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.