Hello ECC fans. The second Monday night in June started out in grand fashion for Excelsior Covenant softball. On a picture perfect night at the Commons, our boys were pitted against Faith Presbyterian Church one word comes to mind, defense. Kyle Small was on the mound and by the end of the second frame, the score was knotted at 4 runs a piece. Little did we know that those would be the last runs that pitcher Small would give up in this contest as the eight players behind him flashed some serious leather. However, the bats seemed to be as cold as the defense was hot because ECC could only manage one run through the next four innings to lead 5-4. Fast forward to the top of the seventh and the script couldn't have been written any better as Steve Anderson and Tim Carlson, AKA the Thumper boys, started the rally off with two straight singles. After a screaming liner to the shortstop by leadoff hitter Jon Volling, Kyle Small filled the bases with a walk. Wanting to be a hero, first baseman Craig Butler got a bit over anxious and popped out to his counterpart setting up the ultimate scenario. Bases loaded, two outs and your team needing a big hit to break the game wide open and cleanup hitter Brian Wiersma delivered with a majestic shot into the night for a grand slam homerun giving his team a commanding 9-4 lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning. Well, Faith Presbyterian Church continued to find the gloves of Excelsior defenders putting up a final goose egg giving ECC it's second straight win. Final Score: ECC 9 Faith Presbyterian 4.
In between games, the boys of ECC showed off another talent as they proceeded to sing "Happy Birthday" to Senior Pastor Steve Pitts who was amongst the many fans that came out to support the club.
Question? Could ECC sweep the doubleheader and make it three in a row? Answer. Not quite, but a great effort. After an exciting end to the first game, ECC took on the Catholics from St. John the Baptist Church. The strong defense from the first game didn't carry over to the next as St. John's tallied 4 quick runs in the opening frame. A two run double by first game hero Brian Wiersma and an RBI single by Kit Housh narrowed the gap to 4-3 in the bottom of the inning. Over the next two innings the score was tied twice but by the end of the fourth, St. John's took the lead for good at 9-7. Unfortunately, the rally caps did not appear for ECC in this game as Brian Wiersma lined out to the left centerfielder with a man on the bottom of the seventh to end the game and give St. John's a hard fought 12-9 victory. A valiant effort that came up a bit too short.
Coach Quinlan and the guys will try start a new winning streak next week at Freeman Park starting at 6:30 and 7:30. Word is, the team will have a opportunity for revenge right away as they will play St. John's in the first game of the evening on June 16th. Hope to see you there.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Big Hits and Big Win
Hello ECC Softball fans. Can you remember the last tiime you heard about your local diamond dwellers? Let me refresh your memory. It has been 3 weeks since ECC played a softball game. Way back on May 12th, the covenanters took the field against the young Mudhens and St. Therese. Thanks to an unpredictable wind and a thin roster of 9 players, the Mudhens outlsugged ECC winning 28-16. In the second game, one more player arrived for our boys to give Coach Quinlan a full squad on the field but the result was the same as St. Therese won 22-7. Fortunately for ECC, the schedule makers allowed for an adjustment period with a bye followed by the Memorial Day weekend.
Now, we come to last Monday where a light drizzle seemed to fall all night long as ECC faced Ridgewood Church and Westwood Gray. The first game started out with Ridgewood getting out to a quick 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. By the third inning, Excelsior had erased that deficit and even took a brief 4-3 advantage highlighted by first baseman Craig Butler's 2 run double over the right centerfielder's head. However, that lead was short lived as Ridgewood plated 8 runs in the bottom of the inning to ultimately put the game away. Over the remainder of the innings, our boys mounted a valiant comeback highlighted by LF Brian Wiersma's first homerun of the season but the team eventually lost 12-9.
The second contest of the rainy evening began with Westwood jumping out to a 5-0 lead against pitcher Pete Bjorlin. However, the first inning proved beneficial for both teams as the covenanters scored 4 runs of their own to trim the deficit to one. The lead changed hands several times in the middle innings highlighted again by Brian Wiersma hitting his second round tripper of the night and the season giving ECC a 10-7 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. However, by the bottom of the sixth, the score was Westwood 13 ECC 10 and it looked Coach Q and the team were going to start the 2008 campaign 0-6. Nothing could be further from the truth because the never say die covenanters mounted a huge comeback. The boys scored 5 runs compliments of another ringing 2 run double by Craig Butler, and RBI double by Brian Wiersma and a RBI triple by shortstop Mike Mrosko. Final score ECC 15 Westwood Gray 13. A special thanks goes out to Dave and Bonnie Clawson, Dan and Carleen Wiersma and Marvin Bjorlin for coming out to support the team despite the rainy conditions.
Next week, the team tries to continue their winning ways at Excelsior Commons starting at 6:30pm and 7:30pm. Hope to see you there.
JQ
Now, we come to last Monday where a light drizzle seemed to fall all night long as ECC faced Ridgewood Church and Westwood Gray. The first game started out with Ridgewood getting out to a quick 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. By the third inning, Excelsior had erased that deficit and even took a brief 4-3 advantage highlighted by first baseman Craig Butler's 2 run double over the right centerfielder's head. However, that lead was short lived as Ridgewood plated 8 runs in the bottom of the inning to ultimately put the game away. Over the remainder of the innings, our boys mounted a valiant comeback highlighted by LF Brian Wiersma's first homerun of the season but the team eventually lost 12-9.
The second contest of the rainy evening began with Westwood jumping out to a 5-0 lead against pitcher Pete Bjorlin. However, the first inning proved beneficial for both teams as the covenanters scored 4 runs of their own to trim the deficit to one. The lead changed hands several times in the middle innings highlighted again by Brian Wiersma hitting his second round tripper of the night and the season giving ECC a 10-7 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. However, by the bottom of the sixth, the score was Westwood 13 ECC 10 and it looked Coach Q and the team were going to start the 2008 campaign 0-6. Nothing could be further from the truth because the never say die covenanters mounted a huge comeback. The boys scored 5 runs compliments of another ringing 2 run double by Craig Butler, and RBI double by Brian Wiersma and a RBI triple by shortstop Mike Mrosko. Final score ECC 15 Westwood Gray 13. A special thanks goes out to Dave and Bonnie Clawson, Dan and Carleen Wiersma and Marvin Bjorlin for coming out to support the team despite the rainy conditions.
Next week, the team tries to continue their winning ways at Excelsior Commons starting at 6:30pm and 7:30pm. Hope to see you there.
JQ
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