The MasterBatters are a beer league softball team on their way to winning a championship in the Northville Softball League. A ragtag group of mostly, ex-hockey players with very little baseball or softball experience joined up to take a stab at winning it all.

After holding two practices the week before our first two games, I could read the writing on the wall. We looked terrible, mainly in the batting department. A couple guys struggled to even make contact with the ball, while others were only capable of hitting slow easy grounders to the infield. 

Our mantra of ‘Come Game Time’ rang true, as we flipped the script on gameday.

To my shock and amazement the MasterBatters picked up a big win in our first softball game of the season. 

We started slow with three runs through six innings. With some struggling on the mound; a lot of walks, we found ourselves down 7-3 entering the bottom of the final inning. The bats came alive. 7-7, bases juiced, two outs – what every kid dreams of in his backyard growing up. Jon Cook stepped to the plate and hit a glorious swinging bunt to score the winning run Ryan Magyar from third and walk off a 8-7 win.

The second game did not go quite as expected though. Letting up 11 runs in the second inning alone and 6 more the following inning we found ourselves down 17-5. The boys did not get discouraged though, battling back to lose a close one, 20-18. 

Our jerseys just arrived today, so we will be rocking the purple tarps next week.

Standout performances include:

Ryan Magyar; 6 for 6 with 4 runs scored

Dylan Patel; 5 for 6 with 4 runs scored

Adrian McGuffin; 5 for 6 with 2 runs scored

Jon Cook; 3 for 6 with a walk off RBI

Brian Oldani: 2 for 6 with a solo shot Homerun