Anne Kiely held onto her 1B place, with Kieran Browne moved to 3B.  Niall was comforted when Pete named his wife Carol O'Toole in center-left.  Sean Bredin played the entire game at catcher, and we are led to believe required help walking down the stairs the following day.  Our newleywed couple Steve & Julie Trundle manned the [paper and electronic] scoring, carefully watched over by Chairman Ben Emerson who continues his recuperation.

To the game.  BatPak started slowly, giving the Kegs three easy fly-outs in the first inning, leaving Pete stranded on Third.  Kegs responded in a similar manner, scoring zero with their first at-bats.  The sun was gradually creeping toward the tree tops, making it difficult for everyone to concentrate on the pitches.  This said, the second inning brought the first runs of the game.  Dave Pepper led BatPak off with a single, but it was the husband and wife center-field (there were two on the pitch and one on the sidelines) combination that scored first following a 2RBI drive over short-stop's head from Kieran.  Sean hit a triple to right-field, with hits from Pete, JB and a walk for Anne gave 'Pak five runs.  Kegs responded with three runs, helped somewhat by two errors from the BatPak infield.  Dave found himself back at the plate at the top of the third inning, and with a triple and two doubles from Carol and Niall kept BatPak's runs ticking along.  Joanne and Kieran were both out immediately, but that famous two-Pak rallying call was made and their batters duly obliged, with Sean, Pete, Anne, JB, Emma & Dave for the second time all getting on base with hits.  BatPak added seven runs to put clear daylight between them and Kegs, who were unable to offer a response, two of the outs down to the debutant Joanne.

Niall led off the fourth, and a combination of some hard hitting and wild throwing from more than one of the Kegs' fielders allowed BatPak to extend their lead further, another two-out rally bringing in five runs, BatPak batting round the order once more.  True to form the evergreen Niall held a brief discussion with the Kegs' 3B, taking time to explain the rules of softball and the difference between a force play and a tag play.  In the field, Pete, playing at short-stop, was testing Anne's range and agility with a couple of slightly errant throws, with the first-base fielder making all but one of the catches (the one missed was five feet to the left and took with it several blades of grass as it skidded toward to river).  Kegs could manage a solitary run in return, with the score 4-16 going into the top of the fith inning.  Having touched the ball once (E5) while fielding on 3B, a clearly irritated Kieran decided that one memorable move was all that was needed to be remembered in this game.  And what a move.  Hits from Sean and Pete took him round the bases, and with the ball in the powerful arm of the Kegs' left-fielder, he decided to continue running and head for the home plate.  With a stutter, a fall to the knees and a headbutt to the catcher's shin, Kieran touched the plate with his hand to make sure BatPak marked a score in the fifth inning.  Kegs' Girl in the Pink Hat managed to clear Niall in the outfield for a triple, scoring the home team's lead-off in that inning, but a sharp piece of heads-up play from catcher Sean grabbed Pete's attention, who after making the second out turned and lined the ball back to Sean for the tag, the third out, and unfortunately for the Girl in the Pink Hat no run which otherwise had been merited.

Dave added one run in the sixth inning, with Keg's calls for a Leinster-esque comeback falling on deaf ears, leaving two runners stranded having scored two in the bottom of the same inning.  Three more BatPak runs came courtesy of Kieran (no knee-head-hand sliding required), Sean and Anne, and the stuffing was well and truly knocked out of the Kegs, with the middle order collapsing with three immediate outs.  The game ended with with BatPak victorious by 7-21.  A solid performance from the northsiders, but a tip of the cap to Kiely's Kegs who played the entire game in a great spirit, they are certainly the noisiest team I've heard in the Premier Division, all in a positive way.

Next up for BatPak is an away trip to the scene of such disappointment last season, Tymon Park, where they face the defending Champions Oddsox Green.  It is certain to be a close fought game with BatPak looking to avenge last season's result which ended BatPak's hopes of a third successive League Title.  You can be keep an eye on the events from Tymon Park by tuning into our Game Day Live Coverage from Tuesday afternoon.

Captain's MVPs
Male - Niall Byrne
Female - Joanne Tyrell

Writer's MVPs
Male - Sean Bredin
Female - Joanne Tyrell