Hit And Run Championship Game - Season 1

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011, 9:00 PM PST @ El Dorado Park in Long Beach

Fresh off two dominating semi-finals performances, Hit And Run (6-4) and OPC Ballers (8-1-1) both had reason to make some noise in the championship game.

Hit And Run dispatched Legends, 18-7, while OPC Ballers mercied the 4-seed Top Gunners. Hit And Run and OPC Ballers split their two regular season matches, with both teams each with a blowout victory.

This game had all the makeup of a great game.

And an epic game it was.

It was a deja vu score after one-inning: OPC Ballers 2, Hit And Run 1. Earlier in the 6 o'clock game, we were down 2-1 in the semi-final game after one inning. However, this time was different. We weren't gonna blow these guys out. That's where the deja vu ended.

Our offense struggled mightily to start off this game. Our first two hitters, JP and Rosamartha both made outs. Jay Gee then hit a solid double and May got him in with an RBI single.

In the second inning and third inning, we put up two fat zeroes and they managed to muster out a run in each inning, making it 4-1 them, after three.

We finally got a little rally going in the 4th inning. I don't remember who lead off or what happened exactly but we got a couple of timely hits and took advantage of their defensive miscues. We scored 4 times, taking an important lead into the last half of the game. Psychologically, this was huge.

In the bottom half of the inning, I gave up a 2-run bomb (El Dorado park has a high fence and he cleared it) to their pitcher, Vince, who was talking mad trash the whole game (more on this guy later). Vince's 2-run homer capped a 5-run rally and our 4-run inning in the top half was washed. Right after the two-run homer, one of the girls on their team singled to right field and it just felt like their bats were on fire. The game was heading towards blowout territory. Fortunately, the very next hitter hit a sharp liner to my left, I snagged it and immediately through a rainbow towards first base - thankfully Mareesa was covering the bag and the sucker girl couldn't get back in time. Double play. Inning over. Rally over. Momentum stifled.

In the 5th inning, both teams went scoreless so the score going into the 6th inning was:

Hit And Run 5,
OPC Ballers 9,
End of 5th.

The sixth inning is where things got crazy. It was getting real late in the game and we needed to do something big time. We got lucky. The pitcher on OPC Ballers, Vince, started to get wild. He started walking people. With a couple walks here and there, sprinkled with some timely base hits, we were able to put up a much needed 7-spot.

I was coaching 3rd for most of this inning and I kept telling our hitters to make sure it's good. Vince didn't like it and he started barking some stuff back at me. I ignored him. He threw at least 9 balls in a row out of the strike zone ha.

Hit And Run 12,
OPC Ballers 9,
Mid of 6th.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, OPC Ballers were able to get their first two hitters on base immediately. Two outs later, they tied the game with an RBI single. So now we're sitting on a runner on first, tied ball game, 12-12, in the bottom of the 6th inning, and their pitcher, Big Vince, who had just homered earlier in the game, coming up.

I immediately looked at the on deck circle to see which girl was coming up after Big Vince. It was their left-fielder -- a legit softball player named Jamie (who by the way, had already made a handful of spectacular catches in left field). She was also 3 for 3 on the night. Whatever, I was walking this guy. I didn't throw anything near home plate and intentionally gave him the 2-base walk on 3 pitches. He then said Jamie's been hitting the ball better than me all night. I told his ass I'll take my chances. That placed runners on 2nd and 3rd with Jamie coming up (I walked big boy on 3 straight balls so he got 2 bases).

My first pitch to Jamie was a high arc one and it fell in deep. Strike. The count goes to 1-2 and I know she has to swing at anything close. The second pitch was away and way off the plate but she surprisingly took a hack at it and rolled a weak grounder to our third baseman, Randy, who fielded it cleanly. Randy looks up and instead of throwing the ball to first (which all night had a below 50% completion rate), sees Big Vince storming down the line towards third for no apparent reason. So Randy eats the ball and starts chasing Vince back to 2nd base. I went to cover 2nd but Randy was able to tag the stumbling Vince before he got back to 2nd. Three outs. Inning over. Tie game (fortunately the runner on 3rd didn't cross home before the tag out).

Hit And Run 12,
OPC Ballers 12,
End of 6th.

In the top of the 7th and final inning, Big Vince didn't come out to pitch. Apparently, he got hurt on the play trying to dive back to 2nd base. His replacement was some Mexican guy who was throwing BP pitches. Randy was first up and he lined a laser into deep left center. Unfortunately, that's where Jamie was playing and she made an insane catch on the dead run. One out.

Mareesa was next up and she hit a sharp one right back at the pitcher, he fielded it cleanly and throws it to first. Two outs.

Next man up was our manager, Daro. With our team in need of a baserunner, the man comes through with a clutch triple.

After Daro was Vicky and fortunately for us, she was able to walk on 3 pitches.

So with runners on the corner and two outs in a tie game, up came JP. JP takes the first pitch for a ball and then takes the 2nd pitch for a strike. So with the count 2-2, I was coaching at first and I told JP that he has to swing (the batting order is guy, girl, guy, girl, etc.). He does and he comes through with a big time base hit that drives in the go-ahead run. Vicky ended up getting thrown at home killing our rally but we miraculously were able to scratch for one.

Before the team took the field, I told them that's all we needed. I'm not sure how many of them believed me at the time but I was serious - I'm never short of confidence ha.

Hit And Run 13,
OPC Ballers 12,
Mid of the 7th.

As I took the field and picked up the ball, I saw that the weak part of their lineup was coming up. I told Rosamartha at 2nd to check that out and gave a little smile. That one run speech was looking a lot better at that point ha.

So their first batter comes up and it's this nice, short, stocky white guy that I've talked to before after one of our regular season games. Nice guy. Too bad the nice guy part immediately registered in my head and I know he's not swinging at the first pitch. I don't know how I knew but I just knew. So I pitch one right down the middle and he stares it by. Strike. Bingo. On the 2nd pitch, I'm pinpointing away and high because that seemed to be the weak point all night on these guys. Pitch number two is an easy fly ball to center and it lands nicely into the glove of my guy Jay Gee. One big out.

At this point I am dancing in my head because I knew that all I needed to do was get the next two girls out and we'll be dancing for reals.

Batter number two was probably the wife of batter number one. Same built. She was a decent hitter at best but I wasn't gonna give her anything to hit. She too takes the first pitch for a strike. The 2nd pitch was again up and away and she hits a weak comebacker at me. I make the routine play. Two outs.

Batter number 3 was the Mexican pitcher that replaced Big Vince -- a very solid hitter. As he stepped into the batter's box, I stared him down and I can tell he was scared. A lot of pressure was riding on him. I stepped off the mound and I told JP our shortstop that if he hits it to right field, you need to get out there, he gets a triple max. Anyhow, on the first pitch, he lines a nice solid hit to Rosamartha at 2nd and she makes a solid stop but couldn't complete the play at first. Safe. Tying run is on.

Next up was batter number 4, a thin, white-blond lady who bats left. She's not a great hitter but she's a contact hitter and she's been grounding it to the right side every single time. I call for a change. I told JP, our shortstop, to switch with Rosamartha, our second basewoman. On the very first pitch, she swings and rolls a sharp grounder right in the hole. But that's where JP was playing her and he boots the ball, and it pops up in the air over his head. It comes back down right to him and he makes a perfect throw over to Mareesa. Out by half a step. Ball game.

Hit And Run 13,
OPC Ballers 12,
Final.

Other game notes: there was also this memorable defensive play that was huge for us. It was in one of the middle innings and I can't remember which one but this guy hit a deep one to right field. May chased it down and played it cleanly on a hop off the fence and had the awareness to hand it to Jay Gee. Then Jay Gee zipped a bullet to JP, then JP relayed another bullet to me at home and I barely tagged the guy trying to score. Out. That was a huge momentum swinger.

Everyone on my team went nuts so I did too. I didn't even see what the guys on the other team were doing. This wasn't my first championship so I was trying to tell my guys to celebrate after the handshake but it was too late. They were already jumping up and down, chest-bumping, and throwing gloves in the air.

We did manage to get the handshake in and there were more celebration after that.

It's crazy that this team was 2-8 last season. I honestly thought that this was the worst group of players I've ever played with when I came on board late last season and they worked hard to improve their game drastically. Props to them.

Hit And Run Semi-Final Game - Season 1

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011, 6:30 PM PST @ El Dorado Park

Before the first match of the night between Hit And Run (6-4-0) and Legends (8-1-1), many experts predicted a one-sided affair in favor of the Legends squad -- considering just last week, this crazy final score: Legends 15, Hit And Run 0.

That was a regular season game though and I didn't play; this was a playoff game and I did play.

Sporting their championship T-shirts from last season, Legends' swag, and rightfully so, was filled with confidence and cockiness. This worked to our advantage because their focus was lacking (numerous errors and bad plate discipline). You definitely need to respect your opponents in order to win playoff games -- they didn't so we took it them.

John-Paul lead off the game with a lead-off double to right field and then purposely getting caught up in a pickle between 2nd and 3rd. At the end of the pickle, the 3rd baseman threw the ball into right field as JP was sliding back into 2nd. He scored on the two base error. Badda Bing Badda Boom, 1-0, we just scored more runs than last week and the seats aren't even warmed.

This ended up being a pretty boring game so I'm just gonna fast forward through the scoring. The score was 2-1 Legends after the 1st inning. That was the only lead they had. We went up 7-2 with a 6-run 2nd inning. Then it was 11-2 after the 4th inning. Then 18-2 after the top of the 6th inning. The 6th inning was the last inning as we were running out of time. They scored a meaningless 5 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning, making the final score a respectable, 18-7.

There was a memorable collision in left field in the bottom of the 6th inning. With one out and we still up by a dozen, this lady hit a fly ball into short left field. Our shortstop, JP, gave chase, while our left-fielder and manager, Daro, came charging in. JP makes a hell of a full-layout catch but then takes the brunt of a head-on crash with Daro. There was a nice snapping sound. He was down and out on the ground for a good minute, claiming his arm, back, and balls hurt. Needless to say, JP held on to the ball.

Aside from this, everyone made routine plays that were expected and we came out with a solid win. It ended up being a pretty easy route into the championship round.

Hitter of the Game: Jay Gee, 4 for 4, 2 homers.

Hitmen Game 10 - Season 5

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011, 7:45 PM PST @ Joe Rodgers Field

The Isotopes forfeited a couple hours before game time which was solid considering the Heat vs Mavs was pretty good.

The dreadful season ends with a forfeit win.

Here are the final standings:

Hit And Run Game 10 - Season 1

June 1st, 2011, 9:00 PM PST @ El Dorado Park in Long Beach

I ditched this game last minute and we got rocked 15-0.

I don't think I've ever seen a score like this ever.

Here's the proof:

Hit And Run Game 9 - Season 1

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011, 6:30 PM PST @ Cherry Park in Long Beach

Hit And Run (6-3) extended their winning streak to an all-time best 5 games with a forfeit win over Ctrl Alt Delete.

Hitmen Game 9 - Season 5

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011, 9:00 PM PST @ Joe Rodgers Field

Hitmen dropped their sixth straight in embarrassing fashion. We got smoked 23-3 by the Burners.

The dynasty is crashing.

Hit And Run Game 8 - Season 1

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011, 9:00 PM PST @ Cherry Park in Long Beach

Our Hit And Run team completely obliterated the previously undefeated OPC Ballers (6-1-1). The final score was a mercy, 20-5, in 5 innings.

I went 6 for 6 in this one with a couple homers and completely baffled their offense with some mean curve balls - just kidding. I did eat up every single comebacker and wiped any chance of them gaining any momentum.

This gave us our 4th straight win and all of a sudden we are a juggernaut. I was the only change in the off season so I'm taking all the credit for this ha.

Check out the standings and note how OPC Ballers has just been killing teams all season:

Hitmen Game 8 - Season 5

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011, 7:45 PM PST @ Joe Rodgers Field in Long Beach

We lost our 5th straight game, 26-6, dropping our record to an abysmal 2-6. The shot for a three peat is over.

Boxscore:



Standings:

Hitmen Game 7 - Season 5

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011, 6:30 PM PST @ Cherry Park in Long Beach

Hit And Run Game 7 - Season 1

Wednesday, April 4th, 2011, 6:30 PM PST @ Cherry Park in Long Beach

Hit And Run improved their record to 4-3. I was in Pasadena for a championship game.

Hit And Run Game 6 - Season 1

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011, 7:45 PM PST @ Cherry Park in Long Beach

I did play in this one and it was an easy game.

Ball Busters Championship Game - Season 1

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011, 7:00 PM PST @ Brookside Park in Pasadena

I gave up 5 runs in this championship game and we took down the gold, beating GB's Crushers, 13-5.

This league is pretty far so it's one and done for me with the Ball Busters.

Hitmen Game 6 - Season 5

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011, 9:00 PM PST @ Joe Rodgers Field in Long Beach

HGH Positive 15,
Hitmen 9.

Ball Busters Game 9 - Season 1

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011, 7:35 PM PST @ Jefferson Park in Pasadena

(7-2) Ball Busters 21,
(7-2) GB's Crushers 9.

My 3rd game of the season for Ball Busters was a success. We took over first place and we'll be playing these guys again this week and next week in the championship game. I'm 3-0 and I lead the league in ERA.

Here's the breakdown on their runs scored in each inning: 4, 0, 0, 0, 3, 2, 0.

I also went 5 for 5 in this one with a homer, 2 2B's and a walk. Easy.

Here are the scores and standings:

Hit And Run Game 5 - Season 1

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011, 7:45 PM PST @ Cherry Park

Hit And Run 16,
The Hangover 10.

I didn't play for the coed but they pulled out a victory.

Here are the standings:

Hitmen Game 5 - Season 5

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011, 7:45 PM PST @ Joe Rodgers Field in Long Beach

Hitmen 4,
Head Hunters 20.

Hitmen (2-3) played with a couple 4th string players and only 9 showed up. The end result was a 30 minute massacre that was a waste of time for everyone involved.

One of the 4th string player had to pitch. He did in the first inning and gave up 13. I relieved him after that but it was over.

We're now on the outside looking at a playoff spot. 3-peat in jeopardy.

Boxscore:



Here are the standings:

Hit And Run Game 4 - Season 1

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011, 6:30 PM PST @ Cherry Park in Long Beach

Hit And Run (1-3) dropped their 3rd straight game to Legends (3-0-1) by 5 runs.

I had 3 homers in this game but it was all solo shots.

We played a good game but had a couple base-running mistakes and defensive mistakes that cost us the game.

Ball Busters won again.

Hit And Run Game 3 - Season 1

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011, 6:30 PM PST @ Cherry Park in Long Beach

OPC Ballers (2-0-1) 21,
Hit And Run (1-2) 12.

I walked one guy in this one but was out of position on a couple plays. Our defense was weak and I popped out twice. Yuck.

Ball Busters won their game.

Hitmen Game 4 - Season 5

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011, 9:00 PM PST @ Joe Rodgers Field in Long Beach

We started this game with 8 players and we didn't show up. Lost 20-5.

Notes: 3 base-running mistakes and hit into double plays. Nightmare game.

Hitmen (2-2) 5,
Eastsidaz (3-1) 20.

Boxscore:

LBC Ran By Run LBC

Sunday, April 3rd, 2011, 2:50 PM PST @ Banning High School in Wilmington

We lost by like 16 or something even though it was a 4 point game in the 4th quarter with like 5 minutes left. I started the 4th and we were down 10.

That's when my brother pulled me and he had sucked all game and he continued to suck. I logged about 10 total minutes in this one and our rotation was terrible. All the starters played most of the game and they sucked. No defense and no rebounding. We have the best players in the league and should be taking titles down every season but we don't.

Maybe if I was manager, it would be a different story.

The Players:
TJ
Steve
James
Tuan
Willy
Brady
Louis
Manny
Viet

Hit And Run Loses & Ball Busters Win

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011, 7:45 PM PST @ Pan American Park in Long Beach

I didn't play for the co-ed squad and they lost by 5. Down 16 in the 6th and made a late run. Hit And Run loses to Top Gun.

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011, 7:55 PM PST @ Jefferson Park in Pasadena

We won. Ball Busters 22, OTMFC 9.

Standings/Scores:

Hit And Run - Game 2 - Season 1

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011, 9:00 PM PST @ Cherry Park in Long Beach

Last week's game was rained out so tonight's game is the 2nd game of the season.

I won't be able to make it tonight because I'm driving all the way to Pasadena to play in this other softball league that my dumb ass paid for to only play in a couple games.

Here are the standings and scores for this Pasadena league (our team name is Ball Busters):

Hitmen Wins Going Into Bye

Tuesday, March 30th, 2011, 6:30 PM PST @ Joe Rodgers Field in Long Beach

Hitmen (2-1) takes down the first place Burners (2-1) in the final at-bat to win it 12-11.

It's a huge win for us in the standings. We're running a 7-deep league as far as teams go this season so we need as many wins early on as we can to get that playoff spot. Especially since we like to go on losing streaks during the middle part of the season haha.

Boxscore:



Standings:

LBC Basketball To Play For First Title

Saturday, March 26th, 2011, 11:50 AM PST @ Banning High School in Wilmington

Our LBC's (10-2) semi-final game came down to the last minute as we fended off a couple game winner attempts to win 56-55.

This game wasn't as close as the final score suggested as we dominated the first 3 quarters with only a 6-man team. Kev, where you at? Big James was asking about you. Anyway, we were up by as much as 20 points in the 3rd quarter and held a 15 point lead after 3.

Our thin bench caught up to us in the 4th quarter as they chipped away at our big lead. We were completely winded and used all of our timeouts in the last 5 minutes. Either way, a 20 point win or a 1 point win, a win is a win.

We talked hella trash in this game at the outset and took it to the them. Bombers (10-2) beat us in the regular season by 8 or so points.

Championship game is this Sunday. We will be playing another (9-1) regular season team, Run LBC.

The players:
1. Tuan
2. Viet
3. James
4. Willy
5. TJ
6. Louis

Hitmen Bats Go Cold

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011, 7:45 PM PST @ Joe Rodgers Field in Long Beach

Hitmen (1-1) got whooped by Head Hunters (1-1), 20-6.

Boxscore:



Updated Standings:

Hit And Run - Season 1

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011, 7:45 PM PST @ Cherry Park in Long Beach

My first full season with these guys opened with a easy win over the Hangovers.

Considering this team only won 2 games all of last season, I'd say we're off to a good start.

Hitmen Returns - Season 5

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011, 9:00 PM PST @ Joe Rodgers Field in Long Beach

Hitmen (1-0), fresh off their 3rd championship in 4 seasons, used a 28-run 5th inning to put away the Isotopes (0-1).

Hitters 1, 3, 4, 9, and 10 are all brothers. The numbers in parentheses in the homerun column were homers that counted as a single because Joe Rodgers is a fenced field and the one-up rule is in play.

Here's the boxscore:



Here's the standings:

Hit And Run Playoffs

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011, 7:45 PM PST @ Joe Rodgers Field in Long Beach

Our semi-final game didn't go too well. We actually scored enough runs to win but my pitching was no where to be found.

I walked about 5 hitters in this game and 4 of them were girls. I'm pretty sure all of them ended up scoring and we lost the game 17-12.

It sucks because I was expecting to win it all. I told myself that if my team can score at least 10 runs, there's no way we're losing this game. Even though Booze Hounds (10-0) were undefeated, they're not even a good co-ed team. Their girls are terrible and their dudes are decent at best.

The worst thing about losing this game is that the Booze Hounds now have to move up one division, meaning I won't be able to talk to the girls on their team. What a disappointment.

And for the record, they also won the championship game 17-2 in 5 innings.

LBC Advances to Final Four

Saturday, March 19th, 2011, 2:50 PM PST @ Banning High School in Wilmington

Our LBC (8-2) basketball team beat Star Trak (3-7) this weekend to get to the final four. We won by 10 points.

Next up: Semi-Final this weekend versus Bombers (9-1).

LBC Beats Palm Springs, Then Lose Big to Run LBC

Sunday, February 27th, 2011, 11:50 AM PST @ Banning High School in Wilmington

We won by double digits.

Sunday, February 27th, 2011, 1:50 PM PST @ Banning High School in Wilmington

We lost by double digits.

Dementors Dropped

I talked to Manny and apparently he dropped us from that league in LA because it's garbage.

Pick Up Softball

The team name is Hit And Run. It is a co-ed team. One of my high school friend asked me to come pitch for his team because his pitcher went down with some form of cancer.

I lost the first two games for them as their starting pitcher.

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011, 7:45PM PST @ Cherry Park in Long Beach

Fresh off my killer pitching last night in the two posteason games, I came through with a needed win for these guys and catapult us into the playoffs. We won easily, 15-3.

We will be the four seed next Wednesday and will be facing the 10-0 team in the semi-finals. Familiar story? I hope so but our chicks really do suck in comparison to the first place team. They're also pretty weak looking and I have no interest in hollering at any of them.

I did put in work on this one Mexican chick from another team though. I'm starting to like this co-ed stuff. I do have one rant though. This fat ass chick (pictured below, dead center) on our team has a hunch that I'm digging that Mexican chick and she's definitely cock-blocking like a dumb ass.

I also scoped out this one white chick on the 10-0 team tonight. She's solid. I'm still trying to find a way to talk to her. She plays in the fucking outfield though which sucks big time. If she was playing first base, I'm definitely not taking the extra bag next week. Fuck. Her booty is vicious and her body and face are nice.

Peace.

Dementors

I'm also in one other basketball league that plays in the heart of LA but I'm not sure what's going on in that league. Our manager does a terrible job of keeping us up-to-date.

My boy, Kev, has no idea either. We did play a game or two together and we won each time but I haven't played since.

???

LBC Basketball Perfect

I'm still playing in the South Bay League on LBC's squad.

We are undefeated so far:

Hitmen Upsets Stooges, Then Smashes Brew Crew

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011, 7:45 PM PST & 9:00 PM PST @ Pan American Park in Long Beach

I'm starting to believe that I'm the greatest pitcher in softball history. Not that it's something cool to brag about or anything, but damn I just can't be beat.

Last night, our Hitmen (3-8) softball team took down the number one seed, Stooges (9-1), in the semi-finals, 18-16. I'm not sure how I held them to only 16 runs, considering our glove was terrible and one-through-ten can kill the ball. Stooges were 9-1 in the regular season but I considered them undefeated because their one loss was to this minor league baseball team, that was removed after a couple games because they were destroying people. Stooges mercied us three times in the regular season, 34-5, 25-7, and 26-11 lol



Some highlights in this one included a outfield assist by Big K in right center gunning a runner trying to go from first to third on a single. That play definitely stopped whatever momentum they had.

Here is the boxscore from this one:



After pulling the super upset, I knew we were gonna win the second game easily. I just didn't know it was gonna be super easy.

I'll just let the boxscore do the talking on this one (there are no typos):



This game was called by the other team in the top of 7th. There was still only one out, 16 runs in, runners on 1st and 2nd and my brother, Minh, due-up.

Champions for the third time in four seasons. I run my postseason record to 6-0.

Leagues Re-Count

I pretty much dropped all my leagues except for three:

Tuesday nights:
Hitmen Softball (finished the season 3-8, just won the championship as the 4-seed)

Weekends:
LBC Basketball (6-0)
Dementors Basketball (not sure what our record is)

I am gonna get a follow-up post with some major details in short-time. I really need to start blogging again because I'm in a little bit of a ruck.