Holy Communion Heartbreakers

Despite a thrillingly desperate two-out, five-run rally in their last at-bat of the game, the Saints fell short in a gut-wrenching 11-10 loss to Holy Communion at Snowden Field on Thursday night.

Holy Communion came west, packing leather and lumber, and dealt the Anchormen their first loss of the season -- one of those defeats that sinks the stomach and jerks the moisture from the tear ducts. But it was also one of those character-revealing games that test the mettle of every boy on the field, whether they were sporting blue uniforms or the home-school red.

This four-frame tilt featured a Holy Communion team that only struck out twice, yet only managed a .393 team batting average. The Anchormen mashed .586, despite putting a 10 spot under the K column. While Holy Communion managed to bat five balls out of the infield, the Saints smashed 11 balls into the outfield, including five extra-base hits.

The Saints made 10 putouts -- including three truly remarkable plays at third base and an incredible unassisted double play. But the Good Guys also committed eight errors. They made the hard plays look easy and the easy plays look hard.

Indeed, baseball games are lost, not won, and this one held true to that adage as errors and untimely whiffs did the Saints in.

The Saints started the game shaky, committing two errors in the first two at-bats. Holy Communion's No. 3 hitter made them pay for their mistakes with a two-run single to left field. Zach, manning the mound, tried to right the ship by throwing out the No. 5 hitter. But a double and single later saw the Saints down four-zip before the first mosquito bite. Whit made an unassisted put-out at first and Harris ended the inning by stabbing a line drive and absolutely robbing Holy Communion of at least a double and probably more.

The home half of the first started off promising as Owen, Zach, Nino and Whit all ripped doubles to center, plating two runs in short order. After a strikeout by Harris, Sonny smoked one to second that was scooped up just as Whit was trying to sneak past the second sacker, who alertly applied the tag for the second out of the inning. Amazingly, Brian poked one to second with the exact same result -- the second baseman tagged Sonny, who was barreling into the keystone. In fact, Sonny -- who fully fills out a uniform -- knocked the ball out of the second baseman's glove. But the Holy Communion fielder, not to be denied, quickly picked up the ball and reapplied the tag.

Still, the Angels were feeling fortunate to be down 4-2 when Holy Communion brought the lumber out again in the top of the second. A dribbler to the mound was fielded cleanly by Whit, but he rushed the throw and overthrew Owen at first, moving the runner to second. The next batter hit another dribbler to the mound that Whit booted but pounced on and alertly tagged the runner trying to sneak into third. Holy Communion must have thought they had found a hole in the defense because the third batter hit one to the pitcher, but Whit had had enough of that nonsense and fielded it cleanly and made a perfect throw to first for the second out.

Having seen that the pitcher had steadied himself, the next two batters decided to smoke balls to center -- a single and a triple and three runs across the dish. The next one ripped one down the third base line and Nino smothered it for an infield hit. With three runs in and a runner at first, Nino followed Harris' first inning web gem at third with one of his own, snagging a line drive and ending the inning.

Down 7-2 with the struggling bottom of the order due up, T-Dog got things rolling by stroking a double to center. Berent -- who has been slumping hard in the first two games with three whiffs in four at bats -- was undaunted as he belted a two-strike double down the left field line, plating T-Dog. After back-to-back Ks by Eubank and Khalid, Owen ripped one to center, scoring Berent from second and narrowing the deficit to 7-4. Zach whiffed to end the inning.

As the home team took the field in the top of the third, everybody in the ballpark could sense the skittishness of the boys wearing the leather and the confidence of the boys wielding the sticks. Sure enough, Brian got a hot shot at third, bobbled it and put it in his pocket -- the right play. Then Holy Communion decided to test the mound again by tapping three consecutive rollers to Owen, resulting in three errors and three runs. Owen pulled himself together and made a clean put-out on the next batter, but booted the next one. And then Brian decided not to be outdone by his predecessors at third and snatched a line drive for another inning-ending web gem.

Down 11-4 in the bottom of the third with the 3-4-5 hitters due up, the Saints seemed poised to snap out of the funk. Nino -- who has been one of the hottest hitters on the team, batting 1.000 on the season -- whiffed. You could fill the air let out of the Saints dugout. Whit did his best impression of the Federal Reserve and tried to re-inflate the bubble with a scorching double to left. But Harris K'd for the second out. Sonny stroked one that finally ate up the second sacker, and Whit was not going to stop until he was either out at home or plating the fifth run. Thankfully, it was the latter. Brian stroked a single to right. With runners on first and third and T-Dog up, the Saints came alive again. But like Mudville's mighty Casey, T-Dog struck out.

Taking the field in the top of the fourth down 11-5, the Studs knew they had to buckle down because one run scored would put the game out of reach due to the mercy rule that only allows a team to score six runs in an inning. But Holy Communion had put up crooked numbers of 4,3,4 in the first three frames. Shutting down this team would require some miraculous glovework.

And it didn't look good for the Anchormen when Holy Communion's first batter went to the well once again and hit the ball to the bump. This time Sonny was there, fielded it cleanly and made a nice throw to first -- but Harris dropped it! The next batter tapped one to third and T-Dog scooped it up and made a brilliant effort to get the lead runner at second -- but Khalid dropped it!

The Saints needed that miracle now, and Harris decided to give that walking on water thing a try. After the third batter whiffed, the No. 8 hitter blooped it to first and Harris tried to squeeze it for an out, but he dropped it! Rather than panic, he picked up the egg, tagged the confused runner stuck between first and second and then raced to first for one of those rare unassisted double plays.

Down 11-5, coming off their first shut-down inning in the field, the Saints were buzzing in the dugout. But baseball has a way of creating obstacles for teams that are backed into a corner and desperately trying to steady themselves. And this game was no different -- the struggling bottom third of the order was due up. Up to this point in the season, the 10-11-12 hitters were a combined 2 for 15 with 13 Ks. One of them had to squeak out a base hit to turn it over to the top of the order.

Berent strode to the plate, cool as the other side of the pillow -- or nervous as a canary in a cage full of cats, it was hard to tell. He swung and missed at the first two pitches and on-deck hitter Eubank was inching closer and closer to the dish to begin taking his hacks. After taking two pitches, Berent smoked one to left again, but this one was fielded cleanly on a hop by the left fielder. First base Coach Morad was in do-or-die mode and sent Berent racing to second. The throw to second was on a line and in time, but Berent made a textbook slide, avoiding the tag -- and the Saints' dugout erupted with a roar that startled Holy Communion's fielders and had their coaching staff begging them to pay attention to the game and not the maniacal boys on the opposing bench.

And, sports fans, the smile Berent wore while standing safely at second is what baseball is all about.

Eubank and Khalid gave it their all but fell just short with back-to-back Ks. They got swift pats on the butts as their teammates told them to shake it off; the top of the order was certain they could plate six runs and tie the game.

Owen stroked one to third that was fielded cleanly. The fielder alertly saw Berent trying to advance to third and went for the tag. But Berent was having none of it, making another awesome slide. But he came off the sack and had to quickly slap his hand back on it before the third baseman could try for another tag.

If you were spectating and didn't choke on your peanuts during that play, you need to pay closer attention to the game.

Zach, looking to make amends for his inning-ending K in the second, belted one to center, easily scoring Berent and getting Owen -- who ran out of his helmet -- from first to third.

The rally was taking on a life of its own, and everybody in the park could feel the effort being made by the Boys in Red. Nino, also looking to atone for a K in the third, grounded one to third, scoring Owen and moving Zach to third on the late throw to first.

With runners on the corners and down 11-7 with two outs in the final inning of the game, Whit started toward the plate and stopped. He looked at the coach and said, "I'm nervous." Coach lied like a rug and told him there was nothing to be nervous about; just relax and take your hacks.

After taking an ugly swing at the first pitch, Whit let the next one go by while he composed himself. On the third pitch, he drove a hard grounder to third, running to first like his butt was on fire and his shaggy hair was catching, scoring Zach and moving Nino to second.

Harris took one from Holy Communion's playbook and tapped one to the mound, scoring Nino from second when the pitcher made an ill-advised throw to first.

Down 11-9 with runners on the corners, Sonny showed no fear in stroking a ball to left, scoring Whit.

11-10 with two outs and Brian stepped to the dish.

Alas, sports fans, all rallies must come to an end, and this one was no different. The 10th K of the game snuffed it out.

In every one-run game, you lose sleep thinking about the what ifs, could've beens and had onlys. Again, baseball games are not won, they are lost. A booted ball, a base running gaffe, an untimely whiff. That's baseball in all its glory. If the fans in the stands did not see the stunning beauty of this game tonight under the lights of Snowden Field, they weren't paying attention.

Baseball reveals character, it does not build it. And let it be known that these boys on this night on this field showed a character that we all should be proud of.

Good night, Saints. See you at 8:30 a.m Saturday, weather permitting.