2013 Season Stats

To see the team, players, stats, schedule, and game results for the 2013 season, go to whatever link you're looking for on the left hand side of the home page and then make sure you choose the 2013 Darlington Co-Ed division. The 2013 division/team should be the default setting.

Welcome back slowpitch softball fans!!  It's August so another Darlington co-ed softball season is ready to get rolling.  The season starts tomorrow with the first game for the Fountain Trust Company at 1:30 pm.  Some things have changed for the Fountain Trust Company team since their last game so I caught up with Coach Simms to find out what in the hello kitty is up.

One unfortunate change for this season is the team will only be playing one game each Sunday instead of two.  The team seemed disappointed to learn of this change for multiple reasons.  For one, it was always fun to get two games in on one day!  If someone didn't hit well the first game they had another chance right after that game or maybe an hour later to get to do better.  Everybody was already there so why not play two!  Playing doubleheaders also let the team play around 12 games in a season.  It now seems like FTC may only get 8 or 10 games.  A schedule still hadn't been received as of the filing of this report (shocker!) so this could not be the case.

Another unfortunate change for the FTC team is the loss of perennial MVP Brandon Clore.  The regular shortstop moved to Iowa and won't be playing on a regular basis this year.  All you have to do is look at the stats the past few years to see how important Brandon was to those teams!  He played the most important defensive position on the team, shortstop, and helped erase many shortcomings on defense from other people (that leftfielder has some crazy cutoff throws sometimes).  He also hit third in the lineup and drove in numerous runs.  Anything less than seven or eight homeruns a year would have been a bad year for Brandon. 

It will be hard to make up that kind of production on both offense and defense, so it could be a tough year for FTC in the win-loss column.  Dave will be our fifth guy now and played well filling in last year so hopefully he can keep it up in 2013.  The girls will also need to bring their A game if FTC expects to score more than 6 runs a game.  Early reports are that Mandy Simms has been honing her batting skills on the practice fields in Lafayette, IN and is chomping at the bit to get out there and strut her stuff.  Holly passed up a chance to go to Brickyard qualifying so she could attend the team's batting practice.  As for the guys, Curt had another kid and racked up an impressive number of days not exercising.  To say he is out of shape is an insult to those people who are out of shape.  Better get it together Coach!

Assuming FTC ends up playing 10 games, I am going to predict a 4-6 record.  I think Brandon has added at least two wins to the team's record each year during his time on the team, so it will be hard to match the 7-5 records of the past few years.  Hopefully the team will still have fun no matter their record though since that is what it is really about.  Winning is nice but getting to play some softball on a warm Sunday afternoon is the best part of the Darlington co-ed league. 

See you at the ball diamond!  

Richard Smack
Darlington Review

For those of you who thought the final score was actually 7-4, a final audit of the books revealed a run scored by Barbi and another RBI for Jay "Wild Thing" Simms.  So FTC doubled up its opponent today, which is always nice.  Coach would prefer to see at least 10 runs a game but a dubya is a dubya.

Despite all the changes to FTC this year, it was nice to see some familar things happen on Sunday that the regulars have grown accustomed to.  Jay dominating the lead off position, Crum still point shaving by walking in half the runs for the other team, and the league still being as disorganized as ever by prepping the fields 20 minutes before the games were supposed to start.  All in all it was a fun day that was a good start to the season by FTC.  Here are some highlights and lowlights:

Highlights

• Jay got an early start on the wide open MVP race this year by going 3-4 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs.  He abused the right side of the opponents outfield to the tune of a triple and inside the park homerun.  He also had a clutch two-out RBI single in the fourth inning.
• Mandy "Hollywood" Simms produced an RBI in her very first game of the season.  She hit a ball to their 93 year old pitcher who attempted to hold Curt at third but FAILED when he decided to throw to first instead of eat it.  HAHAHA, run sucker.  This RBI is even more exciting considering the fact that she only had one RBI in the past two years combined!  That offseason batting practice is already paying off!!
• Dave played well in his debut as the full time shortstop.  He had a nice diving stop in one inning that resulted in a rally ending out at second.  He also hit the ball hard and went 3-3 with a run. 
• The defense for FTC was pretty solid all day.  The only miscue this reporter remembers was a dropped ball by Kirk at first on a double play attempt.  For the first game of the year that is really good.  Michelle had a nice play at second when she stopped a ball hit by a girl on the other team with some speed and still threw her out, and Carissa stopped a really hard hit ball to her at third that prevented runners from moving up a base and kept the force outs alive.
• Jason "Hotdog" Crum showed unusual nimbleness and awareness covering first base today.  There were multiple times Crum covered the bag on a ball hit to Kirk.
• Angela did an awesome job keeping the books for coach.  She gave it her all and even tracked what the players did for the other team.  Here was her lineup and descriptions of the other teams players:
1. Teal...Dye Job
2. cream vis...No 7
3. No 00
4. bald
5. headband
6. IU hat
7. No 42
8. No 21...lefty
9. No 1
10. 24
11. Gray shirt
12. Blue...black hat

Lowlights

• Showing up to the diamonds at 1:00 for a 1:30 game and being told that those in charge don't know what field we are supposed to play on.  Really??  SMH.  Nothing new here though so moving on.
• Curt
  • Struck out swinging after hitting a ball foul on the first pitch.  You showed them!!  Eric "Superfan" Thompson was immediately hired as Curt's personal hitting coach and helped him correct his bobblehead.
  • Almost killing the aforementioned 93 year old pitcher with a rocket up the middle during his third at bat.  Have some respect for your elders!
  • Two hopping a throw to Crum from short outfield.  WOW
  • Showing up today
• Only scoring eight runs.  Against a better team (the opponent today may end up being the worst team in the league this year) today might have been a four or five run loss, or worse.  A few more timely basehits will be needed by the girls to prevent this from happening.  The guys for the other team struggled hitting the ball for the most part and half of their runs came from walks (Crum!!!).  

Richard Smack
Darlington Review

Harry Mann here!  Wow, what a long offseason.  Glad it is over so that I can get back to having something to do on Sundays besides fight off hangovers!  Anyhoot, Fountain Trust started the season off strong with an 8-4 a$$ pounding on some team dressed in red shirts.  They scored most of their runs off of walks, and was otherwise terrible.  FT has a few new players this year, Dave and Carissa, along with Barbi who filled in for the injured Angela Simms.  No word yet if Angela is going on the DL, but hopefully not and hopefully she gets her red hot boom stick out and knocks some singles on the diamond!  Dave replaces Brandon Clore who felt his reign of 15 straight MVP awards warranted someone else the chance at it so he moved to Iowa.  Dave did a great job at shortstop, making a diving stop and subsequent throw out of the pansy trying to get a base hit.  Not today loser!  Dave also went 3-3 and burned the left center fielder so bad on one hit that she just got in the fetal position and cried.  Someone call the fire department...haven't seen a burn that bad since Crum manned the outfield!  Carissa played a solid 3rd base and fit in great with the team per Coach Curt "Swinging K" Simms.  Yes, Coach had a swinging strikeout, but after a quick consultation with Eric "The Mouth" Richardson he found his groove and hit two hard line drives for base hits.  Leadoff man Jay Simms abused the right side of the outfield and started the game off with a triple and inside the park HR, both of which results in runs.  Other highlights:

- Jason Crum actually fielding his position well and covering 1st base as well.  Well done Crum!

- 7 different players scored runs for FT and 7 different people had RBIs.  That has to be a record!

- Angela Simms did a great job keeping book for Coach and FT.  Coach was thrilled with the hard work by Angela!

- Solid defense all around led to this victory...Michelle was not letting anything get by her and played great!  Holly made some nice stops and quick throws in to the infield.  And Mandy Simms stayed focused in right field despite no softballs being hit her way all day! 

One other highlight was a pug hanging out and spectating on the red team's side.  This reporter got a chance to interview the mutt...

HM:  Hi dog...what is your name?

Pug:  My face is flat!!!!!!!

HM:  Oh...yeah, I didn't notice.  So why are you rooting for this team that blows chunks?

Pug:  **Starts snorting/breathing heavily**

HM:  You okay pug?

Pug:  Yeah, my nasal passages are an inch long.  Tough to breathe sometimes when I get excited which is all the time!

HM:  Sounds brutal.  Did you notice that short girl on the other team staring at you a lot?

Pug:  I did!  You want your face licked??

HM:  Not by you!  Thanks for the time...I have world class journalism to get back to.

Pug:  Woof woof!!

FT squares off against unknown team Sunday at 2:30.  Be there for the exciting action!  Until next time...this is Harry Mann.  Later!

Harry Mann here, ready to write another Nobel prize worthy piece of journalism!  Fountain Trust took on Tommy Steven's team this past Sunday, and the result was a heartbreaking 10-9 loss.  The coach of Fountain Trust, Curt Simms, was understandably absent due to a family emergency.  I hear everything is going well though with Angela, and Curt will be ready to go next Sunday.  The game started out as a real snooze fest, with only 1 run being scored in the first few innings.  The game then got tied up in the middle innings, then there was a smackdown of major offense from both teams in the last inning.  FT scored 5 runs due to clutch hitting from almost everyone in the lineup!  Unfortunately, errors and a few walks doomed FT and the bad guys managed to come back and win the game in the bottom of the last inning.  While it was a tough loss, there were great performances all around!  Jay Simms scored 3 runs, Ricki showed Crum how to hit the ball like a guy should and was just abusing the other teams defense, and Dave had 4 RBI.  Kirk and Crum both had 3+ hits and Michelle burnt a guy bad in the outfield with an RBI basehit. The subs for FT, Lindsay and Derrick, also contributed mightly!  Other highlights:

-Holly made up for the fact she was 7 minutes late for the game by making a nice running catch in the outfield by a ball hit by Tommy.  Haha Tommy!  Nice job Holly "Fly Ball Hunting" Miller

-Jason "I hate you guys" Crum did a nice job in left field.  Made a couple of solid catches and played well.  The MVP race is wide open!

One of the biggest stories of the game is Mandy Simms breaking an 0-500 hitless streak!  Oh, I am being corrected, it was 0-38, not 0-500.  Mandy's husband is such a kidder!  Anyway, this Nobel prize winning journalist caught up with Mandy after the game for a quick interview:

Harry Mann:  How does it feel to finally break that hitless at-bat streak?

Mandy:  It honestly feels great!  I have been putting in long hours in private practice sessions with my stunningly awesome husband and I think it is paying off!

HM:  The work is clearly paying off...you had an RBI last week and then a hit this week...perhaps you get a hit AND an RBI next week??

Mandy:  Well, I don't know about that, but gee golly I will try my hardest Mr. Mann!

HM:  Fantastic.  I noticed there were no pugs at the game this week...were you disappointed?

Mandy:  I'm always sad if a pug isn't around.

HM:  Weird.  Anyway, how did it feel to play catcher and be busy instead of making like a statue and "playing" right field?

Mandy:  Derek put some weird spin on the ball and it would always shoot off to the right so I was really busy.  But it was better than doing nothing!

HM:  So to clarify...you don't like balls spinning and shooting away from you?

Mandy:  Correct!

And that was the end of the interview...until next week, when a former MVP of the team, Brandon Clore, will make an appearance and hit 30 HRs!  Not sure what time the game is yet, since we still do not have a schedule yet.  But Coach will let you know soon!  Harry Mann is outta here!

How's it hanging softball fans?  Harry Mann here with a recap of game 3 of the season for Fountain Trust.  This game featured the return of Brandon Clore, the MVP of multiple prior seasons.  Brandon lives in Iowa now, but was in town for the weekend and played for FT today!  Unfortunately, the return was not enough as FT lost to a team full of big guys and bigger girls!  The final score was 8-5 in favor of the bad guys.  It was a fun game though, with lots of talk going on while on defense and just a good time all around.  There were some memorable moments, such as Coach Curt running full speed (estimated 100 mph speed in my book) into the fence to rob some jobber of a hit, and Holly making a nice stop in the outfield and subsequently throwing the ball about 2 feet in front of her!  I just about spit my Snapple out laughing so hard at that relay throw!!  It's okay Holly...it was hot out which probably caused perspiration to form on your hand and the ball slipped.  Other highlights:

-As mentioned, Curt made a nice grab while hitting the fence.  This investigate reporter later found out (from his wife, Angela "Bookkeeper" Simms) that he suffered a rather large bruise on his left butt cheek and a scrapped up elbow.  Rumor is the fence suffered a concussion due to the brute force of the collision!  So take that fence!  And keep up the great defense Coach!

-Brandon and Dave took turns at first and shortstop, and they had a fun game of "who can throw the ball to first the worst."  It was rather fun to watch! 

-Angela Simms made a nice return from the DL today, and even though she didn't get a hit she was hitting the ball solid.  Great job!

-Jay Simms made a great textbook head first slide into third and beat the throw from the outfielder.  This led to a run being scored later that inning.  Great hustle!  The other teams outfielder didn't agree but Coach Curt told that guy to shut his face.  Which he proceeded to smartly do. 

-Carissa caught a nice throw from our catcher, Barbi, and tagged out King Kong as he tried to slide/trip/tackle her to get to third base.  Carissa just stood strong and told him to go sit his dumbass down on the bench.  Great job Carissa!  Way to make that big idiot look like a tool!

-Jason Crum had a strong pitching performance...great job!  Hitting wise was painful, since no balls that he hit left the infield.  Good try! 

I caught up with Carissa after the game to ask her about the play at third with KK:

HM:  Glad you survived that play...can you describe in your own words what happened?

Carissa:  Sure!  I had noticed that someone on their team had hit a ball an amazing distance of 3 feet.  The catcher couldn't get to the ball in time to thrown out the runner at first, but for some reason a guy on their team decided he could go from 1st to 3rd on an infield hit.  But not so much!  I tagged that bitch out and showed him the ball as an extra f you!

HM:  I saw that...definitely a classy move!  Did he say anything about why he tried spearing you?

Carissa:  Well, based off the fact the ground was shaking as he approached me because he is a big tall lumberjack, I was prepared for contact.  I didn't expect him to try and tackle me!  He tried saying I didn't have the ball...that is why I showed him the ball.  He had no response to that!

HM:  Of course not...he thought for sure he was going to knock the ball out I guess.  Were you hurt at all?

Carissa:  Nope, I'm good!  I think he tripped over his two left feet so the impact wasn't as bad. 

HM:  Good to hear!  Way to stand in there strong!

Carissa:  Thanks! 

The whole team was thrilled to play another game with Brandon, and it was a good time had by all!  The lack of hitting and errors doomed FT, but it was a great day for a game.  The good news is FT finally got a schedule, but the next game isn't until September 15th.  It appears the last game will be around Christmas time, so that will be awesome for sure.  Until next time...Harry Mann out!

It was a tough day on diamond one yesterday as Fountain Trust lost a winable game to the red Athens team.  I think Fountain Trust has beaten this team by 15+ runs before so they aren't that great.  Errors and an inability to string together hits were the recipe for a loss.  Off the top of my head I remember 8 errors being made by various players.  There were also three 1-2-3 innings.

Other notes:

• After finishing up a stellar defensive effort in left field one inning, Curt came into the dugout to rest only to be assaulted by Angela with sunscreen.  After walking by her, Angela tried to sneak a spray of sunscreen onto Curt's neck.  However, right as she sprayed Curt turned and got a mouthful of nastiness.  After gagging and coughing for a minute or so, Curt gave her a stern lecture about the dangers of sneak attacking someone with aerosol sunscreen. 
• I overheard Crum talking about how he "always celebrates with a weiner after the game."  I hope Dave guarded his junk while driving home with Crum after the game; Crum might have been feeling like partying after only walking one batter today.
• We found out that we only have 9 total games this year.  So we are paying more to play less in 2013!  Coach said he would be pissed about this if they didn't have a sponsor who was paying the league fee.  We'll also be wearing Halloween costumes during the last game seeing as how it is scheduled only four days before October 31st. 
• Barbi toughed out some aches and pains to fill in for us and allow Brandon to play his first game in a while.  Thanks Barbi!
• Mandy wondered if Barbi was running a few minutes behind because she was playing with Ken.  After Curt gave her a confused look she said "you know, Ken and Barbi!  The dolls!  Oh never mind."  Just Hollywood keeping it real!!
• Teamwork seemed to reach a new high as all the guys (except Curt...jerk) sacrificed defensive playing time and/or their normal position to allow Brandon to get some run on D.  Kirk and Jay each sat out a few innings, and Dave moved to first so Brandon could play shortstop like back in the day (2012 to be exact).  Some fans were spotted tearing up at these signs of love and friendship (or something like that; whatever, let's move on...sniff sniff).

Now let's update the MVP race.  Two contenders have pulled away from the pack after three games.  Here is my opinion of where they stand right now:

1. RC Jay Simms.  Stats:  8-11, .727 AVG, 7 R, 3 RBI, 1.455 SLG
2. SS Dave Carrell.  Stats:  8-9, .889 AVG, 2 R, 5 RBI, 1.111 SLG

Jay gets the nod over Dave and his .889 AVG due to his effort in setting the table for others to hit him in.  With 3 doubles and a triple (plus an inside the park HR), he has been a primary reason for the team scoring as much as it has.  Jay has also been solid on defense.  Dave will be hard to hold off if he keeps hitting around .900 for the year!  The only problem for him is that he hasn't had people give him a chance to score runs by hitting him in when he does get on base.  More separation in the RBI category from Jay might be what it takes to move Dave into the lead spot.

FTC has the next two weekends off.  Coach mentioned trying to schedule a practice on Saturday September 7th.

Everybody have a good Labor Day weekend!

Richard Smack
Darlington Review

Well it's been a while since I filed a report about Fountain Trust and their exploits on the rocky softball diamonds of Darlington, IN, but I am back and ready to try and recap the past month and a half of games.  Here we go!

Game #4, 9/15/13:  FTC lost 25-14 in a game that took an hour and a half due to the umpire not keeping track of when the game was started.  I vaguely recall the other team hitting the ball really well and FTC having a fair amount of errors.  As far as actual plays from the game, Curt had another awesome encounter with the outfield fence.  He had to sprint back on a well hit ball and turn and jump to try and catch it.  As soon as the ball went into his glove he slammed into the fence, knocking him down to his knees immediately.  He would later find he had a deep bone bruise on both elbows from hitting the fence.  It was be-you-tee-ful.  Also, on the very last play of the game Dave hit a ball to their old bitchy first baseman who grabbed it, slow trotted to first, slammed her foot on the bag, then threw the ball into the ground.  Way to keep it classy!

Game #5, 9/22/13:  FTC lost 7-5.  I literally have no notes written down about this game.  Can't remember a thing.

Game #6, 9/22/13:  FTC won 7-5.  There was a funny situation where Crum, with the bases loaded and one out, hit an infield fly.  Michelle and Kirk, who were on third and second, went ahead and ran.  The girl dropped the ball in the infield and confusion ensued.  The other team stepped on second and the ump called Kirk out, but forgot that runners can advance at their own risk on an infield fly.  After this was pointed out to the ump he reversed his call.  Kirk made it home when the ball fell in, so Crum got 2 RBIs on an infield fly.

Game #7, 10/13/13:  FTC won 8-5.  FTC ended up playing a pick up team with 7 guys and 3 girls.  The win was by forfeit, but FTC also beat them legitimately on the field too.  For the day, Eric played through a bad hammy to do a great job pitching and Carisa played through a broken toe.  So while other teams couldn't get a full team, FTC had people showing up and playing through legit injuries!  Plus hangovers from Carisa's 30th Birthday celebration Saturday night.  Not much of note from this game either.  Dave did dive to stop a ball from going to the outfield...pretty bad ass for a pick up game.  He's a monster with no off switch.

Game #8, 10/13/13:  FTC lost 8-4.  The story of this game was runners left on base.  There was scoring opportunities but FTC just couldn't string together timely enough hits to get the win.  Defense was solid, notably Holly at second, Eric on the mound, and the unstoppable duo of Curt and Angela in LF/LC.  The highlight of the day involved a hard hit ball to Angela in LC.  Angela ran in to get it, stuck her glove up in the air, but unfortunately it skimmed off the top of her glove and went behind her.  Fortunately, as is the norm with LF Curt Simms, he was sprinting in behind Angela to back her up, saw the ball go off her glove, and using pure reflexes reached behind him and down to snag the ball with his bare hand.  It was a split second move that helped FTC get three outs in three minutes and gave the team a chance to hit again.  I think the Gold Glove award may be locked up already, what???  There was a girl from the other team that got hit square in the back, and also in the crotch, during one horrific trip on the base paths.  Dave was the one who hit her in the back and Curt was the one who delivered the rocked right in her V-spot.  Double ouch. 

FTC is now 3-5. 

Until next time,

Richard Smack
Darlington Review

Here is the updated MVP standings after 8 games, based on the year-to-date season stats and opinions of this reporter:

1. Dave:  .708, 17-24, 10 R, 14 RBI, 1.125 SLG
2. Jay:    .548, 17-31, 14 R,  7 RBI,  1.065 SLG, 5 outfield assists

Dave is having a great season hitting the ball and driving in runs.  Jay had a four for twelve stretch in games 4, 5, and 7 that hurt his average but he was still getting on and helping Dave have someone to drive in for a run.  Jay has also had an outstanding defensive season, with no errors that I can think of and at least five outfield assists.  The bottom line though is that Dave has so far been FTC's most consisent and overall productive hitter.  Kirk has 8 RBI thanks to Dave getting on base at a high rate.  The race isn't over yet!  In the past the MVP race has been over after the first game so this is exciting!!

Richard Smack
Darlington Review

So I had spent about an hour and a half typing up a nice recap of everything, game by game, when I lost it due to the website having some kind of error.  Sorry everyone but I am still really sore and need to get to bed so I won't be redoing it (it's now 11:30 pm Monday night). 

Here are some quick highlights that I can remember:

• Game one
• Crum pitching the ball to second base
• Crum flopping around on the ground trying to retrieve a ball that bounced away from him (he got the out)
• Dave catching a ball that was tipped off the top of Crum's glove.  Nice heads up play!
• Jay hit for the cycle, and went 4 for 5 with 3 RBI and 3 runs, taking game one MVP honors
• Jay also had two outfield assists, throwing out a guy at second and another one at third
• Dave, the umpire, got hit a couple times off foul tips by the other team.  One in particular hit him kind of hard in the stomach.  After about a twenty minute giggle-fest with the girl that hit the ball, Dave let the game resume.
• Game two
  • Curt robbed their pitcher of two hard hits by catching them right at the fence.  He kind of, almost, robbed the same guy of a home run by trying to climb the fence on another hard hit one to LF.  That guy probably would have went nuts if it had been caught.
  • Dave went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs to secure game two MVP.  FTC only scored 8 runs so having a hand in half of them was a pretty solid game.
• Game three
  • Awesome defensive game by everyone.  I don't remember any errors at all, helping us earn the hard fought 4-2 victory.
  • Michelle got two outs at catcher in the same inning, which I've never seen before in co-ed.  One was off a foul tip that went straight back at her.
  • Athens tried to rally in the last inning by getting a guy on first and second with only one out.  Dave put the kabosh on their plans by catching a hard hit line drive to his left and then outrunning the guy back to second to double him up and end the game.  It was a perfect way to finish off the most satisfying win of the year for FTC!  According to Jay the guy who got doubled up was super pissed too which makes it even better.  We found out later that it was Athens first loss in two years too.
  • Dave was the MVP again, not only for the defensive play mentioned above, but he also went 3 for 4 with an RBI and 2 runs.
  • Angela hit a ball over third base and into the outfield grass for a solid single.  It was uh-mazing!
• Game four
  • Holly made an awesome catch on a hard hit ball to her in LC.  The Athens team was picking on her the whole game but she showed them who was boss. 
  • Their awkward, clumsy, run-the-bases-on-a-homerun douche of a third baseman thought it would be a good idea to run over Meadows at third base on a hard hit grounder to him.  Meadows was on third and wasn't going to go anywhere and was still on the bag when the guy stopped the ball, but douchey must have thought he was going to catch Meadows off the bag and ran over him full speed at third!  It was one of the most idiotic plays I've ever seen on a softball diamond.  I swear too that their team briefly tried to argue with the umpire that Meadows should be out because he ended up off the bag and their guy tagged him out!  Nothing came from that though.  Unbelievable.
  • FTC scored 9 runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 15.  It was an awesome rally and was the epitome of what FTC was all about on Sunday; playing hard and giving it their all for as long as they could.  The wheels fell off on defense and offense to finish the game but it was a great game by both teams.
  • Jay was 5 for 5 with 4 RBI and 3 runs.  Added another HR and two doubles to easily win game three MVP.
• Game five
• Never happened.  This is how I'm choosing to remember it dang it!

Some other things:

• Big thanks to Rikki for being a trooper and playing four games over eight hours after working all night and literally getting no sleep before the game (not to mention some other pre-game stress she had to deal with).  She had to turn around and go to work after our last game too.  Amazing!
• Thanks to Meadows too for getting more than I'm sure he was bargaining for!  He had a great tournament and hit the ball solid all day.
• Dave and Carisa did a great job keeping the ball in the infield the entire tourney.  This may not seem like the biggest thing in the world, but even when the ball would just get knocked down but no play could be made at a base, it was a huge relief to that out of shape leftfielder out there who didn't have to run up and go get a passed ball.  The LF was dying out there anyway without any of those balls to worry about; he wouldn't have made it to the fourth game without those great defensive plays!

We officially ended the season 6-6 in my book, and finished second in the league.  That's the best finish we've ever had since the website has been started! 

Awards to come later.

Thanks!
Curt

What up my fellow Mannerites! Harry Mann here.  It was the last day of the softball season for the Darlington Co-Ed league. It was cold and windy, but FTC decided to show up and play the best softball of the season! It was a season-ending double elimination tournament, which guaranteed at least 2 games.  FTC definitely played more than 2 games!  4 complete games were played due to FTC winning the first 3 games, including a great 4-2 victory against the hated red team.  FTC staged a great late game rally in the championship game to come back from a 15-7 deficit to tie the game up.  Unfortunately, the red team scored 4 runs and that ended up being the final score, 19-15.  The 5th game was eventually forfeited.  The walks, errors, and fatigue caught up with many of the players.  Good news though...FTC coaches Jay and Curt found out that the red team will no longer be playing in Darlington due to almost all of their girls quitting for whatever reason!  Good ridance!  hahaha! 
Lets get to the season ending awards:

MVP: tie: Dave and Jay

I have to give a tie this year to Dave and Jay.  Dave led the team in average, RBI, and triples for the full-time players.  He also tied with Jay for highest on-base percentage.  He was also solid at shortstop, stopping everything hit to him.  Jay led the team in runs scored, hits, HRs, doubles, and slugging percentage.  He also had around 8 or 9 outfield assists.  FTC was lucky to have these two man-beasts! 

Runner Up: Curt Simms

Curt put himself as the last guy in the lineup, showing off his unselfish attitude.  He was second on the team in slugging percentage, tied for second in triples, second in HRs, and still managed an impressive 22 hits from the 8 spot and missing 1 game, good for 3rd on the team.  His defense was amazing, as nothing hit to left was out of range.  If he didn't hit the fence while making an amazing catch then it was a rarity!  Great job Coach!


Rookie of the Year: Carisa

Her first year playing with FTC went very well! She was solid in the #2 batting position, and led the girls in batting average, hits, runs, doubles, triples, and on-base percentage and slugging percentage.  She played the very tough position of third base, and was almost ran over multiple times.  She tagged out multiple people trying to take an extra base.  It was a great time playing on the same team as Carisa per the rest of FTC told this reporter.   




Most Improved: Angela

Angela showed an increase in power and consistency in her swing, and increased her RBIs.  Her effort and ability to keep the team morale up was noticed by multiple teammates!   

Runner Up: Holly

Holly made a couple of nice catches in the outfield, including in the championship game of the tournament!  Her hitting was good as well, and she always was willing to practice and put in the effort!  



Gold Glove: Curt

As mentioned above, Curt was all over the field and risked his well being to crash into fences and rob people of hits. 

Runner Up: Jay

Multiple outfield assists resulted in this runner up spot.  Not a lot of action in right center this year compared to prior years.  But if they tried taking an extra base, most of the time they got thrown the f out!



Cy Young: Eric

He pitched on a torn hamstring.  Enough said!

Runner Up: Jason

He did, um...show up sometimes!



Play of the Year: Curt and Angela

There was a hard hit line drive to left center field, where Angela was playing.  Angela put her glove up but the ball was just a bit high.  She managed to tip it up, and Curt (who always backs up other people) was once again hustling.  He made a great, reaching back, bare handed catch off of the deflected ball.  It was an amazing catch and everyone else on FTC who was watching threw their hands up at the same time and hollared in joy and amazement!  Great job you guys!  Nice teamwork by Mr. and Mrs. Simms!

Runner Up: Crum

He managed to pitch the ball towards second base.  Amazing!



Journalist of the Year: Harry Mann

Cuz its my awards!  Of course I will win!

Runner Up: Richard Smack

He is good too...but not nearly as good as this guy! haha!  Plus, you may recall that he thought FTC would only get 4 wins.  The nerve of that guy!  I may not have actually stated this in writing, but I thought FTC would get 6 or 7 wins.  I'm awesome!

Other Notes:

- A big thanks to Ricki for playing for us multiple times this year, including all 4 games Sunday. 

- Mandy managed to break a 2 year hit drought.  Great job Mandy!

- A big thanks to Kyle, who stepped in last minute to give us 10 people for the tournament. 

- Carisa had to deal with a big goon named D. Stanley from the red team who seemed to make it his life mission to run her over.  She just proceeded to tag him out on 2 separate occasions when he tried "sliding" into third.  Great job!

- Thanks to Curt for keeping the stats updated on this website and taking an accurate book each and every week.  Nerds like Jay love reviewing stats in order to stroke his own ego. 

FTC finished the year 6-6, which is about on par compared to other seasons.  But, considering we lost multiple-time MVP Brandon Clore, I'd say it was a fantastic year!  Next year will be interesting needless to say.  Coach Curt and Jay's niece will be joining the team!  That should be exciting!  Until next year, keep it real and keep it safe.  I'm Harry Mann...later!

While I understand Harry "Little" Mann's decision to split his MVP vote between Dave and Jay, this reporter feels that although both individuals played very well on both offense and defense, there was one individual who ended up being a little bit better at both.  Without further delay, here is the long awaited unveiling of Richard Smack's 2013 MVP:

MVP:  RC Jay Simms

• The decision for me came down to two things:
  1. Offensively both players did what they were supposed to do and both put up good numbers in the categories you would expect from their place in the batting order.  Jay, as the leadoff hitter, led the team with 22 runs, while Dave, as the third hitter, led the team with 21 runs batted in.  The difference on offense to me was the fact that Jay still managed to drive in 15 runs while being the leadoff hitter.  This tells me he not only set the table for others to drive him in, but he drove people in during clutch at bats too.  Dave had 18 runs for the year due to the fact that he had six doubles and six triples, constantly putting himself in scoring position.  So both had great offensive seasons, but a slight edge goes to Jay for the RBI work too.
  2. Defensively Jay could have easily won the Gold Glove award if it weren't for his twin running into the fence 50 times snagging balls and stealing hits away from opponents.  I don't remember him dropping any balls or missing many cutoff throws.  He also threw out almost one person a game trying to take an extra base.  Dave did a great job at the toughest, and most important, defensive position in softball (shortstop), but he did have some throwing errors every now and then.  Dave did have quite a few awesome throws of his own though to get people out at third or home, normally after a solid relay throw from Jay or Curt.  I think the zero errors and almost double digit outfield assists are what separates Jay defensively from Dave in 2013.

It was definitely a new and exciting thing for our co-ed team to have such a close MVP race.  Brandon normally made an MVP race irrelevant half way through a season.  The tournament helped solidify Jay's spot with a game in which he hit for the cycle and also went five for five in the 19 to 15 heartbreaker of a loss.

Harry covered the rest of the awards pretty well so I'll leave them at that.  As always, I look forward to next year and seeing if Curt can report to training camp even more out of shape than the year before!  Maybe with his niece there to make fun of him for being so winded he'll drag his butt outside every now and then and run some.

Richard Smack
Darlington Review