A last inning to forget

We had a family get-together to enjoy so we couldn't go to Saturday's game against the Phillies, but we listened on WGN as we drove to a suburb so far out of town that vast plains of corn, soy beans and wild grass dominated the landscape.  We followed the pitchers' duel for inning after inning, although after Thursday and Friday it sounded suspiciously like back-to-normal as the Cubs seemed unable to support Randy Wells with any run production ... until a squeeze play brought Castro in to score the lead run in the bottom of the 7th. All the Cubs needed was for Marshall and Marmol to do their jobs as they did on Friday and it would be three in a row.

Then we watched in horror as a misplayed putout and walk after walk after walk after walk after walk gave the lead away.  And finally, the pitcher failed to field her position and it was all but over.

Her position?  That's right.  Our family event included a 5th grade girls softball game where we watched our niece play for the championship of her league.  We arrived late and only saw the last two innings.  Her team couldn't overcome the lead they gave away in the top of the 6th and final inning and so lost the game.  We then had the distinct pleasure of returning to the car to listen to the Cubs duplicate my niece's team's troubled top of the 6th with a top of the 9th for the ages.  But I'm not sure which team looked (or sounded) worse.