Da y 5 - Twists and Turns and Finally - the Semi-Finals

We had 5 games lined up out of the 6 that had a bearing on which teams would make the semi-finals. No Cal looked like a lock after they beat Hawaii on day 4, but the tie breaker rules were set up in such a way that no one could be certain.

Arizona was the only team that looked like a sure thing, and sure enough, they handled Alaska and claimed the top spot in Pool 2. Pool 1 ended in a 3 way tie after So Cal blew away No Cal 11-0. This meant that the tiebreaker rules were put into effect - the team with the lowest runs allowed per inning would take the top spot. Hawaii claimed that after holding Nevada to 2 runs. Once Hawaii had the top spot, it came down to head to head between No Cal and So Cal - with So Cal taking the second spot. In Pool 2, there was a 3 way tie for 2nd between Alaska, the Host Laguna Niguel and Washington. Once again the runs allowed per inning was calculated and WA came out the winner.

I was on the dish for the final game between ID and OR - the only game not affecting the semis, but when it was time to do the runs allowed calculation, the TD needed the scorebook for our game. So between innings, I get called over the scorer's booth and was told to delay the game. I asked why, and they said they needed to calculate runs allowed for the other Pool. I was a little confused as to why they needed to delay our game to calculate the other scores, until they told me about the scorebook. Of course, the rest of my crew had no idea what was going on, all they saw was that I was taking my sweet time getting the game going. I gave the pitcher extra throws; I strolled to the plate to clean it off; I gave it the best dusting it had had all day; I went back to the scorer's booth; I came back and cleaned off the plate - again. I told the catcher and batter that we were in a TV Timeout@! Finally I got the go ahead and looked up at my 3 crewmates - and saw daggers flying back at me - after all, this was the last game of the preliminaries; it was 7:30 at night; and all that was standing between them and a cold one was me getting the game over.

We did have some interesting plays during the day. For example, in one inning of the NV-HI game, we got 3 outs with only 1 fielder touching the ball - and it wasn't a triple play. Now granted, there were three separate plays - but still - on only one of them did a fielder touch the ball. You might ask how this could be....well...simple....

Play 1 - runner on first; ball hit between 1st and 2nd; ball hits runner in the foot - out 1
Play 2 - some other play that recorded an out - not relevant
Play 3 - bases loaded; 3rd base in on the grass; Shortstop back; ball hit between short and 3rd - gets past the 3rd baseman ... and hits runner in the chest as the shortstop goes to make the play - out 3

If anyone has ever had 2 runner interference plays in the same inning - well...you're not alone anymore.

So, after 5 days and 30 games, we have our 4 semi-finalists. The umpire crew is taking the day off - we've done 15 games each over 5 days. For the most part, everyone seems to be holding up ok. After the first day and getting used to the heat, even our brethren from the cold northwest seem to managing fine. There are the usual nicks and bruises - the best is a shot that Paul from D55 took to the arm. His right arm is various stages of blue, purple, red, and black - from his wrist to his elbow. Other than that - we're all in one piece.

Semi-final assignments were handed out - the plates went to Glenn from WA D3 (between AZ and So Cal) and Paul from CA D55 (between HI and WA). Kevin and I are still in the running for the plate on the championship game - we'll find out who gets that after the semi-finals on Monday.