Temperature at game time today was, and I am not making this up, one hundred and five of our American Fahrenheit degrees. There was a stiff breeze, which at that temperature does not help. It felt like we were playing in a convection oven.

We faced our first Maplewood team of the year, the Muckdogs. As it happens, this is the team that came in second in the B league last year as the Owlz. We came in first, in case you were wondering – as the Ironbirds, we beat the Owlz in the championship game, which was well-played the whole way. They have a lot of good players, and we expected a good game.

We got one.

Things started off rocky, with the guys giving up three runs in the top of the first. We came back strong and scored six runs in the bottom of the inning, and the rest of the game was a battle, with both teams hitting and running well. We fell behind by two runs at one point, and when we came to bat in the bottom of the 5th, we were trailing by a run. In our league, no new inning can start after 8:15, and we took the field after 8 PM, meaning that we were playing the final inning of the game.

Alex led off the inning with his third hit of the game, a towering fly to short center that fell in for a hit. He took a big lead off first, and the pitcher threw over and missed the first baseman. Alex took off, rounded second and third and scored the tying run. Three bases on a throwing error – not bad if you can get it. Patrick got a double, Luke Pasiuk got a hit, sending Patrick to 3rd, and Marco hit a single that scored Patrick, winning the game.

Final score, 11-10 – a nailbiter all the way.

Season record: 3-1.