*Sniff sniff*, You smell something Rabbit? Is it Fear? Are Hackett and Cass "studying" in the Kensington? Is it bug spray? A macho nacho? Did Grgg break wind? Are Phil and Dave cooking pizza rolls again? No, that's not it. I know this smell, it smells like something smoking hot, sizzling even. Ah, I know what it is. It's the smell of a white-hot ball club, wafting over the greater Milwaukee area. It must be the Milwaukee Brewers. What?!?!? It's NOT the Brewers? They're the hottest team and baseball, who could possibly be hotter than them? No...it couldn't be...not Section 8?!? Oh yes my friends, The 8 is white hot right now. They've won 4 straight games for, what is believed to be, the first time in franchise history. This of course includes last week's dramatic walk-off victory. Could Section 8 keep the roll going and make it a historic 5 straight wins? I know you're wondering, and that's why you're reading....The Section 8 Update. __________________________________________________ Nothing could come close to the drama of last week's victory, the 5th walk-off win in team history. But it could still be a fun game this week, as The 8 was in action against Hummer Brothers Landscaping (4-8). The game got off to a bit of a slow start as Hummer Bros. scratched out a run in the top of the 1st and the 8 stranded the bases loaded in the bottom half. Things really got rolling in the 2nd though, as Section 8 struck for 4 runs on 4 hits, a walk and an error. The trend continued in the 3rd as Jamie plated 3 more runs on a sharp line drive to center, that was mishandled and ended up bringing everyone around to score. After 3 innings Section 8 was pretty much in control of things, leading 7-1. But in the 4th things started to turn in the Hummer Bros. favor. They scored 2 runs in the top of the frame, and then kept The 8 off the board in their half (once again stranding the bases loaded). The 8 got one back in the 5th, but gave up 2 more in the 6th. Heading to the 7th the good guys were clinging to an 8-5 lead. In the top of the 7th Hummer Bros. got their lead-off man on with a hit, and then got a gift on an error by Sutton at short. With 2 on, their #3 hitter knocked a double that scored 1 and made it a 2-run game. Then, after 2 fly outs, they got the big blow; a 2-run, 2-out triple to left. That tied the game and sent us to the bottom of the 7th. Did The 8 have more bottom of the 7th magic? Not this night. After a lead-off single they boys went down 1-2-3, and we went to extra innings. Only the 2nd extra inning game in Section 8 history. In the top of the 8th Hummers led off with a triple from their #8 hitter, and were able to knock him in with a 2- out single to take a 9-8 lead. The 8 had Jamie, Scott, and Chayce coming up in the bottom of the 8th, and everyone had the same thought in their mind...Get Lucas an AB. With one away, Scott got things started with a line drive single to center. Then Chayce poked one to right field for a hit, and allowed Scott to make it to 3rd with only 1 out. Peter then followed with a base hit down the left field line to tie the game, and put the winning run on 2nd for Bittner. Bittner was the hero last week, and when put in a chance to do the same thing this week he did not disappoint. Lucas hit a missile shot to left- center field that was clearly going to get over the outfielders and score Sutton to win the game. But it didn't stop there; Lucas put this one OVER the fence for a home run. The 1st ever walk-off homer in the history of Section 8 Softball. Once again, in highly dramatic fashion, Section 8 gets the W and keeps the streak alive, 12-9 in extra innings. Wow! __________________________________________________ The offensive star of the game? Hmmmm, let's see, it's been a while since he's appeared in this portion of the Update but I think we have to go with Lucas F. Bittner on this night. The Bittner was 3-5 with the HUGE homer, 4 RBIs and a run scored. Peter also had himself a pretty decent night. Still recovering from that separated shoulder, suffered back on June 9th, Pete started to find his stroke on this night. He went 3-5, scored once and drove in 3 runs. Scotty had a nice game as well. He went 2-3 with 2 walks, drove in 1 run and scored twice. It was good offensive effort all around. I think it also bears mentioning that all the runs before the 8th inning were scored with 2 outs in the inning. __________________________________________________ When it comes to pitching, Nicky J has almost as much skill as he does with the ladies....and that's a lot. After some early season struggles Horsecock has been nothing short of outstanding, especially in the last 3 games. This week he was dead on once again. He gave up just the 9 runs on 15 hits and only 2 walks, while retiring 6 via the K. __________________________________________________ The drinking numbers this week looked more like the Section 8 of old. The early game, plus the dramatic finish, plus an awesome finish to the Brewers' game, plus Chayce's birthday, equaled "gettin' after it" if ya know what I mean. We don't recall the exact numbers and the numbers have yet to be updated on the CHG website, but it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 16 pitchers and 18 bombs...or something like that. __________________________________________________ Next week, it's a Section 8 double dip. That's right kids, you heard me, a double header next Monday night. It starts at 8:15 in the regularly scheduled game against CIA Goodfellas (7-6), followed by the make-up of the game that got rained out against Crossroads Pizza (6-6). A sweep of this double header would get Section 8, now 8-4, to 10 wins for only the 2nd time in team history. So get out your Section 8 cheering gear and come on down to the yard as The 8 makes a late season push (technically, not mathematically eliminated IF there's a position round game played August 11th). Tune in next week for more high drama finishes, or maybe just a win with out the blood pressure ramifications, in the next edition of The Section 8 Update. www.section8softball.zoomshare.com