Jim opened the game for us with a walk (I'm sure it's his first one). Sharon advanced Jim, and Rob kept them moving with a single. John doubled and we had 2 runs for our first at-bat. On defense, though, their 8-player lineup looked determined and showed some pretty good hitting ability, scoring 4 runs before we could stop them to take the early lead, 4 - 2.

In the second, Sammy got us started with a single. Steve got Sammy around the bases with a triple to add 1 to our total. They matched our 1-run performance in their at-bats to keep their two-run lead at 5 - 3.

The third saw Jim actually swing the bat for a single. Sharon and Rob followed with singles of their own. Billy Masson doubled and Insult'ers were scoring again. John followed with a single and Bob F. doubled. Sammy got another single and Kathy walked. When it was finally over we had scored 6 big runs to take the lead. To add "Insult" to the damage we held them scoreless in the bottom of the 3rd and now sat on top of the score at 9 - 5.

We must've been tired in the fourth 'cause we went 3-up, 3-down and headed back to the defense. You could see that they were "bearing down" in their 4th inning at-bats, trying hard to stay in the game. They were able to get 3 runs across to tighten the score, and we took just a 1-run lead to the fifth at 9 - 8.

It was Sharon who got our offense started in the 5th, lashing a triple. Rob followed with a long home run to right-center to stretch our lead some. John and Billy A. both singled but were left stranded. In the bottom of the inning our defense was operating well but couldn't prevent 1 run from scoring. The game had turned into a close contest as we took a 2-run lead (11 - 9) to the 6th.

Sammy opened the 6th for us with his third single of the night. Kathy followed with a single and Steve singled. Bob O. doubled to set up Jim who belted a round-tripper to clear the bases and pad our lead, with an inning total of 5 runs. They weren't giving up, though, and tried everything they could think of to add runs to their score. They did manage to get 2 more, but we now had a 5-run cushion (16 - 11) with just one inning left to play.

Rob started the final inning for us with a single, and Billy Masson kept his home run game streak alive with a long shot to right. John followed with his fourth hit of the game. Billy A. blasted his own homer and we had added 4 more to our and figured the game was over. And we were right. We faced only 3 or 4 batters in the bottom of the 7th and ended the game with a large (9 run) victory. the final score was 20 - 11.

Offensively in this game, Rob went 4 for 4 with a homer. John A. went 4 for 4. Sharon went 3 for 4 with a triple. Sammy went 3 for 4. Jim went 2 for 3 and a walk. Steve went 2 for 3 with a triple. A good offensive performance. John did another outstanding job on the mound with Bob F. handling the duties behind the plate (with 1 inning relief from Bob O.).

Special thanks to our fans for this game; the "Anderson kids" (Frank, Billy and little Amanda) and Debbie and (a sleeping) Paul Wilkowski, who cheered from the car. And a big "Thank You" to an ailing Jo Larson for handling the scorekeeping duties.

After the game a large group of players and fans headed to Palumbo's for pizza and beer. A great time as always.

Well, we've got a 10-day rest now before our next game. It's been a stretch of rapid-fire games so the rest should do us good. With only 4 games remaining in this 1999 edition of Final Insult, our record now stands at 7 - 3 with 11 - 3 as the goal for the season.