Tigers at the Bat

The Ismayilli Tigers spilled out of the bus yesterday evening, tired but happy. They had just returned from their first full tournament as a team.

We left for Kurdamir at 8:30 that morning, and managed to survive one of the bumpiest roads around, a road so bad only one driver was willing to take us, with a couple stops for kids to make mad dashes to the nearest ditch. Along the way, as we would pass herds of sheep and goats, kids would call out the names they knew in English, and ask about words they didn't. At the same time, the driver of course had the radio blaring. Once we hit the main highway, things evened out and I was able to read a little, collecting myself before we arrived.

The Kurdamir stadium lies to the south of the main roundabout, where we had played (American) football Christmas Day. The kids hid behind the bleachers to change clothing, and then came out ready to play.

Our first game was against Xachmaz (a town in the northeast of the country, near the Caspian Sea). The Tigers batted first, driving in four runs, almost reaching the mercy rule (five run per inning limit). Still a little rusty in the field, they let three runs the first inning. This was especially impressive since they were pitching themselves for the first time, something I had not prepared them for, but surprised them with as the other teams were planning to pitch. Trial by fire in the Land of Fire.

In the second inning, both teams hit the mercy rule switch, and in the final inning, Xachmaz managed to pull ahead. The Tigers had one last chance to retake the lead, but the game ended on a rule misunderstanding--one boy hit a pop up that was caught for an out, and then threw to the bases that the Ismayilli boys had abdicated before they could return. Final score: 12-11

The second game was a pitcher's duel against Goychay, our nearest team, though this was our first match. This was the height of their fielding for the day, and the game ended at 4-3. Again, they almost staged a comeback, but a pop up ended the game once more.

Finally, the Tigers took on the Goranboy team (from the west, near Mingachavir), which has recently had to start over basically from scratch with very few old-overs from previous years. They were the only team to have girls on the team, at least as far as I saw, something I hope will become a larger trend across the country. The boys’ bats came alive, driving in 10 runs to Goranboy’s four. This was a huge win for them, after the two disappointing losses, and there was much rejoicing.

Sadly, we never played the home Kurdamir team, a team made up entirely of IDPs, or Internally Displaced Persons, a special project focus for Todd in forming the team. Not so sadly, we also missed out on playing the Bilasuvar team, which has managed to thoroughly beat all the teams they’ve faced. They’re an intense team that could teach our kids a lot, they’re just not ready for that lesson just yet.

The only major hitch came when two boys on the team got into a skuffle, after one made some joke at the other’s expense. The tussle resulted in bloody noses, and a one game suspension courtesy of yours truly. Today at practice, it led to some questions about what happens when there are fights in the major leagues (they’ve been checking out youtube, I’m guessing), and will continue to discussions about teamwork and respect.

Huge thanks go out to Todd and Sarah, the Kurdamir volunteers, for hosting us, as well as to the team captains of all the other teams, and to the boys and girls from throughout the country who came out with their game faces on and their bats and gloves at the ready. We’ve got one more definite tournament, in two weeks in Baku, and until then, we’ve got our work cut out for us.