Last night our team, the Beagle Brigade, played our second Minneapolis co-ed softball game at Bryn Mawr Field vs. Your Mom. It was a rainy night, but the weather didn’t dampen our spirits! Our lack of female players, on the other hand, did dampen our spirits—and chances!

In the late afternoon, Lauren came down with a severe headache and was unable to play. Luke’s co-worker Molly, who had agreed to sub, apparently went to sleep at 5:00 and slept through our game. Britt was there to support Luke, but after a softball injury from a few years ago, she was unwilling to risk further injury and decided to sit out. That left us with only Sarah, Gillian, and Amy Jo. As the clock struck 7:00 and the game was about to begin, our team faced forfeiture unless a required fourth female player showed up.

So I went searching. I ran to the next field over and pleaded with the players from another league to join our team for a game. No one seemed interested, so I moved on to the next team that had just finished playing. An older woman, probably in her mid-50s, agreed to play, only because she hated the cockiness of our opponents.

I raced back to the field letting the umpire know we wouldn’t need to forfeit, though we were still short a female, meaning we had to take an out every time that spot came up in the order.

We jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, then later took a 4-3 lead in the second. But it was all Your Mom from there. They must have hit four or five home runs. One home run ball landed on the infield dirt on a neighboring field, a good 350 feet away. With only three outfielders (yes, there are normally four in softball) we stood little chance. Though Feeney and Luke laced triples late in the game, we fell 13-5, and dropped to 0-2 on the year.

I went 3-for-3 with 3 singles and a run scored. I also pitched the first five innings, allowing all 13 runs, but no walks. Walsh relieved me in the sixth, tossing a scoreless frame.