The 3-14 Sandy's By The Beech softball team went into their final game of the season short-handed with only nine players taking the field. I was not pitching, rather, I was on the opposite end of the mound, at catcher. (Which was weird, but I didn't hate it.) Our opponents were the third place 4 Friends Bar & Grill (10-6). They started out quick by crushing a home run out over left field. They never really let up, going up 10 - 6 into the seventh inning, tacking on four more before we could make the third out.
Now let me set this up for those who weren't there. Bottom of the seventh, we were still down by 4 runs with two outs. And then it happened. Somehow by the grace of God, our bats finally (and I mean FINALLY) turned on. We kept chopping away, single after single, flustering the opposing team to no end. We got some quick hits and drove in the tying run. Troup stepped up to bat, with Lickolas at third as the winning run. Troup took a couple smart balls , until he found the right one, and popped and easy dropper just past the left side of second base. Nick ran in to home plate as if we just won the World Series. And it was, for us.
Before the game, Coach Scott gave us a little pep talk (shocker), telling us to forget about anything else and just play for each other. I guess that's all it took. It was by far, the best game we had ever played as a team, and for many of us (including myself), the best game individually. We had finally came together as a team. Everyone was on the same page, and we just never gave up.
Final score: 15 - 14. Cause that's how we roll.
