9/3: Playoff Victory: A note on color theory

A tumultuous dip into the waters of democracy to decide uniform colors was quickly calmed by the life vest of authoritarianism as coach worked behind to scenes to provide the best color for the people. our duds arrived in time for the playoffs - just the kind of gimmick we needed. energy was high as each member of Na Pahu appeared to glow as soon as they adorned their blaze orange jersey

"what in the hell? - orange?" a few of the ungrateful muttered. well, here's a simple explanation for simple minds....let me diverge into color theory for a moment...in color theory, two colors are called complementary if, when mixed in the proper proportion, they produce a neutral color. As applied to softball - Na Pahu languished in sky blue to the tune of a 0-12 record. So if we throw a dolop of orange on there we should get on the right track towards balancing out that losing record - 'neutrality' if you will.

I pity the fool that tries to argue with this logic once we win the championship on Friday night.

...now on to the loss of innocence...

The game reeked of intensity from the outset as the field was dragged and watered pre-game and the opposing coach was whining about my substitution strategy (apparently illegal) - all hints that this game was fo' real.

Na Pahu won the toss and took the field. The cloud of intimidation was thick as Na Pahu took the field in a Blaze (orange) of Glory - the other coach went so far as to complain that we had too many people in the field - sorry buddy, nice try. However, 'twas a typical first inning performance for Na Pahu as we played the field a bit tight and apprehensive - 'House' puttered out 5 runs - swinging bunt after swinging bunt with a few walks thrown in the mix. Na Pahu countered with a whopping ostrich egg in the bottom half - t'ree up t'ree down.

'House' somehow managed to essentially bunt in two more runs in the second inning leaving Na Pahu in very comfortable surroundings...down 7 runs. In the Na Pahu half of the second we decided to loosen up and let the foreplay begin. solid hitting performances from Na Pahu Piha - newbies and oldies alike - made the game a bit more respectable at 7-3 with the bad guys still in the lead.

Inning three proved to be the lubrication inning - taking care of business in the field and getting into the groove we tallied up three more runs to make the game 7-6

Legal substitutions took place in the fourth and Na Pahu didn't miss a beat. our 'student section' that arrived late to the game hit the field in full stride oozing a puss of intensity (maybe due to three innings of drinking on the bench?) and 'House' couldn't even get a measly runner on base. The infield made some mindblowing plays.

Bottom 4 saw the official deflowering of Na Pahu as the first 7 batters got basehits - nearly all of which made it to the outfield - with the highlights being a monstrous homerun by Wood Chip and a 2-rbi rip by Skaidra...after six runs in, two runners on base, one out and Chuck declaring that there were only 9 minutes left in the game - jack decided to have mercy on the poor fools and proceeded to hit the infamous three out foul ball (perhaps on his first swing? not sure exactly) - but don't kid yourself - he hit the shit out of homegirl-on-the-other-teams' car...kinda like mother theresa jamming her thumb in your eye.

'House' was able to bat one last time, and while we toyed with them and let them get some runners on base the Na Pahu defense shut the door.....and we win?!?

Final Score

Na Pahu 12

On the House 8

...on to the championship game

behold - Na Pahu Piha - undefeated in orange:

special thanks to all the fans that made it out to the game - mommy skaidra, metz/carini/fitz, zach's homegirl and homeboy, nate/gayle lurking in the urine-soaked bleachers, one dude i can't remember his name - and all those with us in spirit.

love - coach j