Surprise!

Let me count the reasons for not wanting to play the University of Chicago Maroons (what a name) Friday.  For openers, they’re 23-5 on the season, close to an NCAA at-large bid, and we’ve gone all of 3-11 against them since the dawn of the new millennium.  On top of that, it was senior day in Hyde Park for four starters.  So, our chances ranged between slim and none.  Guess what?  Slim took two, by scores of 2-1 and 6-2.

Again, Elmhurst’s defense is enough to drive me to wonder; the Bluejays turned two double plays in each game, with the last two as rare as a Cubs’ winning season.  I have never in my softball life seen an around-the-horn double play, from third to short to first, let alone one from first base to second, with a tag necessary to complete the play.  But we did it, not to mention scoring two of the ugliest runs ever in the top of the seventh of game one, on a bases-loaded walk and an error.  Did I mention that we held on for a change?  That was followed by lots of hitting in game two.

Clare had a strange day, with two hits, a walk and a run.  Too bad the wind took such a dislike to her.  First, it probably blew a home run foul.  Then, it kept blowing balls away from her in right field.  No damage, though, and Clare even managed to turn one of the hits into an outfield assist.

After the game, my daughter let me in on a secret:  If everything had gone the way she’d dreamed, Friday would’ve been her senior day, too.  “I always wanted to go to the U of C,” Clare told me through a fog of dollar signs.  “But the coach never looked at me at exposure tournaments, no matter what I did.”   Well, that means we get to postpone the inevitable another two days.  For that and pocketbook reasons, I’m grateful.