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[Sunday's Highlights]

Like the 2004 Red Sox, the Longshot softball team thrives under the immense pressure of late inning at-bats! I always feel confident that our team will win every close game because… we almost always do! And that’s exactly what happened this past week, especially in Game 2. After a fantastic defensive effort in a hard fought 6-3 victory in Game 1, we struggled with the gloves for most of the second game. But, when push came to shove, we once again brought our best offensive & defensive effort in the late innings of a 1-run game. Captain Clutch Matt Smith displayed his natural cool during the entire 7th inning in game 2. He made an unbelievable unassisted double play at 1st base & followed that spectacular play with a lead off single in the bottom half of the 7th! Who cares if he consistently flies out & miss every ball thrown or hit his way for 13 innings? When it really mattered in the last inning of a 1-run game, Smitty came up huge (and as he would & has told all of us many times… he came up huge AGAIN!)

And, once again, the Longshot softball team won another thriller on a walk-off hit. This feat has already been accomplished by Glea, Cass, John G. & myself (of course, it is worth noting, that only ONE of those amazing aforementioned walk-offs was hit sooooo HIGH & sooooo FAR that the guy who hit it only had to trot around the bases because the ball landed over the monster fence & across the street!!!) But, anyway, my point is that our team if filled with guys who can come up in the most clutch of situations & deliver! And this time, it was the Marijuana Magician himself, John “Johnny Mac” MacCullough (I have no idea what his real last name is, but this will work for the purposes of this post!) With men on 1st & 2nd down by a run, Johnny Mac hit a rocket to left that would have probably tied the game (I would have said definitely, but it was base-running misfit & mental midget Keith Patterson on 2nd base, so he may have been thrown out or caught in some dumb-ass rundown like he’s done in the past on many occasions!) However, the LF terribly misplayed the ball & let it get by him, allowing JCass to gloriously slide (more like collapse) on home plate for the game-winning run!! (Also, congrats to JCass, who was basically on base all day long. I think it’s safe to say that he’s got his hitting groove back.)

Also, congrats to Mike Braun & Quinny. Braunny struggled with his swing in game 1, but didn’t let that hold him back in game 2. His three beautiful line-drive hits in the second game were very critical in our 1-run victory. He also became the first player in Bensalem softball history to pinch run twice in the same inning. Great game lil’ Mikey! And Quinny had some really strong, intelligent, great at bats yesterday. He is really starting to develop into a solid softball hitter! Good job T.Q.!

And finally, great job to everyone for starting out the new fall Sunday season 2-0! I felt everyone hit pretty good this week. But, we still need to clump our hits together a little better in order to have a consistent 2-3 big innings every game. We scored a total of 16 runs this past week, and I feel we are more than capable of scoring 16 runs per game instead of a total output for 2 games. We have to do a better job hitting with guys on base. But, overall, not a bad hitting effort for our first game of the season!

[KEITH]

once again Im 2-0 with little run support..I consistently keep MY teams in games with pinpoint control and defensive wizzardry...Im always there to cover 1st should my 1st baseman ever decide to field a ball...There I am backing up 3rd/covering dead area around the plate ..My baseball IQ always has me in the right place at the right time..Much is said about my fatter than Jon Leiber physique,my Charlie Manuel like intelligence,slower than Pat Burrell speed and my uncanny ability to hit grounders back to the mound in clutch situations but the fact is Im a winner !!!!It must be a joy to know that wether we hit or not, field or not,and wether we have 9,10,14 guys show up just knowing I'll always be there,,,pitching lights out softball were always gonna be competitive... Your welcome guys,KP

[Arby's]

Hey Keith, thanks for stopping by Sunday after the game!

[KEITH]

nothing says well pitched games like a DOUBLE R BAR,large fries and a Diet Coke after all Im watching my weight...Gotta go do my cardio ,4 big games in 48 hrs..for the team ace...