Cargill - It is the dog days of summer, and the slowpitch season is slowly winding down. The Amish only have four games left, and Friday's was against the all-powerful Buckshots. Now I'm not saying the Buckshots are better than the Amish, but they are. Much, much better. However, the Amish don't know the meaning of the word give up. Actually, there are only about 12 words they know the meaning to, and half of those rhyme with kiss-putter.

  Slumping for the month of July, the Amish shook things up by bumping the young sparkplug Billy Plackholm into the lead off spot. He didn't dissapoint, getting on his first at bat which led to a bat around first inning for the Amish. This more than made up for the absence of Daryl Dayman, who missed his third consecutive game. Rumours are running rampant about his whereabouts. Most of us think that he has been busy working and planning his wedding, but there are some wierd theories. Crazy thinks he has been captured by the CIA, pumped full of drugs, and sent into Iraq as a super fighting machine.

  "That's Insane, Crazy", Large said,"He was an angel, sent to Earth to show us that way. And now he has ascending to his rightful spot beside God himself.". That little speech brought a tear to Lacey's eye.

  Anyway, with no Dayman, Joey Lang had some extra room to cover in the field, and he didn't disappoint, making some fine grabs. Lacey, who had been in a huge 0 fer 12 slump, went 4 for 4 with 3 RBI's. Dennis also went 4 for 4 with three runs scored. It looked like the Amish bats may create another miracle. Unfortunately, our bat boy must have packed away all of our good bats before the seventh inning. Down by three, with home field advantage, Billy led off the inning with another hit. Then came Normy - Mr. Automatic. The Amish had their champagne chilling, ready to celebrate. However, with the count 3 and 0, Normy swung at a clearly outside pitch, grounding the ball up the middle into a double play. 2 out, none on. Scotty slammed a double to keep the inning going, but Jimmy 'Warning Track" Weiler flied out to end the game. A valiant effort, but another L in the loss column.

  With three games left, the Amish will really have to pull together as a group to make that final playoff