Monday night, April 5th, marked Opening Day in our Monday Night Co-Rec county softball league.

The Company matched up against the 2009 Season Champions, Hit & Run, in week 1.  We pitched well, made some athletic plays in the field, but couldn’t get our bats going going.  Hit & Run swept both games by scoring runs when they had to and playing smart defense.

Good Luck to all the teams in our League this year – we will see you on the field soon!  Keep an eye on the League Standings page, which will be update weekly now that the season has begun.

Hey Company, your stats will be posted in the next day or so.  Notification will be posted on Facebook and Twitter once they are ready to view.  Looking forward to next week!

Last night The Company split a two game series with Softball Team, who entered the night 8-0.

Game 1 was a duel, the home team had a clear advantage and the last at bat.  With a tie game in the bottom of last and bases loaded, Justin O’neale came through with a single into left field.  Ashley Davis scored the winning run as Softball Team suffered their first loss of the season.  (W, 8-7)

During game 2, we found ourselves in an early hole.  After the first inning, The Company was down 8-1.  As the game went on our bats came alive; but when time ran out we had fallen just short. Game 2 ended in a loss, losing by just one run.  (L, 8-7).

Another notable mention from last night must be Liz Kornacki, who helped us out on short notice, contributed at the plate and made several plays at second base.  Thanks so much Liz!

Following last weeks wash out, the field at Hunton Park held off the rainy conditions Monday morning and field was ready to play come 8:10pm that night.

Ryan Sutphin, our teams leader in innings pitched this season, arrived at the field Monday night armed with a bag of new pitches.  But when it was all said and done, Sutphin would reply on his  his consistent ability to keep the ball over the plate and the defense behind during game 1.   The Company went the entire first game without an extra base hit; but the team put together a string of great at bats and pushed across 10 runs.  Unfortunately, in the top of the last inning, so did T-Mobile.  They were able to get just enough players around to score and tie the game.  The game ended in a tie, the first tie of the season for The Company. (T, 10-10)

Game 2 would be a different story.  The offense continued to be steady, building on an early lead each inning.  The story in game two was the team defense.  T-Mobile was held to only 4 hits and 1 run as The Company won game 2. (W, 11-1)

Team notable mentions include:  Laurie Huebner,who got both starts at second base, made multiple great plays, and  threw out a number of opponents at first base;  Ashley Davis, who found a new position behind the plate and reached base 5 times in 7 at bats Monday Night; and Mike Boswell, who returned to the line-up after a few missed weeks due to a prior commitment and had a 4 for 5 night at the plate with 2 runs scored and a couple of RBI’s.

With 2 victories last night over Clear Channel, The Company Softball Team is now 3 & 3.

Slated to pitch game 1 of last night’s double header, Ryan Sutphin arrived at the field (armed with a full tank of gas) just in time to lace up his cleats and take the mound in the first inning.  Both offenses were able to push runs across the plate in the first inning and the game would turn out to be a back-and-fourth battle.

Entering the top of the fourth, Clear Channel had pulled ahead 9-8 and by this time the umpire had already declared this the last inning of game 1.  Sutphin, in his own personal pursuit to shut down Clear Channel’s offense, wiped the sweat from his brow and used the defense to his advantage.  At bat in the bottom of the last, The Company found themselves in position to take game 1; needing one run to tie and two to win.  Jon Deutsch reached first on a fielder’s choice single and Laurie Huebner moved him around to third with an infield single of her own.  Next up, Steve Pauli is at bat. He cracked a double to score Deutsch, tying the game at 9-9, and leaving Huebneron third with a chance to win the ball game.  With the winning run on third, an unsuspecting Lauren Tipton came to the plate.  Without full knowledge of the situation, and still pissed off about the gnat that flew into her eye earlier in the game, Tipton came through with an infield single. Huebner scored from third and The Company earned the win.  (W, 10-9)

Game 2 shortly followed; Jesse Holzbach took the mound for his first start of the season and Clear Channel came out eager to avenge the game 1 loss.  As we entered the top of the fourth, Clear Channel has a commanding 9-3 lead; but our offense pushed across 4 runs that inning and headed back out to take the field. The Company was determined to prove that game 1 was not fluke and needed 3 quick outs to earn another round of at bats.  With time winding down, Holzbach, Pauli, and Miller turned a quick 1-6-3 double play just in time to start a new inning. The Company, now swinging a hot bat, scored 3 runs in the top of the last to take a 10-9 lead. Clear Channel fell 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the fifth to give The Company their second comeback win of the night.  (W,10-9)

Other notable mentions include: Brittany Collins 6-7 night at the plate, which included a triple and 4 runs scored – not to mention the double play she turned in game 1 that the umpire missed; Michelle Miller’s stellar defense at first base, which dug us out of more than one hole last night (pun intended); and lastly Bryn Sartain’s glove work at third base, which kept more than one hot shot on the infield and held doubles to singles.

Last night we learned a lot about ourselves, including:

1. Kristin is fearless behind the plate
2. Jon is so fast that it is physically impossible for him to stop at second base
3. And to the play the outfield you have to be willing to sacrifice your body

Thanks for coming out, playing hard, and having fun. It’s going to be a great season!