Author: Joe

I’m not sure exactly what’s been going on the past 2 weeks, but it’s been very tough to field a roster. This week John B. alerted me that he would be unable to play. While a huge loss for the team, John of all our players really could use a week off to get his body back together. So in a way I was a little glad.

However then I found out that Sean would be out too due to work obligations. Down to four guys now, that meant I’d have to start working the phones to find a guy to fill in for the week. Luckily dodgeball veteran and long time friend Jared “The Catch” Miller was able to fill in giving us our five guys for the week.

Our girls however were another story. With six girls on the roster I always was concerned with getting everyone enough playing time, but lately I’ve been just hoping to have the minimum three to field a team. Meghan had work obligations and would be out. Lauren injured her shoulder and even though she offered her services, upon seeing her in person there was no way I was going to let her play and risk further injury. Megan too was unable to play and Steph had to skip to get a lost phone.

Down to two girls, steady Irena and Caitlin who actually was hoping to be used sparingly coping with injuries is what we took the field with and I couldn’t of asked for a better two to go into this muddy, messy game with.

Right before kickoff, the captain of Vicious and Delicious had similar roster issues and was only able to field seven players himself. So our deficit wouldn’t be as bad as it could have been. He also insisted that we waive the less than three girls in the field penalty that would have costed us an out whenever our missing third girl would have batted.

The game got off to a fast start. Having Kevin and John K. back this week was huge for us. They really bring so much to our defense. Kevin did make a fine heads up play tagging a runner who ventured off of second base, but the ref deemed the play dead and since the opposing team didn’t enforce the girl penalty mentioned earlier, I really couldn’t argue the call. It did result in three runs that inning for Vicious and Delicious.

We would quickly answer back with three runs of our own. Dustin, John K. myself and Caitlin really kicked well all game and would go on to provide the majority of our offense on the day. We each went 4-5 apiece and scored and knocked in many runs.

I’ve been kicking well as of late and it does feel nice. When I’m up to bat I know that my teammates know as well and I do like that feeling. Hopefully I can keep it up with the playoffs coming in two weeks.

Honey Badger of the Week Caitlin has also been kicking very well as of late too, and it’s been a major boon to the team to get production from her later in the lineup. Jared really gave us a gutsy effort too. With an early injury he managed to play a solid first base for us despite the discomfort and though we was walking the bases like an old man, did his best to help the team out.

After the first inning, we clamped down in the field. Giving up only one more run on the day. With a very slick field and ball no catch was routine, yet we made many fine plays in the field. The amount of ground the Kevin and John K. were able to cover was amazing. They always come to play and it’s appreciated. Dustin too say an increase in action in left field and played great for us.

At the end of this fun game, we found ourselves back on the winning side at 11 to 4. Lot’s of fun and hoping that we can start to get players back in time for the playoffs.

Things were not looking good going into this game. It looked like we’d be without 4 of our players going into this one. Losing arguably three of our best players in the same week. Luckily John B. was able to make the game after all and he gave us hope. Sadly the losses of Kevin, John K. and Megan would leave a massive void this week. Kevin and John K. have been amazing all season and not having them would hurt us, especially defensively.

However, the Honey Badgers still clawed our way in this contest against the Banzai Executioners with a makeshift lineup. Dodgeball legend Jared “The Catch” Miller was able to fill in and did a fine job at first base for us. With a lot of of players playing in different positions in the field, there was a little confusion at times early resulting in some uncharacteristically sloppy play.

I made a horrible play in right field myself. I was determined to charge a shallow kick down but once I realized I wouldn’t catch up to it my momentum just carried me past it and the ball got behind me. Outfield 101 – NEVER let the ball get behind you. I topped it off with a horrible throw to the infield. I completely forget that the cutoff guys on the field at the time were not used to playing in the field there and when I realized that I had already begun my throw. My poor play cost us a run, not good.

A few of our players did have some excellent kicking however, keeping us in the game. Irena went an impressive 4-4 scoring 2 runs and kicking in one. Caitlin went 3-3 with a big time double on one of the better kicks I’ve seen this season along the left field line. Very impressive. In an attempt to make up for my horrible play in the field I did go 4-4 myself, hitting the open spots on the field with each kick.

Poor John B. despite a gutsy performance with some amazing fielding, I fear his injuries may’ve took a turn for the worse in this game. We really need to get him healthy, he’s been amazing all season.

Despite out best efforts, our sloppy fielding led us to lose this one 11-7. I did really enjoy playing however and it was nice to have Jared out there for a game. We really need Kevin and John K. back to get us back on track next week.