Winning doesn’t suck.
It’s easy enough to say, that’s for sure.
More than 25 years ago, I started playing softball in the summer. I’ve seen the game (modified pitch) go through a lot of changes in our area. From several prolific leagues to having it hard to find a good and steady league.
This year, with many of us showing age, we went to the local Over 35 league, which has some of the better competition because it’s the older groups that I used to play against some when I was younger.
In the years I’ve run teams, I’ve won six championships. These two are the only ones who have been with me for all six.
It was a fun league and competitive.
We opened the season 1-3 and then reeled off 11 straight wins (a couple forfeit wins vs. “B” teams in there), including three straight in the double-elimination playoff tournament. We tied (with three other teams) for the regular season championship and ended up with the three seed. It didn’t matter as we had to beat the good teams, anyway.
We opened the playoffs with a 26-11 win over the No. 2 seed before facing the top seed in the winner’s bracket final. It didn’t look good early as we trailed, 15-1, after two innings.
Ouch.
See, this team is a bunch of hitters and we started going at it. It took nine innings, but we ended up with a 23-16 win.
We faced the same team in the championship and had the luxury of knowing we had to be beaten twice. It didn’t end up mattering, though, as we ended it in one game by winning 20-8.
How about a couple of quick stats:
- Outscored opponents in playoffs, 70-35.
- Hit 12 homers.
- Had 78 hits
- Scored four or more runs in 10 different innings
In the end, it was one heck of a playoff run that had us pretty much pumping things out without issue.
Also, for this one, three of us have been on all six of the teams I’ve run that have won championships. Glen and Marc have been with me through three leagues and have been part of all the titles, which is cool.
I strongly considered ending the playing days at the end of this season, but the one night per week was fun, so I would think I’ll be back next year, especially if the others come back as I would love to do this again with them.
It’s definitely hard to walk away after a fun season like this.
So, I’ll likely be back and hopefully we will be right back in it next year. If it’s as fun as this year, it will be well worth it!
Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook!
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