Zoombies

The Team (left to right): Marc, Gerardo, Teri, David (Team Captain), Aaron, Ian (Ass Captain), Justine, Sarah (honorary), Dusan, Cynthia, Mike (Coach), Alex, and Gen. Ros (missing)

Season Over!

A rainy attempt at a tournament was made to prove to the record books that the Zoombies are the greatest softball team of all time. Instead, we were entertained by a rather lack-luster 4 inning game against the Hacks ,and a 2 inning blowout Vs. Barflies before our opponents could not last getting wet any longer. We tried to schedule in a re-re-match against defending champs NPSIA, but due to scheduling issues we could not. I guess you are only as good as your last game.

A great season filled with good stories, new friends, and beer - what summer is all about. I hope everyone had a blast!!

Game Thirteen

Betrayal, tree chopping, Taco, and relentless beating of the Club which is Cultured took place this week in the final regular season game of Zoombie Softball. After a previous defeat we made sure that CC got a taste of what to expect in the Tournament this Saturday in a blowout victory rematch.

Our Macho Taco leader was absent from the first encounter where we fell 8-6 but guaranteed a landslide victory on his appearance alone. This inspiration came in multiple forms... allowing for solid offensive and defensive play from everyone. Mike with some solid play guarding first, Aaron with a shotgun for an arm out in the field, and myself going 4 for 4 in tree chopping helped secure the victory!

On a side-note our honor-Zoombie betrayed us and subbed in for Culture Club. Although we still shared a beer with Sarah, who knows how devastating our opinion would have been if CC claimed a victory.

Game 12

This past week's game was a re-match against the real NPSIA. We came out strong with a quick 5-run earned inning and never looked back. NPSIA trailed us for the remainder of the game which proved to be a nail-biting win (just like last time) on a 10-9 victory.

Major shout-outs go towards Teri and Gen with combined RBI's that made up for 7 of our 10 runs. Split props to towards Marc and Mike for the first combined HR of the season. Everyone batted well and our defense held strong. This brings our total record to 7 wins, 5 losses with one game remaining on the horizon. Tournament details have been released and will be posted soon!

Stay zooombed!

Game OneOne

'tis the season for back-to-back re-matches... or rather the end of the season as we only have two remaining games. Last week we battled The English in what was predicted as a sure-thing for The Zoombies (see last match details here). A defeated (opposite of un-defeated?) English team traded in their chants for some serious softball and put a hurt on us, resulting in their first win of the season.

Honorable mentions of this weeks game include a pair of heroes in the form of Aaron and Teri. Aaron had some destructive hitting finding 3rd base plenty of times. Teri on the other hand (or is it Terry ?) dished up some pain on The English second basemen who will never play the baseline again - living up to our mantra of "If we can't beat um, hurt um." Also, this was Roz's last game as she will be in Vancouver during the period of the tournament... she will be missed!

This week we have yet another re-match, this time against International Affairs... review the nail-biting victory here. This should prove to be a tough match so we must bring our best game.

Many will point out the ironic twist of fate as the previous week we handed (read: SERVED UP SOME BEAT DOWN) NPSIA's first loss of the season. We humbly take our loss and try to reflect on it. I decided to outline three ways in which we can improve as shown in the following illustration:

Game 10: NPSIA the undefeated team

"Way to beat 1/2 of our team...." - Per Unheim

It seems only fitting that I begin this week's blog post with a quote from one of our opponents on the NPSIA team. This brings to mind another quote by Paul Brown - known well in the NFL:

"When you win, say nothing. When you lose, say less."

Clearly NPSIA is having a hard time dealing with their loss when the excuses start flowing our way - offline at the field and online. I personally think the definition of a team, are the people who show up for the game... although the comment section will be reserved for talk-back on this issue!

Other than that.........WHOAAAAAAAA ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMBBBBBBBBBIEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!!! What a game - everyone played fantastic: batting, fielding, running, jumping, throwing, catching, BRAIN EATING!!! *NUM* *NUM* *NUM*. We came out particularly strong for a re-match that we wanted a win out of. The first inning we took the field - "what's that?" you might say... yes 3 UP - 3 DOWN. OK good start, but how can we top that ? Well how about with a little MERCY RULE ACTION? Seven - nill... WHATS UP? Cannot ask for better than that!

The remainder of the game we continued to chip in runs steadily while our defense held well for the majority of the game. Special honorable mentions go out to the following players:

David Barrera - This years contestant for the Golden glove. Dave - our team captain - took a key position in our strategy for dealing with the offense that NPSIA presented and caught an un-countable number of pops (binary 2-bit is all we have) in shallow left. Not only that, he was the first bullet in the chamber of our mercy inning with a lead-off triple!

Alex *the monster* Cowperthwaite - reliable pitching and heads-up field plays gave us an edge... not to mention perfect batting. However, he gets a runner-up medal in the 60' footrace :).

Marc Leclair - solid center fielder, long ball, and doubles as a pinch runner for our favorite Uncle.

Gerardo - Perfect batting game, very solid on bag #1 stopping many potential over-throw disasters.

Gen, Teri, Cynth - our pocket aces... these girls consistently advanced all of our runners on base with zero pop-outs. Eventually NPSIA got wise and stopped throwing these girls out, as our runners were scoring (refer to Alex's second place medal :P ).

Next week we have some well-earned time off. However don't slack Zoombies - continue the beer consumption... we don't want anyone to cramp up when we win our next pitcher!

Game 9

The Barflies (read: princesses) were visibly concerned about their chances of besting this Zoombie team without a rain cloud in sight. So much so, that only five of their entire lineup managed to strike up the courage to show up. A forfeit win for us so players were exchanged and a little batting practice proved useful and fun.

Thursday, July 30th is a re-match of Week1 - the infamous NPSIA team. That well-greased team (insinuating they have a lot of experience playing together, not referring to their hygiene or the bicycles they ride) educated us quickly with a 20-10 high scoring game. This was an early development stage for our team - we were mere Zombies if you will - and I believe our confidence playing as a team has significantly raised our profile to full on Zoombies (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=zoombies). I am not alone with said confidence... here are just a few quotes of other prominent team members regarding the re-match with NPSIA:

"NPSIA's outfield is like moldy swiss cheese, full of holes!!!" - Alex Cowperthwaite
"We were going to get NPSIA an anniversary cake, but we figured they'd drop it." - David Barrera
"I'ma let my bat do the talking..." *drops ball, walks away* - Aaron LeFort

The hype is set... see everyone Thursday.

Game Eight

Three runs, six runs, two runs ... whewwwww
Zero runs, zero runs, zero runs... pooooooo

Legal Studies (herein referred to as "LS") knew the rules and knew how to exploit them best against us Zoombies. The rally-caps came on for a last ditch effort to make six required runs to continue the game but failed to make a dent in the strong outfield defense. A *fun* game resulted in a fall of 17-11, allowing for a .500 record so far this season. It should be noted that LS' only loss so far this season is to the outside NPSIA team.

The game was full of action and many honorable mentions for this spectacle, so here are a few that stand out...

- GEN freakin' ROBERGE!! This brain-eating girl takes the pep-talk to heart and redefines aggressive base running. After a comedy of errors on the LS side (spurred on no doubt by her soft yet terrifying demeanor) she managed to cross home with the cheer of her fellow Zoombies.
- David... a strong hitting performer with equally weak shoes resulted in a hard fall which we all believe was to be yet another HR. Glad he's O.K.
- Justine (aka JR aka Ginger Ale) held everyone's breath in her glove. After a rather unorthodox (yet brilliant) move to try her as rover, she made a juggling catch from glove to hand (hand to glove, glove to hand, ...) that still has people scratching their heads! The glory truly is in the outfield!

Next game Tuesday July 20th against the Barflies... sound familiar ? Rain won't save them this time!

Game 7 Results

WOW guys what a win. We destroyed the hacks with our power hitting and spectacular defense. The final score was like 28-7. We would have scored more, but the "mercy rule" was in effect (i.e., a team can't score more than 7 runs per inning so that the opposing team doesn't cry).

MVP for this game is Genevieve with her PHENOMENAL catch of a powerful line drive at second base.

Other honorable mentions go out to Cynthia for her best hit yet (it actually cleared the infield), and Ian for solid and consistent batting.

Great job zoombies. Next game is on Tuesday.

ps. thanks to Roz we now have a new word to describe the beers we drink after the game: Zoombeers. Well played.

Game 6 Results

Alright listen up zoombies. The rain was a bit of a bitch last week, and the princesses on the Barflies team didn't want to get wet. We ended up having to give up our last at bat (with our power hitters lined up no less). We lost. Whatever. We gave it our best.

On a more positive spin, the zoombies welcomed yet another new player: Jit. With the epic quote during warmup "I haven't played in years", nobody really expected much from the rookie zoombie. The entire team was pleasantly surprised to see that Jit has some mad mad softball ski11z. We look forward to seeing him around more often.

Next game is Thursday vs "The Hacks". This should be an interesting rival, since we have vast experience in hacking as well. (sorry i know there was a computer joke in there somewhere, but i guess that wasn't it). Lets go out and do what we do every game which is give it all we've got and get a BIG win.

Keep it real zoombies.

Game 5 Results

legggggggggsssssssss.... err I mean brainnnssss... wait, do I ? This evenings game was one for the books. Physics showed up with only 8 players so we assisted them by providing a back-catcher. Only two innings into the game, with one out, an in-field ball was driven making a split second play at first base. The runner made a grave mistake (mmm brainss) by stopping short of the bag (note: always run through the bag) when he realized he was out. In the process, his leg twisted and snapped - resulting in a broken leg. Unknown to us at the time we may have under-estimated the situation, however we stopped play. The ambulance was called immediately and he was taken off the field on a stretcher.

Afterward, the physics team showed great strength in wanting to continue the game so we swapped in some players for their defense. As our captain (courageously and bluntly) stated, we won via forfeit and the free pitcher of beer was ours.

The TSN turning point of the game would have to be given to our unknown physics player who was carried off in the stretcher (refer to photo; credit: David). After which, the physics team could not officially continue... so I'm really stating the obvious here. Other honorable mentions go to the entire team, for staying safe.

We welcome a new Zoombie today - Aaaron LeFort.

Game 5

It's absolutely beautiful out and the Zoombies are ready for their next big win. The opposing team is the legendary Physics dept. Fortunately, the Zoombies prefer smarter brains...

We've got a strong batting order tonight with Mike leading us off. We've also got a solid outfield led by Ian in CF and a quick infield, so let's do this.

Game 4 result

The forecast called for rain... After a strong start, the Zoombies fell an 8-6 loss to Culture Club. With a record of 2-2 we look forward to next weeks game against Physics on Thursday.

Time for this weeks honour roll...
- Mike on SS pulled double duty and made a left field catch.
- Marc collected his first HR of the season in the first inning... Rolling in Justine and Mike.

On a side note, one player pointed out that our captain was not present.

new logo

A little credit where credit is due. Dave's friend Felipe Aranzeta created our new logo for us. A big thanks to Filipe (though I still think my logo was awesome...)!

Game 3 Results

WOW - thats what comes to mind when looking back at this one. After going down by 10 runs in the first two innings the Zoombies rallied back to tie the game at the bottom of the 7th - giving up only a single run for the rest of the game! With one out, and Gen on first with Brandon on 3rd the win was in sight. Gerardo lines a drive to right just breaking the infield defense, winning the game!!!

Now on for this weeks honour roll...
- TSN turning point of the game: Cynth on third making an unbelievable line drive catch for a third out in the third inning.
- Gen making a clutch offensive hit advancing the winning run into scoring position.
- Team mention... everyone dug deep and played hard when it counted - props to first showings to Nick and Justine for some solid play.

Another wet game, starting to feel like our edge. Next game Monday against culture club.

Game 2 result

These Zoombies are not afraid of a little water. An astounding performance gave us our first win of the season, putting the hurt on team English with a 15-3 win. Rain caused a call of the game on the bottom of the 6th.

Hard to narrow down the honorable mentions this time around as everyone played awesome, but here we go:
- Cynthia brought the guns resulting in Dusan rounding the bases at each bat - with a particularly stunning double
- Marc, the golden glove on rover had the TSN turning point of the game. A clutch line drive saved a possible 3 run disaster.
- Infield play overall was fantastic - not a single over throw... Big ups to Brandon on first and our top notch throwers.

Next game on Tuesday against NPSIA team 2.

Game 2 tonight

We have our second game tonight against English. See you all on the field a bit before the game starts at 6pm. I'm happy to say we have a full team for tonight so let's go out there and get our first big win of the season.

Game 1 results

Amazing showing guys ! NPSIA put up a tough game, and we have plenty to reflect on. Final score (estimate): 20 - 10 in favor of NPSIA.

Strong mentions from the game include:
- Alex amazing on 3rd with a double play and rundown with Mike on short!
- Dusan, an unbelievable showing in his first ball game; strong fielding and batting
- Roz, our ringer from bio held some spectacular plays at first
- 2nd inning had Luc and Beatriz on base and hit home by Ian in our first hr of the season

Next game June 1st against English - stay tuned for next practice details.

Season Schedule and Teams

Teams:

1. 1. SocAnth – Barflies


2. 2. ICSLAC – Culture
   Club


3. 3. International
   Affairs


4. 4. NPSIA


5. 5. English


6. 6. Computer Science Zoombies


7. 7. The Hacks


8. 8. Physics


9. 9. Legal Studies

GAME #1 Vs. NPSIA

Hello everyone. Just a quick reminder. Our first game is on Thursday May 21st at 6 pm. I suggest people try to make it in for 5:30 for warm-up.

The game is at Carleton on the field shown on this map: http://bit.ly/zoombiemap

--
David

Practice #1

Hi everyone. We're planning on having a little team practice on Monday the 18th. This will be mainly geared towards those who want to review the rules of the game, get familiar with the field, practice batting, or just throw the ball around. We'll meet on the field (http://bit.ly/zoombiemap ) at 5:00 pm. If you have trouble finding the field, or have other questions give me a call at 613 261 9144.

Hope to see you guys there. Bring a glove if you can, we'll bring bats/balls (and a couple of lefty gloves courtesy of Mike, for people who THROW with their left hand).

--
David

Team Logo

Courtesy of Mike, here is the unofficial team logo. As you can see, it is a zoombie ( a zombie variant which can achieve extremely fast speeds ).

Zoombies 2009 Summer Softball

Welcome Zoombie Softball players! We'll post information about practices/games location and times as well as game results on this page. Going to be a GREAT season... stay tuned!