Diamond Notes (7)

Tomorrow I play softball in Wabash, IN. I would like to explain why.

My regular team (Smalltown Fastpitch) is not playing in Wabash. Instead, I have been "picked up" by another team (Goshen Gators), who happen to be short some of their regular players for the weekend. This happens fairly regularly throughout the course of a season. As a matter of fact, this season my own team has picked up at least one player for each of the tournaments we have played in.

Here is another interesting thing about this particular tournament. The winning team takes home a cash prize. That's not normal. Neither is the format of the tournament.

We play three games in "pool play" tomorrow (11, 3, & 5). Based on our performance in pool play we will be entered into a single elimination bracket on Sunday. The top two teams from each pool go into the "gold" bracket. The bottom two teams from each pool go into the "silver" bracket. By the end of the day Sunday there will be a silver champion ($300 cash prize) and a gold champion ($500 cash prize). It's not much, but it's a lot more than any other tournament I've ever played in. Not sure who they found to sponsor this, but kudos to the people in Wabash.

Hope we don't lose all of our games.

p.s. Don't you feel enlightened about the workings of men's fastpitch softball now?