For those of you who have been following my series of kickball posts, and for anyone who wants to be inspired, I'm pleased to share the DC area's biggest Cinderella story since GMU made it to the Final Four in 2006. 

Logan's Heroes, my DCKickball team, fought through two back-to-back games last night at Walter Pierce Park as the mosquitoes swarmed and the dust put tears in our eyes. Or maybe that was the emotion.

We won our semi-final game by a tight score of 1-0, and bested "Team Sixteen" for the championship 2-1.  During our typical Thursday morning quarterbacking, teammate Andrew and I agreed that we'll need to step up the offense when the new season starts next fall.  The more we've played the more we've come to appreciate the strategy involved (as I mentioned in my June 12th interview with DCKickball Commissioner Carter Rabasa).  Our defense, though, proved second-to-none.But back to the story (and subsequent glory). 

Sportsfans, you should have seen the ragtag bunch that showed up to play in our first game of the season!   Throughout the course of the three-month season, our rosters varied from as many as 30 people (some of whom never even went up to kick), down to a mere 6 (shout-outs to Liz and Eileen, Megan and Matt for filling in and helping us out).   At times, I had to resort to bribing team members to come by bringing leftover cheesecake!  Brian bravely played in a suit as he rushed back from work for one game, and I threw my t-shirt on over a dress a different week, because I had forgotten my shorts. Week after week, Logan's Heroes lost to better, more prepared and more cohesive teams.  After our kickball games, we tried our hand at Flip Cup at our sponsor bar, Grand Central.   Often, those games, too, would result in a loss.  Though it's possible (no, likely) that nobody really noticed, we looked down upon ourselves as possibly the worst team in DCKickball history.

Then, towards the end of May, something changed.  Maybe it was Libby, our captain, insisting that folks let her know in advance if they'd be coming.   Maybe it was Michael's development of an excel spreadsheet lineup.  Maybe it was Andrew's purchase of a two-sided wipe-off baseball clipboard.   Maybe it was McFo’s third base tag-out trick, or Nick & Ken’s excellent outfielding.  Personally, I know that watching the Pistons lose in the NBA Playoffs only increased my desire for victory.

Slowly, surely, our team roster decreased to a solid core of 12-13 dedicated players.  We started playing smarter, but continued to leave it all out on the field each Monday night.   Our hard-fought victories reflected the team's true grit and commitment.  By the end of the season, we sat in the unlikely position of 9th place out of 16 teams.And then came the playoffs.  As I've already detailed, we won our first-round game quite handily.  In the second round, played on Monday, July 16th, we toppled the Goliath (with an unfortunate name), the top-ranked, nearly undefeated Itchy Crotch Initiative.  They may have had a mascot, but we scored 5 runs in the first inning and they never made it back.

Truly, last night's double header stands out as a highlight of my DC experience. It may surprise those of you who know me well, but I wasn't a terribly athletic kid.  I'll close by reflecting on the extreme joy I feel at being a part of a championship sports team for the first time in my life. What a feeling, indeed.