By Ed Fletcher, lefty outfielder
As the mighty SoCal Force settled into their usual bar stools after their Oct. 4 game verses The Slugs the collective sigh of relief was so powerful tavern owner Bill Farrell stumbled, nearly impaling himself on the Pabst Blue Ribbon tap.
Up 15-3 after two innings, SoCal, (4-0) held off a late Slugs charge (do Slugs charge?) to escape with a 15-12 victory.
While Thunder Dan, the usual left fielder, just smiled contently, Mike the pitcher yelled exuberantly.
“I just love beating those guys, especially that black guy who yells a lot, but occasionally drops catchable balls,” Mike said.
Mike added that the plane ticket was “so worth it.”
“I’m not sure how our U.S. Team will do, but beating that team was like winning Olympic Gold,” said Kim, a former SoCal regular who now lives and trains in Chula Vista, home of the National Softball Team’s training site. “I didn’t think it would be so close.”
Jen, who sat out the game so she could smoke Marlboro lights, said next game she’d play just so she could shut the Fletcher guy up himself.
A mile and half away the Slugs coped with the defeat.
Fletcher kept muttering about the catch he made (in foul territory) and the ball he dropped (in fair ground).
“That’s the best darn ‘D’ league team you’ll ever see,” said coach Tamara, trying to put a positive spin on the loss.
Tamara pointed out that SoCal’s had a roster stacked with former D-league All-Stars and their $200 payroll makes it hard for small-market teams to compete.
The team also seemed to respond to Farrell’s threat to fire the manager, if the team didn’t bring back the championship cotton t-shirts.
One slug, who asked to be identified as The Mad Planner, between shots of Jack Daniels was already planning for the next match up.
“This time,” he said. “We won’t put our game plan on the Internets.”
* all names except those that are accidentally correct are made up
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