It was not to be. M’s kickball team got routed in the city championship game yesterday, 27–1 in five-plus innings.[1] Their opponents were just too good in every aspect of the game.

St. B’s had a 5–0 lead after one, 10–1 after two, and 13–1 after three. Although the margin wasn’t great at that point, the game felt over. Our girls looked defeated and were struggling to make plays they had made all year. A ten-run fourth killed any hopes of a comeback.

As good as St. P’s was on defense, St. B’s was even better. They were throwing out girls at first from deep short. Consistently. I’ve seen that play made once or twice all season in our games[2] and they pulled it off at least five times yesterday. When we got girls on base, St. B’s made the perfect play to get the lead runner every time. They had a girl kick two grand slams despite our outfield being pushed as deep as it’s been all year. They were just a fantastic team, and I’m not sure we could have beaten them once if we played nine more times.

There were a few bright spots. Although our girls really struggled yesterday, they were all in decent spirits after the game. Our coach said she thought that was the first time this group has ever lost a game where there weren’t a couple girls in tears afterward. The St. B’s coach complimented them after the game for their sportsmanship. St. B’s had been beating the crap out of people all season, and she said some of the teams they played were a little surly during and after games. She said she was really impressed with how our girls kept their heads up and were gracious after the game ended. And M got on base twice, one of only three St. P’s players that did that.

Our girls got a trophy for finishing second. And cupcakes. That had everyone smiling for the group photos all the parents demanded after the game. I know they were disappointed in the result, but they seemed to be bouncing back pretty quickly. One girl was already asking about the spring season. Maybe all those St. B’s girls will be playing soccer and we won’t have to worry about them in May.

  1. There’s a 25-run rule in kickball beginning in the middle of the 5th. St. B’s had a 22-run lead going into the bottom of the fifth. The umpires stopped the game when a three-run triple put them over the mercy rule threshold.  ↩
  2. Amazingly M was responsible for making one of those plays. The difference was she kind of flung the ball and hoped it ended up in the right spot – and got lucky – while the girl on St. B’s tossed perfect strikes to first every time.  ↩