Three Game Series Over, Thank God

Bombers Solve Riddles and Do Tricks
BY SPARKY CHALMERS
In the finale of a three day, three game series, the Bombers were left filling holes defensively and throughout the lineup. The replacements not only performed admirably, but had moments of brilliance in a 20-13 victory over AE&S yesterday in Park Ridge.
AE&S was playing only their second game of the season and, after losing their opening day, did everything in their power to try and beat the defending champion Bombers.
The last time AE&S played B&E a last inning comeback robbed them of the Pearson Cup—and there was certainly a sour taste leftover. AE&S dug deep into their resources and used their sweet new green and yellow jerseys to secure two Pearson League favorites, Josue Reyes and Scarface. Both talented players had already squared off with B&E as part of PT.
“I love playing against Josue Reyes,” pitcher Ian Gold said. “He is probably my favorite athletic figure (copyright 2011, Steve Sartori). Not only do you have to keep his speed and power in check, but you get to solve the riddles he presents throughout the game. I’ll give five dollars to the first person who can tell me what ‘We’re going to put numbers on all the houses’ could possibly mean?”
For B&E to offset an already talented AE&S team, with the two Pearson free agent ringers, they would need a few outstanding performances. And if you are scanning the team trying to find somebody to lean on, look no further than Michael “Boombox” Barbara. The 3rd floor intern had a two-run homer in the first inning, a two-run double in the third inning, a three-run homer in the fifth inning, and capped the day off with a two-run double to add insurance runs in the seventh.
“I would think that accounting for nearly half of 20 RBI’s is a pretty good day,” outfielder Dan Sandin said. “From the back of the lineup, when a hitter is that hot, you just want to get on and give him a chance to drive you in.”
The Bombers needed every run they could muster since they were flirting with danger on defense. For most of the night, it seemed AE&S had base-runners and were a big hit away from putting multiple runs on the board. A few times, it appeared that AE&S got that big hit but were robbed by Bomber defensemen. Steve Sartori robbed Scarface on the final out of the game, Barbara had some great plays from centerfield, and Susan Osterlitz made one of the craziest plays these Sparky eyes have ever seen.
For a couple years now, as your faithful beat writer, you’ve learned that I do not exaggerate. Well, let me tell you about this one. Scarface hit a ball right on the screws, a line drive right at Osterlitz, and that’s where the magic started.
“I thought we were going to lose Sue,” birthday girl Melinda Haggerty said.
“I also thought we were going to lose a Sue,” third baseman Brian Reilly said.
But Osterlitz took the ball off the palm of her glove and let it squirt out. Then she proceeded to slowly roll the still live ball up her forearm and across her shoulders. When Osterlitz didn’t think that degree of difficulty was high enough, she rolled it around the insides of her arms and across her upper chest region like a Harlem Globetrotter. She eventually stopped proving that she could juggle and finally cradled the ball between her barehand and the glove.
And when that happened, B&E should have known that karma was back on their side. And seriously, if Scarface hit a missile home run to right field, why would Josue yell “We’re going to put numbers on all the house.”