Austin Team Finds Redemption in Fort Worth Softball Tournament

Jesse Dominguez (Austin Chapter President 2007-2008), coach of the Austin CPA Weirdos softball team, files this report.

The Austin CPA Weirdos peaked a bit too soon. While the team was more than ready for this year’s annual pilgrimage to Fort Worth in September, rains delayed the tournament to October 24th. And so it was, on a cool Saturday morning, twelve devoted Austinites and their fans arrived at the softball fields in Arlington three miles west of Cowboy Stadium with high expectations for our team.

We battled hard during our first game and led Ernst & Young 6 to 4 going into the final inning. Our opponent scored two runs to tie us at 6 and send it into extra innings. They then scored three runs to lead 9 to 6. We were able to score two runs, but could not rally another and lost 9 to 8.

In the beginning of our second game, we had a key player get injured and never recovered, losing 13-2.

After lunch and a few adult beverages, we gathered ourselves and fought for the pride of Austin. Our third game opponent was PWC, last year’s tournament champion, who also found themselves with no wins and two losses after their first two games. We were determined not to leave Fort Worth empty-handed, but found ourselves down 4 to 0 after one inning. We were then down 5 to 2 after two innings, but rallied back in the top of the third inning and scored 7 runs to lead 9 to 5. With time running out on the 45-minute clock, all we needed was three outs at the bottom of the third to leave victorious, but after a few slow dribblers and some well-placed hits, PWC tied us 9 to 9.

Austin was not to be denied … we rallied at the top of the extra inning with five runs to lead 14 to 9. Our defense stepped up, limiting PWC to one run and won 14 to 10.

Team members this year included (in alphabetical order), Jessica Ardis (P), Tim Bancroft (LF), David Brader (LC), Julie Crow (C), Lisa Despain (RC/RF), Jesse Dominguez (RC/3B), Paul Detrick (3B), Suzanne Haberer (RF/2B), Olga Maldonado (RF), Jay Mezera (1B), Olivia Riley (2B), and Tim Sittler (SS). Also making this year’s team strong were Dave Dart, batgirl Nicole Bancroft, team photographer Corina Dominguez, and our loyal fans who once again were awarded the Most Enthusiastic Fans trophy for the tournament.

So once again, we finished the tournament with one victory; but again, we look ahead to next year. This is a team that exudes perseverance and pride. We will prevail; already we are winners, because while only one team can win, we have already won as we return to Austin, our home … all the other losing teams still have to live in Fort Worth. I think this speaks for itself.

Jesse Dominguez, CPA
Coach, Austin CPA Weirdos

 

 

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