Rescheduled - Sun. May 1, 1:30pm @ SWAT

Riding a 2-game win streak, the SKIPPING NINJAS were set to play their 3rd (of 4) rescheduled rainout game against SWAT. Having taken home a close victory and tying SWAT in their 1st 2 matchups of the season, the SKIPPING NINJAS came to the field ready to play, but aware that the win today was not a certainty and the game was still up for grabs. When the umpire called a start to the game, the NINJAS, as the visiting team, sent out their offense to kick things off.

1st Inning
The SWAT pitcher started off in a slump against Kas. With 4 pitches, Kas was on base with a walk. Rachel was up next and the pitcher continued to struggle as she warmed up. The pitcher’s 1st pitch on Rachel got past the catcher and Kas stole 2nd. On the next pitch, Kas stole 3rd base when the catcher dropped the ball. The SWAT catcher was able to recover quickly and threw the ball to 3rd, trying pick her off, but the errant throw got past the 3rd baseman’s glove. Kas turned the corner and scored on the error. The pitcher returned to the rubber to complete Rachel’s at bat. The pitcher continued to struggle and walked Rachel. Erika came up next. On the 1st pitch, Erika took a swing and popped the ball up in the air. The SWAT defense made the catch for the out on Erika. It was Hylah’s turn at the plate. On the strike pitch, the catcher lost control of the ball and Rachel stole 2nd. The pitcher followed it up with a ball to even up the count. After another ball, the pitcher threw a wild pitch and Rachel made it safely to 3rd on a steal. The pitcher threw 1 more ball, bringing the count to 3-0 on Hylah. Hylah held her bat on the next pitch for 3-1. On the throw back from the catcher, Rachel gunned it for home and slid under the tag and scored. Hylah fouled 1 more off to stay alive, but, on the next pitch, Hylah took a swing and missed for a strikeout. Natalie was up next. She came out swinging and fouled off the pitcher’s 1st 2 attempts. With potentially 1 pitch left in the top of the inning, the pitcher dug deep and sent one in. This pitch was on target and Natalie took a swing, striking out, she was sent back to the dugout to end the half.

It was the SWAT offense’s turn to see if they had an answer for the SKIPPING NINJAS. Erika was set to pitch in the 1st. Erika started off slow and threw a ball on her 1st pitch. On the next pitch, the 1st batter connected and sent a grounder right up the middle. Erika reached out her glove, but, when she picked it up to make the throw, the ball fell out and the batter reached 1st. The next SWAT batter came to the plate. Erika fired the 1st pitch in and got it past the batter, who watched it go by for a strike. She followed it up with a ball. The batter took a swing at Erika’s 3rd pitch and missed and the runner safely stole 2nd base. Erika’s 4th pitch missed the mark and evened up the count as the runner advanced to 3rd on the passed ball. The batter fouled Erika’s next pitch off to stay alive. Then, a ball pitch brought up full count. On the next pitch, the batter hit a slow grounder down the 1st base line. Rebecca charged the ball and picked it up. When she turned to make the throw, 1st base was empty and the batter got on base. With Rebecca’s attention elsewhere, the runner took off toward home. Rebecca tried to throw her out, but the SWAT runner crossed the plate safely and put SWAT on the board. Kas missed the catch and the ball got away from her. So, the runner on 1st was able to make it to 2nd on the error. The next SWAT batter came out swinging and connected on Erika’s 1st pitch. Hylah missed the grab at 3rd and the batter got on base as the runner reached 3rd. The next SWAT batter came up to bat. After a ball on the 1st pitch, Erika strung 2 strike pitches together and the batter watched them go by. On the 1-2 pitch, the batter took a swing. Kas dropped the ball and with the Drop 3rd Strike rule in effect, the batter took off for 1st. However, since there was a runner occupying the bag, the batter was called out on the play as the runner on 3rd scored on the play, tying up the game. Erika returned to the rubber to face off against the next SWAT batter. Erika’s 1st pitch was a ball. The runner on 2nd took off when Kas dropped the ball. Kas recovered quickly and fired the ball at Hylah. Hylah made the catch and quickly turned to tag the runner for the out. After reaching full count, a walk on the batter put a SWAT runner back on base. The next batter came up to the plate. She watched the 1st pitch fly by for a strike. She watched another go by for a 2nd strike. She didn’t want to go down without a fight and swung at Erika’s next pitch. Unfortunately, she missed the ball and struck out, ending the inning knotted up at 2 points each.

SKIPPING NINJAS 2 – SWAT 2

2nd Inning
Rebecca was up 1st to get things started in the 2nd inning. She split the difference with the SWAT pitcher on the 1st 2 pitches. Rebecca took a swing on the next pitch and put it in play. The ground ball rolled right into the pitcher’s glove and was thrown out at 1st. Lexie was up next. After splitting the 1st 2 pitches, the pitcher lost her rhythm and waked Lexie, putting her on 1st base. Elise was up next. With a passed ball on the 1st pitch, Lexie stole 2nd base. The pitcher threw another ball across to bring the count to 2-0. On the next pitch, Elise connected and send a hard grounder straight back to the pitcher. The pitcher reached down, but couldn’t come up with it and Elise reached 1st safely as Lexie was able to get herself to 3rd. Aale’a was up next. Aale’a came out swinging and connected on the 1st pitch, sending a hard ground ball tearing through the infield that got past the 2nd baseman for a single. Lexie scored on the play, but the SWAT defense was able to get the out on Elise as she tried to advance to 3rd. Kas was up next. Also swinging on the 1st pitch, Kas sent a fly ball out into the right center field grass for a single, bringing Aale’a home. Rachel was up next. After a short battle with the pitcher and reaching full count, Rachel was hit by a pitch and got on base. Swinging on the 1st pitch, Erika, who was up after Rachel, hit a ground ball past the SWAT short stop for a single, loading the bases. The pitcher got back to the rubber as Hylah made her way to the plate. On the 1st pitch, Kas stole home and scored on a passed ball as Rachel and Erika advanced into scoring position. Hylah watched the next pitch go by for a strike. After a ball, Hylah took a swing at the 2-1 pitch and connected. She hit a fly ball deep into right center field for a triple, bringing Rachel and Erika home. Natalie was up next. She also took a swing at the pitcher’s 1st pitch and hit a ground ball past the SWAT short stop for a single, bringing Hylah across the plate. A walk on Rebecca, in her 2nd plate appearance in the inning, put SKIPPING NINJAS runners on 1st and 2nd. Lexie came up for her 2nd appearance in the inning. After taking a ball on the 1st pitch, Lexie connected and popped one up over the infield. The SWAT defense got under the ball and made the catch to end the SKIPPING NINJAS offensive half.

Trailing by 6, the SWAT offense took to the field. Erika was back at pitcher. After a ball and a strike, the 1st batter put the ball in play and sent a hard ground ball to Natalie, at short stop. Bobbling the ball on the way up, Natalie was not able to get the throw to 1st on time and the batter reached 1st safely. The next SWAT batter was up. Losing her groove, Erika threw 3 balls in a row. On the 3-0 pitch, Erika found her strike, but the batter was ready and she connected, sending a grounder down the 3rd base line. Hylah moved in and made the stop. In a very acrobatic move, Hylah quickly picked up the ball and fired the ball to Rachel, playing 2nd, to take out the lead runner. The next batter came to the plate. On Erika’s 1st pitch, the batter laid down a perfect bunt. In the scramble, Kas picked up the ball, but with no one covering 1st, she didn’t know where to throw it and the runners advanced safely. The next batter took her position at the plate. Erika missed on her 1st pitch. Then the batter fouled the next one off to even up the count. Swinging and missing Erika’s next 2 pitches, the batter struck out and was sent packing for the 2nd out of the inning. The next SWAT batter came out with determination. After taking the 1st pitch, she started swinging aggressively. She took a cut and missed Erika’s 2nd pitch. Then, she fouled the next one off before taking a ball. She fouled one more to stay alive before taking another ball. The runners stole their way into scoring position on the passed ball. On the 2-2 pitch, the batter took a swing. She missed the ball and struck out, sending the game into the 3rd inning.

SKIPPING NINJAS 8 – SWAT 2

3rd Inning
Having preserved the 6 point lead, Elise was set to kick things off in the 3rd. After splitting the difference with the SWAT pitcher on the 1st 2 pitches, Elise alternated balls and swinging strikes until she struck out. Aale’a came out swinging aggressively and fouled off the SWAT pitcher’s 1st 2 pitches. On the 3rd pitch, Aale’a connected and sent a hard ground ball through the infield, out into the left field grass for a single. Back at the top of the lineup, Kas fouled a couple of pitches off as well, with a ball thrown in for good measure. On the 1-2 pitch, Kas took a swing and struck out for the 2nd out. Rachel was up next. She took a cut on the 1st pitch and put the ball in play. On the bounce, the pitcher was able to grab the ball and make the easy throw to 1st for the 3rd out on Rachel, making quick work of the SKIPPING NINJAS offense in the 3rd.

Hylah was selected to lead the SKIPPING NINJAS defense in the 3rd inning. Energized by their defensive performance and trying to remedy the 6 point deficit, the SWAT offense came out swinging. The 1st batter fouled off Hylah’s 1st pitch. The batter connected on the 2nd pitch, popping it up over the infield. Waving everyone off, Hylah moved in and made the catch for the out. Hylah lost her touch on the next batter and, on 4 pitches, put a SWAT runner on base with a walk. The next batter came to the plate and fouled off Hylah’s 1st pitch. She watched one go by for a strike and the runner advanced to 2nd on a steal. The batter watched one more go by and the umpire ruled it another strike. On Hylah’s next pitch, the batter held her bat, thinking that it was off the mark, but the umpire pumped her fists to signal the strike out and the batter was sent back to the dugout empty handed. Hylah started to struggle against the next SWAT batter. On the 1st pitch, the runner on 2nd stole 3rd base on a passed ball. Hylah couldn’t find her strike pitch and, with the next 3 pitches, walked the batter, putting SWAT runners on 1st and 3rd. Hylah continued her skid against the next batter. On the 1st pitch, the ball got away from Kas and the runner on 3rd made it home on a steal as the other runner reached 2nd safely. Hylah alternated pitches until she reached full count. On the next pitch, the batter hit the ball and sent a grounder straight back to Hylah. On the bounce, Hylah grabbed the ball and made the easy throw to 1st for the 3rd out, holding SWAT to 1 point in the inning.

SKIPPING NINJAS 8 – SWAT 3

4th Inning
At the top of the 4th, the SKIPPING NINJAS were riding a comfortable 5 point lead, but SWAT was starting to play more aggressively and, although they were being held by the SKIPPING NINJAS defense, they managed to squeeze a few runs through and couldn’t be counted out just yet. Erika came to the plate 1st. After taking a ball on the 1st pitch, Erika took a swing and missed to even up the count at 1-1. Erika watched the next pitch go by for a strike. After a ball brought the count to 2-2, Erika took a swing and missed the SWAT pitcher’s next pitch for the strike out. Hylah was up next. She connected on the 1st pitch and sent a hard grounder through the infield out into the left field grass for a single. With a SKIPPING NINJAS runner on 1st, Natalie came up to the plate. After taking 2 balls, Natalie laid down a perfect bunt and took off for 1st. The catcher got up and picked up the ball. She threw the ball to 2nd to try to take Hylah out, but she overthrew the SWAT 2nd baseman and Hylah was able to reach 3rd on the error while Natalie held up at 1st. Rebecca was up next. On the 1st pitch, Natalie stole 2nd base on a passed ball. The pitcher missed the mark on her next pitch, bringing up 2-0. Rebecca took a swing at the next pitch and popped it up. The SWAT defense was ready and made the catch for the 2nd out. With 2 outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd, Lexie came up to bat. She took a ball on the 1st pitch. On the next pitch, Lexie got a hit and sent a hard ground ball toward the short stop. The short stop picked up the ball and made the throw to 1st. On the throw, the runners took off. Lexie beat the throw to 1st and got on base as Hylah and Natalie crossed the plate and reached 3rd respectively. Elise was up next. With 2 runners on, Elise started to swing aggressively to keep the runners moving. She hit the 1st pitch into foul territory for strike 1. She took a swing at the next pitch and missed for strike 2. On the next pitch, Elise held her bat, but the pitch was on the mark and she struck out.

Hylah was back to pitch in the 4th. Sensing their time running short, the SWAT offense started swinging. The 1st batter took a swing at Hylah’s 1st pitch. She sent a low fly ball out into left field that hit the ground in front of Elise for a single. Rattled, Hylah started to struggle quickly on the next batter. After throwing a ball on the 1st pitch, Hylah lost control of the next pitch and it got past Kas, allowing the runner to steal 2nd base on the passed ball. Counting on another ball pitch, the batter held her bat on the next pitch, but the ball found its mark and the batter collected a strike. A passed ball on Hylah’s next pitch allowed the runner to steal 3rd safely. The SWAT batter popped up Hylah’s next pitch. The ball drifted high above the infield toward 2nd base. Rachel positioned herself under the ball, reached out her glove and made the catch for the 1st out. Tagging up, the runner on 3rd rolled the dice and left for home. Rachel threw the ball to Kas. Kas moved in front of the plate to make the catch. She caught the ball and turned to apply the tag on the runner, but the runner slid and avoided it and was able to score. The next batter came up to the plate. She took a ball on the 1st pitch. On the next pitch, the batter popped one up toward left center field. Natalie backed up and reached out her glove. At the last second, Natalie readjusted and spun herself around. Amazingly, she was able to make the off-balance catch for the 2nd out. With 2 outs, the next batter came up to bat. She also took a ball on the 1st pitch. She connected on the next pitch. This time, she popped it up over the 1st base side of the field and the ball drifted toward foul territory. Lexie moved off of the bag and positioned herself near the fence in front of the SKIPPING NINJAS dugout. She reached out her glove and made the catch for the 3rd out and SWAT was forced to go back to the drawing board.

SKIPPING NINJAS 9 – SWAT 4

5th Inning
Leading by 5 and the clock ticking on the game, the SKIPPING NINJAS need to pull away to solidify the victory. Aale’a was up 1st. Aale’a fouled of the SWAT pitcher’s 1st pitch. She connected on the 2nd, but popped it up. The pitcher was able to get under it for the out. Kas came out swinging. She connected on the pitcher’s 1st pitch sending a fly ball into deep right field for a triple. With a runner on 3rd, the SWAT pitcher returned to the rubber to face off against Rachel. On the 1st pitch, Rachel laid down a perfect bunt to try to give Kas an opening. The pitcher crashed to pick up the ball as Kas got ready to run home. The pitcher picked up the ball and turned to face Kas and ran her back to 3rd, giving Rachel time to reach 1st base. Erika was up next. Erika took the 1st pitch for a strike and Rachel stole 2nd as the defense decided to protect home from a possible steal from Kas. After a ball on the next pitch evened the count up, Erika swung the bat and connected, sending a ground ball back to the pitcher. When the pitcher threw to 1st for the out on Erika, Kas took off for home. The SWAT 1st baseman threw the ball home, and Kas slid under the tag and scored as Rachel reached 3rd safely. Hylah was up next. After taking a ball on the 1st pitch, Hylah hit a hard grounder past the SWAT 3rd baseman for a single and Rachel took off. By the time the defense recovered, Rachel scored and Hylah reached 1st. Natalie came to the plate next. Keeping the SWAT defense on their heels, Natalie swung at the 1st pitch and sent a hard ground ball to the SWAT short stop. With the runners moving, the short stop came up and hesitated while she decided where to throw the ball. That split-second was all the time Hylah and Natalie needed to advance safely. Rebecca was up next and, following this inning’s trend of the NINJAS swinging early, took a poke at the 1st pitch and popped it up over the infield. The SWAT 1st baseman got under the ball for the catch and the 3rd out.

Lexie was selected to take over pitching duties in the 5th. Lexie got off to a good start against the 1st SWAT batter. The batter fouled off Lexie’s 1st pitch. After a ball, the batter watched the next pitch fly by for a strike. Then, she fouled off another pitch to stay alive. Lexie threw 2 balls in a row to fill up the count. On the next pitch, the batter took a swing and missed. With the strike out, Lexie notched the 1st out off the inning. Lexie got back to work against the next SWAT batter. On fire, Lexie threw heat on the 1st pitch. The batter took a swing and missed for strike 1. The batter fouled the next pitch off and got behind in the count. On the 0-2 pitch, Lexie fired another good pitch in. The batter took a swing and missed. With the 2nd strike out in a row, Lexie was unstoppable. The next batter came up to the plate. Lexie’s 1st pitch missed the mark for a ball. The batter swung at Lexie’s next 2 pitches for strikes 1 and 2. After missing on the next 2 pitches, the next one was on target and the batter hit it into foul territory. At full count, Lexie fired one in and it was a strike pitch. The batter stepped forward and released her bat. The bat came around and barely missed the pitch as it flew through the strike zone into Kas’s glove. Strike 3! Lexie put on a pitching clinic in the 5th inning, getting 3 strikeouts in a row and making quick work of the SWAT offense.

SKIPPING NINJAS 11 – SWAT 4

6th Inning
Coming off of a fantastic pitching performance, Lexie was up 1st in the 6th. Lexie came out swinging aggressively. Lexie swung at the 1st pitch and missed. She fouled off the next one and got behind early. On the 0-2 pitch, the pitcher threw a wild pitch for a ball. Lexie fouled one more off to stay alive, but missed on the next pitch for a strikeout. Elise was up next. The SWAT pitcher had trouble finding her strike and a walk on Elise put a SKIPPING NINJAS runner on base. Aale’a was up next. In typical fashion, Aale’a swung aggressively and hit the 1st pitch into foul territory. After a ball pitch, Aale’a watched a strike pitch fly by. She fouled off 1 more before missing on the next pitch, giving up the 2nd out of the inning. With Elise still on 1st base, Kas came up to the plate. With 2 outs, Elise needed to make her way to 3rd if the SKIPPING NINJAS were to add to their lead. On the 1st pitch on Kas took a swing and missed. Elise took off toward 2nd on a steal. The catcher popped up and threw to 2nd, but the 2nd baseman wasn’t able to gain control of the ball and Elise reached 3rd on the error. On the next pitch, Kas hit a grounder down the 1st base line and the SWAT 1st baseman charged the ball. She picked it up and strolled over to put her foot on the bag for the 3rd out.

We were notified by the umpire that game time had elapsed and this would be the final at bat of the game. Knowing that it was do or die time, the SWAT offense needed to have a big inning in order to spoil the victory for the SKIPPING NINJAS. Lexie was brought back in to close the show. Lexie threw her 1st pitch against the 1st batter. It was off the mark and the batter held her bat for a ball. The 2nd pitch was good and the batter took a swing and sent a grounder down the 3rd base line. Hylah picked up the ball and made the throw to 1st for the out. Lexie started off strong against the next SWAT batter. The batter watched Lexie’s 1st 2 pitches go by for strikes 1 and 2. The next pitch was a ball and the batter fouled off the follow-up to stay alive. On the next pitch, the batter hit a slow roller up the 1st base side of the infield. Both Rachel and Rebecca moved in to pick up the grounder, but both backed off at the same time. Recovering, Rachel picked up the ball and started to head toward 1st. At the last second, she tossed the ball to Rebecca and the ball hit the ground. The batter reached 1st safely on the error. Lexie started to struggle on the next batter. After 5 pitches, the batter walked, but not before the runner was able to steal her way to 3rd. The next batter took her position at the plate. On the 1st pitch, the batter connected, but the ball hit the ground and died right in front of home plate like a perfect bunt. Kas got up and collected the ball, but, with a runner on 3rd and the other runners on the move, she decided to hold the ball and the batter reached 1st safely, loading the bases for SWAT. This energized the SWAT offense. The next batter came to the plate and battled Lexie until reaching full count. On the next pitch, the batter hit the ball toward Natalie, playing short stop. Natalie, unsure of where to go with the ball, hesitated before throwing the ball to 1st and it was all the time the SWAT runners needed to advance safely and score. The next batter came up to bat. After taking a strike on Lexie’s 1st pitch, she put the ball in play and sent a hard grounder toward Rachel, playing 2nd base. Rachel reached out her glove, but couldn’t reach the ball and the runners advanced again and brought 1 more run in. A little rattled by the SWAT surge, Lexie walked the next batter and 1 more SWAT runner crossed the plate and the bases stayed loaded as the next batter came up to bat. Digging deep, Lexie started to string strike pitches together. The batter swung at the 1st 2 pitches and missed for strikes 1 and 2. She connected on the next pitch and sent a grounder toward Natalie. She picked up the ball and threw to 1st for the out, but the runners advanced and 1 more run scored. With 2 down, the game tying run came up to bat. The SKIPPING NINJAS defense had to tighten up here to take home the win. Lexie continued to throw strikes. The batter knew that she had to make something happen. So, she started swinging. She hit Lexie’s 1st 2 pitches into foul territory. After a ball, the batter fouled one off to stay alive. Lexie got back to the rubber to throw what could potentially be the last pitch of the game. She set her feet and presented the ball as the batter dug her feet into the dirt and gripped her bat. Lexie stepped forward and released the ball. The batter took a step toward Lexie and released her swing. The ball flew toward Kas’s glove and it was a good pitch. The batter brought the bat down to meet the ball and as the ball flew through the strike zone, the bat barely missed it and it hit Kas’s glove. Kas locked the ball down. The umpire called the strikeout, ending the game with the SKIPPING NINJAS in the lead, making it 3 wins in a row.

Final Score
SKIPPING NINJAS 11 – SWAT 8

Game Ball
The SKIPPING NINJAS put on a great performance in this game, making it very difficult to hand out the game ball. Because of this, it was decided that an unprecedented 3 game balls would be handed out for this game. It’s worth mentioning that the entire team worked great together and put a very effective defense on the field. Not to mention spectacular performances by all 3 of the pitchers in the game. Erika did a great job holding SWAT at bay for 3 innings and Lexie had an amazing 6th inning. For pitching, a ball was awarded to Erika. Aale’a was awarded the 2nd game ball due to her multiple hits for singles and RBIs in the game. And finally, for her great pitching, defense at 3rd and a big hit for a triple, with 2 RBIs in the 2nd, Hylah was awarded the final game ball. Great job ladies! And great job NINJAS – apologies to the players that were overlooked. I wish I could have given you all a game ball for such a great game.