Elevated Threat Elevates Play When It Counts
By Aaron Guerrero
Posted at 11:55 p.m. on June 11, 2012
Elevated Threat and the Stroke Signals took their Monday night game down to the wire, with the former defeating the latter, 12-11.
The Stroke Signals, a roster made up of staffers from the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, struck early, scoring five runs in the first. Hailing from the Department of Homeland Security, Elevated Threat was down by three runs after one but remained well within striking distance.
While the first inning suggested a possible sloppy slugfest, both teams settled down as the game developed an all-bets-are-off-type rhythm. Over the span of seven innings, the lead changed six times.
After giving up five runs in the top of the fourth, the Signals fired back with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning, recapturing the lead, 8-7.
Trailing in the top of the fifth, Elevated Threat used a mixture of singles and homers to add three more runs and regain the lead, 10-8.
With some clutch two-out hitting in the bottom of the sixth, the Signals put themselves ahead once more, 11-10.
Heading into the seventh, it appeared that Lady Momentum had settled on a final suitor.
But momentum can be fleeting.
And for her final act, she found her way into the bat of Elevated Threat right fielder Gordon Hawley, whose RBI single in the top of the seventh capped a two-run rally that put his team ahead for good.
“Don’t get out,” Hawley said when asked what his mentality was when he stepped to the plate with the game on the line.
Upon making the game-winning contact, his mentality remained more don’t-screw-up than celebratory.
“Thank God I didn’t get out,” he said.
