Lisa Read on the grid-iron.. er uh, pitcher's mound. (Wolan)

A shuffled line-up coupled with a strong opposing team led the GD avengers losing their 12th game of the season 26-7. Despite the lose the team will look to next game to get back on the winning path in order to secure a playoff berth. With the post season just around the corner the Avengers are trying to win as many of their remaining games as they can in order to position themselves for a run at the title.

On Tuesday July 20 the long anticipated debut of the mysterious Mike Corbett came to an end. Having only been known as the person behind the “Corbett Report” , his identity was revealed but short lived due to a powerful Comfort Controls team who “15 run ruled” the Avengers.

In a surprise coaching move by Wolan, Lisa Read was named the starting pitcher for the Avengers. After being questioned as to why the switch in starting pitchers was made, Wolan explained that he wanted to experiment with having three males in the infield and three males in the outfield to try and shake things up a bit against a very good Comfort Controls team. Wolan also had observed Read pitching in practice and was very happy with what he saw from her.

Lisa’s pitches were consistent and very accurate but the hard pounding CC team kept spraying the outfield with line drive after line drive, which led to a big first inning. With Lisa giving up 6 runs in the first inning she was replaced by Rick Palma who would try and keep the damage at a minimum. After the punishment endured in the first the Avengers reclaimed one run when Lisa Read singled home Jim M.

In the Second Inning, the Pitching struggles continued for the Avengers. Palma gave up four more runs to make the score 10 – 1. In the bottom of the inning, Rochelle Schworm led off with a strikeout but the Avenger bats would get hot. Molloy, the second batter of the inning singled and the next three hitters would follow suit. Special K, Rick, and Derek all singled to score runs. This led to the Avengers picking up 3 runs to cut the deficit to 6 again.

Rick and Jim M. are banged-up after colliding on an infield pop-fly. Jim. M. made the catch. (Wolan)

In the top of the third, Palma kept things rolling for the team, only giving up one run and allowing only 5 batters. It was the avengers who gained some confidence and thought they could cut into the lead even more. This would not be the case. It was a 1-2-3 inning for the team and no the scored remained 11 - 4

The fourth inning would prove to be the back breaker for the Avengers. Marked with wild events and unfamiliar territory for some GD players. Personnel changes happened all over the field in the top of the fourth. An eager Mike Corbett was summoned to play Shortstop when Molloy called in to the dugout for him to “Come on out”. To no avail Wolan was horrified by the move saying “Molloy, you get in there. Corbett isn’t experienced to play short.” Molloy then replied “Corbett knows how to play softball” Despite Wolan’s objection Corbett did stay in the game at shortstop. Rochelle was also put in a second base and Magda returned to catching after Jennifer, the starting second baseman, had to leave.

It seemed as though there was nothing the Avengers could do in order to stop the bleeding that occurred in the inning. Balls, bats, and even players flew everywhere. At one point, a little pop up was hit in between Jim Read, the current third baseman, and Rick the pitcher. As the two ran for the ball, they collided. Surprisingly Rick held on the ball after being flung into the air., ending the inning. In all, Comfort Controls ended up getting 13 runs. All couch Wolan could do was repeatedly asked players on the CC team to be “courteous” and not score too many runs against his ill-matched Avenger roster.

Rochelle on third. (Wolan)

In the bottom of the fourth Dean Harrison led off the inning with a double to the fence. Rochelle was the next hitter and drew a walk. This would leave Molloy coming to bat with runners on first and second and no outs. Molloy would not get the job done after popping up to the shortstop and leaving the runners exactly were they had been. Special K was next and singled. Rick continued the rally with some offense of his own. He singled and drove in Harrison. Rochelle would then score on a walk drawn by Derek. Wolan then made a bad third base coaching mistake by signaling Special K to home on a pop up to short left field. After the play, K was heated and furious. She yelled at Wolan telling “Wake up” and to “Pay attention”. The rally ended for the team as Jim Read flied out to left field.

The fifth inning brought a new pitcher for the Avengers. Coach Andy Wolan and Magda were now the battery for the team. Wolan proved to keep CC in check only giving up 2 runs and even keeping his arch nemesis Dave Winfield to a single. In the bottom of the fifth, Jim M. led off with a single. Magda and Mr. T were the next batters, who were unsuccessful in helping the cause by each making outs. Lisa Read was next to bat and walked. The “lean Dean machine” as nicknamed by Special K, singled and brought Jim M home. Rochelle then walked but the rally was again stopped short as Corbett ended the game with a line drive shot to center field.

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