Tonight I saw a great example of why no matter what the records are, no matter what the data says on paper, there’s still a reason why they play the game.

My daughter’s high school team went into the first round of Regionals tonight a decided underdog. They were the 14th seed, with a sub-.500 record, going up against the #3 seed in the sectional. It is a conference team that had beaten them twice before, and that had only lost four games all season as I recall. They have a very good and very dominant pitcher who is probably the best in the area, and a pretty offense to go with her. No one gave my daughter’s team much chance of winning, including me.

You can probably guess what happened. After going through the order once — 10 batters in the first three innings — my daughter’s team caught fire at the plate. They strung together several hits and posted a 3-0 lead. They got a few more hits later in the game, but no more runs. They did, however make those runs stand up wtith excellent pitching and almost flawless defense.

The opponents did manage one run in the bottom of the seventh, and had runners on first and third with two outs. But the pitcher bore down and got the last hitter with a dramatic strikeout. (No, the pitcher wasn’t my daughter in case you think I’m bragging on my own kid.)

It was just one of those things. On another day it might’ve gone the way everyone expected. But today, the underdog triumphed. It wasn’t exactly Miracle. But it will do. On to the finals!