So today was yet another beautiful day filled with a friendly pick-up game of baseball, the third this year so far. I was called on again to start on the mound, being 1-0 in two starts, but today was going to be a quite different game than the no decision I took home last time out. We started to play with things looking rough from the get-go, having given up a walk (which later was cleared by a double-play ground ball) and a home-run to start the top of the 1st. Things slowly cooled off and I was able to give up just 1 run that inning and get out with everything intact. Offensively we were lack luster and went three-up, three-down until the 4th. Luckily, so did our opponents with me grounding most of them out and striking out 3 batters until the 5th inning. The top of the 5th came where I gave up 2 hits but managed to get the next batter to chase one off the plate which he lined along the line to third. Third scoped it up right next to the bag, stepped on it, threw to second, who then threw to third and we pulled off the rare, triple play combo around the horn to bail. The bottom of the 5th called me to the plate where I landed my second hit on my third at bat and got onto second. Two batters later , after a base on balls, a friend hit a line-drive into the outfield that scored me and the man on first. The score became 2-1 in our favor, and a quick pop-up ended the inning. Inning six turned on the heat for me, facing a 1-1 count I pulled a slider that broke right to the corner for a called second strike, followed by a sinking curve that started to go right down the middle and ended up almost in the dirt, but the break of the pitch got the batter swinging and he was sat down for K number 4. Batter number two fouled off the first two pitches and then swung right through strike three which clocked 79 mph. The third batter faired worse, looking at strike one after a 2-0 count, swinging at a curve which broke off the plate and then check swinging a slider out of the zone. On appeal the first base umpire rules the batter went around and strike three was called, striking out the side. Inning 7 saw the first two batters strike out looking and the third go down swinging on a wicked change-up that came across at 58 mph. With nine ks we headed to inning number 8, where I struck out the second batter after giving up my third hit of the ball game. The third batter struck out on a wicked slider the bit in on his hands, causing a huge whiff. The fourth batter fouled off that very pitch which I started him out on and then swung through a 77 mph fastball. He took the next two for a 2-2 count, but bit on a wicked 12/6 curve that threw his bat out wildly away from where it needed to be, causing the side to retire. Now I had started to feel confident, but didn't realize I had amassed 12 strikeouts. the spectators that were watching were now howling and did so like crazy in the 9th. Batter number one got walked after 8 pitches and batter number two came up fighting the same effect. He quickly built a 2-2 count off 5 pitches, but fouled the next three off. Pitch nine hit the dirt for ball 3, but pitch 10 saw a sort of slurve that started fairly towards the center of the strike zone and broke down and away outside of it. The batter bit and the place erupted with cheers as number 13 was sat down on the day. Shortly after the next batter worked my into a 11 pitch at bat before I was pulled due to fatigue in the middle of it with the count still 2-2. It was a great day in general and I picked up the win in a narrow victory that was sealed back in the bottom of the 8th with our short stop slamming a solo shot out of the field. The low 3-1 score only helped make the victory sweeter after a long day at the office.

Final Stats:

Pitching: 8.1 Innings Pitched, 2 Base on Balls, 3 Hits, 1 Earned Run, 13 Strikeouts
Batting: 2/3 At Bats, Single, Double, Run, Base on Balls

Inning
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - Away (Them)
0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 - Home (Us)

Runs - Hits - Errors
1 3 1 Away (Them)
3 5 0 Home (Us)

Side Note: The Game did get delayed in the Top of the 8th by a 31 minute rain delay, but the spectators stayed for the most part. It was good times.