Oh No! No, Not That. A No-No. Webster 10, Hazelwood West 0

It’s funny how match-ups work. I can’t remember ever beating Hazelwood West, nor can I remember every feeling we shouldn’t beat them. I think Festus (next Thursday) probably feels the same way about us (although they did win 3-0 last year in a game-shortened contest). So when the Wildcat coach bemoaned that they had really only faced one good team (Francis Howell Central) I just agreed that they were a good team and didn’t tell him how badly we had beaten them just the day before. Softball can be a funny game. We were a little flat, from warm-up through the end of the game, but prevailed 10-0.

Against their #2 pitcher we had trouble generating offense (we actualy hit the ball harder against their lefty in the 4^th inning.

Behind Kelly Collins’s no hitter (and no ball hit very hard and 8 strike outs), and a big 6-run 3^rd inning, a close game broke open, thanks to Maya Litton’s big 2-RBI single. Sarah Sammon, giving Hannah a break behind the plate, brought Maya home. We tacked on 3 more in the 4^th and when Kelly completed her no-no (a tough error was the only blemish), the game was over.

Which, at the request of some parents, provides the segue needed to offer this brief lesson on the run rule in fast-pitch softball. A 15-run (or more) run lead after 3 (or 4) innings ends the game. So does a 10-run (or more) lead after at least 5 innings also completes the contest. So, if the fifteenth run scores in the bottom of the 3^rd or 4^th inning, the game is over. The same is true if the tenth run scores in the bottom of the 5^th or 6^th. The home team always gets the chance to close the gap, of course.

As we head into Saturday’s tournament, our record stands at 8-0 and we have outscored our opponents by a cumulative, and ridiculous, 121-10 margin in 35 innings of play.

The danger is that a good team will catch us flat. We’ll work to try to keep that from happening when we play Timberland Saturday morning at 8 a.m. The bus will be one way and the girls have assured me that everyone has a ride home from the tournament. If a player is riding with someone other than her parent, I would appreciate written notification, either via email or even antediluvian paper.