Ryan - 64 pitches Derek - 40 pitches I said in my last column that maybe it wasn't so bad being Coach Planz afterall. I said this only because his team had tasted victory (yes - against Team Achievements) and we had not. I really didn't want to be Coach Planz (trust me on this) - I just wanted what he had - a victory! The 4th game of our opening 5 game road trip had Team Achievements catching 2 breaks. #1 - Teddy 'Cy Young' Cillis threw a complete, 70+ pitch game 3 days earlier thus eliminating him from the Team Cillis rotation Tuesday night. #2 - The schedule makers had us play on Field #4 and not Coach Cillis' home field #3. Everyone knows Coach Cillis has spent alot of time on Field #3 making it one of the premier Little League fields in the area. He also tailored the field to suit his rec. team's strengths and weaknesses thus giving him an unknown advantage. Realizing facts #1 & #2 immediately, Coach C's pre-game talk centered around the need for a quick start that has been lacking all season before the Cillis Gang pulled out their bag of tricks. The Achievements bats came to life in no time. A 3 spot in the 1st and 4th innings with a couple of extra runs scattered here and there gave the winless Achievers some hope. Carrying a 8-0 lead into the bottom of the 6th had everyone holding their breath. Team Cillis did not disappoint their fans as they scored 5 runs in a matter of what seemed like 37.4 seconds. Derek, facing the dreaded hook, took a deep breath and closed the door before the manager had to make the slow walk to the mound! Offense: Derek - triple Tyler - 3 BB, 1 HBP Ryan - 2 singles Chad - 3 singles and a triple** Teddy - BB Jake - BB Nick - 3 BB Sandeep - 1B Defense: Teddy, Adam, & Jack showed some leather On the hill: Ryan - 4 IP, 9 K's, 0 runs ** - The Chadster claims he would have had a HR if he hadn't had to wait for Ryan who was ahead of him on the basepaths! This reminded me of a quote a friend of mine once said to me after I beat him in a race - 'you may be faster than me, but I'm not slow!' Nice comeback by Team Cillis! Good game Team Achievements!!