Fans look on from the bleachers. (Wolan)

After a heart breaking lose against “The Beers” in playoff game 1, the Vets have their backs against the wall as it’s “do or die” time. The Vets will need a win if they hope to continue their postseason run as they square off against Old Forge. Old Forge, who lost their first playoff game, was coming off of 31 to 7 (or greater) hammering of B-Crew the night before. Unknownst to them, A-WOL was there taking notes. Will his scouting report be enough to fend off Old Forge?

So what was in that scouting report? Let’s take a peak: “Scouting Report Tidbit #1: Old Forge has a strong infield, including women at SS and 2B with solid arms.” The Vets would learn this the hard way in the first.

Top of one, the Vets were at bat. Paul leads the game with an infielder grounder, but is unable to beat the thrown to first. JOE-L and Nate follow suit, following victim to the O.F. infield unit.

Taking the mound for the Vets in the bottom half of the inning was Rick Palma. Palma missed the last game because he was out “vacationing.” So what did the scouting report say about O.F.’s offense? Let’s take another peak: “Scouting Report Tidbit #2: Old Forge have two solid lefty batters. Do what you need to do to cover right field.”

The Vets response was two outfielders in right. However, the sun was poking its shinny face out from the clouds and made playing right field a difficult experience for most of the game. In the inning, Old Forge capitalized on this by hitting a few shots into right, include one that got by Dawn in shallow right. When all was said and done, Old Forge took as quick 3-0 lead.

A scary incident occurred in the inning when a line drive was snacked back to Palma on the mound. The ball knocked the glove off of Palma’s hand and left a bruise. But Palma was able to regroup and recorded the out at first. Palma remained in the game after that incident.

Top of two, the Vets are back at the plate. Hey, anything from that scouting report to help the Vets offense? “Scouting Report Tidbit #3: the Old Forge outfield is capable of making the routine outs, but they tend to leave some gaps in center and right fields.” Add the sun, and right field could very well belong to the Vets.

Rick stands on second after hitting a two RBI double. (Wolan)

A-WOL must of read the report before the game; with runners one first and second, A-WOL connects with a bloop hit in the shallow center field. Kim scores from second and the Vets are on the board. Jon then catches the second basewomen napping as he hits it to short but Old Forge left second base empty, leaving everyone safe. With the bases loaded, Palma steps to the plate who in classic vintage form connects for a 2 RBI double into center.

Sarah follows with a sacrifice to bat in Jon. Jim K. follows with a triple to bat in Palma. Dawn tries to get Jim K. home but K’s to end the inning. Vets were up 5-3 after one and a half.

The 5 runs earned were quickly erased in the bottom half of the inning as Old Forge rallies for 5 runs. This was capped by a grand slam over the right center field fence. One of the runs scoring was on a walk.

“I have no problems with the HR, but drawing walks is cheesy,” commented A-WOL. “Especially since none of our women batters are trying to draw walks. You don’t want a close game being decided by walks. It’s really a cheap way of winning.” Regardless, after two, Old Forge was up 8-5.

In the third, the Vets made it interesting. Jason K. hits a 2-run ITP HR into right field to cut the deficit 8-7. In the bottom half, Old Forge starts the inning with a lead off triple. But that would be all they would get as the Vets defense made quick work of the next three batters. Old Forge up 9-7.

Top of four, Vets threaten with Devin on second and A-WOL on first. Jon N. hits a rocket line drive to the short stop, who in one step catches Devin off the bag and tags second. A-WOL in shock by the play is caught half way between first and second and is caught off the bag, resulting in a triple play.

“You could not have setup it up better than that,” comment Jim K., who was coaching first. “Devin was only two steps off the bag. But the ball was hit right to the short stop, who instinctively tagged second without even thinking. If the short stop was a righty, he might have had trouble tossing the ball to first after words because Devin would have been in the way. However, since the short stop was a lefty, he had no trouble tossing the ball to first for the out. You just couldn’t script it better than that.”

A-WOL at bat in the fourth. (Palma)

A-WOL was asked to comment on the play. “When you’re on the first, the hits I hate to see the most are those that are hit near second base. When that happens, you have to be weary of being forced out at second. You can either concede the out and just jog to second hoping you’ll get lucky or try and make things happen to avoid the put out. I prefer the later and being proactive.”

“If you’re quick, you can get close enough to second base such that the infielder will not chance not getting you out at second and just go for the sure out at first. If they feel lucky, they’ll toss the ball to second. Sometimes you’re a sitting duck and all you can hope for is that they’ll drop the ball. On several occasions, I’ve managed to beat the throw.”

“I’ve even seen plays where the infield will take advantage of the ‘no infield fly’ rule and purposely drop the ball to get me out at second. All you can do is take the middle ground between first and second and try and use your speed to beat a throw to either first or second.”

“In regards to the triple play, I took a few steps off the bag after the ball was hit and stopped after I realized it was a line drive. In a split second, the ball was caught and Devin was tagged out at first. Amongst the commotion, I thought the ball had been dropped or something, so my gut instinct was to charge toward second. I took one or two hard steps toward second when I then realized what really happened. In desperation, I turned around and made a dash to first, hoping the ball would be tossed wide. I was a sitting duck and was easily tripled up on.”

“The only way this could have been avoided was if the runners played conservatively and stayed on the bags until they saw the ball hit the ground. That’s risky, given that there were runners on first and second. Devin and I did the right thing, but things played out in Old Forge’s favor. Their strong infield unit was able to capitalize on that, and I credit them for this great play.”

Say what you want, but this play ended up being game changing play as we shall see.

Bottom half of the fourth, the Vets get Old Forge to hit into three consecutive force outs at first to keep the score 9-7. The defense of both teams kept their competitors scoreless in the fifth.

Top of sixth, a bit of controversy. Paul hits an infield ground ball and appears to beat the throw, but the ump called him out. The team photographer happened to take a snapshot of the play and A-WOL asked umpire Ron to inspect the photo. The ump refused.

Paul was in disgust as he was called out on the third close play to first. “I beat that throw,” said Paul. “I stepped on the bag and then saw the ball come in to my left. No way was I out.”

A photo taken by the Vets photographer on this play appears to back up his claim. Examination of the photo shows Paul standing on first with a blur of a ball just entering the glove of the first baseman. It’s hard to see the ball because there is a white shutter in the background, but the blur could only have been made by something white, I.E. a softball. Based on Paul’s stance on first, (IE, he up and over the bag, not reaching it with his foot,) one could easily argue that Paul was safe by a split second, if not more.

Ron is a big fan of WTEN's chief meteorologist Steve Caporizzo. (WTEN)

Someone from the Old Forge bench was heard trying to downplay the photography and then made a big deal that the Vets were taking photos. Ironically, someone from Old Forge was caught on film taking photos of the B-Crew vs Old Forge game the night before. Double standard? Regardless, Vets when down quickly in the sixth.

O.F. got back 2 runs in their half of the sixth to make the score 11-7. Unlike the fourth inning, the Vets had trouble recording the force out at first, which kept the inning alive.

In the Vets last of bats, they couldn’t get anything going as they went down quickly, loosing to Old Forge 11-7. Once again, the Vets play another nail biter but ended-up on the short end of the stick and they are eliminated from the playoffs.

… as for Ron, Ron revealed after the game that his is a big fan of WTEN and their chief meteorologist, Steve Caporizzo. Perhaps he is a big fan of Steve’s “Pet Connection” segments?

Andy Wolan is a reporter for MLSB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Softball or its clubs.