Out of Order! Buccos trounce Mudhens despite brain fart

(Photo above shows Raul Aguilar sporting a Peanuts sweatshirt. He's the manager of the Snoopy team in the Tuesday league)

Bucco pitcher Bill Tarrant had left his on-deck position after what he thought was the third out. He, retreated to the dugout to fetch his glove and pitching mask, only to see with some consternation Raul Aguilar at the plate in this final frame of the contest against the Mudhens. Tarrant, calling time, confessed the batting-out-of-order brain fart to the umpire, who then started to raise his hand to call the third out, when Raul interjected.

“We follow the MLB rule in softball,” said Raul, using the calm authoritative tone of the middle school principal he was in his career. “It’s not a completed at bat. The proper batter assumes the count, and we play on.”

The umpire agreed. Mudhens manager Mike Abeles, one of the most knowledgeable managers in the league, knew the rule and didn’t argue. Tarrant assumed the 2-1 count and sent a rocket into the right-center gap for a two-run triple, to pad the Bucco lead to 16-5.

Even this goofy at-bat turned out right on a night when the Buccos could do no wrong.

“You guys trounced us,” Abeles said. “Raul at rover made an incredible amount of plays. That was key to you guys.”

Raul set the tone for the defense in the top of the first when he took a flip from shortstop Eric Badeneer for a force out at second and then fired a perfect strike to catcher Bob Cirillo standing on the plate to nail Abeles for an inning-ending double-play.

Few infielders want to throw home to mobility-challenged, low-rated catchers. “I had every confidence Bob would make that catch,” Raul said.

It seemed to pick up Cirillo at the plate, who went 2 for 3 with two runs scored from his last spot in the order. The bottom five (once again) was a big difference for the Buccos, going 7 for 15 at the plate.

The Mudhens bottom five, by contrast, was only on base twice, Abeles said. “But you can't point your finger at any one thing, because we lost all aspects of the game,” he added. “You guys hit the ball very well.”

At the holiday break, the Killebrews remain atop the league standings with an 8-1 record, followed by The Softball Junkies at 6-2-1. The Dukes are in third place at 6-3 with the Buccos close behind at 5-2-1.