It could have been a turn for the worse in an otherwise great season. Towards the end of last night's 11-10 triumph over the Down Home Blues, shadows of the second season began to emerge: late inning rallies, an inability to close out oppositions' innings, and a near-complete implosion.
But in the end, the Wildcards found a way to pull it all together, and ended up escaping Blues Field with the win.
Though all players were relieved to have secured the win, the experience took its toll on many players, including starting, and eventual winning pitcher, Ice ?ueen Reyes. After acknowledging the emotional roller-coaster, she was quick to point out that she never lost faith in her team's defence.
"It happened so quickly and was pretty unexpected. It got pretty damn stressful on the mound, though there's very little doubt when it comes to our defence. Our defensive strategies bring up my confidence and put me at ease."
Just like their previous too-close-for-comfort victory against the Colts, players stepped up. This time around, it was SS Sinbad Sinclair, 2-for-3 including an RBI, who brought his A game and seemed to be involved in nearly every big defensive play.
Sinbad Sinclair, seen here taking in the game from the Wildcards dugout, played a big part in the Wildcards victory.
"I feel my hitting's starting to come around. No more dribblers for me." he joked after the game, referring to a soft single he hit earlier in the year - one that he has acknowledged a humourous embarassment over. Certainly no dribblers this time around; he came within mere feet of clearing the fence for a homerun in the top of the 7th inning, an eventual double that scored OF Sixty Chan.
As strong as he was with the bat, he was equally impressive - possibly more so - with his defence. He had every single put-out in the 3rd inning, including one play where he, after making a terrific stab at a solid ground, tumbled, recovered and made the play from his back. In the sixth inning, he also doubled off a Blues runner caught sleeping. After a liner came towards him, Sinclair looked to first and saw the runner well off the bag. He fired a laser to first to double off the runner and end the inning. Ever the humble player, Sinclair was quick to give credit to his teammates on both plays.
"I took a tumble and thought I may have time to make a play. Geebs (Chang) must've been thinking the same because she got to the base quickly, so I had the chance to make the play." "(After the liner) I just took a look around and he (the runner) was sort of nonchalant about getting back to the base. Hollywood (Fernando) saw it too, and set himself at first nicely."
In addition to her defensive work, Geebs Chang contributed offensively, going 1-for-3 at the plate.
Though she was candid earlier in discussing the Blues' 9th-inning rally, Ice ?ueen Reyes chose to use few words to sum up this win.
"Three words: un-effing-defeated."
NOTES: The Wildcards surrendered just their second mercy inning of the season. El Saviour Bulos pitched two shutout innings for his sixth save of the year. OF r3z Salehoun returned after missing one game with a sore back. The Wildcards return home to host the Paddington Bears after the upcoming bye week.
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