Three Good Innings--And Three Bad Ones

It was a game of extremes. When we were good, we were very, very good. And when we were bad, we were horrible. Nathan started the game on the mound. He struck out the first batter, caught the second batter's line drive, and threw out the third batter at first. The next inning, he struck out the first batter, walked a batter, and threw a batter out at first. The last out came on a long fly to the outfield. By inning three, we were pumped. Down 2-1, we again got our outs quickly, easily, and without errors or mistakes.

Then came the fourth inning. Nathan walked a batter. An error caused another to reach base. And another. And another. The runs started coming hard and fast. We had two outs, finally, but couldn't close. Error. Error. Error. It finally got to Nathan's head. The coach put in another pitcher and moved him to shortstop, where he committed an error. (I think every player on the team had at least one!)

We got run ruled in the 6th. I think the final score was 16-3. At the plate, Nathan was thrown out bunting twice. He finally did reach first late in the game--on an error.

Three more games next week, then the season is over. We had been so encouraged by their improvement at the beginning of this game. It was so painful to watch by the end.