The Sliders travelled to Hydebank Playing Fields on Sunday 24th June for their first game of the season against the Belfast Angels. Unfortunately the Angels were playing shorthanded, but they gave us a great game and a chance to mix things up for the afternoon on the Sliders team.
The Sliders batted first and couldn’t have started better. A combination of good base hitting, clever running, plate discipline and an inexperience fielding side led to 14 runs being scored in the first inning. 11 of 18 batters got to first base as the Sliders worked the runners around with Tim and John also scoring doubles and Marian a triple. In the field Andrew was pitching in his first league game and he too got off to the perfect start striking out the Angels opening batter. A wobble followed with the next two batters walking but that was the last piece of uncertainty from the rookie pitcher. Throughout the game he consistently got the ball over the plate, making crucial strikes and taking control of the diamond with some good catches.
The Angels didn’t score in the first and the Sliders added seven in the second, which included 2RBI doubles from Tim and John. The Angels scored four as the Sliders wobbled in the field. In the third Marian hit a 2RBI single and Angels failed to score. In the fourth, Dan, who had struggled with the bat, made his final contribution crashing a 3RBI home run between the outfielders as five were scored. Angels got one to end their scoring for the day. In the fifth the Sliders added five including Andrew rounding off his fantastic performance with a 2RBI home run and Marian got 2RBI to finish things off. The Angels decided that was enough and the game ended 33-5.
Highs: Matias making his Sliders debut and getting a good hit first up, Andrew making a player of the match performance in his first game as pitcher, home runs for Dan and Andrew and a good batting performance all round.
Line-up: Andrew, Marian, Kirsty (Emma D), John, Dave, Tim, Laura, Dan (Matias), Michal, Jay
Next up: The Sliders face Bangor Buccaneers Softball Club away at Bloomfield Playing Fields in Bangor.