Category: Sports

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.

This was truly a classic game and one of the most exciting I’ve been fortunate enough to play in. Our opponent was the undefeated Terror Squad.

We were short several girls tonight, but did have the necessary 3 to field a proper team. One of our injured teammates did show up to support and cheer on our team even though she had to sit out this week. We’ve got a good team like that.

The Honey Badgers were the visiting team this week and batted first. Kevin lead off with a bullet to third that was caught by a tall enough third baseman. When we took the field the Terror Squad got a couple of base hits and were threatening to score. Our defense really stepped it up and managed to get out of the innig unharmed. It was great to watch.

The next inning with John K. and Sean on the bases I slipped a little on my kick and kicked on top of the ball by accident. Miraculously it only traveled a few feet and despite my terrible kick it managed to score two very big and early runs. The other team complained of a bunt attempt and carried on a little bit too much to me, but I did follow through and it was a legit kick albeit a very weak one.

The rest of the game we would score and then they would match it. There was some amazing plays by Irena all night. Making some huge catches, covering home, etc. She really put on a fielding clinic out there.

I did drop an amazing throw covering first base by John K. that would lead to a run. I was really bummed that I dropped that one. He made an amazing throw and it just bounced out of my hands.

With some solid and intense play we found ourselves up three runs in the bottom of the seventh. However the seventh inning didn’t prove to be our highlight of the night. With some very solid a precise kicking the Terror Squad found a way to answer back and tie the game with three runs of their own.

However, with two outs runners in scoring position John B. made a truly remarkable catch in left field to extend our night with extra innings. WIth a kick to shallow left John B. ran faster than I had ever seen him run and reached down to his shoe laces to make an amazing big time clutch catch. It was probably the finest play I’ve seen in two seasons of kickball.

Extra innings were tough. Both teams threatened in the eight but were unable to bring anyone home. The bottom of the ninth the Terror Squad put together several key kicks. The had the bases loaded with only one out and were able to kick in the winning run keeping on low of the ground to first. I wasn’t able to field it cleanly, but even had I done the runner of third would’ve scored any how by how long it the ball had been on the ground.

This was truly an amazing game and while a heartbreaking loss I was very proud of how hard everyone played. I couldn’t imagine a bunch I’d rather play with win or lose.

Coming off a pretty tough loss last week, the Honey Badgers we’re really hoping to get back on the winning track. Luckily this week’s opponent was the winless Gung Ho Executioners.

While the Gung Ho gang did put together several scoring rallies, we were able to kick pretty well as a team against their fielding. Are four girls playing that night; Lauren, Irena, Caitlin and Megan all had breakout performances. They were great for us and really made a big difference in the outcome of the game.

Unfortunately the most memorable moment of the night came late in the game with one of the Executioner’s girls running to first. Sean attempted to tag the bag before, but at the last second attempted to peg her to get her out as he was just a few feet too short to arrive at the bag before her.

It was a very heads up play on his part, however his throw sailed a little to high and struck her right smack on the side of her face. It was a pretty substantial strike and play had to be halted for a short time in order for her to recover. It was clearly an accident on his part with no malice and she was able to continue playing (you’re safe it struck above the shoulders).

The entire team did a great job of keeping the ball low and advancing runners all game. This really worked well for us and is a strategy that we will have to employ moving forward.

My one blunder of the game was not getting my foot on first base while making my catch. I kinda thought that I had touched it in time, but it was very close and the ref did not see me touch it. I wasn’t sure where the runner was exactly and really didn’t want to possibly collide with her and cause any injury.

All in all a very good game for the Honey Badgers. New faces making contributions and our veterans were able to try some new stuff out since we got out to an early lead.

This was our first and hopefully only bad game of the season. Though we played an overall clean game in the field, our opponent Kick Tease was just too much for us to handle on this night. They had several players who could kick the ball a great deal further than any of our previous opponents had yet in this season.

The deep kicks gave us the most trouble. There were a number of homeruns and if not for one guy tripping up on the bases rounding first, another certain homerun would have been had at all. Not only were they kicking deep, but they were also mixing up their kicks making it a challenge to adjust our defense to them at time.

Our kicking on the other hand was pretty much off as a team. While we did get a few good at bats, we just weren’t able to string any of them together to knock in more than one run. The injuries to two of our better kickers was evident, but they were troopers and did their best to play.

Despite the beating, we did have some excellent plays in the field. John K.’s throw across the diamond to John B. at first was amazing. It’s hard to make that throw and get a runner out, but he made it look almost routine. Lauren nearly turned a double play herself, and Meghan and Irena made some great catches as well around second base.

Continuing his excellent play, Kevin made some fine catches in center too. Whether we had Megan or Steph at third they both did an excellent job of not letting any kicks get by them and holding runners to no more than a single.

While this was our first tough loss, I do think that it won’t be too much of a setback. We do play solid defense and know each other very well, which will keep us in and win many games as the season goes on. We just need to get a little more consistant with out kicking and I’ve got to tweak the lineup a bit further until we find a combination that works best for us.

Week 2 had the Honey Badgers squaring off against the Average Joe’s. Being a completely new roster to the fine SJSL, I didn’t know what to expect from them. I just knew that if we could continue playing our solid team defense and timely kicking that we would have a good shot at winning.

The weather was great, much warmer and a great way to welcome 3 players to the team who were unable to participate in week 1. Returning superstar Irena, dodgeball MVP Meghan, and pre-game soccer star Megan were welcome additions to would go one to make big plays as the game played out.

The first few innings saw some solid defense in the field, with both sides feeling each other out. We were the first to score eventually knocking in 3 big runs. The following inning the Average Joe’s broke through with 2 runs as well.

Unfortunately last weeks’ Honey Badger of the Week recipient Dustin hurt his quad early in the game. When I looked to see him not walking out the field, but instead laying on the ground I knew we’d have to play the rest of the game without him. We made our adjustments in the field and marched on.

I must admit that I completely forgot that I was playing 1st base at one point and forgot to cover the bag negating an amazing throw from center from Kevin (sorry about that Kevin). Luckily it didn’t come back to cost us any runs.

The lengthier field dimensions setup more plays at the bags. There were some amazing plays by Irena, Caitlin, and Lauren around the 2nd base side. Meghan also made a pretty great shoestring catch while charging a ball from short, and John K. showed why it’s so valuable to back up a teammate making an jaw dropping catch off of a ball the bounced out of the hands of a teammate.

This back and forth defensive game eventually found us with 5 runs a-piece. Later in the game we just had a hard time stringing together kicks. There were a lot of pop-ups and runners thrown out moving on the base paths.

We moved to extra innings (a first for the Honey Badgers in kickball) where it was a strict defensive battle on both sides. Eventually the game was called a tie as time had more than expired.

John B. who also suffered a quad injury himself (seeing a pattern to our injuries?) gutted through the game and we’re really hoping he’s not going to be having too many lingering effects. As a result Sean was moved around a bit in the field and really stepped up for us. He even earned Honey Badger of the Week honors for his team efforts.

Another great game, with some impressive team play. While a win would’ve been nice, considering the injuries we had suffered a tie wasn’t too bad either.