Opening Day Recaps

Foxes – 6 vs. Kick me w/ your best shot – 2

From the Foxes:
THE FOXES ARE BACK. Meaner, leaner, and just as green. And also just as drunk. But this time we’re actually winning.
As the horn tolled at 6:19 (it did? Maybe because we were banished to field E, which is the equivalent of table 9 ala the Wedding Singer)… but we heard no horn. Regardless, we started the game solid with a nice homerun by Jeff “Best Lifecoach Ever” Green. A few shutout innings by both teams, and we ended the game with six points. Potentially with another homerun. As per usual, the recapper was too drunk to remember the actual plays of the game other that Dave “Overkill” Baletsa taking a free willy dive into first base for sport. MVP goes to Krystal “I’m too cute to be mean” Bishop, because she asked for it. But I’m sure she deserves it… even if only it’s to piss Jeff off.
Shenanigans continued at Sidewalk as per usual with a giant flip cup game against the FURM project (which facebook tells me DOESN’T stand for Russell Morris… really? Ok). We won. We won a lot. After that… the rest of the night is a blur for all of us. Till next week…

From KMWYBS:
Ok, so our first game was a bit of a bust. We have a plethora of excuses, which include missing some players, the rain, the cold, and most importantly, the lack of booze-drinking by some teammates who shall not be named. However, don't underestimate us. We may be a new team with mainly rookie players, but we will dominate the field after we sort out a few kinks along the way. Rookie, Jon Frasaaa (he's single, ladies), showed a lot of promise when his first ever career hit (kick) got him to third and more importantly, drove in yours truly. Co-captain, Gary Bo-vin, then showed he would sacrifice his own at bat for the betterment of the team by kicking a ball deep and high enough so that Frasaaa could tag up easily, scoring our second run. We may have had a few bobbles in the outfield, but also many good catches and outs, especially from our first base(wo)man, Lauren. We have potential, we have energy, and we certainly have flip cup skills...and we'll bring it all to next week's game.

Kickin It Old Skool won 5-4 against Oxymorons

It was a close game, but Will Sanders sealed the win by making the last out in Left Center as Oxymorons left their runners stranded on base. Leading the team on the mound was pitcher Cassie Duke and contributing to the win was John Cashman, making a sick double play at first base.

It Burns when I kick-8 vs. Team Swayze- 11

From IBWIK:
Neither wind nor rain nor dark of night could stop opening day of kickball season from happening. In the early time slot It Burns When I Kick faced off against Team Swayze in a battle of newbies vs. veterans. Forever injured Erica and Elvin (and later Kristin) took in the view from the sidelines of this quite eventful opener. Here's what they saw:
It Burns When I Kick took the field in their new “ice grey” shirts, otherwise known as “lackluster gray”, “baby elephant grey” or “overcast sky gray”. Quietly, Dave jogged out to left center field, wondering if he made the correct choice to defect from his team last year.
Team Swayze’s experience showed early on as they jumped out to 4-0 lead after 2 innings of play. A dejected Dave looks over at Field A and sees his old team circle the bases. Nethom was called in to relieve starting pitcher Lukas with a Z. An effective move as he held Team Swayze scoreless for the next couple of innings. Meanwhile, It Burns When I Kick was able to string together some kicks to tie the game at 4-4. Limited thanks to one of the few kickball veterans Nick, who was seen kicking and missing violently at strike 2 in one at bat. Lucky for him there are unorthodox categories of strikes and foul balls that are counted separately so he didn’t strike out. Otherwise he would have been flogged unmercifully in this space.
Clearly momentum had shifted as IBWIK tightened up their defense highlighted by Lauren making a nice running catch in right field to end an inning. Coaches, spectators and softball scouts noted her cerebral play in the field backing up plays and hitting the correct cut off men. IBWIK took the lead 7-4 in the bottom half of the 4th inning on well placed kicks and aggressive base running. Even the ref behind the plate made a comment wondering when It Burn When I Kick finally figured out how to play. An additional run was squandered when Nethom, obviously new to coaching third in kickball, held Heather with 2 outs as the ball was relayed in right field. He’ll find out later in the game she had the speed to make it home. Fans were even treated with Molly doing the Luke-A-Zuke shuffle between 1st and 2nd after a questionable pop fly was dropped in center field. As she danced between the bases she was forced out at second.
As daylight and time were running out, Team Swayze’s experience resurfaced in the last inning. Coupled with some fielding miscues including Nick's drop of a bunt and Luke’s successful attempt to chest stop a ball in right center. And yes that includes the ball dropping to the ground. For you regular readers, Luke adds WAKA on his chest to go with his ASA tat’ on his forehead. And just like that Team Swayze regained the lead 11-7.
Needing 5 runs to take the victory, IBWIK didn’t lay down. They stayed aggressive on the base paths highlighted by Heather’s amazing head first dive into 3rd. Instant replay showed her dive was definitely necessary as the 3rd basemen’s throw sailed right over her head as she slid safely in. But the comeback was squashed when Team Swayze’s center fielder made a nice running overhead catch on Dave’s boot in the last inning for the second but very big out.
In the end, It Burns When I Kick learned a lot about kickball strategy and that should payoff down the road. And individually, Dave learned that his old team won convincingly 5-1. Stay tuned because the media will definitely be keeping a close eye on how “The Decision” plays out.

From Team Swayze:
Team Swayze is back after a one year lay off after losing in the finals to the Pink Balls of Fury in 09. Consisting of several veterans and many new WAKA players, Team Swayze got off to a solid start to the season with a come from behind victory over "It burns when I kick" after scoring six runs in the 5th inning.

Ball Kickers-5 vs. There Goes the Neighborhood-1

New comers to the league, Ball Kickers, proved to be a force to be reckoned with by beating There goes the Neighborhood 5-1. Ball Kickers were lead by their pitcher Shawn Dreyer who pitched a great game and kicked in 2 runs. Kyle Kowalski and Jeff Araujo played awesome defense to help the team to victory. Ball Kickers are looking forward to week 2 ... Who's Next!!!!

Nailed at the Plate!-15 vs. Kickin It-0

For those of you who don’t know us, please let us introduce ourselves. Hello, our name is Nailed At The Plate, and we consider ourselves a melting pot of kickballs finest. A medley of gamers from New Haven’s Ivy League, Farmington’s Storm League, and some of your favorite classics from Hartford’s Kickin Grass and Taking Names. We roam the field in burnt orange, kick some balls, flip some cups, and rock the Kaboombox. You know, the kind of people that you want to bring home to Mom or take to a hotel for a long weekend... To break it all down, you’re gonna wanna know us and you will more than likely need a gatorade when we are finished... cause your legs are shaking.
On the cold, dark and wet opening night, NATP faired well in its first game vs. Kickin It. A few strong numbers from the Ryan Duet with an rhythmic tag out at 2nd by Kim and handful of RBI’s solos from Rarely Cleated Bill. Joe Money also contributed by giving up his body for a run stopping center field catch... He cradled it like a baby.
A couple shout outs:
-To the 3rd basewomen of Kickin It... solid play and attitude ladies, way to go hard!
-To the 3rd base refs... they really got your team name right with Ball Kickers cause you girls are fierce. You rock, thanks for sticking it out in the cold and being well versed in the rules.