By Cayla Goh Yi Jia (25A01B), Teo Hui Sian (25S06C)
All photographs courtesy of Zhang Boya (25S03H), unless stated otherwise.
It’s 3.30 pm. Rain, gloom, overcast. What a perfect way to start a softball match.
RI’s first pitch cuts through the air. Then, the second. And the third. 3 strikes, and the first EJC batter is out. Smooth and simple.
Up to the batting box comes the 2nd EJC batter.
Crack! The ball flies across right field. RI’s fielders spring into action. A quick second after the ball finds its place within one of the fielder’s gloves, it zips off to RI’s 1st baseman. Here it is: an out for EJC’s 2nd batter.
On the next bat, the ball slips over leather – over the 1st base, deeper into right field. The 3rd EJC batter scrambles to 2nd base.
On the next swing, the ball flies far into the field. Motion overwhelms the waterlogged earth; EJC’s runner on 2nd base makes it home. The score is 0 – 1.
Pause. What just happened?
The field – courtesy of conceptdraw.com
It’s clear that softball is a game of jargon, strategy, and both mental and physical exercise. But above all –
“Our team had good trust in everyone. We trusted our fielders and we trusted our batters.”
Looi Zi Jenn (24S06I), Softball Captain from Batch’24
– softball is a game of trust. For plays to be executed cleanly, the whole team needs to work like a well-oiled machine, in which faith and rigorous training are the power source.
This is good news for RI’s Batch’25 of softballers, who have bonded over 4 years of toil, misfortune, and euphoria in RI Y1-4, and are soon set to take over their J2 seniors.
Their softball journeys are saturated in a sea of green, black and white. With one exception – a Rafflesian from Catholic High.
“I’ve played with almost everyone in EJC’s team (here today) before.” #7 Soh Jun Jie Matthew (25S06B) tells us. He’s the only DSA student among 6 other softballers in Batch’25.
His current teammates have also had their fair share of experience with EJC’s team, albeit playing against them instead. RI has gone against – and defeated – this opponent twice before in the season. 5 – 3, 14 – 6. If these scores could speak, they’d tell you this match was merely a formality.
Case in point – back to the match. After several pitches, EJC’s next batter bats. It flies, up and up –
– and down into the fielder’s glove. In breakneck succession, the ball speeds straight to the 3rd baseman. A slide tackle is imminent. He catches it, clean, before it touches the ground. The base is locked. Both runners on the field are out.
Cheers erupt at the double play. The first-half turns over.
Of course, now, the score sits at 0 – 1. EJC leads – momentarily. RI’s track record leaves little to the imagination. Inning by inning, what is about to ensue will be clear-cut, short and sweet.
1st inning (the 2nd half). RI’s #41 Lim Yan Cheng is the first to the batter’s box, and the first to make it to home base. 1 – 1. #15 Looi Zi Jenn hits a flyball – its flight parabolic in nature, expeditiously scaling both axes. That turns into another run by teammate #8 Raoul Abay Gunalan and a home run of his own. 3 – 1.
2nd inning. Neither team scores a run. The score lingers at 3 – 1.
3rd inning. EJC’s attempts at a run are unsuccessful, and it’s 3 outs before their runners have even occupied 1st base. As RI takes to the batting box, RI breaks this streak – in spectacular fashion. That’s two more runs by #77 Kaelen Ng and #15 Looi Zi Jenn. The scoreboard obliges, 5-1.
4th inning. Pressure rises for EJC to close the gap. The 1st batter, EJC’s #14, breathes the tension in, ignores the commotion, braces himself. He starts the inning off with a home run. That’s 5 – 2, and shortly after, 5 – 3.
Yet, RI matches that momentum, with #7 Matthew Soh scoring a home run for RI. 6 – 3.
Intermission. The rules dictate that no new inning shall start after 1 hour 50 minutes.
5th inning – supposedly the last. The score sits at 6 – 3. Any less than 3 runs by EJC will effectively render RI victorious. The fielders in green, black and white are scattered across the sodden field. If this inning plays out to their favour, as all the others have, they won’t even need to pick up the bat.
The first batter in blue and gold steps into the batting box.
Strike, strike, and strike again.
1 out for EJC. RI needs 2 more.
What is about to ensue should be clear-cut, short and sweet.
The inning progresses, till two runners from EJC occupy 1st and 3rd base. RI pitches. The ball makes contact with the catcher’s glove – but only fleetingly, as it bounces off and over the catcher’s head.
That opens an opportunity for EJC – one that every player on the field senses. EJC’s batter beckons for his teammate on 3rd base. That runner and RI’s pitcher sprint towards home base in unison – the latter hoping to tag the former out.
EJC’s subsequent batter hits a high ball. Another opportunity, and another runner sprints towards home base.
Then, the next batter replicates the same sequence exactly. One more fly ball, one more opportunity, and one more runner sprinting towards home base.
3 opportunities for EJC to score a run have opened – a quantity otherwise exceptional, but now, perfectly adequate. At each opportunity, EJC’s runners touch down at home base, scoring a desperately needed run, or rather, 3.
For the first time since the start of the match, it’s a tie. EJC could take the lead. EJC could take the win.
RI still needs 2 more outs for EJC’s streak to be over. What is about to ensue could be chaotic, drawn-out and bitter.
RI pitches. The ball meets flesh – striking the feet of EJC’s batter. That translates into a walk, a welcome respite for two weary EJC runners on the field, who stroll to the next base with no exigency to run.
The game’s been thrown into disarray. Absent a scoreboard on the field, the spectators can only follow the match by the uncertainty suspended in the air. The players in the tent, however, have their surveillance down to the digits.
6 – 6. 1 out for EJC. RI needs 2 more. EJC occupies first and second base.
EJC bats. The ball makes a sharp climb, vertically upwards. RI’s catcher, #8 Raoul Abay Gunalan (25A01E), makes haste; surveys the sky, quick on his feet, scurries around in the batter’s box, endeavouring to keep his body and glove directly below the ball. As it descends, he follows through, crashing into the grass – ball in glove.
2 outs. RI needs 1 more.
EJC bats again. Focus blurs. The ball bounces off the ground. EJC’s runner on 2nd base makes his move. Now, he’s a moving target.
RI’s fielder catches the ball. The target’s crossed 3rd base, so the fielder throws the ball towards the catcher. RI’s catcher snatches the ball – but he’s not standing at home base.
Both players – opposing teams, opposite sides, are equidistant from home base. They dive towards it.
One makes it first. Then both do, crashing on top of each other.
3 outs. EJC’s done.
As dramatic as it seems, the most turbulent of waters have passed. EJC’s stellar performance in the 5th inning was certainly unexpected, but RI was notwithstanding able to maintain the score at a precarious tie. Scoring just one run would crown RI champions.
Yet, things don’t seem so clear-cut anymore. The road to victory has been muddied: the vision’s clouded, the grip slick.
No risk. The new strategy seems to follow this mantra, with each of RI’s batters progressing one base at a time. Soon, the bases are loaded. 1st, 2nd, 3rd base. #3 Kang Taeyoung, #25 Nigel Teo Jing Jie and #16 Kevin Liu Jun Kai.
It’s now 6.33pm. Blood, sweat, tears. Anticipation seems indistinguishable from pressure. What a perfect way to end a softball match.
#7 Matthew Soh is next – and hopefully the last – to bat.
As he steps into the batter’s box, his teammates – past and present, on the bases and on the sidelines – watch.
“[I’d] always planned to carry on to EJ. But, life has taken me to Raffles. So, I’m going to play my hardest.”
Soh Jun Jie Matthew (25S06B)
Well, as whimsical as the circumstances might have been, it doesn’t quite change what’s on his mind. His crossroads led to the same destination, after all — the field he stands on right now. His mind is laser-focused on one thing – the bat in his hands and the ball coming straight at him.
He swings.
“Madness. It’s unreal. It’s exhilarating…
… It’s my first gold medal in NSG.”
Soh Jun Jie Matthew (25S06B)
Ball in play, and the game ends at 7 – 6. Raffles wins.
“We didn’t expect it to be as close. But, it ended up as a tough fight and we persevered on.”
Looi Zi Jenn (24S06I), Softball Captain from Batch’24
As might be expected, the win is naturally bittersweet for the team…
“It is a bit bittersweet, seeing the seniors, who I grew up playing the game with, leave in their final year. But I’m glad we could leave them with one more championship.”
Raoul Abay Gunalan (25A01E), Softball Captain from Batch’25
… and slightly more bitter for one.
“It’s a bit heart wrenching, looking at my former teammates and seniors shedding tears.”
Soh Jun Jie Matthew (25S06B)
This victory was certainly worthy of being the last for Batch’24. Hopefully, it will be the closest match RI Softball will see in a long time to come – one tough fight to end the season.
RI’s team throw their coach, Coach Farhan Harahap, into the air after the prize-giving ceremony.
Sport revolves around consistency. There’s comfort to be found within monotony. Regular training sessions; familiar teammates; a winning streak. Change is unwelcome . An unexpected tie; a new team; the stepping down of your seniors.
Yet, even through change, there will be those moments that get you, leaving you wanting to live through the fear of the unknown – a winning bat, a team synonymous with family, a new place to call home.
Wherever or with whomever that might be.
List of Players
#41 Lim Yan Cheng (24S02B) – Captain
#15 Looi Zi Jenn (24S06I) – Captain
#77 Kaelen Ng (24S06N)
#16 Kevin Liu Jun Kai (25S06L)
#64 Alexander Koo Jun Bin (25S07A)
#7 Soh Jun Jie Matthew (25S06B)
#74 Naarya Rajalingam (25S06R)
#25 Nigel Teo Jing Jie (24S03A)
#10 Sengamedu Karthikeyan Sreevatsav (25S06C)
#8 Raoul Abay Gunalan (25A01E)
#48 Rayner Kok Rui Neng (25S03H)
#21 Liow Jun Hao (24S03G)
#9 Sashil Anand (24S06H)
#17 Terrence Lin Jun Yong (24S06E)
#3 Kang Taeyoung (24S06E)
#19 TIitus Khaw Shao Jie (24S06M)
