Molloy and Rick share a laugh after Rick scores on an Eric Read sac fly.  (Wolan)

With AWOL’s parents in town and yet another line-up dilemma, the Avengers were able to form an effective starting line-up, but at the cost of an empty bench. With no room for injury, the Avengers scoring machine was still effective, netting 17 runs over 6 innings to cruse to a 17-10 win over Hardwood.

Before the game, 7 GD-A players announced that they would be “n/a” or not available to play in Sunday’s game. This list included 6 female players, three of which were from GD-A’s starting line-up. To make matters worse, both George “Dauback” Bruchbacker and Jim Misseldine were out due to injury. And if that was not enough, Jason was a no-show at game time. With so many players out, Wolan feared they would have to forfeit the game!

But another constant in the season has been the steady stream of players who come to the mercy of the team to play a game or two. Today’s game was no exception. Making their GD-A debut were three players: Jennifer Doerle, Eric Read and Becky Read.

Doerle has played fast-pitched softball in the past at the high school level. She has experience in the infield and can swing the bat. Though she hasn’t played the sport in years, Wolan hopes she’ll be able to hold the ground over at second base in Anahid’s absence.

Eric Read, cousin of Jim and Lisa Read, happens to be visiting the Reads for the week. Eric has baseball experience and is comfortable in the infield. Wolan hopes to utilize him at third in light of Jason’s absence.

With only three ladies, Wolan was anticipating on starting Nadya Wolan, his 9-year old niece, behind home plate. Nadya has never played the sport in her life and was only considered in an act of desperation. After some discussion with the umpire, the umpire allowed Wolan to substitute a male player for Nadya due to safety concerns. Nadya or some other youngster would be required hit, however.

With the move, Nadya was replaced with Molloy, who was scheduled to sit the bench. Wolan was moved to right field as Molloy took over at short. Rochelle from the floating fielder position to behind the plate while Lisa moved from right field to floating fielder.

In the batting line-up, Nadya was replaced with Lisa and Jim Read’s daughter, Becky Read. Becky, an 11-year old, has experience playing softball in the youth league and can swing the bat. At the very least, Wolan is hoping that she will be able to draw the walks and run the bases to help the team score some runs.

And making his return to the line-up was outfielder Dave Lysonski.. Dave was out for two weeks due to an arm injury sustained in game 3. Wolan hopes to make use of his out fielding skill in left field.

And celebrating their 36th wedding anniversary were the parents of team skipper Andy Wolan. His parents were in town to catch the game and hopefully watch the Avengers pullout a victory in celebration of their anniversary. They might even get a chance to see their son make an incredible play: a play that would make them proud. Would Andy be successful?

On the mound for the Avengers was Rick Palma. Regardless of the new faces, the Avengers were able to work together as a cohesive team and limited Hardwood to two runs in the first.

The Hardwood pitcher was having trouble controlling the ball and the Avengers took advantage of the pitching, drawing 3 runs in the first inning. A 2 RBI double by “The Dean”, and a surprise in-field single by Becky capped the inning. Wolan made a lousy hit that knocked the ball around home plate. Wolan was called out for touching the ball with his leg as he ran to first. His parents were not impressed.

The Avengers kept Hardwall to two runs in the second and a run in the third thanks to some superb infielding by Eric Read. Eric was able to snag some nasty line-drives to record an out and rob the Hardwood batters of some extra base hits. Wolan was able to stop a bloop hit into center right field, limiting the hit to a double instead of a triple or an inside the park homer. His parents were not impressed.

The Avengers were unable to capitalize on their fielding, going in order in the second and leaving the bases juiced in the third. After three, the Avengers lead was chipped away to a 6-5 advantage.

Despite their troubles at the plate, the Avengers fielding unit continued to be effective, shooting out Hardwood in the forth and having them going in order in the fifth. The infield continued to be impressive as it was accompanied by some great catches by Dave and a nice hit robbing grab by Lisa.

Becky celebrates with her mom Lisa after Lisa scores on a Harrison single. The Read family were 9 for 13 with 5 RBIs.  (Wolan)

The Avengers took advantage of the shutout fourth inning with a six run rally. The inning was marked with walks, singles and some aggressive base running. The rally began with Wolan outrunning a through to first for an infield hit. Thanks to some aggressive base running, Wolan was able to advanced to third on a Rick Palma blooper past second base. After rounding second, Wolan proceeded to third and went for the slide. The Hardwood third basewoman was able to make the tag, but was unable to keep control of the ball as Wolan slide into third. With both Wolan and the ball on the ground, Wolan made a quick stretch to tag third with his foot before the basewoman could locate the ball and reapply the tag. Wolan was called safe because the third basewoman was unable to retain control of the ball on the initial tag.

Other highlights of the inning was a scarify fly by Eric Read, an RBI single by “The Dean”, and an impressive RBI infield single by Becky. Wolan exclaimed that “She [Becky] hits better than me!” Molloy was called out for stepping outside the batters box and the rally was ended with Wolan hitting into a force out at second. Wolan parents were not impressed with his hitting that inning.

In the fifth, the Avengers went down in order, but held a 12-5 advantage.

Then came the sixth inning, that time in the ballgame were the Avengers have traditionally fell apart and watched the other team hammer them for runs. The inning started with a triple in the left. The batter was able to hit the ball past the reach of Dave Lysonski. Dean Harrison and Jennifer Doerle collided near second base in an attempt to catch a pop-fly between first and second. Luckily, Wolan was around to backup the fielders and limit the runners to one base. Despite the ugly start, the Avengers regrouped and limited Hardwood to three runs. The inning ended a line-drive to the pitcher Rick Palma.

On that note, the Avengers battled back and scored 5 runs of their own. Dave Lysonski hammered-in two runs with the bases loaded with single into left. In response to Wolan’s parents begging for a real hit, Wolan made an opposite field hit into right field to bat-in two more runs to give the Avengers a 17-8 lead. For once, Wolan’s parents were impressed.

Some more great fielding almost got Hardware to go down in order in the seventh. However, with two outs, a Hardwood batter was able to outrun a force out to first to get a mini rally going. Hardwood was able to string together some more hits and a few walks to reclaim two more runs, but their efforts were in vain as Molloy made the last out on a bloop-fly to short to end the game. The Avengers win their third game for the season to improve their record to 3-4. Wolan neglected to run around the outfield in celebration of the victory in favor of getting the team to sign the game ball.

After the game, Wolan’s father remarked about the team’s performance. “With the way things started out [with people not showing up], I was expecting you guys to come out at the bottom of the barrel. But you guys really got you act together and played good.” (He wasn’t the only one who thought that.)

He also commented on how the Hardwood pitcher was struggling on the mound while the Rick Palma, the Avenger pitcher, had a fairly solid outing.

Andy Wolan is a reporter for MLSB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Softball or its clubs.