Club Tap Comes Up Short

Ice House Holds off Ragtag Tap Bunch

Box Score

Though Club Tap was shorthanded, it put forward a tremendous effort on Friday against the intimidating Ice House Bulldogs. Unfortunately, the great effort was not quite enough, as Tap fell apart and blew a lead in the last inning.

Coming into the game, things did not look good for the scrappy Tappers, who stood approximately two inches shorter, fifty pounds lighter, and twenty years younger per man than their Bulldog counterparts. After a disastrous eight-run top of the first for the Bulldogs, things looked even worse for the Club Tap.

However, the Tappers did not give up easily. With their bats stuck to their shoulders, the boys of Tap rallied for ten runs in the bottom of the first. Powered by seven walks, the first ten Tappers reached base. All told, Club Tap would draw fourteen walks in the game to score a remarkable sixteen runs on just seven hits. The Tap’s bottom two hitters, Local Inebriated Funny Man and Steve Turnbow, refused to give into bad pitches and did not swing the bat the entire game. They drew six walks.

The Tap’s patience, unfortunately, was not enough, as the team’s defense crumbled and helped blow a late 15-10 lead. Being in unfamiliar territory, Club Tap did not seem to know what to do with a one-run lead going into the last inning. Pitcher Skip Adams tried his best to hold the lead by throwing strikes to the first three hitters in the fourth. Sadly, only one of the hit balls turned into an out. Adams then had to face the Bulldog’s best hitter. Adams tried everything he had in his bag the entire game to get the intimidating cleanup hitter out, including his dropball and fast-slowball. Nothing Adams threw in the first three innings could get him out, and the fourth inning was no different. The cleanup hitter’s two-run blast put the Bulldogs comfortably ahead.

Still not giving up, Club Tap tried to erase its four-run deficit in the last of the fourth. Things started out well, with four of the first five hitters in the inning walking. With one out, the bases loaded, down three runs, and with the teeth of the Tap lineup coming up, things looked great. Then, the most devastating play in Club Tap history occurred. Pianolegs Hanley ripped a line drive right to the shortstop who promptly doubled off rookie Steve Turnbow, who had gotten two steps too far off of second base. With James Riebe on deck and Luke Kazmierczak in the hole, it was the worst thing that could have happened.

Devastated by the outcome but proud of their effort, the boys of Tap walked off the field ready to go at it again next Friday at 6:30 against the second-place Thumbs Up Pub II.