Mosquitoes Abound, Malaria Stifles Unicorns

Greg "Greaver" Weaver starts his stride...

     Last Monday was VBC Softball veteran Larry Strait's birthday and last day before going back to Iraq, and he was determined to play as hard as he could to max out his stats and try to get his first win with any VBC team he has been on.  According to him, he has always been mysteriously absent the days that VBCers have won games.

     The game didn't start off well.  The first inning retired the Unicorns in order, and the second inning had ended with only a single by "Hard 'A'" Lanah Stafford.  Meanwhile, the Unicorns' foes, the LC Stars, drew an uncharacteristic eight walks off of Bobby Weaver and drove in nine runs.  Then, for a moment, Unicorn magic happened.

Spring 2011 Superlatives Part I

Now that the spring season has come to an end and all of the stats have been accumulated, I would like to take the time to thank each player of this last VBC Softball team. I really appreciated the effort and commitment that everyone put into the team in the last fifteen games.  Certainly, because of everyone’s great attitudes and spirit, playing softball with you all is one of the highlights of my week every week.  The energy and fun that we produce certainly outweighs any sense of winning or losing, which is why I look forward to returning season after season with you all.  Now, without any further ado, to show my appreciation, I would like to award every core player with two superlatives each:

(in alphabetical order)

Ryan Cahill (LF):

Most Valuable Player (MVP)

This was practically a no-brainer.  Ryan slugged a monstrous 1.258 and kept his average at .548 with 31 at-bats.  Almost every third hit he got was a home run, and then the second third was full of his other extra-base hits.  Whoa!  That explains his 16 RBIs.  Did I mention he also arguably has the best glove and arm on the team?  If you can count on anyone to make a play at the plate happen, whether he's in outfield or not, it's this guy.  

Like I said, practically a no-brainer.  Congratulations for an awesome season, Ryan.

Most Likely to Hit a Pinata

            Ryan will do anything for a home run—including swinging at things way above his head.  But, hey, it’s worked out for him so far!

Alaina Coletti Announces Retirement

Eight days ago, VBC Softballer Alaina Coletti hinted at an early retirement.  This afternoon at 1:44pm EST, she confirmed that she will in fact not be returning to play with the Unicorns of the Apocalypse in the fall.

"Not that I don't love you guys, but it's just not reasonable for me," Coletti told her skipper in a heartfelt e-mail.  She punctuated the sentence with a colon followed by an open parenthesis.

Coletti joined VBC Softball in 2010 as one of the founding members of The Legion of Fistpumping Turtles, even before the team had a name.  Though inexperienced in softball, her natural athletic abilities and soccer training made her a quick study, and she sped up the batting order in a hurry, procuring the #2 spot in the nightly lineup.

The Turtles' coach, the coach of the Unicorns, Greg Weaver, recollected, "We had a lot of confidence in her ability to get a base hit and aggressively speed around the basepaths.  Most of all, though, we will miss her competitive spirit and great attitude in the dugout.  She was a lot of fun both to cheer with and to have cheering for you."

Unicorns' DL Stint Continues

This season has a been a rather unlucky one for the Unicorns, who have seen a remarkable number of injuries this year, half of which have been caused by other players in the game.

The latest to fall victim to the disabled list is veteran Romeo Villanueva, who had a fateful collision with Alaina Coletti on Monday night's game against the Stunners. Villanueva (RC) and Coletti (LC) were both trying to chase down a ball that was hit right in between them. A communication error allowed them to run directly into each other. Villanueva, who has taken a number of hits already this season, finally broke and has suffered a bruised rib, putting him out for the rest of the season.