Softball in Korea

[StLee]

I thought about starting this dynasty before, but never got around to it. Now that my team is kicking ass and taking names, I thought I could share some of the events leading up to now.

Our league is noted in Korean news as a "foreigner league" since it was created and organized by foreigners. This year marks the fifth year of the league and my third year. The league is open to everyone, Korean and foreigner, men and women. Actually, each team has 13 players: 10 men and 3 women.

The current set up is eight teams split into two divisions named after Korean beers.
Hite Division: Swingers (my team), Whalers, Master Batters, and Yellow Fever.
Cass Division: Pitch Slappers, Multiple Scoregasms, Hanamana, and Bus Drivers.

[StLee]

Hello, my name is Lee. The "St" in my FOFC nickname is due to my lifelong obsession of Saints football. But my real name is Lee.

My sporting past includes the big three of American sports: football, baseball, and basketball. Baseball was by far my best sport, though my love for it waned in my teenage years (early 1990s-mid 1990s) and didn't flare up again until I started playing adult softball again in the mid-2000s.

This is my third year in the league. In my first year, I was drafted pretty low in a six-team league. That was because of bad intelligence. The league is relatively competitive and I didn't "look" the part. I am 5'9" and 205 pounds, so I don't look like a ball player. The team captain of the team took my low draft position to sit me out every other inning. The rule is that every player bats in the line up and there are no limits to substitutions, except that every player has to play defensively at least every other inning. I was that guy not allowed to play defense.

That was until we had a Saturday pick up game in another town. On that day I got to play. I manned myself at 3B, and made a few plays. My team captain was there that day, and expressed amazement. I haven't sat defensively again.

My team, called Big Daddy's Brigade, finished last place of six teams in 2009. All six teams played in the final tournament. We won our first game and lost the second to finish our season.

[StLee]

In 2010, I was still mostly unknown. Out of 13 total rounds, I went in the 10th round to the Angry Dolphins. In 2010, the league expanded to eight teams of two divisions.

I batted low in the lineup, but solidly. And I absolutely dominated at 3B, winning the "Gold Glove" of the league at 3B and finishing second in voting for Most Improved Player. Though I lost my Excel file of keeping up with personal stats, I finished batting around .600 with one dinger. I was also batting among some of our women and didn't get to knock in a lot of runs or score a lot.

Our team, which started 5-1, finished 5-5 and missed the playoffs. The top three teams of each division qualified for the playoffs. Unfortunately, our division dominated the other division, and we were the only team in our division below .500.

[StLee]

This season, I moved up in the draft, going in the 5th round. Based on players on my team and other teams, that's about where I belong. The talent has gone up. We now have three former college ball players in our league, though none played at the Division I level. However, my team captain (actually the same as last year) got good value in just about every round, including three women who can all catch a ball and can at least put the bat on the ball.

Also, this season I started keeping official stats for my team. I'll post game-by-game stats. We have actually finished our first five games and have five more to go.

[StLee]

Our schedule is broken down this way:
3 games vs division, 4 games vs other division, 3 games vs division

Our schedule is as follows:
March 27 vs Master Batters
April 3 vs Yellow Fever
April 10 vs Whalers
April 17 vs Hanamana
April 24 vs Pitch Slappers
May 1 vs Multiple Scoregasms
May 8 - Bye week due to national holidays
May 15 vs Bus Drivers
May 22 vs Master Batters
May 29 vs Yellow Fever
June 5 - Bye week due to national holidays
June 12 vs Whalers
June 19 - Playoffs - top 3 teams from each division

[StLee]

In Game One, we took on the Master Batters, which traditionally has been a good team. The MB captain, Adam, is one of the top players in the league, which usually gives this team a bit of an advantage.

For our team, our captain Doug went with defensively solid players. I am the only returning player with a Gold Glove, but several of our players were in contention for Gold Gloves.

We were the home team in the game.

In the top of the first, MB scored two runs. We answered with one. Each team scored a run to make it 3-2 MB after two. In the third, MB scored 3 runs, but we answered with four runs. Each team scored a run in the fourth to make it 7-up after four. MB scored another run in the fifth, but we took our first lead by scoring four in the bottom of the inning. We then shut them down the last two innings to take a 11-8 win to start out the season.

For me, I batted 8th in the order in this game. Here is my team's inning-by-inning progress. One note: this is the one game where I did not keep all of my own stats, so the third inning was not accurate. Therefore, I just noted the score (we scored four runs) and made up my own stats to make it work.

Our lineup:
1 - Tyler - SS (Ajax, Ontario)
2 - Josh - CF (Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia)
3 - Mitch - 2B/1B (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
4 - Shawn - RF (Aurora, Ontario)
5 - Frank - LF (Long Beach, California)
6 - Lia - RROV/C (Long Beach, California)
7 - Doug - 1B (Seattle, Washington)
8 - Lee - 3B (Houma, Louisiana)
9 - Ariella - C (Brooklyn, NY)
10 - Mike - 2B/LROV (Everett?, Washington)
11 - Daniel - LROV (Goldsborough, North Yorkshire)
12 - Mary Kay - LROV/RROV (Arlington, Massachusetts)

DNP - Chris (Denver, Colorado)

1st inning: Trailing 2-0
Tyler - Fly out to RF
Josh - Double
Mitch - Fly out to RF, Josh to 3rd
Shawn - RBI single, thrown out trying to stretch it to a double

2nd inning: Trailing 3-1
Frank - Home run
Lia - Ground out, 6-3
Doug - Ground out, 6-3
Lee - Single
Ariella - Fielder's choice, 6-4

3rd inning: Trailing 6-2
I adjusted stats to fit, but I did not keep stats this inning. We scored four runs total.

4th inning: Trailing 7-6
Doug - Ground out, 3
Lee - Single
Ariella - Fly out to RF
Mike - Single. Lee scored on throwing error, E9 (moving to 3rd on single and ball was over thrown). Mike to 2nd.
Daniel - No at bat. Mike out on base-running rule (can't leave base before contact with ball)

5th inning: Trailing 8-7
Daniel - Ground out, 6-4
Mary Kay - Single
Tyler - Fly out to CF
Josh - Double, Mary Kay to 3rd
Mitch - 2-RBI single
Shawn - 2-RBI Home run
Frank - Fly out to CF

6th inning: Leading 11-8
Lia - Ground out, 6-3
Doug - Single
Lee - Fly out to CF
Ariella - Fielder's choice, 6-4

7th inning: Game over, 11-8
No at bats due to being home team

Lee's final stats:
2 for 3, 1 R

[StLee]

In our second game, we took on the Yellow Fever (0-1). The captain of the Yellow Fever is one of the new captains and the youngest. He went with a lot of youth and athleticism on his team. Unfortunately for him, we went with a lot of heavy drinkers, too. Our game was a morning game Advantage us.

In this game, Chris came back briefly from his injury, but Mike missed because of an injury. So again we went with 12 players. This was our poorest game offensively, but we made a lot of key plays on defense.

In the top of the first, we scored 3. They scored a run in the bottom of the second. In the fourth, we scored 3 and they scored 2 to make it 6-3. They scored two more in the bottom of the fifth. We scored 2 in the sixth and they scored 1 to make it 8-6 after six. Each team scored a run in the seventh for the final score of 9-7.

Line up:
1 - Tyler - SS
2 - Josh - CF
3 - Shawn - RF
4 - Frank - LF
5 - Lia - C/RROV
6 - Mitch - 2B/1B
7 - Lee - 3B
8 - Doug - 1B
9 - Mary Kay - LROV/RROV
10 - Chris - RROV/2B
11 - Daniel - RROV/LROV
12 - Ariella - C

Top 1st inning: Visiting team
Tyler - Triple
Josh - RBI double
Shawn - 2-RBI HR
Frank - Ground out, 4-3
Lia - Ground out, 5-3
Mitch - Triple
Lee - My first RBI chance - Ground out, 5-3

2nd inning: Leading 3-1
Doug - Fly out to RF
Mary Kay - Ground out, 5-3
Chris - Ground out, 6-3

3rd inning: Leading 3-1
Daniel - Ground out, 4-3
Ariella - Ground out, 5-3
Tyler - Ground out, 5-3

4th inning: Leading 3-1
Josh - HR
Shawn - Infield single
Frank - RBI triple, scored on error
Lia - Ground out, 6-3
Mitch - Fly out to CF
Lee - Ground out, 5-3. I actually beat the throw, but the umpire disagreed.

5th inning: Leading 6-3
Doug - Fly out to RF
Mary Kay - Ground out, 5-3
Chris - Reached on an error, E6
Daniel - Fielder's choice, 6-4

6th inning: Leading 6-5
Ariella - Ground out, 6-3
Tyler - Fly out to Left Rover
Josh - Triple
Shawn - RBI single, advanced to 2nd on E7
Frank - RBI single
Lia - Ground out, 6-3

7th inning: Leading 8-6
Mitch - Reached on error, E4. Advanced to 3rd on error, E8.
Lee - RBI Sac Fly
Doug - Fly out to RF
Mary Kay - Ground out, 6-3

Lee's stats:
0 for 2 in 3 Plate appearances, 1 SF, 1 RBI
Defense:
5 chances. 1 put out and 4 assists.

[StLee]

Game three was our final early-season divisional game. We took on the Whalers (2-0) who, on paper, was everyone's preseason favorite to take it all. This team is loaded with power lefties, giving them a huge advantage on our main field, which has a short right porch. Their team captain, Scott, is from Hartford, Connecticut, and is on the charge to bring the Whalers back to Hartford, thus his team's name.

However, in this game, we came together offensively and shut them down defensively for a shocking 20-9 victory and a 3-0 start in division play.

The Whalers started with two runs in the top of the first. We answered with 5 runs in the bottom of the inning (Note since it is the first occurrence: Teams are limited to 5 runs in every inning but the last). In the second, the Whalers added two more in the 2nd to make it 5-4. They took the lead back in the third by scoring four runs, but we answered with three to make it 8-8 after 3. Then the explosion happened. We scored 3 in the 4th. They scored their final run in the 5th, but we answered with another 5-run inning to make it 16-9. We scored another four in the 6th for the final 20-9 count.

Chris missed another game with an injury and didn't play in the next two, either.

Line up:
1 - Tyler - SS
2 - Josh - CF
3 - Shawn - RF
4 - Frank - LF
5 - Lia - C/LROV
6 - Mitch - 2B/1B
7 - Lee - 3B
8 - Doug - 1B
9 - Mary Kay - LROV
10 - Mike - 2B/RROV
11 - Daniel - LROV/RROV
12 - Ariella - C

1st inning: Trailing 2-0
Tyler - Single
Josh - Single. Tyler to 3rd
Shawn - Pop out, 5
Frank - RBI single. Josh to 2B
Lia - Fielder's choice, 6-5. Ball overthrown on attempted DP. Frank to 3rd and Lia to 2nd.
Mitch - RBI single. Lia to 3rd.
Lee - 2-RBI double.
Doug - RBI single. 5 run rule.

2nd inning: Leading 5-4
Mary Kay - Ground out, 5-3
Mike - Line out to LROV
Daniel - Line out to SS

3rd inning: Trailing 8-5
Ariella - Ground out, 6-3
Tyler - Ground out, 6-3
Josh - Single
Shawn - Reach on error, E4. Josh to 2nd.
Frank - 3-RBI HR
Lia - Ground out, 5-3

4th inning: Tied 8-8
Mitch - Single
Lee - Double. Mitch to 3rd.
Doug - 2-RBI single
Mary Kay - Infield single. Doug to 2nd.
Mike - RBI single. Mary Kay to 2nd.
Daniel - Fielder's choice, 7-5. Case of MK not understanding when to run and when to tag. Should have been a base hit.
Ariella - Line out, 6. 6-3 double play (Daniel out at 1st. Case of Daniel not understanding when to hold on base.)

5th inning: Leading 11-9
Tyler - Double
Josh - RBI triple
Shawn - RBI Fielder's choice
Frank - Single
Lia - Single. Frank to 3rd. Mary Kay to PR for Lia (injury)
Mitch - RBI Sac Fly
Lee - Double. Mary Kay to 3rd.
Doug - 2-RBI single. 5-run rule.

6th inning: Leading 16-9
Mary Kay - Infield single
Mike - Single
Daniel - Fielder's choice, 6-4. Mary Kay to 3rd. Daniel to 1st.
Ariella - RBI single. Daniel to 2nd.
Tyler - 2-RBI triple
Josh - RBI Sac fly
Shawn - Fly out to RF

7th inning: Final 20-9
No at bats due to being home team.

I finally had a great game that I was looking for. I even got mention on our league podcast due to my performance and defensive prowess. For a lefty heavy team, they hit a lot of balls my way.

Lee's batting:
3 for 3, 3-2B, 2 RBI, 3 R
Defense:
7 fielding chances, 1 put out, 5 assists, 1 error. On my error, I actually made a great play to stop a ball from getting past me. Unfortunately, I didn't set my feet and threw the ball wide. That was with two outs in the top of the 7th. One good throw away from a perfect game.

After the game, these were the standings:
Hite Division:
Swingers 3-0
Whalers 2-1
Master Batters 1-2
Yellow Fever 0-3

Swingers beat all teams.
Whalers beat MB and YF.
Master Batters beat YF.
Yellow Fever lost all games.

Cass Division:
Pitch Slappers 2-1
Multiple Scoregasms 2-1
Bus Drivers 1-2
Hanamana 1-2

Pitch Slappers beat MS and BD and lost to Hana.
Multiple Scoregasms beat BD and Hana. Lost to PS.
Bus Drivers beat Hana. Lost to PS and MS.
Hanamana beat PS. Lost to MS and BD.

[StLee]

Game four was our first game out of the division against Hanamana. The team captain is a foul-mouthed, tooth-missing, former college wrestler from Philly, nicknamed Jayo. He was the winning captain of the first three years of the league, but his team fell way short last season. His team has also been named Hanamana all five seasons. One of the top picks on this team is a former college pitcher who went in the early second round. Fortunately for us, his defense and offense are shit, so he was overvalued.

In this game, we were minus two players due to injury. Chris was still out, and Lia missed a game. In our league, every team must field 3 women. If one woman does not play, then one of the women must bat twice in the order, so Mary Kay got that nod due to being a little more athletic than Ariella. Also, we must always field two women on defense, so Mary Kay and Ariella played the entire game.

Hanamana (1-2) was on a high from the previous week after they upset their division favorites, the Pitch Slappers, who we would face in Week 5. However, they ran into our stout defense, and we prevailed 12-8.

This week we played on a field with no outfield fence, so there were a few HRs in the league, including one from yours truly. I nailed one down the LF line and over the LF's head, and it kept rolling.

We were the visiting team and scored in the top of the first. We added four more in the 3rd to take a 5-0 lead. We were up 7-0 after 4. We hit the 5-run rule again in the top of the 5th to take a 12-0 lead, but Hanamana answered with two runs in the bottom. We got shut out the last two innings, and they added three each of the last two innings for the final 12-8 count.

Line up:
1 - Tyler - SS
2 - Josh - CF
3 - Shawn - RF
4 - Frank - LF
5 - Mitch - 2B/1B
6 - Mary Kay - LROV
7 - Lee - 3B
8 - Doug - 1B/RROV
9 - Ariella - C
10 - Mike - 2B
11 - Daniel - RROV
12 - Mary Kay

1st inning: Top
Tyler - Infield single
Josh - Fly out to RF
Shawn - Single. Tyler to 3rd.
Frank - RBI Fielder's choice, 5-4.
Mitch - Double. Frank to 3rd.
Mary Kay - Ground out, 6-3.

2nd inning: Leading 1-0
Lee - Fly out to RF (off the end of the bat, dammit)
Doug - Fly out to RF
Ariella - Ground out, 5-3

3rd inning: Leading 1-0
Mike - Single
Daniel - Infield single. Mike to 2nd.
Mary Kay - Pop out
Tyler - RBI single. Daniel to 2nd.
Josh - Single. Daniel to 3rd. Tyler to 2nd.
Shawn - 2-RBI double. Josh to 3rd.
Frank - Pop out to 1B.
Mitch - RBI single. Shawn to 3rd.
Mary Kay - Line out to 3B.

4th inning: Leading 5-0
Lee - Single
Doug - 2-RBI HR
Ariella - Ground out, 5-3
Mike - Single
Daniel - Fielder's choice, 6-4
Mary Kay - Ground out, 6-3

5th inning: Leading 7-0
Tyler - Single
Josh - Double. Tyler to 3rd.
Shawn - RBI Sac fly. Josh to 3rd.
Frank - RBI double.
Mitch - 2-RBI HR
Mary Kay - Single
Lee - RBI HR (Due to the 5-run rule, it only counted as one run)

6th inning: Leading 12-2
Doug - Ground out, 3
Ariella - Ground out, 6-3
Mike - Single
Daniel - Single. Mike to 2nd.
Mary Kay - No at bat. Mike out at 2B for leaving early.

7th inning: Leading 12-5
Mary Kay - Pop out to 3B
Tyler - Ground out, 6-3
Josh - Single. To 2nd on E-RROV
Shawn - Ground out, 6-3

Lee's stats:
2 for 3, HR, RBI, R
Defense:
4 assists

[StLee]

I meant to post game results... Let me find scores for Week 4.
Pitch Slappers 21, Yellow Fever 20
Whalers 18, Bus Drivers 6
Swingers 12, Hanamana 8
Master Batters 11, Multiple Scoregasms 7

Our division went 3-1 in the first week, which doesn't help us much. We want our division to go 1-3.

Last season, my team missed the playoffs because our division was far better than the other division. In interdivision play, our division was 14-2. We were one of the two losses (3-1).

[StLee]

This past weekend was our fifth game. It was the battle of the surprise Swingers (4-0) versus the Cass Division favorites, the Pitch Slappers (3-1). Our game was the first of the day, and set the tone for what an epic game could be like.

The captain of the Pitch Slappers is a friend and former co-worker, but a very strange man, Bill, originally from New Jersey but who spent most of his years in South Florida. He is also the oldest of the captains at 46.

His first-round pick was the two-time reigning MVP, Brandon, and the only person to hit the ball over the LF fence in our league on the field we played in this week. He's done it three times. (Just a note: I was just a few feet away from being the second, but I'll get to that a few paragraphs down.)

This game was definitely a friendly rivalry for me since I know several of the Pitch Slappers and live near them. Bill also expressed disappointment that he didn't choose me in the fourth round like he considered, since his fourth round pick, my buddy Jeff, hasn't been earning his keep at 3B or at the plate so far.

This game was certainly a back and forth affair. The Pitch Slappers scored 5 in the top of the first and we answered with 2. In the bottom of the 2nd, we added 2 more to make it 5-4. They scored three in the 3rd and we had two to trail 8-6. We got two more in the fourth to tie the game. In the fifth we took our first lead, 11-8. They got five on us again in the 6th, and we answered with one to make it 13-12. They got one more on us in the seventh. We rallied with two outs to tie it up, with the winning run on second base. I had a chance to win it. I'll talk about my game later, but let's just say I was ripping the ball all game. In my last at bat I tried to finesse it and grounded out to Bill at second, so we went to extra innings. The Pitch Slappers got a run to make it 15-14. In the bottom of the eighth, our Brit was up to bat with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one down. Ariella, who can't hit well and can't run at all was on deck. He ripped a double, and we pulled it out, 16-15. Classic Daegu Softball League game right there!

Lineup:
1 - Tyler - SS
2 - Josh - CF
3 - Shawn - RF
4 - Frank - LF
5 - Mitch - 2B/1B
6 - Mary Kay - LROV
7 - Lee - 3B
8 - Mike - 2B/LROV
9 - Lia - RROV/C
10 - Doug - 1B
11 - Daniel - RROV
12 - Ariella - C

DNP - Chris, but he may return next week

1st inning: Trailing 5-0
Tyler - Infield single
Josh - Single. Tyler to 3rd
Shawn - Pop out, 3
Frank - 2-RBI single. Out at 2B trying for double.
Mitch - Fly out to LF

2nd inning: Trailing 5-2
Mary Kay - Single
Lee - I got a hold of it and thought it was gone. Instead it hit off of the LF wall. MK was waiting to tag up, which I had coached her to do on deep flies. Unfortunately, this was a time where the LF was on the run to get to the ball. So the result was: Double. Mary Kay to 3rd.
Mike - RBI Fielder's choice, 4-3. Lee to 3rd.
Lia - RBI Fielder's choice, 5-3.
Doug - Single
Daniel - Infield single. Doug to 2nd.
Ariella - Fielder's choice, 6

3rd inning: Trailing 8-4
Tyler - Single
Josh - Pop out, 3
Shawn - Fly out to RF
Frank - RBI triple
Mitch - RBI single
Mary Kay - Ground out, 3

4th inning: Trailing 8-6
Lee - I hit this one even farther but to LCF. The LF and CF chased after it and ran into each other, leaving the ball untouched on the ground. I ran around for a home run!
Mike - Single
Lia - Fielder's choice, 5-4
Doug - Fielder's choice, 5-4
Daniel - Single. Doug to 3rd.
Ariella - Reached on error, E5. Doug scored. Daniel to 2nd.
Tyler - Pop out, 6

5th inning: Tied 8-8
Josh - Infield single
Shawn - RBI double. Moved to 3rd on error.
Frank - RBI single
Mitch - Fielder's choice, 5-4
Mary Kay - Single. Mitch out at 3rd.
Lee - Another hard hit, this time on a rope right at the LF. He missed it, and it went off his chest. Mary Kay scored. I reached 3rd on an error.
Mike - Fly out to LF

6th inning: Trailing 13-11
Lia - Ground out, 6-3
Doug - Double. Moved to 3rd on defensive interference.
Daniel - RBI single
Ariella - Fly out to SS
Tyler - Fielder's choice, 6-4

7th inning: Trailing 14-12
Josh - HR
Shawn - Single
Frank - Fielder's choice, 4-6
Mitch - Fly out to CF
Mary Kay - Hit a looper to 3B, but he dropped in and it rolled away. Frank scored and Mary Kay moved to 2nd.
Lee - My dumb ass blasted my first three at bats to and through left and left-center field. So what do I try to do in my game-winning opportunity? I try to bloop it over the second baseman's head to allow Mary Kay to score. Instead: Ground out, 4-3

8th inning: Trailing 15-14
Mike - Double
Lia - Fielder's choice, 6-5. Mike tagged out and taken out by Jeff at 3B. Mike's third base-running error on the season.
Doug - Reached on an error, E3. Lia to 2nd.
Daniel - Game-winning walk-off double. SWINGERS WIN!!!! 16-15

Lee's stats. I was proud of my game here other than my last at bat and one of my defensive plays!
2 for 4, including reaching on an error. 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
Defense: Not a lot came my way.
5 fielding chances, 1 put out (Bill popped it up to me, so we were even), 3 assists, and an error. My error was a sharp hit right at me. It bounced up at the last second and rattled between my thighs. Thankfully it wasn't higher because that would have been bad. Again, my error came in the 7th with two outs. The Pitch Slappers ended up scoring a run after my error, which, without it, could have prevented my need to attempt a game-winning at bat in the bottom of the inning.

Daniel, the Brit, was named our game MVP due to his clutch hitting and being perfect on the day. He deserved it!

In other action,
Master Batters 16, Bus Drivers 15. Just like our game, the Master Batters rallied. They scored the winning runs in the bottom of the 7th.
Whalers 24, Multiple Scoregasms 6. The Whalers have certainly responded to getting blown out by us by blowing out their last two opponents.
Hanamana 15, Yellow Fever 13. Yellow Fever tried to rally in the bottom of the 7th, but they fell short.

[StLee]

We are contending with some injuries right now and need the bye week to heal up. Chris has been lame all season. Lia missed a game due to injury. Mike got KO'ed in our game and sat out the rest when Jeff of the Pitch Slappers hard tagged him and took him out. Ariella fell down the bleachers after the game and hurt her ankle. She's definitely out for at least two weeks.

[britrock88]

Congratulations on clinching the playoffs.

Is this a self-pitch league? I haven't heard anything about pitching on defense. And where do you guys play your rovers?

[StLee]

Originally Posted by britrock88

Congratulations on clinching the playoffs.

Is this a self-pitch league? I haven't heard anything about pitching on defense. And where do you guys play your rovers?

Yes, it's self pitch. The rovers must play approximately 10m behind the infield but they can play deep in the outfield if they choose. In the past, some teams decided to go five deep in the outfield.

A few other rules we have in our league:
* If the batter hits the pitcher, the batter is out.
* Each batter is allowed up to six pitches.
* Each pitch must clear 2m (about 6.5 feet). If the batter is taller than 2m, then the pitch must clear his head.
* Runners cannot leave the base before contact with the ball has been made. If they leave the base on a missed swing, runners are out.
* Runners cannot touch home plate, but must run past it.
* All plays at home plate are force outs.

[StLee]

Also, we haven't officially clinched a playoff spot, but I'm pretty sure we'll be in. The Yellow Fever just doesn't have that winning edge.

The tie breakers the league uses:
1) Head-to-head record
2) Division record
3) Head-to-head run differential
4) Overall run differential

I'm pretty sure this is accurate, but I'll double check with the league organizers.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I have to admit, this is almost oddly fascinating from thousands of miles away. I haven't read many dynasties lately, but I'm pretty sure I'll be checking in on this thread until the end. Good luck as you head down the stretch.

[StLee]

In game six, we took on the Multiple Scoregasms, coached by the current biggest coach in the league, Corey. The Scoregasms (2-3) have a lot of meaty, muscular guys paired with a few quite athletic guys on their team who look the part. Corey is big and slow, but there are a few guys whom I know who can run circles around me: my good buddy Jon, Dustin (who is a great athlete), and Daniel are among them. However, they just haven't been getting it done on the field.

I came into this game not quite feeling it. I can't quite explain it, but I didn't feel personally that I was ready to play. It may have been the ball I took off the knee and thighs a week before. All week, my leg has been hurting from a deep bruise right above my knee that made running and climbing steps quite painful. And it didn't feel any better this past Sunday, so I was a bit gimpy and didn't get the drive into the ball that I had been having.

With that said, I will talk about my defensive performance, which was my best of the year. I have mentioned before that I was last season's Gold Glover at 3B, and I am probably in the lead for it again based on two outstanding performances this season and getting a nod for my defense on the league podcast. In all, I had seven balls hit my way. Two of them were grounders straight to me with two outs and runners on first and second; I stepped on third base in both cases. Two were sharp grounders hit to my left where I had to grab them in a hurry despite my left lower thigh hurting like hell when I bent my leg, recover, and throw out fast runners. On one of the two, I ended up at second when I had completed the play. I apologized to our shortstop Tyler for entering his territory, but he said I made the right play, especially after I side-armed an out on that one against Dustin. Two others were basic ground outs, where I fielded it and threw out the runners, one at first and one at second. The other was a slow roller to the pitcher's mound, but I couldn't get to it in time and the runner was safe. We ate the ball on that play.

Enough about my defense. Here's to how the game went. We were the away team for the game.

In the first, we scored four runs and got them down in order to take a 4-0 lead. We added another run in the second and they scored two to make it 5-2. We got the maximum five in the fourth and they added three more to make it 10-5. We got five more in the fifth to go up 15-5. In the sixth, we scored a run and they got three. Neither team scored in the seventh for the final score of 16-8.

With the win, we clinched a playoff spot. I'll post the other scores later once they are officially posted, but the Yellow Fever lost and the Whalers won, meaning that the Whalers also clinched a playoff spot. The Yellow Fever can be eliminated from the playoffs next week.

Here is the inning-by-inning breakdown:

Lineup:
1 - Tyler - SS
2 - Josh - CF
3 - Shawn - RF
4 - Frank - LF
5 - Mitch - 2B/1B
6 - Mary Kay - LROV/RROV
7 - Lee - 3B
8 - Mike - LROV/2B
9 - Doug - 1B
10 - Lia - C
11 - Chris - 2B/1B
12 - Daniel - RROV
13 - Mary Kay - LROV/RROV

DNP - Ariella. Because Ariella did not play, Mary Kay had to bat twice.

Top of 1st inning:
Tyler - Double
Josh - RBI double
Shawn - RBI single
Frank - RBI double, scored on throwing error
Mitch - Single
Mary Kay - Fielder's choice, 6-4
Lee - Pop out to SS
Mike - Fielder's choice, 5-4

2nd inning: Leading 4-0
Doug - Triple
Lia - RBI ground out, 6-3
Chris - Ground out, 6-3
Daniel - Ground out, 6-3

3rd inning: Leading 5-2
Mike - Line out to 3B
Tyler - Fly out to CF
Josh - Pop out to 2B

4th inning: Leading 5-2
Shawn - Double
Frank - 2-run HR
Mitch - Double
Mary Kay - Infield single
Lee - RBI single
Mike - Fielder's choice, 6U; Lee to second, Mike to first
Doug - RBI single
Lia - Single
Chris - RBI Sacrifice Fly (5-run rule)

5th inning: Leading 10-5
Daniel - Reached on Error, E11 (Right Rover), to second
Mary Kay - Infield single, Daniel to third
Tyler - 3-run HR
Josh - Infield single
Shawn - RBI double, scored on throwing error (5-run rule)

6th inning: Leading 15-5
Frank - Triple
Mitch - Line out to 2B
Mary Kay - RBI Ground out, 4-3
Lee - Fly out to CF

7th inning: Leading 16-8
Mike - Ground out, 6-3
Doug - Line out, 9
Lia - Ground out, 5-3

Lee's stats. Not a great day batting, but like I stated before, my defense more than made up for it.
1 for 3, run, RBI
Defense:
6 fielding chances, 4 assists, and 2 put outs.

Current standings:
Hite Division
x-Swingers 6-0
x-Whalers 5-1
Master Batters 4-2
Yellow Fever 0-6

Cass Division
Pitch Slappers 3-3
Multiple Scoregasms 2-4
Hanamana 2-4
Bus Drivers 2-4

The Hite Division's top three teams are all 3-0 vs the Cass Division. Thanks to the Yellow Fever being terrible, the current interdivision standings are 6-3 in favor of the Hite Division. I'll post all Week 6 scores when they are officially posted. We don't have any games next Sunday due to two national holidays, Children's Day and Buddha's Birthday, so we play again in two weeks. I'll post a new dynasty or add on to another one in the meantime since I have a big event about to happen within the next ten days...

[StLee]

Week 6 results:
Swingers 16, Multiple Scoregasms 8
Bus Drivers 13, Yellow Fever 10
Whalers 12, Hanamana 7
Master Batters 24, Pitch Slappers 8

I'm surprised the Pitch Slappers got beat by that many runs. I think they are legitimately one of the top three teams. They must have had a really down day.

[StLee]

I made a mistake on last week's Excel file. Mitch was actually 2 for 3, not 1 for 3, so the Swingers are batting .500 on the season.

We didn't have any games this weekend due to it being a holiday week: Children's Day (May 5), Parents' Day (May 8), and Buddha's Birthday (May 10). A lot of people travel on this weekend, so we wouldn't have full squads if we played. We'll pick it up again next weekend, though, rain willing.

[StLee]

Our seventh game occurred after what seemed to be a long break. It was an exciting two weeks for me. Most importantly, my wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Also, I was offered a new job and bought an apartment. Softball wasn’t high on my list, so the break was good.

Unfortunately, my team came back sluggish. We took on the Bus Drivers, a team led by the commissioner of the league, Chris. Last season, the Bus Drivers shocked their way to a championship. This year, at 2-4, no one expected them to do much of anything. They don’t have a bunch of sluggers, and their defense is sometimes suspect.

In this game, though, there was a wind blowing in that immediately made people like me less dangerous and evened the playing field. In the top of the first, BD scored two runs on a play where their best player, John, hit a line drive to the right of me with a man on second. I reached my glove out, but it went right through my glove, and then Frank misplayed it in the outfield, allowing John to round the bases to give BD a 2-0 lead heading into the second after we failed to score in the first inning for the first time. They scored two more in the second, but we answered with three to make it 4-3. In the third, they got the maximum five runs, the first time we allowed the max this season, and we added two to make it 9-5. We each scored a run in the fourth and they added another in the fifth to make it an 11-6 deficit. We closed the gap in the sixth to make it 11-9, but they scored two in the seventh to take a 13-9 victory.

On the bright side for us, this Sunday was the “Revenge of the Cass Division” weekend, and our loss affected no one. Other final scores: Pitch Slappers 7, Whalers 4 – The Whalers were popping the ball up all day in the driving wind. Hanamana 14, Master Batters, 11 – MB lost, but clinched a playoff spot in the Hite Division, thanks to … Multiple Scoregasms 13, Yellow Fever 5 – YF is now officially eliminated from the playoffs and get to play the spoiler role when division play picks up again next weekend.

Here was the break down of our game:

Line up:
1 - Tyler - SS
2 - Josh - CF
3 - Shawn - RF
4 - Frank - LF
5 - Mitch - 2B/1B
6 - Lee - 3B
7 - Mary Kay - LROV
8 - Mike - RROV/2B
9 - Doug - 1B
10 - Chris - 2B/1B
11 - Daniel - RROV
12 - Lia - C

Ariella - DNP – Bus Drivers only had two females, too, so we went with 12 player lineups


Bottom 1st:

Tyler - Ground out, 4-3
Josh - Double
Shawn - Ground out, 4-3; Josh to 3rd
Frank - Ground out, 6-3


2nd:

Mitch - Single
Lee - Fly out, 7
Mary Kay - Single, advanced to 2nd on error; Mitch scored
Mike - Fly out, 7
Doug - RBI double
Chris - RBI single
Daniel - Infield single
Lia - Fielder's choice, LROV-4


3rd:

Tyler - Double
Josh - RBI single
Shawn - Single; Josh to 3rd
Frank - RBI Sac Fly
Mitch - Pop out, 5
Lee - Fly out, 8


4th:

Mary Kay - Strike out (our first strike out of the year, another negative first)
Mike - Pop out, 3
Doug - Double, scored on error
Chris - Single
Daniel - Strike out


5th:

Lia - Line out, 6
Tyler - Pop out, 6
Josh - Triple
Shawn - Pop out, 5


6th:

Frank - Fly out, 8
Mitch - Double
Lee - RBI triple
Mary Kay - RBI single, advanced to 2nd on error
Mike - Fly out, 9
Doug - RBI double
Chris - Line out, 6


7th:

Daniel - Ground out, 5-3
Lia - Ground out, 5-3
Tyler - Single
Josh - Pop out, 6


Lee's stats:

1 for 3, 3B, RBI, R
Defense (my ruling):

5 fielding chances, 3 put outs, 2 errors
The Bus Drivers ruled John's at bat as a hit, but I think I should have caught it, so I gave myself an error in the stats. On my other error, it was my only assist opportunity where we could have got a double play. Unfortunately, my throw to the second baseman, Mitch, was high, and everyone was safe. My three put outs came on different types of plays. One was on a beautiful throw from Frank in left field and I tagged out Chris as he tried to make it to third base. Another was a simple pop up to me. The final was a grounder to me with two outs and runners at first and second.



Here are my Excel Files:

[britrock88]

Getting pumped for the start of softball season at the workplace for my summer job. I'm thinking I'll keep some stats and add to the roster of softball dynasties.

[StLee]

We got back to division play again this week, where the three best teams play. This week was our rematch with the Master Batters, a team we beat in the first week.

Going into the final stretch, we had a game lead on the Whalers (5-2) and a two-game lead on the Master Batters (4-3). We knew it would be a tough game, which turned out to be an understatement.

In the top of the first, we got the maximum 5 runs, but the Batters answered with five of their own. Neither team scored in the second, and the Batters added one in the third to take a 6-5 lead. In the fourth, we scored 3 runs, but the Batters answered again to take a 9-8 lead. We took our first lead into a new inning after the fifth when we scored 4 runs, and the Batters only got 2. Neither team scored in the sixth to give us a 12-11 advantage heading into the 7th.

We got shut out again in the 7th and the Master Batters needed just two runs to win it with the top of their order coming up. The first batter hit a squibber to me. I fielded it, but had no chance to throw him out, so I ate it. The next batter did the same thing to our first baseman, Doug, so the Batters had runners at first and second with nobody out. The next two Batters popped up to give us two on with two outs and only needing an out to get out of the game. The next batter hit a grounder to second. Our second baseman, Mitch, fielded it and threw it in the dirt allowing one run to score and the winning run to move to third. There was a five-minute delay where the Batters were arguing the man on third should be allowed to advance home on the overthrow, but we won the argument. On the next play the batter hit a line drive heading over my head. I leaped, and the ball tipped off the top of my glove. Base hit. Batters win, 13-12.

Our division race for first got a lot more complicated, too. The Whalers creamed the Yellow Fever (didn't catch the final, but I'm guessing in the range of 20-5), tying us atop the division. Also, the Batters are now a game out. Thankfully, we have the Yellow Fever next week, and we have the tie breaker over the Batters due to head-to-head run differential, so we can clinch at least second place with a win over the Fever.

In the other division, things are more complicated, too, since they have a three-way tie for first place. The Bus Drivers continued their resurgence by beating the Pitch Slappers 8-6. Also, the Multiple Scoregasms beat Hanamana 9-8 in similar fashion to how we were beat (a line drive hit just out of the fielder's reach to score the winning run).

So the division standings look this way:



For our game, other than the last play where I couldn't quite leap high enough, I had far and away the best game on our team and was named the game MVP. I was 3 for 3 with a two-RBI double, an RBI triple where I also scored on an overthrow to home plate, and a single. On the field, I finished with two assists and two put outs in four fielding chances (the squibber and game-winning hits don't count towards fielding chances, even if I got my glove on the ball) and had a 5U-4 double play.

This game I was moved down in the line up to 8th, but maybe I'll move up. Actually, I now have become the second most productive batter on the team in extra base hits (9), and third in batting average (.583) and RBI (11).

The line up:
1 - Tyler - SS
2 - Josh - CF
3 - Shawn - RF
4 - Frank - LF
5 - Mitch - 2B
6 - Mary Kay - LROV
7 - Mike - 2B/RROV
8 - Lee - 3B
9 - Doug - 1B
10 - Lia - C
11 - Chris - 1B
12 - Daniel - RROV
13 - Ariella - C

Top 1st inning:
Tyler - Single
Josh - FC, 3U, Tyler to 2B
Shawn - RBI double
Frank - RBI single
Mitch - Single
Mary Kay - RBI single
Mike - FO, 7
Lee - 2-RBI double (5-run rule)

2nd inning:
Doug - Single
Lia - LO, 5. DP 5-3 (Doug was caught off 1B)
Chris - GO, 6-3

3rd inning:
Daniel - Inf. single
Ariella - FC, 5-3, Daniel to 2B
Tyler - Single, Daniel to 3B
Josh - Pop out, 4
Shawn - FO, RRov (great running catch near RF line)

4th inning:
Frank - Single
Mitch - Line out, 5
Mary Kay - Inf. Single, Frank to 2B
Mike - RBI single
Lee - missed ball trying to place it down wide open RF gap, Mary Kay out for leaving base early; RBI triple, scored on error
Doug - Double
Lia - Ground out, 5-3

5th inning:
Chris - Inf. single
Daniel - Single, Chris to 2B
Ariella - FC, 5U (Mary Kay to pinch run)
Tyler - RBI double, Mary Kay to 3B
Josh - 2-RBI double, scored on error
Shawn - PO, 4
Frank - Single
Mitch - GO, 6U

6th inning:
Mary Kay - LO, 7
Mike - LO (forgot where)
Lee - Single
Doug - Out on runner interference. The ball hit me when I was trying to get to 2B

7th inning:
Lia - Ground out, 5-3
Chris - Single
Daniel - FC, 5-4
Ariella - GO, 4-3

[StLee]

Thanks to "Carp" in our league, I now have some playoff scenarios. As I mentioned before, the top three teams in each division make the playoffs. In my division, the three teams are set, and we are only playing for seeding.

I posted earlier what the tie breakers were, but I was actually told that division record does NOT factor into the final tie breakers. Strange decision, I think, but it comes down to run differentials.

Here is my break down of our division:

Week 9:
Swingers vs Yellow Fever
Batters vs Whalers

If we win, we "probably" clinch at least second place due to run differential. We split the head-to-head with the Batters and beat them by two more runs than they beat us.

If we win and the Whalers win, then we clinch at least 2nd and have to face off against the Whalers for the first-round bye in the playoffs.

If we win and the Batters win, we have virtually clinched the division as long as we don't lose to the Whalers by 12 or more runs.

Here's Carp's breakdown of the Cass Division:

Scenario 1: Hanamana beats The Drivers
The Slappers beat XXX

under this scenario the Slappers would in fact clinch a playoff birth. this is due to the fact that in week 10, no combination of wins or losses would put them out of the playoff picture.

no teams would be eliminated from playoff contention.

Scenario 2: Hanamana beats The Drivers
XXX beat The Slappers

this is by far the most puzzling scenario.
The XXX would clinch a playoff birth.
it leaves a mass of teams all tied up at 4-5 and making 4 more Scenarios for week 10. within those 4 scenarios, 2 of them can end up having 3 teams at 5-5. Then it comes down to each teams record vs other tied opponents and at this point no one can tell what would happen especially when considering that many of those vs match-ups could result in teams being tied for 1st,2nd and 3rd with 5-5 records and identical 2-2 records vs tied opponents. thus making it down to run differential in those games. so you see... lets' just make things simple and avoid this scenario shall we?

no teams would be eliminated from playoff contention

Scenario 3: The Drivers beat Hanamana
The Slappers beat XXX

If this happens, all three, the Drivers, The Slappers and XXX would clinch playoff spots, thus, eliminating Hanamana. This is because Hanamana would fall to 3-6 and could not climb to 3rd even with a week 10 loss by the XXX and a Week 10 win for Hanamana over the Slappers due to the XXX winning the season series over Hanamana 2-0.

Scenario 4: The Drivers beat Hanamana
XXX beat The Slappers

In this scenario, The Drivers and XXX would clinch playoff spots.

No teams would be eliminated. the reson for this is that Hanamana could beat The Slappers in their week 10 match-up putting both teams at 4-6. Hanamana would take the final playoff spot due to a 2-0 record over the Slappers.

so, in short, Hanamana is in a very critical position right now as they can be the only team that can get eliminated in any scenario.
XXX seems to be in the driver seat, despite currently not being in first in the division, but can miss the playoffs under the right circumstances.

[StLee]

It took us taking on the worst team in the league (and potentially the worst team in Daegu Softball League history), but we got back to our winning ways against the Yellow Fever (0-9). It is no surprise that the Fever is playing without a lot of enthusiasm, but the Swingers went about our business to shore up our playoff seeding. First the game:

We were the home team in the game. The Fever started out with a quick two in the first, but we answered with five to take a 5-2 lead. Neither team scored in the second. In the third, they got a run back, but we answered with three to take an 8-3 advantage. They didn't score in the fourth, and we took advantage of the chance to blow the game away, scoring four for a 12-3 lead. They added one in the fifth, but we again got the five-run max to lead 17-4. We added one more in the sixth, and they scored two in the seventh in their futile attempt to come back. Final: Swingers 18, Fever 6.

Line up:
1 - Tyler - SS
2 - Josh - CF
3 - Shawn - RF
4 - Frank - LF
5 - Mitch - 2B
6 - Mary Kay - LROV
7 - Mike - RROV/2B
8 - Lee - 3B
9 - Doug - 1B
10 - Lia - C
11 - Chris - 1B
12 - Daniel - RROV
13 - Ariella - C

Bottom 1st inning: Trailing 2-0
Tyler - Infield single
Josh - RBI triple
Shawn - RBI infield single
Frank - RBI triple, scored on error
Mitch - Ground out, 5-3
Mary Kay - GO, 6-3
Mike - Infield single, advanced to 2B on error
Lee - RBI single (5-run rule)

2nd inning: Leading 5-2
Doug - Fly out, 9
Lia - Strike out
Chris - FO, 8

3rd inning: Leading 5-3
Daniel - Infield single
Ariella - Out on pitches (Due to six-pitch rule: she hit a foul ball on the sixth pitch)
Tyler - Line out, 6
Josh - Infield single, Daniel to 2B
Shawn - 2-RBI double
Frank - Reach on error, advance to 2B. Shawn scored.
Mitch - Out on runner interference (ball hit Frank)

4th inning: Leading 8-3
Mary Kay - Single
Mike - Single
Lee - Single
Doug - Grand slam HR
Lia - Ground out, 6-3
Chris - Infield single
Daniel - Fielder's choice, 6-4
Ariella - Line out, 5

5th inning: Leading 12-4
Tyler - Double
Josh - RBI double
Shawn - 2-run HR
Frank - HR
Mitch - Single, advance to 2B on error
Mary Kay - Fielder's choice, 6-3; Mitch to 3B
Mike - RBI single (5-run rule)

6th inning: Leading 17-4
Lee - Triple
Doug - RBI Sac Fly
Lia - Ground out, 6-3
Chris - GO, 6-3

7th inning: Victory 18-6
No at bats

Lee's batting:
3-3, 3B, 2R, RBI
I was just trying to place the ball since the Fever's LF is lightning fast. Therefore, I hit it where he wasn't. In my first at bat, I was just trying to put it in any gap, so I went to LCF and got the base hit to get to the 5-run rule. In my second at bat, I saw that the RF was playing me in RCF, so I tried to go down the line. Unfortunately, the runners ahead of me were waiting for the GD ball to hit the ground when it was an obvious hit off the bat. Thankfully Doug cleaned us up after me. In my third at bat, the RF moved over again, so I tried to go RCF, but the ball went off the end of the bat and I blooped a gapper right on the RF line.

Lee's fielding:
6 fielding chances, 5 assists, and 1 put out.
I had lots of chances early in the game because they were hitting balls right at me. Three of my five assists were 5-4 FCs, two potentially double plays, though we didn't turn one. My put out was on a throw from Josh, our CFer, and I tagged out the man trying for third.

Game stats:



Season stats:


Now for the playoff situation. I don't have scores from other games since none have been posted on our site yet, but I will post them once I have them. At this point, just a few tie breakers can be determined due to point differentials. In our case, we won and the Master Batters beat the Whalers, giving us a huge edge heading into the final week. In the other division, the Pitch Slappers clinched the first playoff spot in that division by beating the Multiple Scoregasms. Hanamana pulled one out over the Bus Drivers in extra innings to make a three-way tie for second place and a huge final week.

Here are updated standings along with the tie breaker scenarios:



Tie breaker scenarios:
Hite Division:
x-Swingers vs x-Whalers
x-Master Batters vs Yellow Fever

A) If the Swingers and Master Batters win, 1) Swingers, 2) Master Batters, 3) Whalers.

B) If the Swingers and Fever win, 1) Swingers, 2) Whalers, 3) Master Batters. This is due to the Whalers having a better run differential over the Batters.

c) If the Master Batters win and Whalers win by 12 runs or more, 1) Whalers, 2) Swingers, 3) Master Batters. In the three-way tie, the Whalers would win the run differential battle over the Batters and the overall run differential over the Swingers. The Swingers win the run differential over the Batters.

d) If the Master Batters win and the Whalers win by 11 runs or fewer, 1) Swingers, 2) Whalers, 3) Master Batters. The Swingers would beat both the Whalers and Master Batters in run differential. The Whalers would beat the Batters in run differential.

e) If the Whalers win by 12 runs or more and Fever win, 1) Whalers, 2) Swingers, 3) Master Batters

f) If the Whalers win by 11 runs or fewer and Fever win, 1) Swingers, 2) Whalers, 3) Master Batters.

Cass Division:
I'll leave this one to Carp:

Daegu- 3 more riviting games in week 9 and one thing is clear, the playoff picture in the Hite division is still pretty damn unclear. Only one team was able to shore up a playoff birth when the Pitch Slappers defeated the Scoregasms. Hanamana, playing in their biggest game of the year, needed extra innings to keep their playoff hopes alive, and in doing so, has actually put themselves back in contention for the top spot. Still, the three teams under The Pitch Slappers are in the danger zone (insert Top Gun reference here), as each one could find themselves without an invitation to the June 19th Tourny.

Here is a break down of how things could play out in two weeks time.

Scenario 1 : Slappers beat Hanamana
XXX beat The Drivers

Slappers 6-4
XXX 5-5
Hanamana 4-6
The Drivers 4-6

Slappers earn round 1 bye as the top seed
XXX slides into the number two spot and will be at home to face Hanamana in the first round.
The Drivers are eliminated (under condition that Hanamana won week 9 matchup by more than 2, if they lost by 2 then it comes down to overall +/-, which hanamana holds a large edge in, if they lost by only 1 they hold the tie breaker due to a +1 run differential in games between the two.)

Scenario 2 : Slappers beat Hanamana
The Drivers beat XXX

Slappers 6-4
Drivers 5-5
XXX 4-6
Hanamana 4-6

Slappers earn round 1 bye as the top seed
The drivers park it in second place and will be at home to face XXX in the first round
Hanamana would be eliminated. (XXX holds the tiebreaker2-0)

Scenario 3 : Hanamana beats the Slappers
XXX beats the Drivers

Hanamana 5-5
XXX 5-5
Slappers 5-5
Drivers 4-6

I need a little clarification from the league Captains about this. Is it determined by overall record vs all the opponents tied? If so, all the records vs the three teams involved would be 2-2, thus making it about +/-. in that case... the Slappers would have a - score in games involving the three teams, The XXX would be at +3, and Hanamana would need to beat the Slappers by more than 5 to earn the top seed. Whatever the case, it's a freggin' crazy scenario!

The Drivers miss out.

Scenario 4 : hanamana beats the Slappers
The Drivers beat XXX

Hanamana 5-5
Drivers 5-5
Slappers 5-5
XXX 4-6

Another outrageous scenario but a little easier to decipher. Hanamana would be first due to a 3-1 record vs opponents tied. the drivers would have a 2-2 record and the Slappers would sit at 1-3.

hanamana gets the bye; Drivers host the Slappers in first round.

In short

The Slappers : Clinch first with a win, finish 3rd with a loss
XXX : Eliminated with a loss and a Hanamana win
The Drivers : Elimintated with a loss (again, only if they lost week 9 by more than 2)
Hanamana : Eliminated with a loss and a Drivers win

[StLee]

All Week 9 scores:
Swingers 18, Yellow Fever 6
Hanamana 18, Bus Drivers 15 - 8 innings
Master Batters 17, Whalers 15
Pitch Slappers 14, Multiple Scoregasms 12

Next Monday is the Korean Memorial Day. Because of the holiday and three-day travel weekend, we will play the final regular season game in two weeks on June 12.

[StLee]

We backed in to a division title, which doesn't make things feel like we accomplished much. After getting off to such a hot start, we cruised through the end of the season. Thankfully, we had a big enough advantage to earn ourselves a top spot in the playoffs. At 7-3, we finished in a three-way tie for first place in our division but beat both the Whalers and Master Batters by head-to-head run differentials.

In our tenth and final regular season game, we took on the Whalers who had to beat us by at least 11 runs (I mistakenly reported 12 runs, but was mistaken). The final score was 14-9 in favor of the Whalers, so we won the tie breaker.

In the top of the first, we scored two runs, but they answered with three. We tied it in the second at 3-3. In the third, we scored four runs, but they came back with five of their own to take an 8-7 lead. Neither team scored in the fourth and the Whalers got four in the fifth and two in the sixth to take a 14-7 lead. We got two in the ninth for the final 14-9 count.

Line up:
1 - Tyler - SS
2 - Josh - CF
3 - Shawn - RF
4 - Frank - LF
5 - Mitch - 2B
6 - Mary Kay - LROV
7 - Mike - RROV/2B
8 - Lee - 3B
9 - Doug - 1B
10 - Lia - C/LROV
11 - Chris - 1B/2B
12 - Daniel - RROV
13 - Ariella - C

Top 1st inning:
Tyler - Fly out, 7
Josh - Home run
Shawn - Fly out, 8
Frank - Home run
Mitch - Single
Mary Kay - Fly out, RROV

2nd inning: Trailing 3-2
Mike - Fly out, 7
Lee - Single
Doug - Double, Lee to 3rd
Lia - RBI Fielder's choice, 6-3
Chris - Ground out, 6-3

3rd inning: Tied 3-3
Daniel - Double
Ariella - Ground out, 4-3; Daniel to 3rd
Tyler - RBI single
Josh - 2-run HR
Shawn - Double
Frank - Ground out, 4-3; Shawn to 3rd
Mitch - RBI single
Mary Kay - Ground out, 6-3

4th inning: Trailing 8-7
Mike - Line out, 6
Lee - Fly out, 9 (this ended an 8-straight at bats hitting streak)
Doug - Fly out, 8

5th inning: Trailing 8-7
Lia - Ground out, 6-3
Chris - Single
Daniel - Line out, 5; Double play 5-3 (Chris didn't tag)

6th inning: Trailing 12-7
Ariella - Ground out, 6-3
Tyler - Fly out, 7
Josh - Double, Advanced to 3rd on error
Shawn - Fly out, 9

7th inning: Trailing 14-7
Frank - Double
Mitch - RBI double; scored on error
Mary Kay - Strike out
Mike - Fly out, 9
Lee - Ground out, 5-3

Lee's batting:
1 for 3, R

Lee's fielding:
Atrocious! I had my worst game sever in my career of baseball/softball. In the game I had two assists and FOUR errors. One of those was probably not my error (a poor throw from the outfield, but since it got past me, allowing two runs to score, I blame myself). Based on my errors, the Whalers scored six runs they shouldn't have, meaning the difference between defeat and victory.





My final regular season stats were pretty good, minus my terrible defensive performance in the final game that more than double my errors total all season. Here is my game-by-game Excel:


On the season, I finished third on the team in batting average, tied for third in total bases, fifth in hits, and tied for third in extra base hits.

For the playoffs this coming Sunday (I am REALLY late in posting this), the seeds will be as follows:
Hite Division
1) Swingers (bye)
2) Whalers vs 3) Master Batters
4) Yellow Fever (eliminated)

Cass Division
1) Pitch Slappers (bye)
2) Bus Drivers vs 3) Multiple Scoregasms
4) Hanamana (eliminated)

None of the opposing coaches posted their scores on their websites, so I know these as the results:
Master Batters beat Yellow Fever
Pitch Slappers beat Hanamana
Bus Drivers beat Multiple Scoregasms

[StLee]

CHAMPIONS!

I'll post game recaps and stats later, but we did it!

For the tournament, I don't know all scores, but here are the results:

First round:
Multiple Scoregasms over Bus Drivers
Master Batters over Whalers

Semifinals:
Swingers 14, Master Batters 0 (first ever shut out in Daegu Softball history!)
Pitch Slappers over Multiple Scoregasms

Chamionship:
Swingers 14, Pitch Slappers 5
Other than the 5th inning when we had a few defensive lapses and gave up four unearned runs, we held teams to one total run in 14 innings. That's some amazing stats for softball!

[StLee]

A couple of pictures of the author holding the champions cup:

[StLee]

The winning team:



The opposing coaches' love for the winning coach:

[StLee]

I posted earlier that we pulled off the championship. Here are the game logs and my personal performances, including final game and season statistics:

In the semifinal game, we took on the Master Batters who pulled off a win over the Whalers in the first round. This game was never a match for us, though, as we got up early and held the Batters to FOUR hits (I thought it was three, but I was later corrected) the entire game.

We were the home team and scored two runs in the bottom of the first. We tacked on the maximum five in the second. We got two more in the third for a 9-0 advantage. We finished the scoring in the fifth by again getting five runs for a 14-0 final.

Line up:
1 - Tyler - SS
2 - Josh - CF
3 - Shawn - RF
4 - Frank - LF
5 - Mitch - 2B
6 - Mary Kay - RROV/LROV
7 - Mike - LROV
8 - Lee - 3B
9 - Doug - 1B
10 - Lia - C/LROV
11 - Chris - 1B/2B
12 - Daniel - RROV
13 - Ariella - C

Bottom 1st inning: 0-0
Tyler - Home run
Josh - Ground out, 6-3
Shawn - GO, 3U
Frank - Double
Mitch - RBI single
Mary Kay - FC, 6U

Bottom 2nd inning: Leading 2-0
Mike - Single
Lee - Single, Mike out at 3rd
Doug - Single, Lee to 3rd
Lia - RBI single
Chris - Infield single
Daniel - RBI single
Ariella - RBI infield single
Tyler - Pop out, 6
Josh - 2-RBI double

Bottom 3rd inning: Leading 7-0
Shawn - Fly out, 8
Frank - Triple
Mitch - RBI triple
Mary Kay - RBI single
Mike - Fly out, 9
Lee - Single
Doug - Single
Lia - FC, 5U

Bottom 4th inning: Leading 9-0
Chris - FO, 8
Daniel - Single
Ariella - FC, 4-6
Tyler - PO, 6

Bottom 5th inning: Leading 9-0
Josh - Home run
Shawn - Home run
Frank - Single
Mitch - Infield single
Mary Kay - Single
Mike - 2-RBI single
Lee - RBI single

Bottom 6th inning: Leading 14-0
Doug - Fly out, 7
Lia - Ground out, 5-3
Chris - FO, 8

7th inning: No at bats (home team)

Lee's batting: 3 for 3, R, RBI
I was not trying to kill the ball at all. Instead, I looked for the holes they gave me (all on the right side) and put the ball right where I wanted to.

Lee's fielding: Nothing.
Despite the shut out, I didn't have much of a chance to contribute in what was a solid day of easy fly outs and occasional grounders to Tyler at SS. One person hit a single down the line that I had no chance of getting. The other possible opportunity was on a long run for a foul ball that I just couldn't quite get to.

[StLee]

In the championship game, we again dominated the opponent, with this game never being in doubt. I drove a few of the players on the Pitch Slappers to and from the game on the day, including Bill the coach (off to the side on the coaches picture in the Dolphins hat). I told him going into the tournament that I would be shocked if his team didn't make the final, but I thought my division's top three teams could all take his team in the final. I didn't think, however, that team could be mine and that we could be so dominant.

In the first inning, the Pitch Slappers scored their only legitimate run on the day, but we answered with four. Neither team scored in the second, but we added the maximum five in the third for a 9-1 advantage. We got three more in the fourth to go up 12-1. In the sixth, they scored four runs thanks in part to some terrible defensive miscues (on one play, Mike dropped an easy fly ball and then made up for it by throwing the ball 30 feet over home plate to allow three runs to score with two outs). We answered with two in the bottom of the sixth for the final count of 14-5.

Line up:
1 - Tyler - SS
2 - Josh - CF
3 - Shawn - RF
4 - Frank - LF
5 - Mitch - 2B
6 - Mary Kay - LROV
7 - Mike - RROV
8 - Lee - 3B
9 - Doug - 1B
10 - Lia - C/LROV
11 - Chris - 1B/2B
12 - Daniel - RROV
13 - Ariella - C

Bottom 1st inning: Trailing 1-0
Tyler - Double
Josh - GO, 3U; Tyler to 3rd
Shawn - RBI single
Frank - Double
Mitch - 3-run HR
Mary Kay - Single
Mike - LO,6
Lee - Double
Doug - FO, 8

2nd inning: Leading 4-1
Lia - Single
Chris - FC, 4-6
Daniel - Foul out, 2
Ariella - FO, 7

3rd inning: Leading 4-1
Tyler - Single
Josh - Single
Shawn - 2-RBI triple
Frank - RBI single
Mitch - Single; runners advanced to 2nd and 3rd on error
Mary Kay - RBI single
Mike - RBI FC, 4-3

4th inning: Leading 9-1
Lee - Single
Doug - Single, Lee to 3rd
Lia - RBI FC, 5-4
Chris - 2-run HR
Daniel - Single
Ariella - FC, 5-4
Tyler - Single
Josh - FO, 9

5th inning: Leading 12-1
Shawn - FO, 8
Frank - GO, 4-3
Mitch - Single
Mary Kay - Strike out

6th inning: Leading 12-5
Mike - Single
Lee - Single
Doug - FO, 8; Mike to 3rd
Lia - RBI single; Lee to 3rd
Chris - RBI single
Daniel - FO, 8
Ariella - GO, 5-3

7th inning: CHAMPIONS, 14-5
No at bats

Lee's batting: 3 for 3, 2B, 2 R
Again, I just took advantage of what they gave me, but I sprayed it to every field in this game. My double was to RCF, my second hit down the line in RF, and my third hit was down the line in LF.

For the tournament, I finished 6 for 6, Only Mitch and I were perfect on the day.

Lee's defense: 6 fielding chances, 1 put out, 5 assists.
I got lots of action in the championship game. My one put out was a run from 3B to near home plate on a foul ball. I was surprised I got to it in time, but I did and snowconed the ball for the out. The assists were all on 5-3 ground outs, including a couple of their speedier runners.

[StLee]

I haven't seen a more solid all-around team than what we had in 2011. Last season, I thought the Master Batters were by far the most talented team in the league, but they choked in the championship, losing to the Bus Drivers by a run.

This year, the talent was certainly better all around, but the Swingers were defensively dominant for most of the season and efficient offensively. And we liked each other, which made games fun and mistakes meaningless.

Here are the final stats for the season (One note: I missed a run somewhere in the regular season--we actually had 160 runs, but I don't feel like going game by game to find one measly run):



Our final softball banquet is this coming Saturday where league awards will be given. I'll let you know who won which awards as best as I can remember (there's all you can drink beer and all you can eat pizza for league members, so the banquet may be hazy). In the meantime, here are our team awards:
* Tournament MVP: Mitch 6-6, 3B, HR, 4 R, 5 RBI
* Season MVP: Josh 30-39, .769 Avg, 11 2B, 4 3B, 5 HR, 24 R, 18 RBI
* Top Rookie: Shawn 22-38, .579 Avg, 7 2B, 3B, 4 HR, 17 R, 24 RBI
* Top Female: MaryKay 17-41, .415 Avg, 14 R, 6 RBI
* Old Dog: Lee 24-36, .667 Avg, 6 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 16 R, 13 RBI
* Biggest Surprise: Daniel 15-31, .484 Avg, 2 2B, 7 R, 4 RBI, 1 Walk-off double

Old Dog goes to the best player over 30 on the team. Since Doug and I were the only players over 30, that made the award the easiest on the team for me to win!

Biggest Surprise goes to the player not expected to do much of anything but came through in the clutch. Daniel is a Brit and had never picked up a glove nor baseball bat before our first and only practice before the season. I tried to coach him up, but it was quite amusing to see him catch and throw without bending his elbows. However, he batted nearly .500 on the season and got us the win in our regular season match up against the Pitch Slappers.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Ho hum, win win win

Congrats

[StLee]

Thanks!

I want to add that I won the Gold Glove (this year presented as a yellow latex kitchen glove) for third base. So I'm now a two-time Gold Glover.