The Catchers in the Rye, the softball team from publisher Hachette Books, visited North Meadow #2 Thursday evening for a first-ever game against the DC Bullets, and Bullet Captain Sal Cipriano decided it was a good time to shake up the defense and the line-up, giving some Bullets regulars a few extra top-of-the-order at-bats - of course, everybody in the line-up got exactly three at-bats, but the intention was good. And the new batting sequence didn't matter much in an easy 13-2 win for DC.
The Hachette team struggled to muster a consistent offensive attack - they managed just two runs, both in the top of the sixth, and each scored with pitcher Pat Brahso threw away back-to-back trickling infield rollers (each with a moderate degree of difficulty). Pat got out of trouble, however, with a successful assist on a third consecutive comebacker. It was that sort of offensive showing from the opposition.
Although they didn't hit much, the Catchers played solid D and displayed a good sense of humor, and they're welcome back on DC's turf anytime. For the Bullets' part, the offense went like so:
With one out in the first, Blake Kobashigawa reached on a flare that dropped just beyond the second baseman. After Dan Bertoldi's fielder's choice, Neil Hiremath lined a double to left centerfield to put two runners in scoring position. Andrew Marino, however, grounded to shortstop to leave both runners stranded - no worries though, Andrew made up for it later.
After Laura Demoreuille and Nel Yomtov grounded out to start the second, it seemed Hachette's defense might be equal to the task of containing DC's bats. However, Sal lined a single to left and came all the way around to score when Pat burned the left fielder with a long double. John Choi added another RBI double before Vince Letterio bounced out to short.
Kevin Schwoer started the third with a half-mile high fly to center. Mike Lorah reached out and grounded a single to right and moved to second on Danielle's groundout. Then the two-out good times started up: Singles by Blake and Dan plated one run, and Neil added another RBI single. Andrew smacked a two-run double into the left center gap and scored when Laura drilled a line drive single almost through Hachette's third baseman. Nel added a single before Sal lined a rope directly to the shortstop to end the five-run inning.
John's one-out single was DC's only offense in the fourth, but they added three more runs in the fifth. Mike led off with another ground single to right, moved up on Danielle's groundout again, and scored easily on Blake's mulligan double to center (the Bullets forgot to put a base coach on first base and Blake was granted a do-over when nobody wanted to make the call on his bang-bang grounder to short - also, Blake's super-proud dad was watching the game, so we had to give him a chance to look good). Dan singled over shortstop and, after Neil flew out, Andrew tore the cover off a two-run triple to deep left field.
Three more runs plated in the sixth, with Nel doubling to right and Pat, following Sal's hard grounder to shortstop, slicing a triple down the right field line. John added an RBI single and went to third on Vince's line single to left. Kevin lifted a sacrifice fly to left before Mike popped up to right center to wrap the Bullets' offensive afternoon.
On the defensive side, Blake and John stepped in on the left side of the infield with a flawless afternoon, and Neil and Andrew did a spectacular job stealing hits from the Bullets by helping out in Hachette's short-handed outfield when they weren't up to bat. (Mike and Nel also stood in the Catchers' outfield, but neither saw much action.)
13-8 (2-6 NYMSL), DC's biggest game of the summer is next Thursday on North Meadow #2 - Marvel's coming to town!
Bullet Box:
C Danielle Yannetta - 0-3
3B Blake Kobashigawa - 3-3, 2 R, RBI, double
RF Dan Bertoldi - 2-3, 2 R, RBI
CF Neil Hiremath - 2-3, R, RBI, double
RF Andrew Marino - 2-3, R, 4 RBI, double, triple
1B Laura Demoreuille - 1-3, RBI
2B Nel Yomtov - 2-3, R, double
DH Sal Cipriano - 1-3, R
P Pat Brosseau - 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI
SS John Choi - 3-3, R, 2 RBI, double
OF Vince Letterio - 1-3
LF Kevin Schwoer - 0-2, RBI, sac fly
SCF Mike Lorah - 2-3, 2 R
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