Mother Nature to FH: Bring Galoshes

FH Softball was once again denied the opportunity to face off against arch-rival Edelman last night, as Mother Nature rained our team out for the third time this season. The disappointing and last-second turn of events came at of day that saw co-coach Craig Paridy accosted on the street by Edelman thuggery and a once-quiet inter agency rivalry spill into the Twittersphere.

Pre-game action was fast and furious, as our heroes valiantly made the trek up to Rock Creek Park, dodging raindrops, lightening, and park rangers all the way. Jason Hellmann pledged to play in the mud, if necessary. Coach Marcacci and Craig even engaged in a game of brinksmanship with the devious Edelman coaching staff, threatening a forfeit when their team balked at the prospect of playing in the rain. Alas, the titanic matchup was not to be, and threats of fines and league sanctions by the park rangers shut down the evening’s showdown.

While FH retired to the relative sanctity of a local restaurant/watering hole to talk strategy (aka drink cold beverages and enjoy the finest culinary offerings), reports floated in that Edelman stared danger in the face and didn’t blink once when they refused to leave the fields to continue batting practice. Clearly they take the FH rivalry very seriously.

So the showdown remains on the horizon for our squad, forced to remain unresolved until the July 16 game. Who know what hijinks will unfold before that day of destiny?

One thing is certain, however, FH will once again attempt to take the field this coming Thursday, June 4 against cross-town rivals Ketchum. Plan on more exciting action, adventures, and excitement from your beloved team, as always dutifully reported right here.

Burson hands FH a tough loss

After two weeks of being rained out, Fleishman-Hillard finally stepped back on the diamond last Thursday to face a very competitive Burson team. With a squandered squad, a pair of helpful hands arrived in clutch fashion to make sure FH had enough players to field a team. Kathryn DeVito was also on hand to keep the fans updated, tweeting from the bench with an in-depth play-by-play.

Rachel Lacroix exchanged the Mac for the mitt for the evening, talking a good game behind the plate at catcher, making sure each Burson player knew just who they were dealing with. Julie Marcacci turned out to be quite the addition, with three hits in four at-bats, earning a run in the second inning.

Mrs. Coach’s counterpart, Silvio Marcacci, accounted for a triple and an RBI during his first at-bat, bringing Jason Hellman home for the first run of the game. Marcacci then scored following a sacrifice-fly RBI by Molly Williams. FH took the lead early, as Dave Whiting scored the third of three runs to close out the first inning.

The next two innings were evenly matched with two runs apiece scored by FH and Burson in the second and a scoreless third. The top of the fourth caught FH by surprise, when a moon shot to left field got over the head of Jason Hellman and resulted in a grand slam for Burson, much to the dismay of the FH hopeful. The inning ended with five Burson runs, but Jason made it close when he earned one back for FH in the bottom of the inning with a single and some nifty base running.

The remainder of the game was made up of great defensive plays, as Jon Berke, Dave, and David Wickenden all kept their heads on a swivel, fielding superbly to hold Burson at bay. The defensive player of the game was Dan Horowitz, who took a line drive on the mound straight to the stomach. Though the wind was knocked out of him, the reeling Horowitz still managed to make the play at first to Silvio to earn the out. Horowitz was placed on injured reserve for all of an inning, as he nursed his injury with a cold beer, and nursed his pride with another.

After such an impressive defensive stand, it came down to the bottom of the seventh for FH to make a statement and dig themselves out of a 6-7 deficit. A quiet “FH” huddled cheer preceded the final at bat. Team spirits were just as high as the tension in the air when Burson fans began to heckle the FH batters.

With the game on the line, Jason Werden stood at the plate, waiting patiently for the pitch that never came. With a runner on base and two outs, Jason smacked a line drive that up the middle and seemed destined to bridge the open gap in shallow center and tie the game. But, the screamer was acrobatically snagged mid-air by Burson’s player second baseman, and ended the game in a close, but losing effort.

Though defeated, Fleishman-Hillard held their heads high, engaging in festivities where everyone wins as they shared the remnants of the FH kegger with the opposing victors.

Pray that any inclement weather holds off and come watch FH take on bitter rival Edelman in a makeup game from early May. An upset is on the horizon as FH takes on the (2-1) West Division leader this Thursday, May 28.

FH Starts the 2009 Season Off Right

Fleishman-Hillard began the 2009 softball season in nail-biter fashion yesterday with an 11-10 win over league newcomer Hill & Knowlton. In a technological twist, the game was live-Tweeted for all the FH’ers still at the office diligently working on pressing client deadlines.

Our heroes took the field to an overcast and threatening sky, and immediately showed H&K they were ready to play with two runs in the first inning on a double by Silvio Marcacci and two runs in the second courtesy of triples by Craig Paridy and Mahesh Subramanian. Tensions ran high when the H&K bench erupted with a stream of trash talk directed at the FH fielders after two quick outs in the bottom of the second inning, and H&K’s batters responded to the inspiration with a four-run rally to tie the score at four runs apiece.

The Fleishman squad remained undaunted, however. At times appearing to hit and score at will, FH tacked on six total runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings with an onslaught of timely hits capped off by Coach Marcacci’s triple, a moon-shot off the left field fence by Jon Berke, and RBI hits by Molly Williams, Dave Whiting, Craig Paridy, and Luke Merkel.

Riding high on their offensive output, Fleishman quieted the H&K bats through the fifth inning. A mixture of quality pitching by Coach Marcacci and incredible fielding plays in the infield by Dave Whiting, Jon Berke, and Craig Paridy combined with the seemingly everywhere-at-once outfield coverage of Mahesh Subramanian and Jason Hellman to limit H&K down to only run scored. Smelling blood in the water, Stephanie Slobodian got into the action with merciless taunting of H&K batters from behind the plate. With daylight dimming, it appeared FH was guaranteed their first victory of the young season.

But H&K had something left in the tank, and FH soon learned they had definitely come out to play. The opposition bats erupted for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, capped off by a three-run blast to deep right field. In mere minutes, H&K had tied the game up, a fact their bench made sure the FH fielders were aware of. Dave Whiting mercifully ended the inning with a running catch in short left field, and FH left the field tied, with only one inning left in the game.

The drama could not have been higher as the FH hitters grabbed their bats in the top of the seventh inning. Score a run, and they had a shot to win. Fail to score a run, and the best they could hope for would be a tie in the record books. With the hitting prowess that H&K had displayed minutes before, an opening day loss loomed menacingly.

Dave Whiting started things off with a ringing single, but an impressive fielding play on Jon Berke’s line drive to third base forced Dave out at second base. Molly Williams wasted no time with a line drive to right field, and Jon raced to third base. Victory was now only 60 feet away. Craig Paridy stepped up to bat and promptly knocked Jon in with the go-ahead run, showing the clutch hitting skills that allowed him to drive in the second-most runs for FH in 2008.

After H&K’s defense clamped down, FH took the field, determined to snatch a win from under their opposition’s noses. Even though their best hitters were up, FH set them down 1-2-3 with shutdown defense and just like that, the game was over. FH was 1-0, euphoric with their win, and ready to face whatever the league threw at them.

But, perennial arch-rivals Edelman loom menacingly on the schedule in week two action. Will FH prevail again? Stay tuned to find out.