A special edition of Christus Vincit Sports
Let's just call this weekend the week from hell, with the only thing going right being my daughter's all-star team was victorious in their final tournament of the summer.
Our original plan was to camp out at Burlingame State Campground from Friday to Monday. We were supposed to leave from home after I finished a funeral at St. Leo's. Well, that plan backfired, as I got home and learned from my wife that Britt's coach had called and decided to hold a practice at 5:30 tonight. And there was no way that I was going to make the hour-long trek to the campsite, come back home, and go back again, especially at today's gas prices.
So, we get to the practice, which was called, due to a torrential downpour that had just finished minutes before. However, the coach gathered us anyways to give us directions to the tournament field (which I had gotten the night before from the coach's wife) and for the girls to sign a ball for the team's sponsor in thanks for paying for our team's entry fee.
I got to the campground, finally, at about 8:00 PM --- NO CAMPSITES AVAILABLE! Until this year, Burlingame's tent sites were first come/first served. We never knew that they started reserving sites before. On a normal summer Friday, we would have had a site had we gotten there by 1:00 PM. Well, it so happened that my wife Ann had invited her friend Candy to camp out with us, and it worked out nicely that Candy's stepfather had a beach house not far from Burlingame. So, she called her stepfather and got the OK for all of us to crash at the beach house for the weekend.
Now for the tournament (OR: Finally, the CV Sports portion of this post!):
Like the previous two tournaments, we played three games on Saturday to determine seed for Sunday's games. Our first game was a 9:00 AM game against Smithfield's Blue team (their "A" team, shall we say). We lost 6-4. Britt went 1 for 2, grounding out and reaching on a bloop single.
The second game, immediately after, was against Smithfield's White team (their "B" team that we've smoked more than once). We smoked them again - 10-0. Britt walked (and scored on a later hit) and whiffed in her two plate appearances.
The third game, immediately after that, was against North Kingstown, the host team. We've beaten them before, although they smoked us in the regional tournament in Lowell, MA. This time, we won - 2-0. Britt whiffed twice. However, this was a classic pitcher's duel. We were scoreless till the fifth inning.
Our 2-1 finish for Saturday gave us second seed out of five teams (only the Smithfield "A" team was undefeated). Now we go to Sunday - single elimination. BUT FIRST...
Yours truly travels back to Burlingame at 8:30 AM, manages to get us a site. I pay for the next three nights. Now, back to sports...
We re-match North Kingstown. What a nail-biter! We had a 5-2 lead going into the top of the last inning and we gave them three runs! OUCH! In the bottom of the inning, with the score still tied 5-5, two out and bases loaded, Kamryn, our sole lefty, walked in the winning run for us - 6-5. Britt's hitting: two walks and a ground out.
So we now land up playing the championship game against none other than Smithfield's Blue team, the team that beat us Saturday. This time, we dominated our way to an easy 8-2 victory! Britt's hitting: walked, grounded into a force play, and grounded out.
Britt gets another trophy, and a piece of victory cake, and we finally get to Burlingame. We pitch camp, eat supper, sit and relax, and we go to sleep. 1 AM - Wouldn't you know - MORE FREAKIN' RAIN! All morning!
Finally yesterday was nice for a bit, but we had five spot showers throughout the day. Today, now that we pack up and go home, guess what! Nice day, no rain, no dark clouds, just nice sun!
Peace,
BMP
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