Re-Cap of Game v Barnwell & Whaley

Our next game is July 7th, @ Parkshore. Enjoy your week off.-Jet
Re-Cap of McNair v. Barnwell, Whaley
Game played at Park Shore Field (June 22, 2005)

Introduction:
For those of you who couldn’t come out last week, it was a tough game for our team to loose. The normal smells and bells the McNair Machine brings to the field were overwhelmed by the Daniel Island Dusters. I am not sure if it was the heat, the humidity or that every Barnwell dog has his day, but something was preventing us from looking like our usual selves. We were missing our rock, but Tom did come out to support the team and to take a few pictures. The Admiral Chris and his guns were MIA-yes; the shirts are intentionally cut as a show of force. Along with missing our gun-boat diplomacy, MAS-“the Italian Stallion” was getting his hair done after work and came late. However, he did send Katherine to join our regular GREEN “Army” of supporters. Unfortunately, we dropped this game, but we have plenty of time to fix some of our problems; our next game will be July 7th against Moore & Van Allen at the Park Shore Field. Scarafile will be sending out the updated batting averages as soon as he can.

Team Scores: Barnwell/ Whaley4 / 4/0 / 7/0 / 0/4 / Total: 19
McNair 0 / 4/2 / 1/3 / 0/3 / 13

Re-Cap:
FIRST: The Green Machine came out a little flat in the first inning allowing B/W to put 4 on the board. The Easton Synergy2 that Tom purchased was a little more bat than both Brett “Mr. Dependable” Bluestein and MC “Hammer” Scarafile were expecting. Both of our start off men flied out at the fence, albeit neither used much force to get it there. Jet started things off with an easy swinging single. Jay-Bird followed up with a line-drive to center field that was mishandled by B/W’s centerfielder. Now normally when this occurs, Jet gets the green light for home and everyone is going to the party with runs on the board. But this time, B/W’s first base-person (Kara Mattingly) dropped into cover home. Note: This is exactly what the first baseman is supposed to do once the runner is by them Cover Home! The crowd is yelling, “Go! Go! Go!” Mr. Dependable is yelling, “Home! Home! Home” and Kara silences us all and ends the inning by tagging out Jet at home. You know, the last name (Mattingly), the knee brace and the Harmon Killebrew signed glove should have been a sign that she was a player. Wait, let’s not over-hype the females of their team because we all know, and B/W soon found out-McNair has some ladies who can handle their own on the field as well.
SECOND:After B/W put four on the board, McNair fought back with a little help from our ladies. Big Daddy Warren had a great hit, but was caught by a lucky tag out at second. Corbett (2-Cans) Coats picked up where Joel left off and smacked one to get things going. John and Turner both punished the ball, John brought in Corbett and Turner’s triple sent Rosie home. We were all delighted to see that two of our steady producers (Rosen & Boone) were back on track. Funny, it reminded me of what Turner told me before the season, “Of course I can play ball, why do you think they named the field after me in Atlanta?” Although Maggie went 1 for 3, her hitting improved more than expected. Had their left-fielder not been dragging behind, she may have hit a triple because the ball had speed and distance. Maggie came early and worked out with our hitting coach Craig Blackmon. Shhh…the other teams don’t know about our hitting coach. Maggie’s one hit was in the 2nd -a double, she then road home on Brad ‘Hondo’ Hiers’ follow up double. Hondo was left on base due. THIRD: We blanked them in the top of the inning and MC Hammer still had too much juice on the new bat to get it in play. Jet started things off for us with a double and Jay-Bird delivered with another double-this time no Mattingly at home to ruin Jet’s day. Jay-Bird was brought home by Big Daddy Warren who took 2nd base as well. (First time in McNair history-three doubles in a row! FOURTH: The wheels came off the Machine both offensively and defensively, as we let them hold us to one run while B/W tacked on seven. CID was the only one to score-off a double by Hondo. Brad was left on base as the Hammer and Mr. Dependable still wrestled with the getting their swings down. The 5th and 6th innings we held B/W and managed to put three on the board. We were all worried after Jet struck out and was mocked by Brandy-burg that the end was near, but McNair turned up the heat and made it a 5 run game in the bottom of the 5th. The three runs came off of three doubles in a row (a second for our team): Jay-Bird, Joel and Corbett followed by a triple from John Rosen put us back in the game. Yes, I did say Corbett Coats hit a double. It was right up the middle, dog-legged left on the South side of 2nd base and dropped between three of their players. If you had seen the look on Corbett’s face I think you would say that even she couldn’t believe it. Never underestimate our girls! Currently, they are carrying the team! SEVENTH: Barnwell Whaley did kick the proverbial dust in our face and put four more runs on the board, making it a 9 run game. We didn’t give up without a fight-MC Hammer finally found his stride, getting a single, which was followed with a single from Jet. With two men on, a runner in scoring position Jay-Bird decided to go long ball. Jay-Bird will be receiving the Game Ball for his 7th inning home-run! –That is as soon as we find it.

Dug-Out:
I hated to loose this game as much, probably even more, than you did. The thing is, a few us had an off night and we still have a couple of kinks we need to work out. On the positive side, we did score the second most runs of any game this season. (The most we have scored was 15 in our win against Pierce Hearns.) Now considering that Brett, Michael and Turner all went 1 for 4, and Jet was the only strike out-how can anyone complain about what we accomplished? We did really well; I promise it will just get better in the last 5 games of our season and we still have a chance to make the playoffs. As you know, we have been tweaking things to see what works, so everyone be patient. I am sorry we didn’t get our subs in last week, and we’ll work on that next time as well.
If the weather lets up anytime this or next week between Tuesday and Thursday, I will gladly go out and work with anyone who needs to practice positioning, hitting or just staying loose since we have this week off. We do need to settle down just a bit, and get back to basics. We need to make sure our throws count by hitting the cut off man, backing up each other and helping each other out as a team. I have two experienced baseball/softball coaches (Craig & Joel) out there to keep an eye on what problems (both mechanically and technically) we’re having. They give me their opinions and we have been moving some people around but a few things may go unnoticed. Please do not be afraid to ask me or one of them for help if something doesn’t feel right or you are not comfortable in a certain position. I want everyone to have fun, be safe and if we want to make the Play-Offs at the beginning of August, Win some ball games! Our next game is July 7th, the first Thursday in July against Moore & Van Allen.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July.

-Jim Trabert
Go Mighty McNair!