Much like the Yankees playing in their homer-happy new stadium, the Empty Pitchers struggled in their inaugural uptown contests, dropping back-to-back games against The Titans on Saturday, 13-2, and 17-6.
Bright spots were few and far between for the Pitchers, who were forced to endure watching a succession of their pitchers struggle to get into the modified-slow-pitch groove, as their hitters labored to find their stroke at the plate. Matters weren't aided any by the Titans, whose entire line-up adhered to an extraordinary plate discipline unlike any before witnessed in co-ed softball.
In the first game, Eric and Felix scored the game's lone runs in the bottom of the third, coming home on a single by Alicia and a fielder's choice by Debbie. David and Alex B. picked up the only other hits of the game, before play was mercifully halted by the Mercy Rule in the fourth inning.
The Pitchers showed more life in the second game, and even briefly took the lead in the top of the second inning, before being done in again by walks and the crippling "walk a guy in front of a girl, and the girl gets to walk too" rule. Alex B. hustled his way to a huge triple that scored two runs in the second, and Eric capped a perfect 3-for-3 day with a 2-run home run later in the inning. Danny also had a solid game, going 2-for-2 with a pair of perfectly-placed singles. The Mercy Rule may have again been enacted, but in Game 2, it didn't seem to carry with it quite the same stigma of pity as it did in Game 1.
Next week's game (as well as the week after), will likely both be 9 a.m. starts. The Pitchers have the defense needed to compete, their bats have already shown signs of life, and there's plenty of options available when it comes to solving their pitching dilemma...the key now is to turn the page on Opening Day and look ahead to their next chance for a "W."
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