HITTING FOR THE CYCLOTOMIC FIELD

Yeah, I just made an engineering reference. Anyway, you had to root for these guys. Their name alone made them underdogs in every game they played. The Enginerds. That's pretty funny. And to my knowledge, they may be the only team in recent intramural history to bring their professors out to watch the game. But they were good. They had their own shirts made up. OK, "made" might be a little strong of a word, but they at least sharpe-ed their nicknames onto the back to make them unique. Mr. Wiggles is the one that comes immediately to mind. And their team philosophy was transcended only by their on-field play. They squeezed out a close 6-4 victory over the #1 seeded Shepard Tooth Tigers (another great name) in a semifinal game in which entierh team's bats seemed to ever come alive. They met an Asian Athletics team who was coming into the series off of a 15-9 victory over the #3 seeded Pi Kapp. And this best of three series wasn't looking good at first. There was of course the illegal bat discussion before the game started. I've never seen a softball season with so much controversy over a bat. Lambda Chi tried to file a protest over the illegal bat earlier, thus leading to a clarification of the rule. If you have a bat that says "Official Softball Bat" on it, you may use it. But the other team also gets to use it too. OK. So we put the Mikengate issue to rest and it was time to play. Well, the Enginerds didn't get the greatest of jumps out of the gate, losing the first game easily 11-3. And it didn't look like we were going to have to play a third game after the first game was over. But then they started to get the hint and used the Miken. They went up by a score of 8-5 after the 3rd inning. And then the Asian team fought back, putting them up 11-8. The 'Nerds answered by driving in 5 more of their own runs in a rather clutch stretch in the bottom of the 4th, putting them up 13-11. Both teams played some clutch defense in the fifth, not letting in a single run. And the sixth inning rolled around, and the Asian guys went on a little roll, scoring one with a runner on second. But it wasn't enough, as the Nerds put them away 13-12. Both teams were a bit tired, understandably so. They'd been playing for 2.5 hours in 87 degree weather and had to play yet another game. I expected both teams to be a little out of steam. But whatever the Enginerds did in that 10 minutes I gave them between games, they should sell to the Orioles for good money. Asian Athletics were up first and Ben took the first pitch and knocked a shot into right center which I believe went through the goalposts out there, giving them a one-run lead on the very first pitch. Their next three batters went 1-2-3, (or 2-3-4 I guess). So the Nerds came up to bat and went to work. They used the Miken off and on and got hit after hit after hit. Their first 9 batters reached base safely and they may have gone without an out the entire inning if it weren't for a base running error. They batted around and they may still be up now if it weren't for a 10-run per inning rule. The rule actually states that a team who was losing going into their at bat may score up to 10 runs more than the other team's score in one inning. The exception is that once the 10th run crosses the plate, that will be the last at bat, so a team could theoretically score another three runs if the bases were loaded with the tenth run standing on third. So the tenth run was standing on third with the bases loaded when Greg knocked another shot to right center, giving him the only grand slam on the day. So the Asian guys went into the top of the second inning down 14-1. Ouch. They couldn't recover. They even tried to tel me that they weren't going to use the bat anymore, but since it was already in play, I would have allowed the Nerds to use it anyway. The final of game 3 was 18-6, but it was their monster first inning that was the obvious difference. It sucked the life out of the Asian team. And though a bobble here and there out in the outfield may have saved a base or two, they were all legit hits and there's nothing the Asian guys could have done about that. And you have to kinda feel for the Asian guys. They have been so close against the club baseball team in years past and it looked to be their year after game 1. But as Hoon put it, the better team won that day. Great job, Enginerds. You made it a fun season. And good luck next year Hoon. You'll get those shirts one of these times.

Enginerds, Spring 2004 Intramural Mens Softball Champions

THEY WERE RIGHT FOR ONCE

Well, they were wrong in arena football. They were also wrong in basketball. And they were way off in football last semester. But apparently, they were finally correct. They are finally The Best at something. I have to start this by saying that we had such high hopes for this season. We had 15 coed softball games scheduled and every season has its share of forfeits, but we had hoped that we'd play most of the games with a few exceptions when it was kinda gloomy out and nobody expected to show up. But we actually were only able to play 3 of the scheduled games this season. For one reason or another, it was like forfeit city. The Harbor Hotties actually made it to the playoffs without even having played a game. That having been said, the playoffs were a lot of fun once we got there. The Best jumped out to an 11-2 lead over the Bad News Bears after two innings. But the Bears weren't done there. They got 5 in the 3rd to cut the lead to 4, and then let in two in the 4th to make the lead 6. The Bears found another 2 runs in the 5th and came up two runs short after it was all over, losing 13-11. In the other semi-final, the confident Isotopes thought they were going to beat up on the undermanned Harbor Hotties. After all, the Hotties were only playing with 8 in the field, there had to be plenty of holes. But the Isotopes never really found them, letting the Hotties got out to a 9-5 lead after 4.5 inning of play. But a late rally in the bottom of the 6th inning tied it up for the Isotopes and, unable to score another run, the ball game went to extra innings. At this point, Candice had left, leaving not only a hole in the batting order, but the Hotties had to play with only 7 in the field. And the Hotties managed to knock in a run in the extra frame, only to have their fire put out by a two-run rally by the Isotopes in the bottom of the 7th. And so the Isotopes went to the finals. And once again, they seemed to think they were going to rip through their opponent. Especially when only 2 girls showed up, meaning that The Best would have to play the entire game with only 8 in the field. But somehow, the Best managed to find the holes a lot more easily than the Isotopes. They won the first game 13-5, fueled mostly by a 9-run 2nd inning. The second game looked like it was not going to be the last game of the series, if you get my drift. The Isotopes were up 8-0 after two innings and though The Best chipped away at the lead, they were still down 8-5 going into the last inning. But the bats weren't asleep just yet. After the meat of their lineup scored a couple runs to keep them in it, Jo was supposed to be up. But about five minutes prior to this at bat, Kristen showed up. And so Nick, intramural softball manager of the year, put in Kristen to hit for Jo instead of putting her at the end of the lineup, which would have given them another two fielders. With two outs and the infield in, Kristen knocked a ball just over the infield, scoring Justin, from third to tie up the game. And a few more hits later and she was home, giving The Best a one-run lead. The rally would end there, but the damage was done. After two pop-ups, the third batter lined to left center what looked to be at least a double. But Greg (also in the CBA championship picture) stabbed his glove just high enough from his shortstop/third baseman position to nab it out of the air, concluding the most exciting softball game of the year. Good job ladies and gentlemen (and Justin). Now aren't you glad we talked you into playing softball, Nick?

The Best, Spring 2004 Intramural Coed Softball Champions

• Mens Schedule
• Coed Schedule

• Mens Softball
• Coed Softball

April 26, 2004 -
"Like the rain I have fallen for you and I know just why you liked the rain always calling for you I'm falling for you now just like the rain." - "Like the Rain" by Clint Black

"Like the rain you come pouring down and postpone all our games just like the rain now I'm wanderin' round, and I remember why I never much liked the rain." - "Don't Like the Rain" - Dustin, Rec Sports

Once again, we have to postpone softball because of the darn rain. And for the first time, we have to postpone our volleyball games for the rain. I was doing fine until Geoff came back. Anyway, both fields should be ready for play by tomorrow and the make-up schedules will be up by the end of the day.

April 19, 2004 - I know it might not look like it if you pass the field during scheduled game times, but the softball season has started. We've played 3 games already. There have been 16 games scheduled mind you, but we've only managed to get 3 of those gmaes in. OK, last Monday and Wednesday, 8 games were rained out. But Friday was beautiful and today, all be it a little hot, was another bright and sunny day. Ideal for sports like, oh... say, maybe softball. So why isn't anyone showing up? Are you all staying inside to avoid the harmful gamma rays of the sun? Are you that addicted to Halo? Or are you all just afraid of the cicadas? They're not out yet. Probably won't come out in this area until mid-May. If you need to know where the field is, please call me or write me. Hopefully I'll see some of you at the field on Wednesday.

Rain, Rain Go Away!!!! = No Softball on Wednesday
April 13, 2004 - On the bright side, only 37 more days until we need to build the ark!!  All softball games scheduled for Wednesday, April 14 will be postponed.  The field is completely under water.  We hope to swim down and retrieve the bases so we can play on Friday.

• Mens Schedule
• Coed Schedule
• Master Schedule