Smith Strikes Down Teats, 11-8

This trend was vividly demonstrated at the Grand Slam JAM at Cook Field, when Sue Smith, the final player selected in the pre-JAM draft, turned in a stellar pitching performance, and emerged with the Most Valuable Jammer Award. Her efforts helped lead her squad, the Ghettoblasters, past the Teats, by a final score of 11-8.

Smith, who was participating in her first JAM, was in control from the opening pitch. She recorded a Jam all-time high nine strikeouts in the nine inning contest, while allowing just eight runners to cross the plate. Smith was particularly effective in crucial situations, as she demonstrated the poise of a seasoned veteran by working her way out ofnumerous jams. Jer Silkowski, a member of the Yonkers All-Polish Over-18 team, went down swinging twice with runners in scoring position, and Geoff Bowler and Carter Morgan each struck out once with men on base.

"All of my pitches were really working for me," Smith said. "I had good control over the lob over the plate and, well, that was the only pitch I threw, so I don't know about my other pitches."

Smith's heroics came as a surprise to her teammates as well as her opponents.

"It was amazing," Bowler said. "I couldn't believe it. I'm really happy for her that she did well. I mean, I'm not happy that we lost, but I'm happy for her."

"I figured that she could play, so it was worth it for me to take a chance on her," Chris Crowley, the captain of the Blasters, said. "In the draft, I used the same strategy that Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders uses. I took the safe picks first, and then waited for those players that the other teams would pass over to fall down to me."

Crowley then waxed poetic about the game. "Its kind of like opening a bottle of Coors Lite, tasting it, and finding out that its really filled with Samuel Adams - or Berry Bluesoda, for that matter," Crowley said.

"I came all the way from Frederick, Maryland for this," said Morgan, who was obviously distraught. "I can't believe I spent $75, and wasted ten hours on a train, just to get struck out by a girl."

Despite her strong outing, the Teats still managed to seize an early 1-0 lead on Smith, and to keep the game close throughout. Chris Spellman, Heather Docherty, and Bowler each had multiple-hit games, and did a fine job of setting the table for the middle of the order. Spellman particularly was pleased with his break-out game, and he made a fewpremature assertions of greatness following the contest.

"When you watch TV, as I do, you keep seeing these commercials that tell kids to be like Mike. Well, its time we got some ads that tell them to be like the Spell-Man," Spellman said.

Spellman, however, did not fulfill his dream to be the first player in JAM history to hit from both sides of the plate in the same game. "There are just some things I can do with my right hand that I can't do with my left," the four-time Jammer admitted.

The Teats held a 1-0 lead after two innings, but then the tide began to turn. Mike Campoli, who was 4 for 5 on the afternoon with three runs scored, belted a single up the middle. He was later driven home by George McShane, who also scored in the inning, thus giving theGhettoblasters a 2-1 edge. Campoli and McShane both had huge games, which helped the Blasters overcome the very weak bottom half of their lineup.

The Blasters added to their lead in the fourth. Thanks in part to some timely hitting by the lower end of their lineup and a few costly errors by the Teats, the Blasters pushed seven runs across the plate and seized a commanding 9-1 advantage. Katherine Martel (later traded for a player to be named later), Crowley (the JAM's all-time RBI leader), andSmith, all reached base in the inning. The Teats then retaliated to make the score close, before the Blasters turned in one more rally in the top of the seventh inning.

In that frame Karen Zimmerman tapped an infield single down the third base line. Then Antoine Carr, batting in place of Campoli, smacked a Missy Jackson pitch to the gap in right-center. These two runners were sent home by McShane, who came through with another clutch hit, thus establishing the final score of 11-8.

Carr, whose Utah Jazz lost a tough series in the Western Conference Finals to the Seattle Supersonics, was happy to be a part of a winning team.

"I felt sorry for y'all bunch of sorry, no skills, white people, so I figured I'd take an at-bat and show you how its done," the visored 6'8" Carr said. "It was a lot easier than defending Shawn Kemp."

Nonetheless, the story of the game certainly was Smith, who emerged as an unlikely hero in the most unlikely of events.