Down, but not out

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

It was like one of those games you watch on ESPN. You know, with the epic NFL Films music playing in the background. The announcer with the deep, one-of-a-kind voice narrating each play, as legends are made.

Except, it wasn’t on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. It wasn’t the Super Bowl, or the World Series or the Stanley Cup.

It was, in fact, Flagler County men’s slow-pitch softball.

I play on a team, Total Vision, with a few coworkers, family members and friends.

We had an OK regular season. Thankfully, everyone makes the playoffs. In our first playoff game, we lost, 10-6, to the No. 2 seed.

Then, somewhat shorthanded, we played in the second game of the double-elimination tournament last Thursday.

By the time the fifth inning rolled around, we were losing 16-2. In the bottom of the fifth, we needed to score five runs just to avoid the dreaded mercy rule.

A few strong hits, lucky bounces and cheers later, we rallied. Not only did we score the five runs we needed to stay alive, we scored 16 runs, to take an 18-16 lead.

That’s not all the drama, though. In the top of the seventh and final inning, the other team got the tying run to third with two outs. The batter hit a dribbler between the pitcher and our catcher, Ryan Cavaliere. Ryan put the “cat” in catcher that night. He pounced on the ball, grabbed it with his bare hand, and then tagged the runner who was attempting to come home.

It was slow motion as they two collided. Ryan held on to the ball. Third out. Game over.

We all cheered and exhaled. We survived. We were on the brink of elimination. Now, we are on the verge of making an epic run to the championship.

Maybe.

Only time will tell, but the journey will be fun.

Pick ‘em winner
Joel Botet is this week’s Pick ‘Em winner! He successfully picked 10 out of the 16 games.

Remember, go to www.Palm CoastObserver.com and click on “Blogs,” then scroll down to my column, which is the last one on the page. I’ll have this week’s games posted to the blog before the start of the Thursday night game between the Jets and the Broncos. (Go Tebow!)

The winner will get a $10 Woody’s Bar-B-Q gift card.

Contact Andrew O’Brien at [email protected].