Day 1 was bracket play. There were 4 brackets of 5 teams so each team played 4 games on Saturday. The top 2 teams from each bracket make it to Sunday for double elimination play. GMO opened up the tournament against Your Aire. This game proved to be the most challenging of the day for GMO as they won 21-7. Although the competition was fairly weak, the team was happy to have chalked up 21 runs in their first game of �08. The next game for GMO was against Johnny Boy�s Ribs. This was clearly the only decent team in the bracket and GMO handled them easily, 12-1. The last 2 games for GMO on Saturday were against two very weak teams, Southern MD Sheet Metal and Misfits. They were able to win these games 8-1 and 15-1 respectively. It was the team�s first game action of the year and they used the 4 games as practice for Sunday, when the competition would be a little stronger.
With the games rained out on Sunday, the tournament resumed the following Saturday. GMO opened up the day against a familiar foe in KNC Marketing. KNC has proven to be somewhat of a rival for GMO as the teams know each other pretty well and the smack talk never seems to end. However, on this day, KNC was no match for the overpowering GMO squad, and GMO ended it early 16-6. The next game was billed as �the game of the tournament� up to that point. It featured 2 of the better teams the county has to offer, with GMO and Martini�s Lounge. Martini�s came in a little cold as their 1st game of the day ended in a forfeit as Richardson Construction was unable to field a full team in time for the game.
Somewhere in between the end of the KNC game and the beginning of the Martini�s game, GMO was able to lose their bats and become flat. With GMO�s defense playing pretty well, the GMO bats were just nonexistent. Before you knew it, this much anticipated game was in the 7th inning with Martini�s leading 7-0. That�s right folks, 7-0. GMO found a way to not be able to score even a single run thru 6 innings. But, like the champions that they are, GMO found a way to rustle together enough hits to score 1 run. Not wanting to suffer through the embarrassment of a skunk, GMO�s pride shown thru and they took the loss, 7-1. Wow, what a game.
Now, after being thrust into the loser�s bracket and facing 5 hours of straight games to win the title, GMO faced an opponent from day 1, Johnny Boy�s Ribs. Although the task at hand seemed daunting, the team took some relief in knowing that they could get their run started with a �tune up� game against a team they easily run ruled in day one of the tournament. But an amazing thing happened in this game, similar to that of the game against Martini�s�..GMO stunk, and stunk BAD. Their defense was ok, and Johnny Boy�s were rattling off a few hits, but the GMO offense never seemed to be able to get going. Next thing you know, GMO is in the 7th inning, needing several runs to advance, and the unthinkable happened. They fell 2 runs short, 8-6, and were knocked out of the tournament by a team two divisions lower than them. The dejected faces leaving the field told the story. They were simply crushed by the result and were almost too embarrassed to walk to their cars. The buzz around the complex that GMO had been knocked out was overwhelming, and Johnny Boys Ribs had seemingly just experienced their biggest victory in team history.
�It took me several hours to even be able to comprehend what had just happened�, said a weary Coach Craig. �I guess there are days in this game where even a top level team can lose to somebody like that.� Other players were a bit more emotional when asked about not only their disappointing finish in the tourney, but the team that knocked them out. �How in the lord�s name can we lose to a team like that? We should be able to show up and lay down on the field and be able to beat them�, said an angry Darrin Edelen. It�s true, Johnny Boys Ribs are a much lower division team than GMO, but GMO sure looked like the lower level team this day. Brandon Shaffer even turned to the media and said, �I wish the league started tomorrow night, because I NEED to get this bad taste out of my mouth�, to which Chris chimed, �THAT�S WHAT SHE SAID!�
So there you have it folks, the opening weekend for Charles County Softball see�s local favorite GMO bite the big one. With opening night for league play slated for April 30, GMO has a lot of soul searching to do if they expect to come out and defend their league title. But for now, on this day, GMO is just another one of the ordinary teams that play in Charles County. Will they fix their tarnished reputation during league play? Well folks, that remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure, the recaps will be posted after each and every game, so stay tuned!
