The Simon Chan Show Rolls Through The TRIPOUTS!

The mighty Monarchs arrived early to the ballpark Tuesday in anticipation for their game against the TRIPOUTS and also to work through some fundamentals after losing in extra innings the previous week. "They came up with a phantom run," Monarch pitcher Simon Chan states, "we were winning by one run at the end of the game until they conjured a tie!" However, other members of the Monarchs had different theories, "maybe if we had a captain that wasn't intimidated" said RF Sean Lam stated. Yes that's right, the Monarchs fell to 1-1 last week as Chan failed to assert his legendary 'I wrote my thesis on baseball' attitude against the Friar's Club. The lost dropped the Monarchs to third in the standings while the victorious Friar's Club vaulted to the top of the standings. Chan took a good ribbing before the game for his lack of backbone. However, the team was really looking to light a fire under the second year Monarch.

The pre-game tactic seemed work but not only on Chan but the whole team, although Chan wouldn't admit it. "I was soooo good! In one inning this girl was crowding the plate, so I threw inside at her. It was a strike right on the back corner of the mat. The next pitch she was standing away from the plate, obviously shaken from my legendary insider sinker, so I dropped one outside at the top corner. I'm so good!" Chan bragged to the reporters.

The real story to the game was not the Monarchs lack of offense but a five-star defence. The TRIPOUTS, while not looking like a insurmountable challenge, played very well. The outfielders tracked balls well and the infield swallowed balls up. The mighty M's were only able to manage 4 runs heading into the seventh. However on several occasions the defence bailed out a struggling offence. The infield was clutch, moving very well to keep balls in front of them while the outfield caught the fly's and kept rollers in front of them. Although the TRIPOUTS recorded more hits than the Monarchs, their runners were often stranded on base. The defence played very well only allowing 1 run through six innings. The TRIPOUTS also had to face the self-claimed 'Ace' of the Monarchs, Simon Chan, who recorded multiple strikeouts and every struck out the side in one inning, a feat seldom seen in the ESSC.

The game seemed to be in hand as the innings rolled into the seventh. The Monarch defence had been lights out all night and only allowed a single run to cross home plate, scored on a base hit in the first inning, however, the Monarchs had difficulty putting the boots to the TRIPOUTS and allowing the game to get tied up in the final inning. "The totally cheated on their line-up. They sent all their guys to the plate" several Monarchs were heard telling one another after the game. A theory that seems to have a little bit of weight behind it as the TRIPOUTS appeared to send three consecutive guys to the plate on two different occasions, but regardless the Monarchs failed to put the team to bed as the TRIPOUTS scored three in the top of the seventh to tie the game at fours. Heading into the bottom of the seventh the Monarchs only needed one run to win the game. The Monarchs knew that they needed to score a victory to keep a chance at the championship game. "It would be tough to get there as a two loss team" said Brad Dingle.

The Monarchs felt confident that they could score the needed run and felt even better after lead off batter Sean Lam reached first base on a line dive up the middle. Following Lam in the batting order was Simon Chan-Bonds. "I read the pitch well. I was sitting on that one" Chan boasts. To his credit, Chan sent a rocket that evaded the outfielder and landed just yards from the home run line, a hit that allowed Lam to score uncontested and sent the Monarchs to a 5-4 win and a 2-1 record.

As a tribute to the greatness of Simon Chan's epic game, I've included a little treat for all the Monarchs out there. So without further adieu, Simon Chan playing the accordion!