By Sal “The Bagman” Cipriano

After losing to arch nemesis Marvel, DC was determined to turn it around this week. Not only for pride, but for survival. On Thursday, the Bullets did just that as they won one of their more well-rounded games this year, beating NYMSL opponent WNYC to stay in the playoff hunt. The very next day a different kind of challenge presented itself: the good-natured gang of Archie Comics!

Last year, DC walloped a depleted Riverdale team (their only run produced by a lent Bullet!). This year, though, it was DC that put out the depleted team as the game fell on a “Summer Friday” leaving the Bullets with only 4 faithful players: Captain Adam Schlagman, Andrew “Armadilla” Arnold, Neil “Hotfoot” Hiremath, and Sal “Bagman” Cipriano . To make up the difference, the Captain brought down his two roommates, Cipriano brought in teammates from another league, Hiremath coaxed his girlfriend into catching, and Archie lent us two players, returning the favor from last year.

The Archie team, with added players and new team jerseys, looked like a mean bunch this year, causing some worry on the Bullet bench. Archie came out swinging, too, and after a couple of minor gaffs on the Bullets part, pushed across their first run. The DC and friends team was not deterred, however, and sent ten of its twelve players to the plate in the bottom of the inning, scoring six runs in the process! The next two innings saw an additional 11 runs cross the plate sealing the Riverdale gang’s fate for good. Kudos to them, though, for keeping the spirit and fight till the end, as they scored 12 runs to make their case as an improved team! When all was said and done the traditional comic book slugfest ended in a solid 22-12 win for the Bullets.

The teams shared laughs, stories, and beers afterwards showing all that comic book rivalries can be left in the funny books and on the field. Special thanks to our ringers: Miguella Mark-Carew, Ian Parfrey, Bill Vernick, Havelock Hewes, Stanley Fong, Danny Minchala, Suzannah Rowntree, and Danny No.2 for their contributions.

Bullet Box:

Hiremath: 3-4, 4 R, BB, 2 triples

Schlagman: 2-4, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI, sac fly

Parfrey: 4-4, 5 R, BB, 2 doubles, 2 RBI

Arnold: 4-5, 4 R, double, 3 RBI

Vernick: 5-5, 3 R, 2 doubles, 2 RBI

Cipriano: 4-5, R, 3 doubles, 4 RBI

Hewes: 3-4, R, 2 RBI, sac fly

Minchala: 3-5, R

Fong: 2-5, BB

Mark-Carew: 1-5

Rowntree: 0-5

No.2: 2-5, R, double

Game Note: This game was played on a field provided for by one of the Bullets umpires and was officiated under house rules. Both Arnold and Parfrey hit shots over the field’s left and right field fences respectively, but were called doubles and singles. While we cannot recognize these as homeruns, we felt they may’ve been called so in other parks and give kudos to the players for their titanic efforts.

This week it’s make or break time with NYMSL action on Thursday and Friday (as well as Monday!)! Can the Bullets make it to the playoffs? Find out next week!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 2:58 pm and is filed under DC Bullets Softball, Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.