3rd Warder's vie for the Stake Championship. I guess CES meetings are a lot like Stake General Priesthood Meetings- ain't no "end of meeting" time set. (I'm sure Sistern with 8:00 AM Sacrament Setting just love it when Stake General Priestood Meeting ends @ 7:40 AM and their husbands have not been around to help get the kids ready for church. Those are the days when you see the most "interesting" outfits on the boys & girls at church, aren't they?
BJ Blinston & Grady Nix of the Cortina 2nd Ward graciously volunteered to Umpire the Championship game so none of the Cortina 3rd OR Ironwood Warders would have to face their brethren in Sunday "Go To Meetin'" circumstances and be glowered at 'cause they called a team mate out on a close call and cost the team the game. They had more than a couple close plays that could have easily strained inter-ward relationships and made the right call on each one. THANKS GUYS for a Major League quality called game!!
Young Love......sigh......Sierra (sp?) Brendlinger, Pres Smith's daughter & recently married to James- who was on a full ride baseball scholarship to a 4 year college until he snapped his collar bone- needs to "man up" when she comes to watch James play. James sludded into 2nd base & picked up a itsy bitsy scrape with about as much blood as a Show Low mosquito would draw and she started freaking out that James needed to go the the Urgent care ASAP. "Don't you see all the blood?" She moaned. "Uhhhh, what blood?" "THAT blood!" She wailed. I said to her, "I don't see any blood. Oh wait, you're calling THAT blood? That ain't hardly even a scratch! Play Ball!!!"
Ironwood picked up right where they left off from the 7:30 game scoring 3 runs in the 1st inning. Cortina 3rd answered with 4 runs, including a inside the park Home Run by Scott Potter on a line drive OVER the left fielder's head. When asked if he was sure the bat he used was legal he said it was. The bat momentarily & mysteriously disappeared so it couldn't be checked for the proper ASA Legal Bat stamp but since he's a lawyer I decided to believe him. Do you folks think that was a mistake- believing a lawyer? Anyway, the run counted.
Back & forth they went for 3 inning neither team managing to mount more then a 1 run lead.
Curtis Cooke plunged to the ground in a near 3 way collision in right center field on a Texas League that dropped for a base hit. He had to be helped from the field with a strained hip (whatever that is) but somehow mustered the strength to bat on his next turn up. He snapped out a base hit, got to 1st base & promptly called for a Pinch Runner. (Why is it called a Pinch Runner, anyway?)
Cortina 3rd tried to pound the left side of the infield until they figured out Short Stop James Brendlinger really DID have Big League range & Scoop skills.
A 15 run explosion by Cortina 3rd in the 4th & 5th innings rang the death knell for Ironwood. Even Bishop Lovell got in on the scoring act, showing flashes of former speed. It must be noted, however, that the Bishop takes a lot longer to get up to speed these days and when he does get up to full speed it's a whole lot harder for him to stop !!
23 runs in the last 3 innings by Cortina 3rd ward paved the way to a 32-23 win.
As they walked out of the ball park Sierra Brendlinger was heard saying to James, "We need to go see my dad about you wound right now on our way home. He's a doctor. He'll know if it's serious or not!" Welcome to married life James......
Side Bar:
2 Gloves, 1 Adult & 1 kids sized were left behind. Both are black & tan. A green & black LEGAL bat was also left.
1 small brown stuffed teddy bear is very lonely, too.
Basketball Update:
Only Crismon Ward's, Bishop Andreason, has confirmed his Ward will cooperate with the PROPOSED Stake Men's Basketball Schedule. There are 3 other Wards that meet in the Stake Center that need to agree to cooperate before we can play a Men's Basketball Program. If you want to play B-Ball & your ward meets in the Stake Center it may be propitious for you to talk to your Bishop......
I realize Bishops, YM & YW leaders have been busy prepping for Girl's Camp, BSA Geronimo & Aaronic Priesthood Encampment and may not have had the time to ponder the Proposed Schedule VS their Ward calendars. Hopefully with Encampment finishing up next week we'll soon get the desired approvals. After all, we are talking about Church Basketball here, a tradition dwarfed only by General Conference & Mormon Tabernacle Choir performances in importance to the fabric of the church!
Andres' Barreto, Ironwood Elder's Quorum President sent me an e-mail stating the Bishops are all just too busy to worry about the Proposed Basketball Schedules and that HE was giving approval on their behalf. Nice try. His ward doesn't even meet at the Stake Center and is not involved in the approval process......
In anticipation of approvals, however, and since you brethren will be given the opportunity to help Referee games and will need to be up to speed on rules, I've attached
a 17 question B-Ball Rules Quiz for you to test your Rules knowledge. No, I'm not including the answers- yet. You'd just peek at the answers on questions you're stumped on and say that's what you were planning on answering anyway and pretend you knew the answer! I'll let you ponder the question a few days & then send out the answers to keep you all honest.
You'll become much better acquainted with each other as you Referee. It's a fun and interesting activity. And very amusing how what you call is perceived by others. I went from Refereeing one of our Arizona State High School Basketball Championship Games in February at the Glendale Arena (presumably only the best referees in the State are assigned Championship games) to being pronounced the "Worst Referee I've seen in 25 years of coaching" by a High School Coach on Saturday's ASU Herb Sendek Basketball Camp. I'm sure whatever referee was last pronounced "the Worst Ref Ever" by that coach feels a great sense of relief that I've now taken that burden off his shoulders......and yes, the coach was ejected....
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