July 16th, 2014              

    After being delayed from what seemed like an eternity - it was nearly a month - Samantha's baseball team finally returned to the field to take on the Holly Gray team in the Quadtown Championship Game. I wasn't overly thrilled with the game time of 9:00pm, but that is when the opening pitch took place and there wasn't anything I could do to stop it. Sam's team looked like they hadn't missed a beat during the layoff (despite having only one practice together during that time), and they took control of the game early. Sam drilled a line drive to the outfield in what may have been her best hit of the season, only to have it caught by the center fielder. She played strong defense at second base though, fielding a couple of grounders to throw out the runners at first base. She also caught a throw from home to tag a runner out at second. She wound up going hitless in the game, but she swung the bat well and hung in for a walk while also stealing two bases. Because of the late start time I left the game around 11:00pm (thinking that they were playing the final half inning, only to have the game go one more full inning) when Sam's team held a 10-4 lead. I headed to bed assuming that they would be able to hold on for an easy victory only to wake up at 1:45am for work to learn that they had to battle to secure a 12-8 win. I was very impressed by the entire team this year, and I think that Sam definitely showed that she can hang with the boys. In fact, the opposing coach told her after the game that she was the best second baseman he had seen all year. Great job Samantha, and congratulations to the entire Holly Red team!

    Although I was hoping for a larger write-up of the game on the league website, they did offer their congratulations to the team, which I will pass along:

    "Congratulations to Holly Red on becoming the Quadtown Intermediate League Baseball Champions! Thanks goes out to Coaches Ian Fleming, John Hignite, and Mike Forbes for getting their players ready to play hard every game. And congratulations to all the players on your successful season: Reise Brotherton, Ben Crawley, Aubrey Fleming, Cameron Forbes, Wade Fulghum, Ben Gramer, Dylan Hignite, Taren Landwerlen, Samantha Peters, and Alex Scruggs."

Championship Game - at Holly Gray (Locomotives)
	Samantha in the field at second base.
	Sam catching a throw from home before the start of an inning.
	Sam taking a throw from home...
	...and tagging out a runner attempting to steal second base.
	Sam looking for a hit during her first at-bat.
	Sam getting ready to swing and drive the ball into the outfield.
	Sam on first base after being walked in her second at-bat.
	Sam running to second base, successfully completing the steal.
	Sam smiling as she takes a lead off of second base.
	Sam standing on third base after stealing another base.
	Sam back in the field at second base.