It seems mother nature has flipped a switch and shorts weather is abruptly over. Lower temperatures mean it’s time for me to think about changing sports. Bowling started up last week and runs for 31 straight weeks. Fall softball has a few games left, so it’s busy. Add that to sabbatical planning, and I’ve got plenty to do after work.
My bowling average last year wound up at 176. It wasn’t quite the same improvement I’d seen in previous years, but it was solid enough. I haven’t bowled much since April, so I knew I probably wouldn’t have a great start. Last week’s scores were even worse than I was expecting, with an abysmal session average of 133. Our newest team member, Ben, grabbed the 4th highest average in the league, but that was the lone bright spot as the team lost all seven points for the night. It wasn’t exactly the start I was looking for, but it did set my bar nice and low for this week.
On the softball side of things, we were absolutely crushed in our first game back on 8/26 which was a little disheartening. After a rain out and two weeks without playing, I wasn’t sure what to expect for game two. The other team jumped out to a small lead early in the game, but we played pretty solid defense and kept them close. No one really hit the ball hard, and our usual best hitters were putting up lazy flies and dribbling grounders left and right. Still, we were able to eke out enough hits to stay in the game. In the sixth we were finally able to take a 7-6 lead. I played second base that night, so I was pretty pumped when I was able to make the turn for a 6-4-3 double play to end the game and cap off our first fall win.
Apparently the momentum didn’t stop there. Both the team and I performed much better at bowling this week. I had a 181 session average, the team won all seven points for the night, and Ben moved up to the top average in the league. My overall average jumped from 133 to 157.
I’ve been pensively looking forward to tonight’s softball game. On one hand, some of the guys on the other team were on the team I played with my first year in Madison. It was not a very good softball year for me, so I’ve been anxious for any opportunities to show I’m a better player than I was then. On the other hand, I knew that their team was pretty solid on both offense and defense, so we’d have to play well to stay with them.
The game turned out to be a pretty good one all around. Both teams scored a run in the first inning, but from there no one was making great contact with the ball on either side. For them, their major power (a few of the guys I know) couldn’t get the ball out of the infield. For us, our guys lower in the batting order really came through while some of the rest of us still couldn’t find the gaps. The seventh inning started with us trailing 5-6; we were able to hold the line after a popup, a line drive, a single, and another popup. I led off the seventh with an awkward single that caused the shortstop to rush his throw, pulling the first basemen down the line toward me, and causing our feet to get tangled. I barely touched the base as I crashed and burned, but the call was safe so I felt fine except for the dust in my eyes and mouth. Unfortunately, my role in the inning ended there as our next batter got me doubled off of second on a fielder’s choice. This is where the middle and bottom of our order took control to bring around the tying run to score. Still with one out, we had the winning run at third base in one of our faster players. Our next hitter (already two for three), knocked one into shallow left and they appeared to have it played perfectly. Personally, I couldn’t decide whether our third base coach should send the runner, so while I would normally be yelling instructions, I kept quiet. I guess it was a good time to gamble (the game was already tied after all). After a split second of hesitation, the runner took off, the throw came in wide, and we won the game on a walk off sac fly.
Between two sports, that’s a three game winning streak in my book. Now I just have to get everything under control at work so I can forget all about everything for two weeks while we cruise around Italy. I can’t wait!