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By Monique Danziger July 16, 2007 — The Alliance to Save Energy Killer Watts went into yesterday’s game needing a win and confident that they’d get one. Though short on players the Watts were heavy on hubris. The last time these two teams met, the Pandas got punished 23-5. There had been talk of rainfall and thunderstorms but at 6:30 the sky was thunderhead clear and the air still. With space on the mall scant the Watts managed to carve out a slim sliver of field between the Jefferson Memorial, a group of rowdy lawyers playing fast-pitch, and a gang of Europeans in Telemundo jerseys kicking a soccer ball. All in all it seemed as if all things had come together for the Watts to get their 7th win and move on to challenge the League Champions next week for a shot at the playoffs. In their first at-bat the Watts put 4 runs up thanks to strong-swung rips and devil-may-care base-running from the top of the order’s Emily Curley, Abir Trivedi, Matte Elkins, Sean Garcia, Cory Wagner and David Mann. The Watts cleared the bench to fill the field and with the exception of Wagner at 1st, Curley at 3rd and Elkins in left field the Watts were playing out of their comfort zones. Thusly scrambled and discombobulated the Watts made mistakes. Overthrows, underthrows and throwaways allowed the Pandas to get on base. Misses, drops and good-old-fashioned over-the-head runaway balls in the outfield enabled them to come home. In this way the Pandas, as pleasantly surprised as the Watts were horrifically shocked, approached, matched and surpassed the Watts 4-run lead over the first 3 innings. At-bat the Watts were a pastiche of linedrives and far-flung cracks all of a respectable caliber. Unfortunately, these hits also seemed to go to the same 2 Panda fielders, who in a show of endurance and tenacity, handily handled every hard-hit offering to shut the Watts out for the next 4 innings. In the 6th inning intern Erin O’Sullivan took a nasty crack to the hip off a line drive - sustaining a bruising blow but breaking up a Panda double-play to enable David Mann to cross home plate. The Watts, having found their footing in the field, had shut the Pandas down from the 3rd inning on and with Mann’s run were 3 runs from tying the game in the top of the 7th. The Watts comeback never materialized, though. Needing 3 runs to tie and 4 to win they managed 1, and bowed to the Pandas 8-6. In a tragedy worthy of a commemorative stamp or National Park Service monument the Watts lost their 5th game of the season and are now 6-5. The Watts will have 2 shots at redemption and the playoffs when they play the National Farmland Preservation Trust Aggies (#1 in the League) next Monday and the Defenders of Wildlife Scrubjays July 30th. Chin up Watts fans. The season is not over and hope remains. Stand fast and stay tuned. |
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