'Pak say 'sayonara' to Marlay Park with Maximum Points.

By Dave Lee Travis, the Hairy Cornflake.

Sluggers 2 - 20 BatPak

Following Paraguay’s victory after penalties in the World Cup 1/16, Sluggers Softball Club aimed to put some pride back into their country’s sporting sportsmen and women by taking the prized scalp of BatPak, having frustrated the League Champions several times in the past two seasons. BatPak had narrowly avoided defeat last week against Marlay at the same venue and Sluggers knew they had an opportunity to capitalise.

BatPak lined up with the same starting line-up as Week 7, with Niall Byrne retaining his place at 3B only 12 hours before his flight to Barcelona for a mid-season break.  With Ben Emerson and Tom Ryan still on the DL, a shift in the batting order elevating Drew Hennessy to 3 and Anne Kiely to 4 with Dave Pepper down at his more comfortable number 5 spot. Paddy Meehan joined the squad from DB Packers.  Some of the Sluggers players wore their brand new team strip, others choosing to leave the midge-ridden Marlay Park rather than run the risk of leaving with a half-eaten piece of cloth.  No musical entertainment this week following Green Day’s impromptu performance last week, the players instead having to drown out loud shouts of “got’im”, “catch it!” and “it’s a six, no it’s a four” from the neighbouring cricket pitch.

BatPak started strongly with 6 hits and 5 runs in the first inning, including two home runs from the Drew Hennessy and Jon Barry.  Sluggers were unable to respond, and were no match for BatPak’s hitting as they added a further four runs in the second and four in the third inning.  Some [deliberate] right-field hitting, due to the strong catching ability of the Sluggers outfield saw the right-fielder stand in foul territory once or twice fearful of another Banana shot from the bat of Drew or Anne.  Acrobatic moment of the match came when Peter Mullen, BatPak’s right- centre, charged a shallow Sluggers’ pop-up only to stop two yards from where the ball was about to land.  With a standing dive that would make Brian Boitano proud he failed to reach the ball, however the confusion in the Sluggers ranks meant that Mullen had time to get to his knees and make the easy throw to second base for the out.  Kieran Browne, catcher, obviously inspired by Mullen’s diving prowess, attempted a move of his own when pushed aggressively to turn third and head for home by the base coach, he slid into the home plate with a symmetrical double knee glide, a move rarely seen in any sport let alone softball.  Alas Browne was tagged out following a relay from left-field via third-base, a delight to watch.  Something even more rare however was Dave Pepper achieving to correctly slide into second, thus avoiding a potential double-play.  The fact that the smallest person in Irish Softball was playing second-base somewhat demeaned this action.

More runs for BatPak in the fourth with six runs from seven hits.  The Sluggers left-field and left-centre had however been given plenty of catches (7), with Jon Barry completing a hat-trick of inning ending fly-outs with the score 19-0 at the half-way stage.  Paddy Meehan replaced Niall Byrne who disappeared in his flip-flops quicker than a plate of Peus de Porc Estofat served in Cataluña, Hayley Hennessy replaced Julie Walsh in right-field while Lorna Mullen replaced the Captain, playing at first with Elaine Kiely moving to second.  The teams traded four at-bats without scoring, and unfortunately for the Sluggers the damage had been done in the first couple of innings.  They finally got on the score board with a run at the bottom of the sixth, and finished the game with another in the bottom of the seventh.

BatPak in the field were again strong, with only one error that I can recall.  Drew Hennessy was energetic and selective with his pitching, a couple of double plays were made with ease and the outfield let nothing past them.  At the plate, several players deserve mention.  Peter Mullen and Elaine Kiely who batted first and second both had eight consecutive hits in the first four innings, scoring each time.  Anne Kiely kept the momentum from last week’s game, shaking off a first inning fly-out to hit four in a row, and Niall Byrne hit 3/3 before hot-footing it to Spain.  One final mention to Paddy to thank him for getting to the game at such short notice.  That's what TwoPak is all about!!

The Leinster League Premier Division takes a week’s break next week as our National Team fight out the European Championships in Prague.  We wish Julie Walsh and the rest of the squad the best of luck in the tournament.

BatPak MVPs;

Male - TBC
Female - TBC

Other LLPD Week 8 Results;

Renegades Red  TBC Castleknock Bearcats
Marlay Martyrs 5 - 19 Oddsox Greens
Dodder Dynamoes 26 - 5 Blazzers