Last Second Heroics

Caption: Darby on third base just moments before stealing home
on a passed ball to tie the game.

For the majority of the game, we led 4-1 over a superior team (higher class, better record), but a few key mistakes on our part allowed them to catch up and overtake us, 4-5. As the visiting team, and with just a few minutes left in the game, we began what was sure to be our last at bat if we didn't get any runs on the board.

My daughter was lead-off batter that inning, and she was facing a tough pitcher with a killer change-up. Even though I warned her to watch for the change-up, she bit for her second strike of her at-bat, making myself and the rest of the parents quite nervous. Fortunately, the pitcher threw a couple balls to walk my daughter, who then stole second on the walk, taking advantage of the other team's laxness during the walk. Suddenly, there was a little bit of life in our effort.

The next two batters struck out pretty quickly, putting the pressure back on our team, but my daughter managed to steal third on a passed ball during the last at-bat. Things seemed to look up as we were back to the top of the batting order and our number one batter is typically very productive. However, she was recently ill and the last couple games her timing has been off. As such, she was down two strikes in short order. I remember looking at the clock and seeing that there was only 37 seconds left.

My daughter isn't known for her running speed, so when another passed ball came along, and the coach order her to go, I half-covered my eyes as I didn't think she'd make it in. But it was the classic play-at-the-plate moment. Catcher gets the ball at the backstop, throws to the pitcher covering home plate, my daughter arriving at the plate at the same time as the ball with a perfect slide, and the cloud of dust. The dust cleared, and the call from the ump. Safe.

I looked up at the clock again and time had expired. Everybody, parents and children, were jumping up and down at the last second heroic moment. I ran over to the dugout to give my daughter a great big congratulatory hug (though I had to wait for the crowd to clear). What a moment for her. She was glowing (such moments don't come often for her).

Once things calmed down, play resume. Though time had expired, since my daughter had tied the game, we were able to continue playing. Ideally in this situation, our number one batter would continue the momentum, the top of our order would drive her in, maybe a few more would follow, and we'd hold the home team in the bottom of the inning to win the game. Unfortunately that's not quite how it went.

Our number one batter struck out, ending the inning. The home team loaded the bases with no outs. And things looked quite dire. But thanks to some awesome defensive plays by several girls on the team, including a tag-out at the plate, we actually held them. The game ended in a tie, but considering the caliber team we played, it was a win for us. And it felt good, as all the girls were happy.