SENIOR NIGHT THRILLA AS HOUNDS GET BY QUAKERS

The Annual Senior Night honored the two seniors in the softball program. Amanda Gonzalez and Taylor Koonce were announced prior to the game and presented with keepsakes as memories and thanks for being part of the softball program. Gwen Quackenboss’s sister sang the National Anthem and the fans and players were enthralled with the rendition by sis. This appeared to be an easy draw for the hounds as they had defeated Moorestown by a 12-0 score in a previous win. A beautiful night – a huge crowd and a win would make for a complete evening. The thing is that no one gave the outlined script to the Quakers. The Quakers came to play and it was obvious that this would not have the same score as the previous encounter. In the bottom of the first, the hounds scored on a double by Jules who was driven in by Arch. Surely that would be enough to earn a victory. Gulp, don’t look now but the Quakers rallied to take a 3-1 lead. Wait a minute is the scoreboard correct, entering the bottom of the sixth the dawgs were behind by two???? With one out in the sixth Arch decided that she would cut the lead. Arch hit her fourth homerun of the year over the left field fence. Just calling it a homerun would not be doing justice to this flight into the night. The ball went high and far and probably was just a smidge short of Mansfield Road. The ball was hit so far that it took two relay throws by fans to send the ball back onto the field of play. So here we go into the bottom of the seventh trailing by one run. Two quick outs were recorded by the opponents and things looked awfully bleak for the pound. A third straight loss –the league title no longer a reality, this wasn’t what the hounds were thinking when the night began. The yappers weren’t finished yet, folks as down to their last out Lex and Jules reached base and Taylor Gooden, running for Lex came home on a hit by Hannah to send the game into extra innings. Wow, no one envisioned this and Field 25 was rocking by both teams and fans. The level of frenzied excitement was pulsating and certainly homeowners in Chesterfield must have felt the intensity of this game. No scoring in the eighth and the Quakers had runners on first and second via bunts with the third batter up. She hit a screamer down the first base line that had trouble and two runs scoring written all over it. Like a copperhead snake uncoiling to entrap its victim, Lex caught the ball to end the threat. In the bottom of the ninth when many were looking to see if it was past their bedtime, the yappers loaded the bases and JJ had a single up the middle to end the game. Final score 4-3 NBC.
NOTES-This game was a great example of not taking anything for granted. The positive energy coming from the dawg pound was a reflection of a team who knew that they would win and continued to grind things out until this became a reality. A special shout out to the grounds crew. Earlier in the day, few were aware that this game was in jeopardy of being played because parts of the field were under water because of the rain. The hounds were treated to a visit by former captain and present centerfielder for Moravian College, Cam Cassidy. A welcome sight to see Cam. Have to take one more visualization of the homerun by Arch. This ball would have been over the fence at the cavernous RV field where homeruns over the fence are rare commodities. I mean anything hit that long and that high should be registered with NASA. Mammoth, I tell you.
One more thank you to our two seniors Amanda Gonzalez and Taylor Koonce who were part of the NBC family for four years and continued to stay committed to the program during this period.

Date: May 8, 2019     Time: 7:00pm      Venue: NBC - Field 25