So this weekend was yet another big weekend for us. Sala Baganza is a good team, complete with good pitching and a solid offense. We knew how important these games were, especially after splitting with Modena the week before. In game one, our offense started off slow. Luckily, Fillo threw his best game of the year, barely walking anybody and throwing strikes consistently. He let up some early runs, and there Italian pitcher wasn't all that bad.
When I arrived at the field, I felt like there was something wrong with my swing. I couldn't find a rhythm at the plate during bp, and knew that if I didn't adjust I would struggle all game. My first at bat proved that, as I struck out. In my second at bat, I fell behind 1 and 2. The pitcher came with a fastball outside, and I was able to stick my bat out and hit a line drive over the first basemens head. I legged it out for a double. The next 2 at bats were miserable. I would get up with runners in scoring position both times. At this point, the game was still close and these runs would have put us ahead. Both times, I got jammed and grounded out to the left side of the infield. I knew something had to be wrong, I just didn't know what.
The team started to pull ahead, and soon enough our offense exploded. By the time I got up again, the score was 9-3. I was 1 for 4 so far, but felt like I was 0 for 7. I went over to my teammate Paul, who instead of giving me hitting advice told me to stop worrying about it and remember to have fun. He reminded me of my first game, and how I was just excited to be playing professional baseball. He was right, and in my next at bat, I went to the plate and allowed myself to trust my instincts. Sure enough, on a 2-2 pitch and a man on second, I hit a long fly ball into the left center gap for a triple. It's amazing how this game can wear on you mentally. Yogi wasn't kidding when he said "The game is 90% mental, the other half is physical."
After a scary 9th inning, we ended up winning 10-8. The next game would prove to be a great one. The foreign pitcher was American. He was from Chicago, and was a little bit crazy. He was one of those, I wear my emotions on my sleeves, type of pitchers. He had played two years in independent ball, and this was his first year in Italy. Luis took the mound, and after a shaky first inning which Sala scored on an error by our second basemen, he was lights out. He dominated their entire lineup, throwing all his pitches for strikes. I look forward to catching him each week and watching him work. He shows no emotion, and just focuses on the job at hand.
There pitcher was in a groove too. In my first at bat, he jammed me with a fastball and I grounded out to shortstop. The rest of the lineup wasn't doing better either. He threw a fastball that sat in the upper 80's, and a hard breaking slider, while mixing in a changeup and the occasional knuckleball. The score remained 1-0 until my next at bat in the fifth. After falling behind 1 and 2, he threw me a letter high fastball. I drove the pitch into right center for a double. The next hitter, Quinta, hit a slider up the middle for a basehit, and I came around to score. It would be the only run until the 9th inning.
With the score tied 1-1 in the ninth, the inning started off with Paul. At this point, Sala had taken out there starter and put in a tall, crafty lefty. He walked Paul on four straight pitches. Claudio was up next, and made a textbook bunt to move Paul to second. I would step up with the winning run on second, but wasn't given the opportunity to win the game. They intentionally walked me with first base open. With one out and runners on first and second, Quinta stepped up. He hit a dribbler down to third. Knowing I needed to break up the double play, I was taking a big secondary lead. I went in hard, and as I was sliding to take out the second basemen, I saw the throw sail into the outfield. Paul rounded third and scored easily. It was a walk off, maybe not a pretty one, but a big win. I finished the day 3 for 8 with two doubles and a triple.
This week should be a slow one. On Thursday, Chris, Me, and a couple of other guys are going up to Parma to play the IBL team in a scrimmage. That should be fun. This week we head back down south to Viterbo. I don't think we will be doing any traveling this week, but you never know. I hope you guys have a great Memorial Day Weekend. Talk to you soon!
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