Loan wolves 17 - 17 Werewolves

Dog Soldiers

Our first opposition for the new season were the London Werewolves, who had been last year's league development squad. We'd played them in a tournament last Summer, and won, but they were a stronger, more experienced side now . And yesterday was the night of the full moon...
It was great to be back on the field. Finsbury Park looked lovely, the softball grounds had been newly-mown, and the weather was good - a mild, slightly cloudy Spring evening.
The Werewolves had a good first inning, putting five runs on the board. I had the honour of leading off our batting. Which I promptly threw away by hitting straight to the shortstop. The Werewolves extended a lead in the first few innings, but we managed to keep in the game and start a fight back. Some fine batting and clever base running kept us in contact with their lead. Determined fielding, spearheaded by Kate's pitching, held the Werewolves in check. We suffered a shut out inning, but returned the favour thanks to two back-to-back strike outs. Our spectators, former Wolves Paul and Joel, were gripped by the thrilling game.
The sun had set now, and the light was failing for the last two innings. Our opposition seemed to be hulking larger in the gloaming, light glinting on fangs and claws. Of course, it's harder to throw a ball or hold a bat with claws, so perhaps this helped us. Tense play led to us facing the bottom of the seventh with a five point deficit to overcome. We made three by the time welost our first two outs. Julian came in to bat, with captain Michael's orders to take a walk if he could. He kept his cool and did. We walked Tzippy next, bringing Gareth up to bat. This could be the decisive moment. All was silent and tense in Finsbury Park. Then the pitch - and a strong left-field hit brought two runners home, tying the game! The werewolves managed to get the next out before we could get another runner round, and light meant that the umpire wasn't going to call for a tie-break innings. So the first Wolf v Werewolf match ended honours even. We retired to the pub along with the Weres who turned out in fact to be Warren Zevon fans rather than lycanthropes.
[X-posted from my Livejournal]

Were Wolves @ Loan Wolves 28th April 2010

Low Point: My batting - or rather my judging of the pitches. Swung at completely the wrong pitches and just didn't get any power behind it.

High Point: My last at bat! Finally a good hit and easily getting on base...in fact, if I'd not been going so fast I might not have overshot first so much and been able to try for second... (next time!)

Nice day for a Wolf wedding

Loan Wolves' redoubtable Second Base fielder Victoria got married yesterday. The Wolves, as well as Tainted Glovers, were invited to the reception. We had co-ordinated our journeys to Strawberry Hill, so I joined the train at Clapham Junction to find a large party of Wolves already aboard. We all assembled at the Prince of Wales for a couple of drinks and a chance to sign the card. We sat outside in the sunny Spring afternoon, had a good old natter, and posed for pictures. Never had so many Wolves been seen together so smartly dressed. The Wolfettes were all stunning, and we guys didn't do too badly in our jackets and ties
We made our way to the reception venue, the attractive but warren-like St Mary's College, where we congratulated the happy couple and posed for further pictures - Vic had insisted there be a photo with the Loan Wolves on her wedding day. There was a buffet laid on, and the delicious home-made wedding cake was probably the best I've ever tasted. The atmosphere was good, and a great time was had by all. There was a live band fronted, apparently, by one of the girls from B*Witched. They played for the first dance - Vic and Mike had gone for an excellent old school choice of song:




We all had a dance, and the band reprised the Andy Williams at the end of the evening as we all formed a ring for the bride and groom to dance in. Things wound down after they left, and of course the Wolves ended up being the last ones to leave the party, loading up on the last of the cake to fortify us on our long roads home. I managed to cadge a lift into central London from Garry, and I was lucky with my bus connections, so I was home by half past two.
We'd had a great time, and it felt good that Vic had wanted us to be part of such a special occasion.