Game Before Last

Here is a synopsis of how we got to the Championship Game (as told by the coach/Dad/Pat):

Stop me if you've heard this one before….As the 2nd place finisher (13-5-2) in this year's Little League regular season, our team was an automatic bid to the semi final game of our tournament. As part of a long term strategy, I elected not to start Cal on the mound to save him for the possibility of throwing in the championship. If he threw more than 39 pitches in this game, it would make him ineligible for a game on Friday and that would be our only chance of competing. If you can't put up a fight in the big one there is no reason to be there. As it were, my lefty (Opie Taylor) got the start and pitched 5 strong innings as we went ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth. I then called upon Cal to try and close the game in the sixth with the one run lead. With 2 outs, 2 strikes and a runner on 3rd, our catcher drops the next pitch which allows the tying run to score. We have to go to extra innings and Cal has reached the 39 pitch count limit with game still tied at 4. I yanked him and we promptly folded like a house of cards making errors (including Cal) and giving up 6 runs to go behind 10-4. As a few boys came to the dugout with tears in their eyes, I challenged their manhood. The crowd had swelled due to the conclusion of the game being played on the opposite field, and I was being consoled by friends as I walked to the coaching box at third. Over thought the whole dang thing!

Down to life support, we started crawling back as the bottom of the order somehow found their way on. This included the first clean base hit of the year by one of the boys (talk about timing). After a series of miscues the score was 10-8, and we started to believe. Even though Cal was the go ahead run, the other team elected to intentionally walk him? Two batters later he was knocked in by a base hit and scored what was thought to be the winning run. In the confusion of all that was happening, the scoreboard operator failed to count one of the runs which created a question in the minds of many. This was immediately overturned as the boys were told they had won 11-10 and got the chance to celebrate an absolutely thrilling conclusion to this unbelievable game. We are headed for the show and I'm still livin the dream……...