Last night was truly an epic game for the ages, an Instant Classic. Grit was displayed on both sides, with the most unlikely of heroes saving the day!
The game pitted us against the Banzai Executioners. Winning the opening toss I elected to have our girls start things off. Scouting their girls I thought we matched up well with them and thought they could start us off with a win.
The girls took care of business and got us off to an great start. I knew they’d bring a solid effort and would give us a great shot throughout the night. Our guys then went out there and matched the girls performance. I personally felt pretty good (for a change), throwing some decent heat and hitting several targets throughout the night.
Before we knew it, the Honey Badgers were up 5 matches to 1. I made the mistake of thinking that we had this in the bag. Before we knew it, it was 5-3, then somehow 6-6. The Banzai Executioners really started to find a rhythm and had taken momentum.
I really didn’t want us to lose this one, and neither did any one else who calls themselves a Honey Badger on this night.
In must win games, the girls kept us alive with some huge victories. Meghan was simply dominant throughout the night. Throwing, catching, making intelligent plays. A nearly flawless game. Caitlin brought her usually spark of hustle and intelligence to the court as well.
Also of worthy note were the performances by Lauren as well. She has improved so much from last season and narrowly missed by the smallest margins on some of the best throws I’ve seen from her. Katie showed last night that you don’t have to necessarily throw people out to help the team. Her hustle and determination in making sure that players had ammo at all times as well as making sure that nothing could be caught by the enemy doesn’t show up in stats, but surely does in wins. Wow, Steph was on a mission herself last night too, every improving.
I would sum up our guys by pointing out that they were a true team last night. I had to practically force guys in to play at times, because everyone wanted to make sure that their teammates had gotten a chance to play. It was great to see such camaraderie and it ultimately led to us playing better as a team.
Back to the action, the matches were tied 7-7. After being up 5-1 at one point, we really needed the girls to win the next match. I let them know of it’s importance and sat back and watched them do their thing. They were amazing and made relatively short work of the match.
Up 8-7 now and it was getting rather late we needed to send 5 guys up there for what would hopefully be our last game. With the momentum shift, I really didn’t want this one to go to overtime.
Again our guys were selfless, and just wanted to do what was best for the team. I decided to sit out and our five went at it against their five. Early on we got their hardest thrower out and I knew then that we had hope. It was a true pleasure to watch both teams, as both rosters were being dwindled down.
Then somehow there were only 2 remaining, one on each team. Not only were both teams down to 1 player, but for each side it was an unlikely player. For us, it was Jared (aka The Shepherd, The Ninja). Wow, you could really feel the tension in the gym. I honestly just stared and nervously had my hands to my face at this point.
The lone Executioner had all 4 balls and was mounting an offensive. The first a strong throw which Jared had gotten out of it’s trajectory. The next a strike to Jared belly. However, on this fateful night that strike to Jared’s bellow was caught by the noble Jared himself!
The gymnasium erupted as we all celebrated with Jared on this most amazing catch to win the game! I was so excited for him and and the team!
As captain my dream is that every player has one shot at being a hero for just a moment. We’re adults now and frankly, their aren’t too enough “heroic” moment in my opinion. However, sometimes a silly game like dodgeball played amongst a great bunch of people, mixed with some high stakes drama can produce a heroic  moment for a very deserving guy.
Great game, lot’s of fun. I’d also like to note that Steve did an amazing job running the game. As a ref he had control all night long and kept things going smoothly.
The last 100 or so pages of this book were probably the most exciting I’ve read. I literally couldn’t put it down at the end and read straight through to the finish.
