Castleknock refuse to go quietly into the night.

By Peter Purves.

BatPak 16 - 15 Castleknock Bearcats

BatPak have only one game remaining in the 2010 league. Win it and they will have retained the league title for the 2^nd year running, but before we could get to that, other results dependant, winner takes all decider against Oddsox Green we had to deal with the Castleknock Bearcats in our penultimate game.

We faced the newly promoted Cats in Week 1 and although we came out with a 10 run win only a ‘blistering 7^th’ helped us to that result. So we were under no illusions going into the return leg that the opposition would be a pushover. Other teams during the year had been put under pressure by the solid hitting Bearcats and only a costly Walkover had them propping up the table.

As per our suspicions they didn’t waste any time hitting the gaps and took the lead straight away. 3 hits in a row and 2 errors gave the visitors a 3 nil lead. BatPak could only muster one in the bottom half and after the Bearcats added 2 more runs they shut us out going into the 3^rd inning.

JBs legs gave up on him so Pete came in at 3B and after Kieran was ploughed through by a She-Cat while applying the tag at Home plate, he declared to Emma, ‘I can see three Drews’. Nobody wants to see one let alone three, so the sympathetic Captain told Kieran to go sit down and try to forget about Drew. Tom came in for Kieran and didn’t even see Drew, so all was well.

Mercifully the hits started to come for the Pak, who had spent a lot of time grounding out to the infield and not putting pressure on the opposition. We closed the gap in the 3^rd inning but the Bearcats to their credit persisted and took back the lead. After some long HRs from Ben and Drew along with singles from Elaine, Annie and Emma we were 11-10 down after 4.

There was a twinge of worry on the sideline as our defence had lapsed for the first few innings and this was where we needed it most, in the final innings.  In the Top of the 6^th it reared its stingy head. After two outs in a row to LF, the Castleknock pitcher Lenny stood up and hit the ball hard up the middle. Drew must have had the confidence in Ben at SS as he didn’t bother moving his glove. It looked like it was past Ben but his leaning/diving snag followed by roll and tuck set him up nicely to throw the ball from his ass for a sparkly out.

Niall had led off the 5^th and was caught out by the right fielder, who had hoovered most of the balls sent her way. Tom then sent one over CF for a HR, Ben followed and hit a HR to RF, 2 runs back. After Elaine ‘Backwards K’ Kiely was out Drew came to the plate and fouled one off, then hit a HR of his own, Emma singled and Dave hit a bomb to deep center to bring in two more runs. Finally we were ahead and we took a 4 run lead into the 6^th and carried it on to the 7^th. Surely Castleknock were done!?!

No was the answer. 4 hits in a row and 1 more after a couple of outs and they had tied the game. They produced a lot of clutch hits during the game and this final inning statement was a threatening message.

In the last few weeks BatPak have been on the end of 1 run losses when, as the away team we gave up the winning runs in the bottom of the last. It was noted before that any team worth their salt should be able to score 1 run with the top of the order coming up. We had 2, 3, 4 to bat and they didn’t disappoint. Elaines patience paid off and she walked, Drew doubled to CR putting the winning run 60ft away. So captain fantastic came to the plate. Already batting .750 on the night we were all confident she would win the game for us. The outfield played in, for the play at home and Emma watched 2 strikes go by – then  she creamed one over LF for a walk off single. She wanted more but Drew was slow around 2^nd and Elaine had already crossed home for the win.

In an unfortunate subplot, Castleknock were relegated as a result of the loss. Clearly they are well able to compete in the Premier Division and should be right back up next year. We look forward to playing them again soon.

Male MVP is Dave who went.750 with 3 HRs

Female MVP is to be corrected. (Emma who batted  .800 and drove in the winning run. - Apologies dear beloved, I read the scoreline wrong you only batted .600)

Sooooo, tied for the Female MVP are Emma who hit .600 and batted in the winning run and Elaine who hit .750 and was the winning run. Special mention to Annie who threw out a runner from CL.

Other LLPD Week 13 Results;

Marlay Martyrs 7 - 6 Blazzers
Sluggers post Oddsox Green
Dodder Dynamoes 17 - 12 Renegades Red