Sunday was another four-game day. As with the previous day, I was in the second and fourth games.
In the first game, Rhode Island beat Maryland 15-0. The crew for this game was:
HP – Bill
1B – Dena
2B – Paul
3B – Colin
I had the plate for the 1:30 game between Delaware and Massachusetts.
HP – Me
1B – Steve
2B – Rich
3B – Bethany
No surprise – a 1:30 game in late July is a hot one. The scorekeeper, Chris and Doc are in sort of a “booth” area right at field level to the left of the plate. Chris fed me water regularly, and Doc checked in with me several times to make sure I was doing OK. (Which I was – I had started hydrating in the morning and, while soaked, was not suffering from the heat at all.)
I felt I had a solid game behind the plate. My timing felt good and I thought I was seeing the ball well. The Massachusetts fans appeared to disagree, but the Delaware pitcher was working the knees extremely effectively. Possibly it didn’t help that the Delaware catcher was alternating between setting up inside and setting up outside, so there were some “inside corner” strikes called for which she had to reach significantly to her left from an outside position.
Outside of a couple of close fair/foul calls, there was only one play of real note – the batter squared for a bunt with the third baseman well in, and popped the ball up very short. The third baseman came diving in and the catcher came diving out, coming together in a small tangle. Neither was quite able to catch the ball, and I had gotten myself in good position to rule “no catch” and “foul ball” (since it was touched on the foul side of the line.) Frank Policano said nice things about my positioning on that one in the post-game meeting.
The final score of that game was 7-2 Delaware. They simply hit for more power, and made the plays they needed to.
The 4:00 game was New York vs New Jersey. This was an elimination game, since both teams lost their games on Saturday.
HP – Paul
1B – Bethany
2B – Colin
3B – Dena
New Jersey lost in a squeaker 1-0, and, unfortunately, was the first team eliminated from the tournament.
The 7:00 game was Maine vs. Vermont – another elimination game.
HP – Rich
1B – Me
2B – Steve
3B – Bill
Again, I thought I had a reasonably solid game. There were a few minor issues, but nothing earthshaking. In the third inning there was a ball behind me that ended up close enough to the line that it deserved a fair-foul signal (it was clearly fair, just within 5-6 feet from the line). I’d been more concerned about not blocking Rich’s view of the potential catch (the right fielder was charging it) than about my own responsibilities. Oh well. In the fourth inning, Rich and I granted “time” to the offensive manager before his player, who had drawn a walk, reached first base. Another minor sin, but at least it was the offensive manager, so clearly there wasn’t a “run all the way to second” play on. Other than that, things were smooth – none of the calls I had to make at first base were terribly close.
Comments are closed.