This was a very big week for us. We had our last regular season game scheduled for 6:15 pm with a possible playoff game at 7:15 pm depending on the outcome of the regular season. If we won, we’d be the #1 seed and play the championship game the following week, a loss and we’d have to play in the playoff game later that night.
As it turned out, the biggest obstacle of the night wasn’t a kickball team but a lock. The field at 15th and Haven was locked. We don’t know why, all we know was that we were unable to legally access it for  our games.
We would later relocate to the field at 6th and Haven, but even when we got there all the fields were being used. Luckily a girls soccer practice was concluding and we were able to make use of that field. However, with all the time that had passed it meant whomever was playing in the later playoff game would be doing so in darkness.
The early game against Bait and Tackle started off pretty well for us, with a lot of early runs on both sides. However the much shorter left field really worked to their strengths. They had more guys who could clear it and get a homerun that would have either been caught in our regular field or been a double had it fallen in.
This really hurt us, as they got many of their runs in this manner. Also, I do feel that many on our team put a little too much pressure on themselves for the big game. But, you can’t fault someone for wanting to do their best.
The change in field led to some confusion in the field at times for us. We had what could’ve been a much uglier than it turned out to be collision between Kevin and Katie in right field. With numerous other occurrences as well.
In the end we wound up losing the game, meaning that we would have to play an elimination playoff game immediately after. I wasn’t concerned that we might be tired at this point, just possibly deflated from our loss. Luckily this wasn’t the case with this bunch and we approached the playoff game fresh and with a clean slate.
Jake’s is a great bunch of players, and we do enjoy playing with them a great deal. Even though I’d of preferred to of skipping this game, it was really nice to play against them one last time. We got to a nice early lead thanks to some big time kicking and solid fielding.
The first 6 innings were great. I’m really proud of how we bounced back from our previous game and put out a very solid effort. However the darkness soon settled in and Jake’s did give us a scare in their last inning.
They sure didn’t go down without a fight, and at times it seemed we might never get a second out. Eventually we did and we advanced to the SJSL kickball championship game. Very excited for the big game next week, an amazing season.