Pictured Hydrate's men's team. Photo by Ross Forman
By Ross Forman
So much for rookie jitters.
The Hydrate Heat D-Division softball team made its first-ever appearance in the annual Gay Softball World Series, held Aug. 15-20 in San Diego, and returned home with the third-place trophy ( actually, a six-inch, two-part crystal ) . The Heat was the only Chicago-area team to finish among the top-four teams in any of the seven divisions ( four male, three female ) .
'It definitely was a learning experience for us. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world—the memories that we created, let alone the competition that we saw,' said team captain Jack Neilsen, who doubles as the Heat's second baseman. 'Going in ( to the Series ) as a first-year team, we were a little blind as to what was going to happen; however, we displayed excellent teamwork and kicked some serious butt.
'The friendships we developed on this team are friendships that will last a lifetime. It was great, a wonderful experience.'
The Heat was 7-2 in the Series, losing its first game in the double-elimination event to the eventual champion, the Tampa Titans. The Heat was eventually eliminated from the Series by the Nashville Shock, 18-6.
The Heat won its first three games of the Series, defeating the Houston Wolves ( 29-9 ) , Los Angeles Cougars ( 18-9 ) and the Dallas Crush ( 13-10 ) , thus earning the D-Division's No. 1 seed for the remainder of the Series.
The Heat again defeated the Cougars, 14-5, and beat the Hollywood Swingers 10-9 before losing to the Titans, 5-3, which dropped the Chicagoans into the loser's bracket. But they battled back, with wins over the Fort Lauderdale Paladins ( 8-6 ) and the Milwaukee Kosmos ( 15-2 ) and were one win away from the championship game when Nashville defeated the Heat.
'One of the biggest shocks was seeding as well as we did. We never expected to be seeded as high as we were, then to play as well as we did,' said Brian Poust, who also saw action in San Diego at second base and finished with a .519 batting average ( 14 hits in 27 at-bats ) .
Neilsen added: 'It was nice to put Chicago back on the softball map in our division. We're now already gearing up for next season.'
But first, the Heat will compete in a tournament in Fort Lauderdale in November.
The Heat finished tied for third place this summer in the Chicago Open D1 Division, which plays on Sundays. The team had a 14-6 overall summer record, 13-6 in division play.
Jerry Jacobsen was the team's top hitter during the regular-season, finishing with a .700 batting average ( 33 hits in 50 at-bats ) , followed by Matt Jones' .692 average ( 18-26 ) .
Greg Eklund was the team's top hitter in the Series, with an impressive .806 batting average ( 25-31 ) , followed by Brian Harder ( .750 ) .
Neilsen is the team's vocal leader, while pitcher Brian Harder provides the motivation with a red velvet cowboy hat which he wears on the mound. ( He wasn't allowed to wear the hat in the Series, but promises the popular prop will be back on the Chicago fields in 2006, just as it was this season. )
'We may only be a D-Division team, but we're not the Bad News Bears,' Poust said. 'We play competitively. Sure, we don't have the skill-level that they do in the A-Division, or some of the B-Division teams. But I think our ( game ) scores show that we play very well defensively.'
