Panthers vs. Mischief
April 15, 1997

L 10-2

Tonight's game may be the best-played game we will have this season!

In our third game of the season, the Panthers faced the undefeated Mischief team. Mischief wasted no time showing their talent. Olivia led us off with a hit, but then their pitcher turned a double play on an absolute smash of a line drive by Marissa. Then Melanie smacked a hit back at the pitcher, only to see it turn into an out. Three smacks that would have been hits on any other night!

That just meant we needed to play tough defense ourselves! We held Mischief to 2 runs, including a good out from Kelly to Marissa. Mischief led 2-0 after one inning.

In the second inning, Mischief shut us down again. Their combination of strong girls at first base and pitcher proved too much for us and we didn't score anything.

Were the Panthers up to the challenge of holding Mischief? You bet! With two runners on and no outs, the Panthers roared defensively!! Olivia snagged a grounder at 3rd base and got the tag out! Then Maudie fielded a shot up the middle and threw to Lisa who was covering first base. It looked so routine, but that's just proof how hard our girls have been practicing and how much they have learned. Olivia then got a grounder at third base and made another tag play! It's still 2-0 after two innings! What a close game...

The Panthers roared offensively in the third inning! Maudie got a hit and then Brittany stepped to the plate. After struggling in the first couple games, Brittany stepped up and smacked her first hit of the season!! Olivia got a hit too. Marissa hit into a fielder's choice but drove in a run! Now with two outs, Melanie smashed a hit to 3rd base. It was a close play, but the third baseman tagged out Olivia for our third out, but not fast enough to beat out Brittany scoring our second run!. The score stood 2-2 after two and a half innings. I bet there won't be many teams that can say that they were tied with Mischief that late in the game!

Mischief would not go down quietly. Their cleanup hitter came up with runners on and cleared the bases! Yes, that's the same girl that was playing pitcher for them in the first two innings. We still prevented them from scoring 5 runs thanks to a super catch by Rene at third base! Mischief led 6-2 after 3 innings.

In the fourth inning, Kelly led us off with a double to right field. Unfortunately, we couldn't get her in to score. So we were still down 6-2. In the bottom of the inning, we made more sparkling defensive plays! Kristen made a heads-up out from her right center field position! She fielded a hit to the outfield and got the out at second base! Wow! Great play, Kristen! With two outs, Olivia made a forceout at first base. Three super defensive plays for Olivia on the night...great job! Once again, we held Mischief to less than 5 runs in the inning. Mischief led 10-2.

In the fifth inning, the player of the game honors were still up for grabs. So many great defensive plays by lots of different people... then Brittany stepped to the plate. She got another hit!! That excellent offensive night for Brittany made her our Panther of the Day ! Time expired just after that...

The final score was 10-2 (Mischief won), but I can tell you this. The Panthers can be very proud of their performance tonight! The newspapers would probably talk about the great night the one Mischief player had -- and they would be right. But they would also say how well the Panthers played. I believe the Panthers team played better than the Mischief team, but their one player had such a great game that it made the difference.

If all games could be this fun...everyone would remember why baseball is America's great pasttime.

-- Velvet