The Team

It’s an idea that’s been thrown around the office for a while, and after months of talking about it, we’re now competing in a Vavi Kickball league under the name gapUniversity Fighting Hedgehogs.  A bunch of us are very excited about it, and the 3 games we’ve played thus far have been a blast.  Kickball basically has the same rules as baseball, except we only play 7 innings and with 10 players on the field.  Other than that, the rules are very similar.

There are some more interesting differences between baseball and kickball, though (aside from the fact that you’re kicking a 20mph big red ball instead of trying to hit a 95mph fastball).  For one, when the ball is kicked, it travels far differently from a baseball.  Trajectories are completely different, and tracking a fly ball can be very difficult.  Other than learning the fielding/defensive side of the game, some teams have pitchers who have mastered several different pitches, including curveballs, screwballs, changeups, and a unique high-bouncing ball that looks like it’s going to stay high, only to drop really low on the third bounce, much like a sinker in baseball.  On the offensive side, some players have learned to kick any type of pitch in any direction they like, making them quite the dangerous kicker.  As a few games have gone by, we’ve come across a few of these players/teams.

Our first game (Let’s call it a learning experience), we lost 5-2 to a very good team.  Down 5-0 in the 7th inning, we showed some promise by scoring 2 runs on a string of good kicks by the Fighting Hedgehogs, but couldn’t rally.  In the following game, we won with a score of 7-4.  Though the score was not indicative our sheer domination, we were clearly the better team with nearly error-free fielding, some great kicks, and smart base-running.  In our most recent game, we lost a 1-0 heartbreaker from a walk-off homer to an undefeated team.  Their team had mastered some of the finer points of the game, such as bunting, directional kicking, and a pitcher with more than just the old number 1.

Got Heem

We’ve started to settle into our natural fielding positions and everyone’s getting reacquainted with the old elementary school sport of kickball.  Our next game is May 9th under the lights, and the team is ready to get back on the winning track.

Also, for anyone who just happened to read my blog from last summer, I’d like to reiterate that I am NOT a competitive eater… though I did hear about a $30-or-free burrito challenge in Clairemont that I am very interested in.