Billies pull through in a nail biter!
Patchwork Billies Prove That Best Defence is Offence!
With dark thunderclouds threatening this reporter took some time out at the Phoenix with Hillbilly regulars Captain Ron, Triple T. and The BIG Unit, also at the table was Hillbilly call-up Scott, appropriate since in a few hours the Hillbillies would be forced to go deep into the farm team just to fill the diamond. On a night where the Billies were looking to stay above 0.500 and equal their win total from a year ago (with 8 games still on the schedule) while regular contributors Charlie Brown and The Hustler on special assignment, Stinky nursing burnt hand and The Cheetah looking to again take the field (against doctor’s advice) so that the Hawaiians would have a full complement of lady Billies, the talk inevitably turned to the GSA and Hillbilly resurgence. Between bites of possibly contaminated tuna fish and Phoenix burgers these four Hillbillies could barely contain their excitement. The only lull came with a brief, but hard, rain at 4:30. The mood was one of determination, one of anticipation, but beneath that there was the underlying confidence that has surrounded this team all season.
For the second game in a row, the Hawaiian Hillbillies have had to showcase players from their now illustrious farm team. Today’s contributions would come from Scott and Hossam. Although Scott has some softball experience, playing for various work softball teams, Billy call up Hossam was plucked from the soccer pitch in Egypt without having ever played a game of ball in his life. “The kid’s got talent,” Billies current GM Lil’ Hitler “the plan was to bring him into the organization and let him play on [the farm team] for a while and learn the game. This kids got all the tools, we were just hoping to get him a little more familiar with the game before throwing him in there.” But yesterday with so many ailing Hawaiians the young Egyptian would undergo the trial by fire.
At times Thursday’s game looked exactly like the previous contest. Again the Hillbillies got out to a fast start with nine hits and six runs in the first. Not only that but the untried outfield with only one Hillbilly (The Porn lover) playing her regular position was able to retire the side while only surrendering one run. The Billies continued their strong showing in the second with and injured Cheetah, Bubba Gump, and Captain Ron coming around to score in the second, after the Moonshine Defence held a frustrated Glacial Speed team scoreless in the second.
Looking to draw yet another parallel to their previous outing the Hillbilly defence again looked lost in the third, as a string of errors led to seven Glacial Speed runs. “It was tough out there today,” Bubba Gump had stated after the game, “I think almost all of us let one by today on defence, [we] just felt we had to put our faith in the bats and come up with the outs when they were there.” The Billies did just that. It was interesting to note though that with seven runs in and one out, the Hillbillies dug deep to retire the next two batters and save themselves from the mercy. “I think that when we saw that there were seven runs we knew we had to stop them,” Hillbilly Triple T said, “I really think we just made a mental effort not to let them get that eighth run.”
After rallying in the defensive end of the inning the Hillbillies came through at the plate. The inning began with a hard hit double by Hossam, which was followed by a strong single by Tractor Trailer Taylor. Then after the Porn lover was robbed on a hard hit line to what the Hillbilly bench thought was the gap, Scott came through with a drive to score Hossam. The rally continued as the Messiah and Bubba Gump found the base pads before Captain Ron blasted a homerun to clear the bases to cap a five run rally. At the end of the third the Hillbillies were ahead by a score of 14 – 8 and they looked like they had weathered the storm.
After surrendering two in the fourth and The BIG Wiffin’ Unit struck out at the plate the Billies answered with five consecutive hits from Hossam, Triple T, the Porn lover, Scott, and the Messiah scoring three runs of their own. The fifth played out not unlike the fourth. A struggling Moonshine defence let in four Glacial Speed runs but the Hillbilly bats were strong scoring Bubba Gump (with an exceptional head first hydroplane at home), Captain Ron, and the Ringer. The score through five was 20 – 14 for the Billies.
But then the Billie bats fell silent. From the sixth to the eighth the Hillbillies managed only four hits and two runs, while the Glacial speed were making their final push for victory bringing in four of their own. So heading into the ninth inning the Hillbilly lead had all but evaporated as they led 22 – 20.
In a nail biting top of the inning the Hillbillies defence fought to contain the consistent Glacial Speed offence. Their success was marginal giving up two runs in an inning where at times it looked much more dangerous. But now there was no lead and the Hillbillies were forced to use the bottom of the ninth. They wouldn’t need much.
As the first batter in the inning Bubba Gump capped a career day at the plate with a tremendous drive down the left field line which gave him the time to fully round the bases. At the end of the day this Billy went six for six, scoring five times, and hitting for the cycle. “On a day where we needed the bats to carry us through Gump really stepped it up,” said a triumphant Captain Ron after the game. Just like that the Hillbillies had their seventh win in twelve games winning another game that had come down to the wire, proving that they have a realistic shot at the championship this year.
It is worth mentioning the play of the Hillbilly call-ups in this game. Combined they went seven for ten and scored four runs. Triple T was also perfect in five trips to the plate.
