Twosday Night Fun

No literary acrobatics today (ok, maybe some). Just the straight scoop and a pictorial presentation from Cougar Central.

The Cougars played a doubleheader last night and lost both games.

Before the double feature, we started out with the annual team picture. All 16 teammates in one place at one time. First time ever. Just short of a miracle.

In the opener, we played the Brown Stars and lost 4-3. We made a run for it in the bottom of the 7th but could not close the deal.

It was a well fought game highlighted by a Fortier HR. He was in the on-deck circle and said it was about time he hit a deep shot to the right center gap, which he proceeded to do and then he pranced around all four bases.

Marc, or Lil' Rads, as he is known on the South Side, played in his first game in over 18 months. He showed no signs of rust at the plate or in the field. He hustled all over the park and showed no signs that his daily Portillo's lunch is slowing him down.

Speaking of slowing down, the Brown Stars must have taken Joe D's advice to slow the game down when the other team is starting to rally. In the bottom of the 7th inning as we were mounting a comeback, the catcher for the Brown Stars just about passed out from heat exhaustion. We stopped the game for about 10 minutes so we could tend to his needs. Well, we is not precise. Hoglund, who is a true clutch player and has experience in these matters, calmed and cared for the worried and overheated catcher until backup arrived.

In this picture, Dan truly made the play of the game.

I traded emails with Captain Brown Star and found out that his catcher was admitted to the hospital last night as a precautionary measure but is now doing well and coming home today.

After all the flashing red exited the field, the Cougars went down the ROY G BIV spectrum and next up was Team Orange.

We have been slaughtered each time against Team Orange and have never played more than 5 innings against them. Last year, we lost 18-1 to them. And in our first Cougar game ever against them, we lost 36-1. They were so strong, we thought Orange juiced.

Team Orange is the two-time defending league champion. This year, our goal was to play seven full innings and stay competitive.

We achieved our goal and only lost 6-1. Our defense and pitching were the drivers to our successful effort. With just one run every game, our hitting and run production have been very consistent. Well, except for Oxer.

Oxer is putting on a hitting clinic over the last few games. He is smashing the ball and fist bumping all over the field.


JOx has graciously offered up his hitting knowledge with any slumping Cougars.

Other highlights included Flandog's flawless infield play, Martin's taunting third base action, and Melchiorre's and Martin's stellar high arcs on the mound.

It was one of our better efforts and we are anxious to beat them in the playoffs.

After the game, the Cougar clan headed over to the Fortier pad.

The postgame was nothing short of spectacular. Susan and Steve put on quite an event. Everyone had a blast.

We may have gone 0-2 on the night (and Diddy was 0-3 on the night - he subbed for Tappers after our two games) but given that all 16 guys were there for the annual team picture and the postgame was top-notch, I say that we started and ended the night as winners.

Here is a big shout out to all of our families and friends who helped make it a picture perfect night.