So I think where I was leaving off on my last blog was the inter-village baseball game that was held in the end of April. Well I’ll just say it went great. The team from Ekipe Village (Javi’s village) was trucked in to face the Vila team on Vila's turf and Ekipe brought about 30 fans with them. The day had started out with pretty crappy weather (a lot of rain) so we were wondering if we’d even get a game going.
Kevin George, our country director, has been playing with a few of the kids on the Vila team for about five years so there are definitely a few of those guys that could play pretty well. However, I still had my money on the Ekipe team as Javi has been playing with those kids quite a bit in the last six months. Also Javi plays with his team a couple times a week versus Kevin’s once a week. And, Ekipe has enough kids to play to field three teams so real games happen when they play.
The Ekipe team was the first to arrive on the scene and had already warmed up with Javi for a while when I got there. All of the team members had blue shirts on with a big “E” on the front. Most of the Ekipe team were about 12 years old and not really any big kids in the bunch. When the Vila team showed up the Ekipe team was a little terrified. Most of the kids were around 13 or 14 and there were a couple pretty big kids on the team. Javi tried to calm his team down and tell them to stop looking at how big they were. The Vila team had their own shirts as well that Kevin had printed for them. It looked like a real baseball game was ready to go. Kevin provided the gloves as he has enough for one team that he uses with his kids and the two teams shared gloves. I hijacked a ply board from the MPA to use as a score board and yes I returned it later.
I was umpiring the show and opened up with a little toktok on sportsmanship and safety along with some basic rules. The field was pretty sloppy from the earlier rain and I was a little worried about kids sliding all over the place and even more the old bat-slipping –out of –the-hands and into the crowd. Michael Jones, a volunteer in his 50s, came out to be the second base ump. He also provided harmonica music in between innings which was a great substitute for the not-possible melodic organ. Kevin was to pitch for his Vila team, and Javi was pitching for his Ekipe team. I belted out a “Play Ball” and we were on our way.
Ekipe was up first and managed to score two runs on a few well-placed hits. They didn’t hit hard but they ran fast and almost all of them could hit. Vila got in 3 runs in the bottom of the first as they had some kids that could really spank the ball. Also, I think the Ekipe team was a little rattled yet, playing such big kids. Ekipe countered with a 3-run second inning continuing with their small ball and capitalizing on some errors by Vila. Then Ekipe held Vila to just one run in the bottom of the second. I was pretty amazed by some of the know-how of the Ekipe team with things like outfielders always hitting second base on the throw to the infield.
The game had a little bit of a Little League atmosphere with parents giving instructions to their kids from the sidelines. Only difference was these parents really didn't know what type of advice to give as they didn't know much about the sport. Wait maybe that is like Little League hmmm..... Also both Javi and Kevin were getting into it and showing their disagreement with a few calls. At one point the ringer for Kevin's team got the last out in one inning but happened to be up first in the next inning. Whether accident or no it wasn't going to be allowed and I almost missed it. Javi was on to Kevin's tricks (or mistake?) though and pointed it out. I was making calls against both my boss and a good friend and their teams. Hard but fun at the same time. I will say that I didn't play favorites for either team as I really just wanted to see a good game.
The third inning proved to be an offensively productive inning for both sides as Ekipe scored 4 runs to Vila's 3. There was one kid on the Vila team that got in-the-park homers two out of the three times he was up in the game. In about the middle of the third inning we got a huge downpour and had to have a small rain delay. Unfortunately we didn't have any historic Cub moments to show during that time. During our rain delay we also had the men's rugby team, that was practicing nearby, move onto our field. Javi and I had to go out and make a compromise on field use once the rain had stopped.
Play started again and at the end of 4 we had a real nail biter on our hands: Ekipe 10 to Vila 9. Kevin, Javi, and I had a small conference to discuss how many more innings we were going to play as the sun was going down quickly and the rugby players were not keeping their end of the bargain in observing where they were supposed to stop. We agreed for one more inning as the score was pretty close and it would be a good place to stop.
In the top of the Fifth the small ball offense of Ekipe got it going again along with some assistance from a string of walks by Kevin. Ekipe managed in 3 runs to put them on top by 4. In the bottom of the fifth and Vila's last ups they got same base runners aboard and scored a run but then racked up 2 outs quickly. I was trying to get them into rally mode and there was a lot of cheering going on. The entire Ekipe cheering section was lined up on the third base line and I had to get them to take a few steps back, not wanting a loose bat to fly down the line.
Two outs, with runners on first and second a ball was hit to the shortstop who then threw to third. The third baseman put the tag on Brandon, Kevin's kid, before he reached third. Immediately the Ekipe cheering section rushed the field, but what people didn't see in the confusion was that the ball came out of the third baseman's glove after the tag. Brandon then walked off without touching third base so I had no call to make. The play was still live. With all those people rushing the field and not a single dissenter on what had happened I decided to let it go. I wasn't going to tell Brandon to get back on base too. That's his team's job. Then...suddenly I heard over my shoulder, "The ball came out! The ball came out!" This was Kevin shouting and I had to agree with him, dreading doing so with all of the Ekipe fans celebrating. I agreed the ball came out but said that Brandon still hadn't touched third. So Brandon went to third and I called him safe, explained what had happened, and probably made some Ekipe fans pretty mad but heh that's baseball.
So the next kid up as Brandon was now safe at third ran up a full count and was fouling pitches off left and right. Then Javi threw a belt-high strike that caught the corner of the plate, the batter didn't swing, and I had to pull the string. Ekipe won 13 to 10.
So how about that? I managed to probably piss off both teams in a matter of about 5 minutes. Calling a play back for one team and killing a two-out, possible game tying rally with a looking strike call. It definitely made me feel like an umpire though. Nobody loves you when you're umpiring. That's why all the umps eat and drink so much. No love and booze and excessive eating fills the void.
After the game all the kids shook hands and gave "Good Games" followed by a hot dog roast for all the players. We all had a really great time and I think the best quote of the day came from Kevin who said, "I've been waiting five years for this." Javi and I then joined a couple other volunteers for a couple beers at a local nakamal. A very good day indeed.
There are plans for a rematch to be held in Ekipe in about a month and I'll be sure to blog about that as well. Javi submitted a short story to the local paper and the game got published in it. I have yet to see the article but will have to see it soon. The inter-village game was a big step for our program and we were glad to see it go so well. We were also very proud to make it happen before Kevin's service as country director ends this July. He has helped us quite a bit with the project and is also very passionate about baseball.
That's about it for the game been pretty occupied with other stuff lately and I'm sorry these blogs have taken a while to get up. Hopefully a new one will follow this one soon.
By the way check out the side of my blog here as I added links to a couple other Peace Corps Vanuatu volunteers blogs that you should check out. Hopefully I'll add some more when I find out who else has blogs. See ya..............
Kevin George, our country director, has been playing with a few of the kids on the Vila team for about five years so there are definitely a few of those guys that could play pretty well. However, I still had my money on the Ekipe team as Javi has been playing with those kids quite a bit in the last six months. Also Javi plays with his team a couple times a week versus Kevin’s once a week. And, Ekipe has enough kids to play to field three teams so real games happen when they play.
The Ekipe team was the first to arrive on the scene and had already warmed up with Javi for a while when I got there. All of the team members had blue shirts on with a big “E” on the front. Most of the Ekipe team were about 12 years old and not really any big kids in the bunch. When the Vila team showed up the Ekipe team was a little terrified. Most of the kids were around 13 or 14 and there were a couple pretty big kids on the team. Javi tried to calm his team down and tell them to stop looking at how big they were. The Vila team had their own shirts as well that Kevin had printed for them. It looked like a real baseball game was ready to go. Kevin provided the gloves as he has enough for one team that he uses with his kids and the two teams shared gloves. I hijacked a ply board from the MPA to use as a score board and yes I returned it later.
I was umpiring the show and opened up with a little toktok on sportsmanship and safety along with some basic rules. The field was pretty sloppy from the earlier rain and I was a little worried about kids sliding all over the place and even more the old bat-slipping –out of –the-hands and into the crowd. Michael Jones, a volunteer in his 50s, came out to be the second base ump. He also provided harmonica music in between innings which was a great substitute for the not-possible melodic organ. Kevin was to pitch for his Vila team, and Javi was pitching for his Ekipe team. I belted out a “Play Ball” and we were on our way.
Ekipe was up first and managed to score two runs on a few well-placed hits. They didn’t hit hard but they ran fast and almost all of them could hit. Vila got in 3 runs in the bottom of the first as they had some kids that could really spank the ball. Also, I think the Ekipe team was a little rattled yet, playing such big kids. Ekipe countered with a 3-run second inning continuing with their small ball and capitalizing on some errors by Vila. Then Ekipe held Vila to just one run in the bottom of the second. I was pretty amazed by some of the know-how of the Ekipe team with things like outfielders always hitting second base on the throw to the infield.
The game had a little bit of a Little League atmosphere with parents giving instructions to their kids from the sidelines. Only difference was these parents really didn't know what type of advice to give as they didn't know much about the sport. Wait maybe that is like Little League hmmm..... Also both Javi and Kevin were getting into it and showing their disagreement with a few calls. At one point the ringer for Kevin's team got the last out in one inning but happened to be up first in the next inning. Whether accident or no it wasn't going to be allowed and I almost missed it. Javi was on to Kevin's tricks (or mistake?) though and pointed it out. I was making calls against both my boss and a good friend and their teams. Hard but fun at the same time. I will say that I didn't play favorites for either team as I really just wanted to see a good game.
The third inning proved to be an offensively productive inning for both sides as Ekipe scored 4 runs to Vila's 3. There was one kid on the Vila team that got in-the-park homers two out of the three times he was up in the game. In about the middle of the third inning we got a huge downpour and had to have a small rain delay. Unfortunately we didn't have any historic Cub moments to show during that time. During our rain delay we also had the men's rugby team, that was practicing nearby, move onto our field. Javi and I had to go out and make a compromise on field use once the rain had stopped.
Play started again and at the end of 4 we had a real nail biter on our hands: Ekipe 10 to Vila 9. Kevin, Javi, and I had a small conference to discuss how many more innings we were going to play as the sun was going down quickly and the rugby players were not keeping their end of the bargain in observing where they were supposed to stop. We agreed for one more inning as the score was pretty close and it would be a good place to stop.
In the top of the Fifth the small ball offense of Ekipe got it going again along with some assistance from a string of walks by Kevin. Ekipe managed in 3 runs to put them on top by 4. In the bottom of the fifth and Vila's last ups they got same base runners aboard and scored a run but then racked up 2 outs quickly. I was trying to get them into rally mode and there was a lot of cheering going on. The entire Ekipe cheering section was lined up on the third base line and I had to get them to take a few steps back, not wanting a loose bat to fly down the line.
Two outs, with runners on first and second a ball was hit to the shortstop who then threw to third. The third baseman put the tag on Brandon, Kevin's kid, before he reached third. Immediately the Ekipe cheering section rushed the field, but what people didn't see in the confusion was that the ball came out of the third baseman's glove after the tag. Brandon then walked off without touching third base so I had no call to make. The play was still live. With all those people rushing the field and not a single dissenter on what had happened I decided to let it go. I wasn't going to tell Brandon to get back on base too. That's his team's job. Then...suddenly I heard over my shoulder, "The ball came out! The ball came out!" This was Kevin shouting and I had to agree with him, dreading doing so with all of the Ekipe fans celebrating. I agreed the ball came out but said that Brandon still hadn't touched third. So Brandon went to third and I called him safe, explained what had happened, and probably made some Ekipe fans pretty mad but heh that's baseball.
So the next kid up as Brandon was now safe at third ran up a full count and was fouling pitches off left and right. Then Javi threw a belt-high strike that caught the corner of the plate, the batter didn't swing, and I had to pull the string. Ekipe won 13 to 10.
So how about that? I managed to probably piss off both teams in a matter of about 5 minutes. Calling a play back for one team and killing a two-out, possible game tying rally with a looking strike call. It definitely made me feel like an umpire though. Nobody loves you when you're umpiring. That's why all the umps eat and drink so much. No love and booze and excessive eating fills the void.
After the game all the kids shook hands and gave "Good Games" followed by a hot dog roast for all the players. We all had a really great time and I think the best quote of the day came from Kevin who said, "I've been waiting five years for this." Javi and I then joined a couple other volunteers for a couple beers at a local nakamal. A very good day indeed.
There are plans for a rematch to be held in Ekipe in about a month and I'll be sure to blog about that as well. Javi submitted a short story to the local paper and the game got published in it. I have yet to see the article but will have to see it soon. The inter-village game was a big step for our program and we were glad to see it go so well. We were also very proud to make it happen before Kevin's service as country director ends this July. He has helped us quite a bit with the project and is also very passionate about baseball.
That's about it for the game been pretty occupied with other stuff lately and I'm sorry these blogs have taken a while to get up. Hopefully a new one will follow this one soon.
By the way check out the side of my blog here as I added links to a couple other Peace Corps Vanuatu volunteers blogs that you should check out. Hopefully I'll add some more when I find out who else has blogs. See ya..............
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