For our Friday night game we drew the Clutch Hitters. So we play them AGAIN! This time, not only is it just a pool game, but it counts as the championship of the Eagan Down n' Dirty that got rained out. They threw a pitcher from Kenyon-Wanamingo who several of my teammates and I face every year during high school. We beat them 5-1. It used to be such a deal when we played them in the past, but I think we are starting to get over it and have continued to beat them each time we play. Saturday morning we played the Omaha Echoes. We scored 4 runs in the first inning and that set the tone for the day. We went on to win 14-4 in 4 innings. Our afternoon game was against the Pipestone Pointers. They had got beat up on by the other teams in our bracket, so we coasted through the game and won 9-1. I was upset with our intensity and lack of focus even when we were playing a team that we would easily beat. After a quick pitstop at the track (more info to come) we began our games on Sunday. Our first game of the day was against the Grand Island Scorpions. We won 16-0 in 2 1/2 innings. Our next game was the best of the tournament. We faced the Sioux Falls Diamonds who beat the Extreme (team we beat in international tie breaker during the Eagan Down n' Dirty) by one in their previous game. We scored two runs in the top of the first and things were looking good. Then their first batter hit a leadoff homerun. The scoring came to halt from their until the last two innings. We ended up winning 7-6 in a very close game. Next we played the MN Stealth. We had already faced them 4 times this year and had won each game easily. Today was very different, we had several errors in the first inning, and our bats went quiet (very unusual for our team). We took the game for granted and were handed a 7-4 loss. The Diamonds and the upset by the Stealth team taught me my biggest lessons for the weekend.
First they taught me the truth of the statement, "Respect all, Fear none." In the game vs. the Diamonds, they had just beaten a team that game us a very tough game. But we were not scared and faced them head on. Because of that we played the game the way the Royals play and won. Also we learned you need to respect every one of your opponents. We had lost to them last year at Nationals, but we remained focused and played our best and showed the type of team we can be.
The second thing they taught me was about sportsmanship. During the game vs. the Diamonds one of their players decided to take out two of our girls. First was a play at the plate. I would have done the same thing when it comes to sliding into the catcher. But this girl slid into Cori, kicked up her leg and tried to take out her inside knee. Cori was lucky and just has a swollen knee from the cleat marks. Next was the last play of the game, a tag at second base. Dana our 2nd basemen was received the ball from right field well ahead of the runner getting to the base. The same girl slid through the base to the back where Dana was and took her out. Not only did she cleat her ankle, but as she was getting up she swung her arms and kicked her several more times. Things got out of hand on her side from there. She started laughing as my teammate was on the ground crying. I could do nothing but help to get Dana off of the field and to the trainer. It took so much composure not to lash out at her for doing that to my teammate. To top it off when we were going through the line, she slapped all of our hands. The sad part is that she is a very good ball player and is cheating herself and her abilities by playing dirty. During the Stealth game our parents received a lesson on how not to act. Many of their parents were cheering very arrogantly and saying some not so nice things to us. Even though we lost to them, we showed that we were bigger people when walking through the line. While they sneered and celebrated their win, we just smiled and shook their hands. The difference is that even though we were upset about the loss, we are still truly good people and good sports who know how to handle ourselves. I thank my coaches and especially my parents for never letting me act like that as a young kid, because I see how mean those people seem. I would never want someone to think of me how I think of some of those parents and players.
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