Joes Battle but drop one run decision

If a season is long enough, there are bound to be games like this. At all levels - from tee ball to the big leagues - sometimes a team is just not ready to play. This loss is squarely on the head coach as I did not have the Joes ready to play. Nevertheless, the Joes hung in until the end but came up one run short in a 9-8 defeat.

The game started well as the Joes plated four in the 1st as Mark, Matthew, Garrett, and Adam scored behind a Jacob single. Nick singled and scored in the 3rd and Kai had a solid single in the 4th. In the 5th, the Joes took a short-lived lead as Hans and Patrick scored behind a double by Nick. Behind a run, Adam lead off the 6th with a walk and got to 3rd with two steals. However, he was thrown out on a very close play trying to score on a tag up. The right decision, but just not our night.

Matthew started and threw 4 innings walking only four. Peter hurled the 5th and walked only one. Both pitched good enough to win.

Unfortunately, the Joes usually stellar defense was not up to par and several softly-hit balls found holes as Deer Park was able to cross the dish nine times. Garrett continues his excellent glove work with another 4-3 put-out in the 1st and Adam ended it snaring a pop up from SS. In the 2nd, Mason made a really nice catch on a hard hit ball to CF. In the 3rd, Matthew and Garrett teamed up to pick off a runner on 2B, and in the 4th, Garrett was again in on the action as he caught a pop-up at 2B and fired to a waiting Adam who was covering the bag for a double play! Peter made two 1-3 put-outs when he was on the mound.

A loss to a good team, but a team the Joes want to see again!