Time to Make the Donuts Walking Dead, Bethesda, 3/21/16, 6:30pm The Walking Dead walked onto the field Monday afternoon expecting a win and hoping for two. We had our last double - header of the season against Calvary and the Bears . Calvary is a new chur ch team and their record was a big goose egg in three wins. They'd lost to two good teams, Gwinnett Community Church and the Bears , on Opening Day then lost the ATLiens the following week. This is why we expected a win the first game. Kyle Shelton was a late minute sub for a late scratch and we appreciated his efforts. He got there on time, but well before his Softball gear. He was prepared to hit the field in khakis and boots, but was more suitably attired when the game began. We were out to improve on our 2-1 record and hoped to hit the ball well. We had not hit the ball on Opening Day in a 6-4 win and in the double-header that followed we beat the ATLiens 22-10, only to lose Gwinnett Community Church , 10-6. If we were to hit the ball every other game we were due. We were Visitors and started off fast with a pair of singles then Aaron "Therein Lies the" Rupp doubled home a run to break the initial tie, 1-0. Another double made it 3-0 and a walk and single loaded the bags for Steven Fulmer "in the Dell" who tripled, three more walkers shambled home and we led 6-0! Steven scored on a fly-out, 7-0, and two singles followed, but a fly-out gave us two down. Jason "Fortune" Tyler added one more insult to the injury that was the first inning before a fly-out ended the run. We batted thirteen times in the first inning, scoring eight runs, and Jason Tyler was 2-2. We dropped a sudden donut on Calvary and led 8-0 after one full inning. We started the second with four singles and, then went down 1-2-3, but we'd scored two runs. Calvary answered with a donut and we led 10-0 after a pair. We scored two more runs in the third, the last one on a two-out base hit from Brett "Butler" Shumaker . Another donut for Calvary and it was 12-0 after three. We scored one in the fourth, this on a two-out double from "Ready" Freddy Allen and had a 13-0 lead in the middle of the fourth inning. Calvary would have to put up two runs to stay in the game, but we tossed them another donut and won the game, by run-rule, 13-0! Run rule 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Total Walking Dead 8 2 2 1 - - - 13 Calvary 0 0 0 0 - - - 0 It's hard to put any construction criticism on this one. So, the heck with it. It was one of those good ol' games where we were pretty sure of what would happen, then it did. We hit well. We fielded well. We had fun! Good game, Walking Dead ! Brett Shumaker "Elf" was 3-3 with three RBI and Jason "and the Argonauts" Tyler , "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron Rupp and Freddy "Krueger" Allen were each 3-3 with a ribbie. Night and Day Walking Dead, Bethesda, 3/21/16, 7:30pm For the bottom half of the twin bill, we faced the Bears . We were 4-5 against this team, losing the first two in Spring 2013, then winning the next two. We lost two then won two more to go 4-4, then lost one in Fall 2015 to go 4-5. Going by the LLWWLLWWL theme it looked like a loss was on the way. We were Visitors and bolted from the starting gate with a quick, 1-2-3 donut. The Bears came out with three in the first on some good two-out hitting. We failed to score in the second, while holding the Bears scoreless and it was 3-0 after two. We scored a run in the top of the third inning on a fly ball, but held the Bears scoreless again to make it 3-1 after three. We failed to score in the fourth, despite a one-out triple from "Rye" Brett Shumaker . The Bears scored four in the inning and we were down pretty good, 7-1 after four. Then the light bulb went on and we hit the ball, scoring four in the fifth, the last inning on a two-out s ingle from "Private" Kyle Shelton . We handed the Bears a donut and had closed the gap to 7-5 after five. We kept on hitting in the sixth inning. We led off the inning with a double and a single to close the gap to 7 -6 and, a after another base hit, tied the gap at a base knock and a fielder's-choice ended our ten at bat, five run attack. We dropped a hole on the Bears and held a 10- 7 lead with one inning to go. In the seventh, looking for some Aflac, we led off with a double then pounded five base hits to score four runs. A fly-out gave us a fifth run, but a fly-out and fielder's-choice ended the run as quickly as it had begun. Now leading 15-7, we just had to hold the Bears to fewer than eight runs in the inning for the win. We held them to none and won the game, 15-7! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Total Walking Dead 0 0 1 0 4 5 5 15 Bears 3 0 0 4 0 0 0 7 It was a Jekyll and Hyde transformation in the middle of the game. The Bears put that four spot on us in the bottom of four and we came right back with four of our own right after then just kept on rolling. Our defense was solid and the highlight was a throw from Aaron Rupp in LF to 1B for an out when the runner strayed too far on a fly-out. That throw ended the sixth inning with enough time left to start another inning. So we made that extra inning count. It was a very exciting comeback, but one that could have gone the other way. I would rather have seen a half dozen runs in the first four innings, rather than that one we actually scored. Can't complain about a solid come from behind win, though. Great game, Walking Dead ! Brett Shumaker "Elf" was 3-3 with a walk and an RBI. Larry Civelli "Vanilli" was 3-4 with four ribs, Mark "Vice Grip" Irwin was 3-4 with three, Steven Fulmer "Metal Jacket" was 3-4 with one ribbie and "Once in a Life" Tim McCoy was 3-4. WWI Dirty Dozen, Bethesda, 3/21/16, 9:30pm After a double-header split the previous Monday, the Dirty Dozen was back on the field for a late game against a solid team. Wild Wing Café is the ones, well, ah the heck with it. We played Wild Wing . They're the young ones we've played for years and they have a pitchers with a white cotton ball on the end of his chin. They're quick and fast and can really hit now and then, but they always play really good "D". We were Visitors and stumbled from the gate with a ground-out and a fly-out. A single kept the inning alive and Aaron Rupp "Two, Three Four…" made it 1-0 with a double. Dan "gerous" Covault added a single and another two-out run and a base hit followed, but a B.O.O.B. ended the two-run mini rally. Wild Wing put up a deuce and it was 2-2 after the first salvo. We put up two more runs in the second inning and, once again, it was clutch hitting that led the way. Mark "Radar O" Reilly and Larry Civelli "War" each had two-out, RBI singles. Wild Wing answered in kind and it was 4-4 after two. There was very little hitting in the third and fourth inning, actually none on our part as we went down 1-2-3-4-5-6. Wild Wing threw a run on the board in the bottom of the third and they led us 5-4 after four. In the fifth, we actually started an inning with a base hit, instead of the usual out, and another base hit followed. We tied the game, 5-5, on a fielder's-choice then a double put runners on the heavy side. "On Your" Mark Irwin brought both runners home with a single and we had the lead 7-5! A single and fly-out left us with two one and two down, but "Lieutenant" Dan Covault came up with a big clutch single, both men scored and our lead swelled to 9-5! A fly-out finally stopped our five-run inning. We held Wild Wing scoreless in the fifth and maintained our 9-5 lead through five. We put up two in the sixth and didn't even have to do it with two down, then held Wild Wing to a goose egg and had a 11-6 lead with one inning to go. Now it was time to go get and an anonymous online quote from a friend… We began our final inning with a base hit and a shot over the fence for an out.