Oracles Rise Above the Dinh to Winh

On Thursday, as the sun still sat high in the sky, oozing warmth like a heat lamp in a cut-rate tanning salon, the Oracles geared up for their game versus Dinh and Tonic (which sounds like a refreshing drink to have in a cut-rate tanning salon), coming off their ego-stroking win of the week before.

The Oracles appeared to hit their stride immediately with Paul C. throwing a sharp ball to get the first out and Mike R getting the final two outs of the inning, while coach Brian (who is such a great guy for allowing anything less than the highest of praise to be said about him on the blog he runs) sat in the outfield picking on the new girl Emily, who was just activated from the 60-day DL. Great things are expected from the two-time ACC player of the year. In the bottom of the 1st, with Roy on base, Jake made the dugout dance a happy jig when hit a homer right out of the park. Yay Oracles Yay! Keep it coming!

The euphoria quickly faded in the 2nd inning, despite Roy shouting fielding tips to Brianne at short, where she stopped the ball once again with her shin. Holes appeared in the Oracles’ intimidating defense, and three runs were scored.

At the top of the 3rd Dylan (the new Oracle who wandered over from across the street) began to show off his defensive chops with an outfield out. Lucinda topped that off with a stop at the mound. And in the bottom of the 3rd, the Oracles bats awoke with the power of the Babe (or the steroids of the Sammy) as Dylan hit to the hole in left field for a double, followed by a single from Roy, a single from Jake, a single from Brian (who shouted, “THIS IS TOO MUCH PRESSURE!” when confronted with a bases-loaded setup), followed by a double from Alex. Nelson hit an under-the-fence double, followed by a single from Mike, and Paul got one more single, bringing Nelson home and upping the score to 7-6 Oracles. Re-read that paragraph. The Oracles were rallying, and nobody even pulled out a rally cap.

It's true that a single scores a run, but it helps to start off with a couple of doubles.

The Oracles almost had a 1-2-3 defensive round at the top of the 4th, which was good enough, because they began piling on the runs in the bottom of the 4th, with the bases perpetually loaded and another five runs coming in, leading to a 1.5 inning flip from 2-6 to 12-6.

The rest of the game relied on defense on both sides, with the Oracles only letting one run in during the top of the 5th. But that was the last run the Oracles allowed, and when the top of the seventh inning came to a close on excellent defense by the Oracles, the team emerged victorious once again, 14-7. And no Tim, it's not a winning streak after 2 games. It's more like mercy from the softball gods after a losing streak. But we'll take it. As the Cleveland Indians’ manager said in Major League II, “Ok, guys. We've won two games in a row. If we win tonight, it’s called a winning streak. IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE.”

Brianne REALLY outdoes herself this time

Coach Brianne steps in for Coach Brian and writes a doozy of a recap:

As this story begins, a romantic evening unfolds. With Brian and his boo of a year and a half enjoying a romantic rib-eye, red wine and a string quartet, the Oracles knew this was their night. They hadn't managed to put one away all season, but they finally knew the reason. Romance it up and victory will come!

But just in case, they had a backup plan. With the hated Triskelions backing out, fearful of the Oracles rules, a rematch was to be had with the Diamond Drifters. The Drifters were short on women and on common sense in the application of the girl/out rule, but eventually everyone was on board.

Alex hit a home run, Tim hit a triple, and Brianne "embarrassed herself in front of the new bag" with a strikeout. With an early lead, the Oracles stayed strong, and only let in 2 runs from the Drifters. Oracles went scoreless the next inning, and a return to the field led to a shout of "Martin, look alive!" which was returned with a "Paul, shut up!"

Brianne managed to do her job at Short, which she hadn't realized meant being a human target. With one catch of a pop-fly that bruised her palm, she craved more in the form of a bruised shin and bruised arm. But, stop that ball she did. Her goal? No action in the outfield.

Both teams held their own, with 5 scoreless at-bats for each. R-B owned the 5th inning with a fly-out and a double-play. Martin manned up when his boys let him down with pulled groin, and stuck it out in Right field.

The next at bat had Ali hitting right into the hole, and Brianne charging down the second basewoman (who had serious attitude, let's be honest). And at the top of the 7th, R-B ended the game with a catch that left an indentation of his glove in his hand and had the Oracles wishing they were strong enough to carry him on their shoulders as their MVP.

And the violins sang. And Brian knew in his soul that the Oracles had won 9-6. Finally.

Oracles Go Back to School ...

The Oracles have seen the enemy -- and it's well-educated.

Last night, a team of big-brained men with big bats from that bastion of baseball, Harvard, went all Bash Brothers on the Oracles, taking advantage of two particularly Babe Ruth-ian innings to blow by the Oracles 19-7 (notice all the alliteration? We speak English too, Harvard! Don't make us pull out the antonyms, ahhhh snap!).

The game was highlighted by a second inning change in fielding strategy (girls on the infield, guys to the outfield) once the team realized that a disastrous first inning was caused by the ball always sailing into the deep outfield, bypassing all of the handsome and charming Oracle men in the infield. For much of the game, the move paid off, and the Oracles even discovered the newest infield double-play threat, the AB Twins, Ali and Brianne.

All was not lost in this game though. Like the US World Cup team, the Oracles' recent troubles stem in large part from an inability to score early, and a willingness to concede large numbers of runs in the early innings. There was a light at the end of the tunnel yesterday, as the Oracles actually scored the last 7 runs of the game in a furious two-inning comeback that was about 8 runs away from having the Harvard team quaking in its cleats. The Oracles' may have lost the game, but in the closing innings they snatched a moral victory from the jaws of complete and utter defeat.

Next week the Oracles take on the Triskelions, who are quaking at fear at our awe-inspiring ability to have amazing amounts of fun regardless of the score. And, I have a feeling, I must say, that next week the Oracles are going to enjoy lively bats, consistent gloves, and celebrate victory against the Triskelions.

Pizza Hut Has a Message for the Oracles

Last night the Oracles fell to the mighty Hitmen 15-4, thanks to the Hitmen's 8-run outburst in the sixth inning. But it was a game where everyone played to have fun, and that is all that matters. In fact, Pizza Hut is aware of our plight, and has a created a commercial to reassure us that losing, in fact, is pretty awesome.



Happy Independence Day weekend, Oracles! Just remember, America lost many battles against the British before it won the war.