In a tense game certainly more thrilling than anything we
saw in Brazil over the past month*, the Blues (4-1) managed to overcome Penton’s
four-run first inning and hung on to defeat the specialist publishers 5 to 4 in
Riverside Park. The park’s dangerous field, which includes a low outfield wall
notorious for leaving former Blues players battered and bloody, threatened to
become even more treacherous as storm clouds rolled in during the final two
innings. Zach Haynes scored the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh,
however, and the Blues’ solid defense saved the day, finding a third out with a
Penton runner in scoring position on second base.
Coach Robert Repino was reported to have foregone his usual
“1-2-3-BLUES!”cheer in favor of a Bastille Day-appropriate “Allez les bleus!”
Repino would neither confirm nor deny these allegations.
Catcher Jenny Doster, noted Francophile, was cautioned by
the umpire for the haughty French-accented laugh she emitted as each Penton
player approached the plate. “Don’t worry, guys,” she said later. “They’ll have
to kick me out of this league before I stop taunting the other teams.”
The win gave the Blues a record of 4-1-0 and left the team
half of a game out of first place.
The game also marked the final appearance of co-manager* and
all-star Dave D’Adonna as an official Oxford Blue. We wish him tons of
luck in his new position and hope that we haven’t seen the last of his infield
prowess. Stay Blue, Dave, stay Blue.
*Editor's Note: This is a reference to the World Cup, the international soccer tournament that was played in Brazil this past summer.
*Editor's Note: For an account of Dave's managerial prowess, see here.
Oxford Blues trounced Bluewolf with a resounding 17-5
victory on a muggy afternoon in Morningside, improving their record to 3-1 on
the season. Rob Repino turned in a solid effort at the mound, painting the
inside of the plate to great effect, and Kate Cooney started in right field in her Blues debut.
"I got on base!" Kate said.
Game ball went to Joe Cognard, thanks to stellar defensive
performance at the hot corner and a 3-run opposite field blast that nearly had
Bluewolf outfielders picking through the underbrush out past the track in right
field.
Chris Reid doubled twice in the offensive assault. The Blues offense, however, was all-around impressive,
batting around the order in the third to knock in 9 runs.
“I don’t think this has ever happened!” said Coach Repino.
With that cushion of insurance runs, the Blues offered up
solid defense for the rest of the game and mercy-ruled Bluewolf in the sixth.
Game 3: Oxford Blues 11 Slammin Seagulls 9 Central Park's Great Lawn June 25, 2014
Zack Haynes
pitched a complete game and broke a tie with a 3-run home run in the 5th
as the Blues (2-1) defeated publishing rivals Slammin' Seagulls 11-9.
Haynes, in his first game back since becoming a father, said he would be
giving his game ball to his daughter Georgia.
"I'm hoping she might be the Serena Williams of softball," Haynes said. "Or at the very least not work in publishing."
Blues
Legal Council Blake Ratcliff hit a double in the top of the sixth when
the Blues collected six insurance runs, all of which were necessary as
the Blues defense faltered in the 7th.
"You were very close to catching that ball," Blues Rookie Taylor Coe observed to me later.
Max (LC)
Tim (RF/EH)
Taylor (3B)
Blake (LF)
Dave (SS)
Ryan (1B/EH)
Jeremy (EH/RF)
Julie (RC)
Zack (P)
Erin (EH/1B)
Rob (EH)
Sarah (2B)
Jenny (C)
Game 2: Oxford Blues 11, Conifer 5 Harlem River Park #2 June 16, 2014
Oxford Blues (1-1) won
their first game of the season against the financial services firm
Conifer, which only fielded 8 players. The Blues benefitted from only
having to get two outs in certain innings, as the penalty to Conifer for
coming to a game short-staffed. The Blues hit and fielded well, led
by Max Sinsheimer's double and HR, and good defense from Blues rookies
Julie Fergus and Taylor Coe. The game ended with an out at the plate
as Blues Veteran Catcher Jessica Chesnutt put the tag on an overly
optimistic base runner. This contest was only slightly overshadowed by
the US-Ghana soccer game, but congratulations to Coach Repino for
assembling a squad of 11 on the evening of such a momentous sports
event.
"Could be the Super Bowl, moon landing, doesn't matter," Coach Repino said. "The Blues are always ready to play."
Max (LC)
Julie (LF)
Taylor (3B)
Dave (SS)
Ryan (EH/RC)
Tim (1B)
Jeremy (RC/RF)
Chris (RF/EH)
Rob (P)
Jessica (C)
Sarah (2B)
Game 13: Semi Finals: FIU Alumni 7, Oxford Blues 4 Game 14: Finals: n/a Harlem River Park #2 September 18, 2013
After winning the division, the Oxford Blues advanced another playoffs where they were promptly dispatched by the FIU Alumni by the score of 7-4. It was a disappointing loss as the Oxford Blues bats were more silent than usual and the defense was not quite flawless, but nevertheless, still a successful season! There was a brief scare in the 5th or 6th inning when Max Richman, playing short, drifted out to left field for a flyball, colliding with Tim Allen. Fortunately there were no injuries.
"What am I supposed to do?" Coach Repino says. "Max hits two home runs a game. If he wants to give someone a concussion that's his prerogative."
"Why do you always make me sounds like a secretary," Elyse Turr asked. "I am always answering the phone."
"I think it's pretty clear I'm the secretary," I said.
Max S
Zach H
Max R --- Home Run
Tim A
Jeremy W-I
Rob R
Erin M
Sara M
Elyse T
Jenny D
Game 11: Semi Finals: Oxford Blues 12, Finra Enforcers 7 Game 12: Finals: Oxford Blues 18, Net@work/Docutrend 5 (Games 9 & 10 won by forfeit) Dewitt Clinton August 29, 2013
The Oxford Blues won the Summer Coed General A Conference Championship, defeating the Finra Enforcers in a semi-final contest, and then Net@work/Docutrend in the finals. By winning these two games, the Blues advanced to the divisional playoffs which will be held on Sept 18!
Accounts of the games below.
COACH REPINO: The personnel and the magnitude of this upcoming game have compelled me to tinker once more with the lineup. Some of you already know about them, but they shouldn’t be too surprising. Everyone will contribute. Max Richman will be batting in the 1, 5, and 8 slot. Unconventional, but I think it will work.
MAX RICHMAN: My softball abilities have generally been overstated.
COACH REPINO: I recommend leaving by 5. Game 1 is at 6. Bring both bags. The game balls are in the black bag. Don't forget to close your email, and log out of your computer. If you're going to be gone for a long weekend, set up an away message.
MAX SINSHEIMER: The Blues were just able to field a full team, with a big group of our players enjoying an early escape to the Labor Day weekend. Thanks to Ninell for stepping in at short notice for an ill Jenny Doster. The loss of much of our roster, including our starting pitcher and coach, Robert, and the big slugging David D’Adonis, meant that we had to play people in new positions. Blake played third, Joe C first, Zach pitcher, etc. Suffice to say it worked out, as this, and the next game, were probably our best defensive efforts of the year.
JESSICA CHESNUTT: Blake, Max, Max, Taylor, and Joe all got at least 1 homerun. Blake’s homerun was his first ever. Max R., Blake, and Joe all had amazing plays in the infield, including a double play in the game with a runner on second that went: Blake fielded a hard grounder at third and threw the batter out at first, where Joe threw it to Max covering third to tag the runner. I got on base every time, but all but one or two were fielders’ choices that ALWAYS got Tim out on second (sorry, Tim).
TIM ALLEN: No worries, Jessie!
JESSICA CHESNUTT: Zach had at least a couple of strikeouts.
ZACH HAYNES: I was the pitcher. I was nervous - my wife was there. Not everyone can play as gracefully as Tim with his spouse present.
MAX SINSHEIMER: We were fired up from the start, arriving 20-30 minutes early for the Finra game and taking extended BP. Finra is a team we lost to in the regular season, and they are dangerous. A couple of big hitters and a pitcher with a delayed lunging motion that makes you wonder whether he realizes he is in a slow pitch softball league. Their captain even had a crew cut – it was intimidating. But we have big hitters of our own, and we simply outplayed them on defense. With one exception, an inning in which they scored four or five runs on a pair of hits to the fence and took a temporary lead, we played shut-down defense. Max R was all over SS, throwing rockets to first for out after out. Blake, playing third base for perhaps the first time, had several throw-outs of his own. Zack was nearly flawless pitching, working his way out of a bases loaded jam late in the game with a strikeout to go alongside one or two other strikeouts. At one point Jessica caught a hard hit grounder that had tipped off Max’s glove, practically bare handing it to first for an out. We gave almost nothing away – all, or nearly all of their runs were earned.
DAVE D'ADONNA: I was at the Harpoon brewery in Boston when Rob texted me we were in the championship. I quickly drank some more and gave out a ‘Yahoo!’ and high-fived an unsuspecting female. Turned out it was Taylor's cousin.
TAYLOR PILKINGTON: You met Sharona?
MAX SINSHEIMER: On offense we matched them run for run early, and then creamed them late when we strung together a series of innings with zero runs allowed. In the first inning we got 5 runs off a leadoff home run by Blake and a series of well struck singles. We had at least three innings where we went up and down our lineup. The Maxes each hit a homer, and nearly everyone scored a run. We were aggressive on the base path. By the end of the game we had won by 7 or 8 runs, an almost unthinkable result given how good our opponents were.
Elyse Turr's phone rings.
ELYSE TURR: Hello this is Elyse.
COACH REPINO: Elyse it's Rob. I'm on an airplane, this call costs $14.95/minute. Put Max on the phone.
ELYSE TURR: Max it's for you.
MAX RICHMAN: Max Richman here.
COACH REPINO: The other Max.
MAX SINSHEIMER: What now Rob. We have a game to play here.
COACH REPINO: Max, let the Blues know that no matter what happens, I am very proud of our team’s camaraderie, competitiveness, and sportsmanship. That being said, if you screw this up, I will never forgive you. If I see you in the coffee room, don't even look at me. Win or lose, if I'm sitting on my exercise ball, still don't look at me.
MAX SINSHEIMER: As I said at the time, getting to the championship is cool, winning a championship is (profanity) awesome. We picked up where we left off, scoring 5 or 6 in the first inning and playing extremely tight defense throughout. At one point Max R fielded a hard hit grounder, threw out the base runner at first, and then Joe C made a ridiculous throw to third for a double play on the advancing runner from second. It was that sort of day. Elyse had a pair of nice plays in the field, holding hitters to one base. Tim Allen gets most improved batter award, with at least three more hits after getting three in the first game.
TIM ALLEN: Thanks Max!
MAX SINSHEIMER: The outfield was playing way back on Blake, which he didn’t expect, but they were right to do it – he had big hits to the outfield. The Maxes both added another homer, as did Taylor (and I’m probably forgetting another home run). Ninell beat out a run and took a walk as well. And Zach pitched another gem, outdueling the opposing pitcher, who lost his nerve at times and walked more batters than he cared to. By the end of the night we had won the championship by at least 13 runs – I forget the exact score. If we had been playing with the mercy rule, we would have mercy-ruled them, that’s how dominant we were.
JEREMY WANG-IVERSON: That's great - whom did you play?
COACH REPINO: I am getting conflicting reports about that.
MAX SINSHEIMER: Docutrend.
MAX RICHMAN: Definitely Docutrend.
ZACH HAYNES: The Greene Machine.
TANYA LAPLANTE: You did it indeed! You realized the dream of many Blues players who came before you – quite an amazing feat and something to be exceptionally proud of… when the Blues began, it wasn't unusual for someone to get a hit and then run to third base. Once, we had a player who threw his bat like a javelin. Former Blues players who now live elsewhere (including overseas) heard the good news and celebrated your victory. Thanks for making the latest chapter in Blues history a memorable one!
Blake R 3B
Max S LC
Max R SS
Taylor P RC
Joe C 1B
Zach H P
Tim A LF
Jessica C 2B
Elyse T RG
Ninell S C
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