Week 5 Game Summary
The Dodgeball Dropouts were tense as they prepared to face off against Team Libbie Majores. Rumor had it that the Majores had posted close to 20 runs in their last game, so it was clear they could boot the ball. But a stern pep talk from Dropouts captain Bob Bastek steadied their nerves, and they took the field full of confidence. “Keep it on the ground,” Bastek emphasized. “Just keep that ball on the ground.”
Their confidence was slightly shaken in the first inning when the Majores dropped two quick runs on them and Bastek, failing to heed his own advice, kicked an easily-caught pop-up. But the Dropouts had been in that situation before, and they knew what to do: tighten their D and keep the ball on the ground. Bastek showed them the way with a diving catch in right field, pitcher Brett Law caught a couple hot line drives, Bert Stanley – with his trademark stogie in hand – made some clutch plays at first, and Tom Reilly made up for a fielding error by running down a hapless home-bound runner and tattooing him with the ball.
The offense was led by Susan Broniak – owner of an on-base percentage close to 100 percent – who picked up a couple RBIs enroute to first base. “I just tell Susan what needs to be done, and she goes up to the plate and does it,” said Bastek. “She doesn’t try to be flashy, she just tries to get the ball in play and get on base.” The double-X chromosome crowd continued its solid play at the plate when Debbie Crane found the hole between first and second and drove in the Dropouts’ crucial third run. Flashes of base running brilliance were also shown by Keith Skiles and Mark Wikingstad.
When all was said and done, the Dropouts came away with a hard-fought 3-2 victory to move 5-0 on the season and maintain their stranglehold on first place in the division.