The Degenkolb Softball Team rattles victoriously through Game 1
June 16, 2009
The Degenkolb Softball Team rattles victoriously through Game 1
Photos by: Lucie Fougner
On barely 24 hours notice, an enthusiastic combination of seasoned veterans and upstart rookies pulled together for Game 1 at DeFremery Park in Oakland against heavy-lifting JWD Liftech.
The off season has seen many changes to the squad. The coach, the right fielder, and the second basewoman all had babies (the latter two together), the left fielder got a puppy, Gross and Baylson will shortly be Graylson, last summer’s interns gave way to this summer’s interns, and a few players have departed for other opportunities. The core spirit of the team remains, however, and it showed last night.
After a quick round of batting practice, the team pulled the new jerseys over their heads and went to work, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, followed by 5 in the 3rd and 3 in the 4th. Leading the charge and assuming the #2 position in the lineup was veteran and new father, Robert Graff, who went 4 for 4 with 4 runs scored as infant daughter Finley and wife Sarah cheered him on from the dugout (okay, Sarah cheered and Finley cried, but she was making noise for dad).
In the field, the squad showed impressive resilience, bouncing back into mid-season form almost immediately. A new face in left field, intern Dan Wilcoxon, learned a few hard lessons in the early innings but found solid footing (on slippery shoes) in the latter half, gunning down a home-run attempt with a solid throw and nabbing a key line-out. Rookie Adam ‘Azo’ Azofeifa also made an impressive showing, filling some big shoes at third base. He made a number of key stops along with a host of cross-diamond bullets to second-year first baseman John Sticklen. Not to be outdone, shortstop Shane Gross made his share of putouts, including a key quick flip to second baseman Kyle Chatman that squelched a potential big inning for Liftech. Both the infield and outfield showed impressive cohesiveness for game 1 and will likely see significant improvement as the season progresses.
Intern Fuko Tsuruta also made her rookie debut, scoring a run in her first ever at-bat and showing good intuition and quick learning skills at the free-flowing rover position, despite only having played the game a handful of times before.
As always, the game was not without drama. Atop the list was the wild batsman on the Liftech team who was apparently unconcerned with catcher Jennifer ‘Graylson’ Baylson’s impending nuptials and proceeded to fling the bat backwards after making contact — twice — risking serious injury and, more importantly, wedding-photo-ruining-bruises. We’re happy to report, however, that Jennifer made it through the whole game without incident and will soon be off to Hawaii with shortstop Shane Gross for their wedding (which means we need a shortstop for next week — put out an APB on Taka).
Another scary moment came in the first inning when pitcher Gordy Wray, rounding second on an extra-base hit, slipped and came down on his right arm, popping his right shoulder out of its socket. As the squad looked on with dread, he finessed it back into place and went on about the game, proceeding to pitch another stellar six innings of softball without incident.
After a solid five innings of play, both at the plate and in the field, Degenkolb was leading by a narrow 10 to 9 margin. Having yet to give up the ‘big inning’, the squad was keen to keep the momentum and pulled together for a solid conclusion to the game, holding the opposition to a goose egg in the 6th and sealing victory in the 7th.
In keeping with tradition, the squad celebrated the victory with a round of pizza and beers at Cato’s in Oakland. Team photographer Lucie Fougner took the opportunity to sift through her game shots and shared a few choice action photos, including a host of hilarious mid-swing face shots (check the photo gallery). All in all it was a perfect start to the season.
Game 2 is scheduled for next Tuesday, June 23rd, 6:30pm at Lowell Field in Oakland against long-time foes Toft, deNevers, and Lee. TnDL is always a tough competitor — they’ve been winning championships since the days when Jim Malley and Jorn Halle were kicking up dust around the diamond (and yes, it’s still the same guys on their team). One of these years we’ll get them — come out and watch, as this might be the year!
