Night of softball washes away hockey gloom

A third baseman had her bright red, dyed hair pulled back in a ponytail. A shortstop had a leopard-skin print on her shorts. She was the same one who was shivering and asked, ?How much longer do we have to play?? when I was cleaning off home plate after the third inning.

It was chilly, but still a nice night for senior league softball at the O.B. Nelson dirt diamond across the street from Casey?s South.

Last year, my hamstrings ached after the first night of umpiring. Standing and squatting behind home plate a couple of hundred times will do that.

This year, no problem. My laps of running/jogging/stair-climbing/walking at the Fairfield High School track have paid off this spring.

Except for spacing off and forgetting the balls and strikes count a couple of times, the night couldn?t have been more enjoyable. The players were smiling. The coaches were friendly. A good crowd of spectators was watching their children and grandchildren, friends and girlfriends. A few of them were bundled in blankets.

The night was just what I needed. I stayed up past midnight the night before watching my Chicago Blackhawks get eliminated from the hockey playoffs. A game seven, sudden death, overtime loss was tough to swallow.

I was still bummed out when I delivered a couple of newspapers and fixed a quick dinner. I had second thoughts about hurrying out the door to umpire. Why had I said yes earlier in the week?

The parking lot was full. The chest protector and shin guards didn?t fit right. I was all set to let the rest of the evening go badly.

A few smiles changed all that. The girls were having a good time and they made it fun for me.

I?ve heard that numbers are down significantly for Fairfield Little League and senior league softball too. I?m not sure what?s going on. I?ve talked to a few people who say traveling girls softball teams are to blame. That would be a shame.

One of the best attributes of our youth baseball and softball programs is their appeal to a spectrum of participants. There has always been plenty of room for the serious players and parents, and the ones who aren?t so serious about it all.

Lucy still talks proudly of an infield single against Fairfield High School varsity pitcher Kristin Person in a senior league softball game. A botched throw sent runners scampering around the bases. Lucy?s coach, Terry Allison, was waving runners home from his third base coaching box and the winning run slid safely under a catcher?s tag.

If the best players opt solely for traveling teams, numbers suffer and an important element of the youth leagues is gone.

Some of my favorite moments last night were extraordinary plays made by not-so extraordinary players. A diminutive first baseman snagged a liner over her head near the foul line. After she checked her glove to make sure the ball was still inside, she beamed and tossed it back to the pitcher. She shyly accepted her teammates? praise.

A feisty, little catcher got a sign to bunt from her coach and missed the pitch for strike one. The coach then let her swing away and she ripped one to left-center field near the fence and stood proudly and a little defiantly on second base. I?m sure she?ll remind the coach of the double the next time he tries the bunt sign.

I like it when players know exactly what to do when they get a ball. An infielder caught a pop up and zinged it to third base to double off a runner. The double play ended the inning. She trotted back to the dugout like it was no big deal. The umpire loved it.

When it was all over, I was heading back to my car and the cell phone in my back pocket started buzzing. I sat on a bench down the first base line and texted a response to my little brother.

One of the coaches turned off the field lights and there I was in the dark except for the cell phone light. A couple hours earlier I was fighting off a downer. Six innings later, I was feeling pretty darn good. The game has always had that affect on me. Everyone should be so lucky.