Rebels Report Rebels vs. Onyx Thursday, April 22nd (6:30 pm) L 1-0

The Rebels faced a tough defensive Onyx team on a pretty but windy Thursday night at the SLGSA fields. The game would prove to be the one of the closest contests of the year.

The Rebels came to bat first, hoping to scratch out some early runs in what was going to be a tight game. Allie started us off with a grounder to third base. Allie sprinted to first, the fielder made a good throw, and Allie was just *barely* safe, thanks to her running all out. Allie proceeded to steal second base. Alyssa came up and lifted a baby pop fly to the 3rd base side of the infield. Alyssa was safe at first and Allie advanced to third -- unfortunately she couldn't take home with the ball right in front of her. Alyssa promptly stole second base. All right! Two runners in scoring position with nobody out... Kaiti tried to bring home a run or two, but she fell on strikes. Ashley dug in and was promptly nailed by the pitch. That loaded the bases with one out. Just a little contact and we should be able to score! Oh no!! The next two batters go down swinging and we strand all the runners. Boo Hoo! Well, the Rebels are just going to have to play tough defense.

In the bottom of the first, the first batter got a hit and advanced to second base. After a strikeout from the coach pitcher, one of the hardest hitters in the league (Danielle) stepped up. Danielle beat Coach Rodney once with a rocket over his outfielders, and Coach Rodney didn't want that to happen again. Coach Rodney moved Kristen to the outfield and Kathryn to shortstop, giving the Rebels four outfielders. And they all played deep! Allie worked the count full, then Danielle took a big swing. Fortunately, she skied one in the infield. Allie camped under it and gloved it for the second out. We need one more out to stifle this rally! So Allie took care of it herself, a super strikeout of the cleanup hitter! The game was scoreless after one inning.

The Rebels reverted back to old habits in the second inning, falling 1-2-3 on strikeouts. Deneé, Elizabeth, and Brittany swung well, but just couldn't make contact. In the bottom of the second, the Onyx squeak out an important run on two hits. Allie took care of the rest, striking out two and catching a popup.

In the third inning, a couple strikeouts by Kathryn and Allie brought Alyssa to the plate with two outs. She smacked a grounder to the shortstop, who gunned her out at first base. Nice defensive play by the Onyx. In the bottom of the third, the Rebels had to mount a huge defensive stand to shut down the Onyx. Allie struck out the opening batter and retired the next one on a grounder, firing on to Alyssa for the out. The next hitter got a single. Lisa hustled the ball in from left field, preventing additional bases. Then up came the big-hitting Danielle. Coach Rodney pulled his big defensive switcheroo again, sending Alyssa to the outfield and moving Deneé and Kristen around in the infield. And it paid off big time!! The hitter jacked the first pitch to left field. Lisa was playing deep, but she hustled in to stop the ball and fire it back to Allie on the mound. No runs score!! WOW!! Great hustle, Lisa!! There were still two huge runners on the bases. Allie calmly struck out the final batter. On to the fourth with the Rebels trailing 1-0 in a nail-biter.

The Rebels backs were against the wall. They had to make contact and push a run across. The Onyx had something to say about it though. Kaiti led off with a hit towards shortstop, who threw out Kaiti at first. Rats! Ashley stepped up and did her usual, pulling the ball sharply down the third base line. The third baseman fielded it cleanly and threw out Ashley. Double Rats!! Then Lisa came to the plate. She learned from Kaiti and Ashley -- she wasn't about to hit it towards the shortstop or the third baseman. So she hit a sharp grounder to the second baseman. Not again! Yes, the fielder threw Lisa out at first base. Triple Rats!!! Three good smacks by Rebels hitters, and three darn good defensive plays by the Onyx infielders.

The Rebels last chance lay in stopping the Onyx quickly before time expired. An opening error put an Onyx player on second base. A strikeout by Allie and a nicely-caught line drive by Allie put the situation at 2 outs with time running out. The next batter worked the count to 2-2, then the ump called "Ballgame!". Time had expired. We were SOOOO close to getting one more crack at 'em. Rebels fall in a very tight ballgame 1-0.

Tonight's Homer's Hero was clear. Allie had an awesome performance in her first pitching start of the year. She struck out 7, made two outs unassisted, and assisted to first base on 2 other outs. Every single out had Allie in the mix!! Plus she got a hit and was close to scoring the first Rebels run. Allie really took the team on her shoulders tonight. Super leadership in a very close game, Allie!!

Your faithful Rebel Reporter,
Major Homer K. Fielding