| THE BIG DANCE round one 4 SEED) GONADS & STRIFE (2003) 13 SEED) GAYLEM FAGISMS (2002) LINEUPS: G&S FAGS 1- shelley goodpastor 1- phil jones 2- nate tomko 2- jeff meyers 3- andy esenwein 3- andy esewein 4- lee nespor 4- lee nespor B- addam stainbrook B- gary swogger |
| GONADS & STRIFE 27 GAYLEM FAGISMS 26 in spite of being ice cold over the first 4 innings of the contest, the gaylem fagisms were able to give the fourth-seeded gonads a huge scare in their first game of the tournament, taking them to the final out of the game before being put away. the trio of jeff meyers, andy esenwein and phil jones outmuscled nate tomko, addam stainbrook and the esenwein of '03 in the 3 on 3 scrum to earn homefield advantage, but quickly found themselves down 8 to the potent offense of GNS. shelley goodpastor got the ball rolling for her squad, leading off the first with a triple. tomko knocked her in with a single, them wiggled between meyers and esenwein to put back an esenwein homer miss for an assist. lee nespor banked in a solo homer from the left side in the next at-bat as the lead swelled to 4. shelley, at the urging of the crowd, attempted to make it 3 in a row, but her right homer was off the mark and meyers put it in for 2. sensing the blood in the water early, tomko went deep and swished through a running grand slam to make it an 8-run lead, but that would be all the gonads could muster in the first as esenwein was off with a double attempt for out number three. the normally sharp offense of the fags was nowhere to be found in the early stages as jones' single was tipped in by esewein for a double play to start the bottom of the first. meyers drilled a single, but fag esenwein's homer went in and out to end the inning. gonads & strife cooled off a bit in the second, plating only one run on a lee nespor solo shot, his second of the game. after all but halting the gonad run, the fags were unable to capitalize as once again, they went down 1-2-3, this time without so much as one hit. once again, tomko and co. were able to build on their already impressive lead as esenwein, nespor and goodpastor stroked back to back triples to plate 2 runs, and tomko cleaned the bases with his second homer of the afternoon. while the rally died shortly after that hit, the lead was up to 13 with the gaylem fagisms offense showing no signs of life. after another hitless inning, the fags looked to their defense to keep them in the game, and got a huge psyche-out from lee nespor on tomko with the bases loaded and 2 outs to keep the game from getting uglier. unfortunately, the defense failed to spark the offense, and only phil jones reached base on a two-out double in the bottom of the 4th for the fags. for the first time all game, the gonads were unable to put a run across the plate in their half of an inning, and this time the fags walked through the door GNS had left open. facing a 13 to zero defecit, they slowly began chipping away at the lead. after going station to station on 3 straight singles from nespor, jones and meyers, andy esenwein finally found his stroke from outside, banging home a huge traditional grand slam to break the seal. nespor followed with a triple and was brought in by jones' double one batter later, and meyers followed his own double miss for a self-assist to make the score 13-6. esenwein stayed red hot, and despite gonad lee being well over the line on his left homer attempt, calmly swished his second of the inning through. by the time tomko recorded a double play 6 batters later to end the inning, his team had gone from a secure lead to a one-run hole. shellshocked but not out of it, gonads and strife replied in momentous fashion, scoring 5 thanks in large part to back to back homers by tomko and esenwein to regain the lead. perhaps exhausted after rattling off 12 straight hits an inning earlier only to see their heroic comeback answered so quickly, the fags seemed to be fading out as jones and meyers missed consecutive single gimme's. looking to rekindle the fire, esenwein stepped back behind the ass clown outdoor arena homeplate for a grand slam. though his shot was off, all three members of GNS were caught napping as esenwein flew in for a self-assist for 4 runs to tie the game at 18 all. the two juggernaut offenses exchanged the smallest of leads over the next three innings and heading into the ninth the gonads were clinging to a one-run cushion at 25-24. after tomko's leadoff triple attempt was double played by meyers, andy esenwein moved in for the first time all game, banking in a side single to set up the red-hot lee nespor. nespor answered the call, drilling his thrid homer in as many innings and fourth overall to give his team a 3-run lead. though goodpastor's triple attempt went in and out to end the inning, GNS once again looked alive as they headed into the field for the final half-inning. in a bold move, tomko replaced the momentary hero nespor in the lineup for addam stainbrook, a much better defensive player. meyers led off the ninth with his 10th single of the contest, but esenwein's triple was nowhere close for out number one. lee nespor hit a single to make it first and second with one out, and jones followed with a 2-run triple to bring his team within one hit of a huge upset. meyers, on fire from the single line, looked to tie the contest with a left one-bagger. hisbank shot went off both sides of the rim before popping out. as meyers and tomkowent down in a heap fighting each other for the tip, stainbrook flew in from the right side and tossed in a perfect falling-away double play to end the game. tomko, nespor and esenwein all stroked 4 homers for gonads & strife, with tomko collecting a game-high 13 rbi. goodpastor hit all but 2 of her 15 shot attempts and tomko and esenwein each tipped in 2 double plays. for the fags, meyers hit 14 of 16 shots and tipped in 5 double plays. phil jones garnered 10 hits and 5 rbi, and andy esenwein posted a 4-homer, 11 rbi line. 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