Upset!

Bam!  Knocked them right out.  They didn’t even know what hit them.  We’re moving on to the championship game next Monday.  But before then, let’s step back to last night’s semi-final game between M.O.F., which stands for Mostly Over Forty or Mostly Old Farts, whichever you like better, and McGladrey, the league’s #1 team.

We had played McGladrey earlier in the year and, quite frankly, got stomped 14-4.  It wasn’t even really a game as they were just having their way with us.  Their downright domination of our team was not so different than their domination of every team in our league.  It was pretty apparent that they would quite handily have this league’s championship wrapped up.  Even we thought that.

We went into our quarterfinal playoff game ready to play and came out with a strong win, which wasn’t unexpected as we were favored to win, but it still felt good nonetheless.  Upon winning, though, we realized who our opponent would be in the semi’s and resigned ourselves to the fact that our next game would most likely be the last of the season.

When it actually came time to play McGladrey, we went into the game with no expectations other than to have fun and try to do what we could against a team that had pummeled every other team in the league.  Since they were the higher ranked team, they were the home team for the game.

As we went out to bat in the top of that first inning we somehow strung together hit after hit until the bases were loaded with no outs, at which point we just kept hitting and built a giant six run lead by the time we had to take the field.  We were prepared for them to start an outright offensive onslaught against us, much like the last time we played, but they only managed two runs coming off of a home run.  We’d take that.

In the remaining six innings they only managed three more runs while we tacked on four more to our already strong six from the first inning for a final score of 10-5.  Everyone had a great game all around.  I even managed to eek out a good game going 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s.  It might have taken me all season to finally get my bat going, but it couldn’t have come at a better time.

After the game there was a vast difference in the demeanors of the two teams.  We were ecstatic to have pulled off a game that we didn’t think we could while they all gathered around their beer cooler like their parents collectively died the moment we caught the final fly ball.

It was great to win, especially given the odds stacked against us.  Now we have a chance to win the championship and that is something our team hasn’t done in 26 years.  Obviously I haven’t been with them all 26, but this season has been a great one.  Wish us luck!