My summer league experience was bit frustarting this year. I hurt my knee early (a dumbass slid too late and too high and spiked me in 22-4 ballgame) and struggled to finish out the season. I had trouble in the field, and had a prolonged slump at the plate. I probably should have sat out a few games so that my knee could heal.
Well, after a few weeks off, my knee feels better and my play in the fall league shows it. I've made every play at third so far, and I've hit the ball well, including an opposite field triple last Tuesday that caught the entire defense off guard.
While I am capable of hitting home runs, I find that in slow pitch softball it is in the hitter's best interests to hit line drives at all times. Like in golf, you can truly hit the ball wherever you want and line drives lead to more hits. Trying to hit the ball too hard results in a lot of lazy fly balls.
I've also found another trick that I use at third base: Opponents--the really good teams, and our league has many--like to scope out the defense in the first couple of innings; i.e. who has a good glove, a good arm, etc. I've found that if I play ridculously close at third, somebody will try to hit one past or through me, and since I can catch the ball, I will make the play. Then they leave me alone.
Our entire defense is good now that I think about it...
This has been the latest boring installment of "Bill's Camp Jordan Men's Softball League Digest." Check in next week when we talk about what cigarettes you should smoke while out in the field...oh, and I'll post my stats, too.
Posted by colrus at September 8, 2004 12:19 AM | TrackBack