The tenacious Cubs were able to attack again and score a run after a single by Wil Bussint and an RBI by Bill Preyts. But the final out was an unassisted play by the Braves' firstman, Katy Bayly. From then on the game became a battle of will by both teams. There were few walks, followed by strike outs, many called third strikes, leaving both batters and coaches befuddled. There were balls that were put in play only to be snagged by quick thinking fielders: a throw from short to first, an over throw to first, recovered and the runner thrown out at second. There were unassisted plays by first basemen, whether popups, or ground balls. There were diving catches by pitchers and a quick put out at first. There were pop ups to infielders, who after weeks of practice, put everything to together and made classic two handed catches.

This was a game where the strong bats of the Cubs were subdued by the efficient pitching of the Braves' Brian Greeenstein for 5 innings and closed out by Craig Williams in the sixth. This was a game where the high scoring Braves, couldn't muster more than two runs against the strong Cubs's tandem of Bill Preyts and Gregory Desroisers. And this was also a game where one seven year old batter, Dhamari, who was playing only his second game, didn't know, didn't think, wouldn't believe he couldn't hit, because seven year olds usually can't. All he knew was if he swung the bat, something good might happen, and it almost did, almost caught the Braves off guard, and almost kept the game going. This was a game that coaches love, because the fielding clicked, the pitching was on, and because neither team gave up, and records don't mean anything in a game like this. All that mattered, was everyone tried as hard as they could, and despite the score, no-one lost. This is why I love baseball.