To win out we knew we'd have to play, and win, back-to-back games. Since we had a player ejected from the previous game it was going to be tough because we were one player short in the outfield. Garcia & Company is a very strong team, especially at the plate so we had our hands full. We started off great scoring four runs in our first at bat. We took the field and their bats were on FIRE. I believe they scored eight runs in their first at bat, which isn't so terrible for us, but we were already tired and they were hitting the ball into the gaps of the outfield. We managed to pull into the lead by the fourth inning. They followed up with two great innings and in our final at bat we were down 23-17. We only managed to score one run, game over, we finished second, final score 23-18. Tonight Garcia & Company faces the Men's 'A' Division champions for whole enchilada. Good luck guys!

Tuesday night we faced Sun Pacific in the Men's 'B' Division semi-finals. The winner would move on to face the division champions, Garcia & Company. We started off pretty hot, the bats were working, and we played good defense. By the fourth inning we were up 10-4 and things seemed to be going as planned. Slowly but surely Sun Pacific chipped away at our lead and before we knew it it was 10-10 in the bottom of the seventh inning. One run would end the game, but we couldn't manage it. We had to go extra innings. In about the eight inning things got a bit interesting with Sun Pacific up 12-10 we scored a run and put a runner on third with one out. Sun Pacific's left fielder had been running his mouth all night and disagreed with a call the umpire had made that allowed us to score the run. The father of one of our players said something to the left fielder and the left fielder decided he'd walk off the field and lay a whoopin' on him. BIG MISTAKE. You see our right-center fielder runs about 6'3"/230lbs, is as strong as an ox, and his dad was about to get assaulted. You can imagine he wasn't going to stand around and let that happen. In the end their left fielder got the worst of it and was ejected along with our right-center fielder. The game continued into the ninth inning, us one player short in the field. We went into "California shootout" mode. In a California shootout a runner is placed at second base, which is a scoring position, and you play the inning like you would any other inning. We managed to come up with some VERY good stops to get out of the inning and I was placed at second base as our runner to start the inning. The other team wisely walked our next batter because it didn't hurt to put him on since we already had someone at first and one run would end the game. The very next batter decided it by stroking the ball right between the 5/6 hole, pushing me around for the winning run. Game over, we advanced to the finals!

I'm a bit behind here, been very busy. We finished our regular season against Quality Pack Manufacturing and started the tournament with the same team. This time things were a bit different. Q-Pack hit the stuffing out of the ball, we had a new pitcher in the "rotation", and only had nine players. They managed to find the gaps all night long and our three outfielders were about as tired as they could possibly be, I know because I'm one of them. In the end we eeked out a win, 9-8 to advance to the second round against Sun Pacific. We split the regular season with Sun Pac and finished with the same 7-3 record, good match up.

We managed another nice win Tuesday night. The sticks seemed to be working for the most part and the defense was good. I'm not sure what the final score was, but we did run rule them, so it must have been fairly decent! We finished the season in second place with a record of 7-3. Thursday night we begin our hunt for the title of 'B' Division champions.

Friday night's game was a bit disappointing. We had a 6:00 start time, which makes it difficult to get everyone there on time. The other team only managed to get five guys there, we won by forfeit. Ick. On the plus side, it did give us time to take some batting practice.

If you're an Anderson bat user you're in for some good news. <A href="http://bbs.cartserver.com/bbs/q.cgi?s13081299">All Anderson bats are approved for the 2004 season</A>. The ASA had declared that all bats would be banned for the 2004 season, unless they pass the new 2004 standard.

Garcia and Company has been our nemesis this season. In the first round we lost a really tight game in their final at bat. This time around they flat out beat us. I think the final score was 14-7, pathetic really. As the guys like to say we played "Atem" ball all night. We'd hit the crap out of the ball, right at 'em. We had a couple of breaks but couldn't manage to capitalize on them. Real bummer. They are however in first place in our division with an 8-1 record. This loss may drop us to third, but I'm not sure yet. Season Record: 6-3

We managed to win by a wide margin Tuesday night. The bats really came alive and we played good defense. 'Nuff said since I cannot for the life of me remember the score. I think we managed a 20+ run night, first time in a while. Season Record: 6-2 Two games to go then the tournament!

We actually managed to get eleven players together for Friday's game, that's the most we've had in quite a while. We've been struggling to get a complete team on the field for the past few weeks. We started off kinda slow, but better than the last couple of games. We managed to score three runs in the first inning and didn't hit the ball too poorly as a team. In the end it was great defense that saved the game for us. Our right-center fielder made a spectacular grab to end the game and preserve our 15-12 victory. I honestly thought the ball was going to hit the ground and whammo, he throws his body out, extends his arm and scoops the ball right before it hit the ground. An awesome catch, I'd award 10 out of 10, the landing on the other hand was about a four out of 10!

Going into round two of play with a first game loss was discouraging. Last night we played a very tough and talented team and I'm happy to say we came out with a sweet little victory, 19-10. We've been struggling with the sticks lately and we continued the trend through four innings last night. The fifth inning was simply amazing. We managed to go around the line up one-and-a-half times. The round included three homers for a total of 14 runs that put us up 18-4, never to look back. Great game fellas! Season Record: 5-2

Our team is classic fire and ice. Hot one minute, cold the next. We tend to fall flat after we come off a tournament and last night's performance was no exception. We lost to Sun Pacific, 14-7, in a game that was less than beautiful. We committed too darned many errors, and I'm embarrassed to say I was 0-4 and was the third out TWICE with bases loaded. Not stellar by any sense of the word. When I play like that I want to quit the game all together. BUT on the bright side there's always next week to pull myself up by the boot straps, right? Season Record: 4-2

Well, well, well... Last night the team was in a bit of a lurch. I was absent as well as five other gents; that left us with just enough players to play the game, eight. The good news is we managed a win even in such bad conditions. I'll need to get the official score from someone but that puts us squarely in second place with a 4-1 record for the first round. The team we lost to is also 4-1 so we need to have a strong showing in the second round to win it! Season Record: 4-1, end of first round. Personal Stats: absent

Well as the old saying goes... "A bad day of softball is better than a good day at work." You can imagine from that how the tournament went for us. We won the first game, lost the second, and gave away the third. Another saying to live by, "Sometimes you bite the bear, sometimes the bear bites you." It was just one of those days. We couldn't catch a break in the last game, but the other team sure did get a few. In the end if we'd hit the ball like we're capable we wouldn't have needed a break. We may have been out in three but I still had a wonderful time. Hagerman field in Santa Maria has the best fields I've personally ever played on, with Paso Robles coming in a close second. We'll be back!

Ok boys and girls here's the scoop on Santa Maria. Hagerman Field 3300 Skyway Drive Santa Maria, CA. 93455 Driving <A href="http://maps.yahoo.com/py/ddResults.py?Pyt=Tmap&ed=REqEseV.wikjnYC12S75Tx2N4vfurRtxykhrt7Cvrvx52Fh7KfoGH24q9tF0kWU8Ri5ayBJKphU6cwZSuR6xggiPtGj0lVZa3Vkya53c1w--&newcsz=93277&newcountry=us&newtcsz=93455&newtcountry=us">directions from the Holiday Inn</A> in Visalia. If you have any problems please contact Rob or Eric, check the handouts for cell phone numbers.

Well what do you think? Hopefully this entry will post and we can get on with a new updated look, now managed entirely using <A href="http://www.powerblog.net/">PowerBlog</A>.