SONY SWINGERS HAND INS IT'S FIRST LOSS

Sunnyvale...As the saying goes, "All good things must end." So it was with the INS Dragonslayer's 7 game winning streak and their dream of an undefeated season. Last tuesday night, INS suffered it's first loss of the season, a 15-9 drubbing at the hands of Sony Swingers. Coming into the game, the Slayers held a 2 game lead over the Swingers with 3 to play. A victory would have clinched them the division title and the first playoff birth in franchise history. It was just not to be. In order to win their first division title, they need to win their last 2 games and hope the Swingers lose one of theirs. Said Manager Kim Goodwin, "We can't worry about what the Swingers do. We have to go out and play Dragonslayer softball. If we do, we have nothing to worry about."

For the first 3 innings, Dragonslayer softball was what they played. In the first, INS sent all 10 players to the plate. "Scoops" Maynard led off with a single. He moved to third on a Kelly Vincent single and scored the first run of the game on Mike "The Mad Bomber " Vannucci's single to left. Kim Goodwin followed with a walk and John "Dirt" Krejcha drove in Vannucci with a single of his own. Katie "Gomer" Pile drove in Goodwin with yet another single and the Slayers led 3-0. Jason "Wheels" Dominguez followed with the first extra base hit of the inning to put runners on 2nd and 3rd, and Loretta "Road Runner" Tanner drove them both in with a single to make it 5-0. With that single, Tanner extended her hitting streak to a career high 6 games. Look out Pete Rose, here comes the "Road Runner" !

The Slayers scored 2 runs in the 2nd on "Mad Bomber" Vannucci's 5th HR of the year. Scoops Maynard led off the inning with a fly out to left. Kelly Vincent followed with a single and Vannucci then crushed a 1-1 pitch deep into the night sky. With a 7-3 lead the Slayers were on cruise control. They increased their lead to 9-4 in the 4th and appeared on their way to their 8th straight victory. Oh, how appearances can be deceiving.

In the 5th, the Swingers got one back to pull to within 9-5. No big deal. With 2 innings to play, a 4 run lead was plenty. Guess again. In the 6th, the wheels came completely off the Dragonslayer party train. The Swingers sent 16 players to the plate and through a combination of clutch hitting, good base running, and a circus of errors by the Dragonslayer team, scored 8 runs to take a 13-9 lead. The 8 run rally seemed to take the wind out of the INS sails. They were only 4 runs down but failed to produce more than a wimper in their final 2 at bats. To add insult to injury, the Swingers tacked on 2 more runs in the top of the 7th to bring the final score to 15-9.

Offensively, the Slayers had nothing to complain about. 9 runs is certainly enough to win them a game. Kelly Vincent, Mike Vannucci, Jason Dominguez and Steve "It must be the shoes" Leger paced the squad with 3 hits a piece. Every member of the team had at least 1 hit. It was just a case of too much to early and not enough in the end.

Defensively, it was a nightmare. Hopefully, the Slayers have gotten all of that ugliness out of their system and are ready to play softball for the rest of the season. The Slayers stopped doing the fundamental things that had got them to 7-0 and it cost them. Hopefully, they will learn from their mistakes and take what they've learned into the playoffs.

It was a unique game and this week's Star of the Game is a unique situation. All season long, INS has won as a team and INS has lost....wait, they haven't lost but you get the point. This season's team is the definition of a team and so, this week's Star of the Game is the entire Dragonslayer team. Everyone has won a trip to Disneyland and a gift certificate to the local Chuck E. Cheese. FYI....the bus leaves in 10 minutes. Don't be late.

The Fall Classic is quickly approaching and we all know that nothing is better than a good old fashioned pennant race. It's all coming down to the wire and the pressure is on. Come on out and be a part of it. The Dragonslayers next game is tuesday September 16th (tonight!!!) at 5:30pm on field 6 vs. 3Com. Hope to see you there.