Summer Midcore Kickball Downtown Mon/Wed

With a play right off the bloopers reel, Leslie came up a little short on her dive for home plate. Left to her basic animal skills, she crawled and grabbed for clumps of grass to pull herself within touching distance of home plate late in the game. In addition, a falling, sprawling defensive play where she held onto the ball with one hand and touched third base while falling down.

Jaime Martin played defense like a Gold Glover this week. She was hauling in pop-ups and catching throws in her direction with such ease, players believed she should have represented Stat Dog in San Francisco during All Star Week! Great job Jaime.

Angela Farina played the hot corner like a pro which reminded me of Adrian Beltre or Mike Schmidt (back in the day)! She was jumping out on bunts and snagging balls kicked her way to get players out at first with zest. The play of the night was also made by Angela. With two out and runners in scoring position, a ball was kicked her way and as she was just about to catch it easily, she lost her footing on the wet grass; however, she snared the ball between her legs! Players on both teams applauded her and it was a devastating play for Indy that kept the game out of reach. There were some other players that deserve attention for their efforts this week such as Thomas Buford who played defense out of his mind and Jewell Anderson who pitched and kicked a great game in the loss but, it was Angela who was the cream of the crop this week! Great job teams and players. I hope to see some outstanding defense next week too!

Johnny Hendrickson played centerfield as well as anyone could play. He constantly roamed the outfield and shagged balls kicked to him and around him which reminded me of the 'Black Hole' of Cascade Park (another outfield legend in Kickball). Johnny had some booming kicks on offense, however, they were caught by the other team. He kept his team close and the score, for that matter, with his stellar defense. Great job Johnny. Tanner Townsend and Caitlin Smethurst. had a great week too but Johnny beat them out this week. Great job to all those who played this week and I expect some more great plays next week.

One player this week epitomized team spirit, contributing to their team on both sides of the diamond and producing the catch of the game in the championship. Her name is Tess Wakasugi. You thought we Blue had been kicking the lights out of the ball and placing it anywhere they wanted; however, they were picking on the centerfielder, Tess, and she rose to the occasion. With One out and two on, a Blue kicker booted the ball deep into centerfield and figured Tess didn't have a bead on it but she sure fooled him. She played coy like she didn't have the ball and that confused the runner on second who didn't know whether to tag or run for home. Tess finally looked up and stretched out her arms to haul in that ball! The runner at second had to hurry back to second and could not tag up. Everyone on both teams stood up and clapped for Tess who just seemed, 'as cool as the other side of the pillow!'Tess did a great job of bunting players into scoring position, ran the bases like Ichiro and willed her team to victory. Great Job Tess. I want to thank everyone involved in kickball who gave it all they had and 'left it on the field' for the chance to earn player of the week. I enjoyed watching every player step up their game every week and it was a privilege to watch those Underdog superstars go above and beyond the norm to get POTW. I look forward to next season!