Every Championship team faces a seminal moment in their season when they either take the turn towards a championship or fold under the pressure. Well, the Cobra Kai came upon that challenge this past Friday night with a crucial double header that could either make or break the season.
The first challenge of the night was avoiding the pinchers of peril being thrown at us by the Goonies Squad. The Kai’s struck first and went right at the Goonies posting 3 runs to start the night and trying to set the pace for the evening. Mad Dog was on his game stifling Goonies hitters all night and the defense behind him was solid. Johnny Blaze was patrolling the infield and making sure the Goonies did not slide anything by them and Capt. Tucci and his crew were doing the same in the Outfield.
The Goonies tried to spark their offense by pulling out the old “Slick Shoes” from their wacky bench coach Data but it backfired as one of their own hitters was their only victim. In the bottom of the 4th they pulled out the slick shoes and tried to take Koko out but it just so happened that it took out their own player as he came tumbling into Koko and first base head first and had to be carried off in a stretcher. This slowed the momentum of the Cobra Kai a bit but we picked it back up off some solid hitting lead by Blaze’s strikes and a relentless attack from everybody. Goonies never say Die….but when they face the Cobra Kai…they cry for mercy. Eventually, the game was called as we had no Mercy on the Goonies beating them down 16-5 in six innings leading Koko to yell…….”Andy…..Your....Such…A Goooonie”!!!!!!
The Captain had to quickly gather the troops and get them to the next field where we had a date with destiny. The Kai were set to square off with our Rivals and league leading Beat Downs to rumble for First Place honors. “I knew this was going to be a do or die type game and that’s why I wore my Wonder Twins pin under my uni tonight because if we were going to go for the sweep we would have to UNITE as a Team to overcome this immense challenge set before us” Koko said after the game.
Well, Once again the Cobra Kai struck first and this time we struck hard batting through the order and posting 5 runs in the first, absolutely stunning the Beat downs and taking the wind right out of their arrogant sails. “I could feel the momentum flowing through us” Sully said after the first inning.
The Beat Downs came right back in the 3rd and tied things up with some clutch hitting and turned this game into an all out war. Mad Dog was trying to stifle their hitters but they kept finding every open piece of field they could spraying hits all over the place. Regs finally figured out their hitting pattern and started to predict where they were going which helped the right side of the field contain them better. With the game tied in the bottom of the fifth Triple R….Regs laid into an inside pitch and drove it deep to left field and had it sail right over Brett Favre’s glove out of Red Bug Lake Park for a HUGE 3 Run HR to spark the Kai’s back into the game. “That was exactly what the Dr. ordered said DonJuan after Regs HR sparked a Huge Kai rally lead by DonJuan battling through pain and increasing his league leading OB % to .979.
The Kai’s new Recruit Miguel also found his rhythm looking eerily like JW with his tomahawk chop that proved to be deadly tonight chopping his way to 3 hits right over the LC fielders head and just destroying their defense.
The teams battled back and forth and faced off in the most intense matchup of the Kai’s season battling to extra innings where we could either fold or keep fighting and prove ourselves once and for all. All seemed to be lost for the Kai in the top of the 14th when the team was battling fatigue and dehydration. The Beat downs seemed in control when they loaded the bases with no outs and were looking for the knockout punch. But then out of nowhere a screaming grounder found its way into Sprague’s glove and he turned a miraculous Double play that gave the Cobra Kai’s the confidence and the game changing momentum we needed dearly. “When that ball came flying at me, I could not believe my eyes what just happened and I knew I had to use my plastic man legs to stretch to save the DP” Koko said after stretching for the ball to complete our best defensive relay of the season.
However, the game was not over yet. The Beat Downs battled back and once again loaded the bases with two outs and down by one. The temperature was rising and the intensity was at an all time high. Would the Kai’s fold? Sully, called a time out and told everyone to simmer down….I just wanted everyone to know we can do this and the beer will be that much better if we pull out this win.”
Then a strike into left field and something unusual happened a sprinkler went off and it seemed to message to us….cool down….you got this. The game does not stop for anyone or any sprinkler and we kept going. The next play Mad Dog jammed the Beat down and they hit a line drive at Miguel who pulled it in to end the game………giving us a much needed 15-14 win jetting us into the playoff push.
“That was an amazing win and it proved a lot about the mental and physical toughness of our guys tonight, and I don’t know what else to say other than….Let’s Slam a beer” Capt Tucci said as he walked away from the post game press conference.
Wow…..it was an exciting night for the Cobra Kai’s. We overcame our demons and look forward to defending the title heading into the playoffs this Friday Night under the Lights. See You Then!
