Cy Fair? More like Cy Young. On Tuesday the Bobcats visited the Front Yard and sent to the mound a devastating pitcher whose identity this column lacks the resources to ascertain, but who we will not soon forget. Keely Meeks’ serviceable 2-hit, 1-walk performance could not match the quality.

If your employer required you to stick it out past 4:00 pm, you likely missed the only run of the game, scored by Cy Fair’s leadoff batter. The scrappy, speedy switch-hitter drew a walk, advanced to third on a bunt, and scored on a ground ball to second base. Shayleigh Thomas erupted from her crouch to successfully retire the bunter, and Caroline Chamberlain expertly handled the grounder, limiting the damage. However the pierce below the waterline to Stratford’s bow would ultimately seal her fate.

As the teams changed places, the Stratford bleachers puzzled at the cryptic BFND on the Bobcats’ jerseys. Back Flip Nose Dive?

In the home half of the first, the Spartans staged a two-out rally. Meeks and Ava Esparza reached base on a pair of walks, but could advance no farther. Esparza would be the last Spartan to reach first base until Allie Richardson won a fierce battle to earn a walk three innings later.

Cy Fair returned to bat in the second inning with plans to engineer additional runs. The leadoff batter laid down a nifty bunt, surprising many in the stands but not Meeks, who charged, picked, wheeled,  and fired to Richardson for the first out. The next batter continued the aggressiveness, singling to right and then stealing second. Her idea then was to pilfer third, but Thomas had had enough of the nonsense. She fired down well ahead of the runner, but the ball sailed beyond Emma Adisa’s reach, heading disastrously toward left field. Suddenly, however, shortstop Darcy Broaddus was there backing up the play, in a single motion scooping the ball off the dirt and making a lunging tag against the runner’s arching lumbar spine. All eyes then locked on Broaddus’ glove from which the crowning ball threatened to birth itself, but she managed to maintain her clench of its lowest latitudes and secure the second out. The next Bobcat batter worked the count full and then grounded a ball into the soft spot between pitcher, second, and first. Meeks snatched it with a bare hand and improvised a backhand toss to Richardson to end the inning.

Britain France Netherlands Denmark?

In the bottom of the second, the Spartans longed to put a ball in play, and Chamberlain at last did, grounding sharply to second base, where her opposite number converted the out. Thomas achieved a similar feat the following inning with a groundout to the pitcher. On a day of frustration at the plate, these were the only two batters who successfully required the Cy Fair infield to act.

In the top of the third, the Spartans held the Bobcats scoreless by striking out the side, but they could not capitalize at the plate. As Stratford’s chambers continued inexorably to flood from the early wound, she began to list.

Brett Favre Neil Diamond?

The fourth inning required defensive skill to blank the Bobcats; Esparza and Richardson supplied it, with Esparza converting the season’s first fly-ball out in right field and Richardson working unassisted to handle a grounder to first base.

Cy Fair came to bat in the top of the fifth with time running short, as the strains of stringed instruments rose plaintively from the deck. With two outs, time expired, preserving the Bobcat’s no-hitter and 1-0 victory. The old adage held true: a single run may be small, but it can mean the difference between a win and tie imposed by virtue of time elapsing with the visitors at bat.

Well done, Cy Fair. Bobcat Fight Never Dies (BFND).

The Spartans play their first road game at Cy Creek on Tuesday, February 28. We shall report.