Rebels Report Rebels vs. Firebirds Tuesday, April 6th (6:30 pm) W 4-2

It's great to be back reporting on the Rebels after a week of rainy weather! The Rebels faced the Firebirds tonight in a grueling game. Both teams were well-known for great defense, clutch hitting, and awesome pitching. And tonight they showed why they had such well-deserved reputations.

I must confess, I was having some serious deja vu tonight. Events seemed to be happening real similar to the Rebels first game. And I swear I must be seeing things because I thought I saw my picture everywhere, even on Coach Rodney's and Coach Greg's shirts!

The Rebels hit the field first. As was the case in their opening game, the Rebels massive defense and power pitching shut the Firebirds down 1-2-3. The first Firebirds batter lined a rocket towards shortstop. Allie calmly eased under it for the opening out of the game. Then Alyssa kept up her torrid first inning reputation, striking out the next two batters. In the bottom of the first, Allie led us off with an infield hit. With Lisa at the plate, Allie stole second to move into scoring position. Coach Rodney pulled out the old fake bunt out his bag of tricks. Lisa executed it perfectly and Allie scored on the play! Lisa took second on the throw. Alyssa came to the plate and hit a smash to shortstop. The Firebirds shortstop made a nice play, nipping Alyssa at first base. The ever-observant Lisa took third on the play. After a strikeout, there were two outs. Could we score that important run from third base? Mary Cameron came to the plate and worked the count to 3-2. Then with a full count, she absolutely creamed a ball down the third base line. The sharp grounder bounced off the third base bag (yes, it's a fair ball). Otherwise, that ball may have rolled to the fence. Lisa scored on the play. A final strikeout ended the inning. Rebels led after one inning 2-0.

In the second inning, the first Firebird got a hit. In a repeat of our first game (this deja vu stuff is wierd), Alyssa promptly hit the next batter. I better watch out how I report this or someone may get the wrong idea!! I'm sure it was an accident! With nobody out, the next batter lifted a high, high, high pop fly to the infield. Deneé yelled "I got it" and camped under the ball. She made a nice snag for the out. Then she realized the runner was not quite back to first. She fired a throw to Kaiti, who also noticed the possible opportunity for an out. Unfortunately, the throw was a little wild. One run scored and the other would have, except Mary Cameron was paying attention and grabbed the loose ball. With a runner at third base, the next batter got a hit. With the ball loose in the outfield, Kristen smartly grabbed it and ran the runner back towards first. She flipped to Kaiti at first. Kaiti made the tag on the runner who had drifted off the bag. "Major defense!", says Major Fielding! (or is that "Major fielding!", says Major Defense??). The second inning was a little rough as the Firebirds pitcher showed great form. She mixed up her speeds (yes, she threw some changeups!), and struck out Deneé, Brittany (nice bunt attempts though), and Kathryn. The score was tied 2-2 after two innings.

In the third inning, Alyssa took charge! She struck out two batters and made a nice play on a grounder. On the ground ball, she snagged it and fired on to Allie at first base for the out. In the bottom of third, the Rebels decided it was time to (as Coach Greg would say) "Hit, Run, Score!!" Kristen started the Rebels rally with a hit and then stole second base. Then birthday-girl Allie smacked a single up the middle to plate Kristen. Then Allie stole second. After a strikeout, Alyssa screamed a hit past third base into left field. Allie had to stop at third base, but Alyssa kept on running to second base. When the Firebirds tried to throw out Alyssa, Allie streaked home and Alyssa moved up to third!! Whew! What a crazy play! The Firebirds pitcher put her game face on, and struck out the final two batters, Kaiti and Mary Cameron. But the damage was done. The Rebels take the lead 4-2 as they head to the fourth inning!

In the top of the fourth, Alyssa struck out the ever-important leadoff hitter. It was now back to the top of the Firebirds lineup. The batter hit a sharp grounder to shortstop. Ashley, the Rebels shortstop, fielded it cleanly and fired on to first base. Allie snagged it clean too, but the runner was just a little bit too fast -- safe. The next batter hit a grounder up the middle. Alyssa knocked it down, took her time, found the ball, and threw on to Allie for the out. Then Alyssa kept a big run from scoring by striking out the final batter. Yea!! Time was running out as the Rebels went to the bottom of the fourth inning. Ashely led off with a nice smash-o-rama to the shortstop. Unfortunately, the Firebirds shortstop was a very good shortstop and barely threw Ashley out. So the game is getting tight and we need a hit. Guess who comes to the plate? Deneé! In a repeat of her first game last-inning heroics, Deneé promptly got a hit. Then she stole second base! Brittany fell on strikes and that brought Kathryn to the plate. The coaches were sweating while they looked at their watches. Isn't the game over yet? No, it has to go 1 hour, 15 minutes. We were close to the deadline. Kathryn had a nice at-bat, laying off three wild pitches, and making nice cuts at two strikes. So here's the situation... One runner on, 2 outs, full count on the batter...WHAT??? The ump looks at his watch and declares that time has expired! WHEW! The game is over! One more pitch and we may have possibly had one more inning! Rebels win 4-2 in another tight game!

Tonight's Homer's Hero was once again difficult to choose. Great defensive plays by lots of girls (Deneé, Alyssa, Allie, Kristen, and Kaiti, to name a few), plus lots of clutch hitting (Kristen, Lisa, Alyssa, and Mary Cameron) made my choice tough. But that's the responsibility I have been assigned. For her super smash to score an important run in the first inning, plus her heads-up defense to prevent a run in the second, I am pleased to call Mary Cameron tonight's Homer's Hero! Way to go Mary Cameron!

I will be back soon (in two days) to report on the next great softball war between the Rebels and Impact (and I'm hoping the Rebels make quite an impact!). See you then!

Your faithful Rebel Reporter,
Major Homer K. Fielding