By Dave Hoffenberg
“Clearly” Moguls and the Killington Deli Team renewed their fierce rivalry last Wednesday night. These teams met in the championship last year which CM won and CM was going for the season sweep having already won two games in the series. The fans in attendance were treated to a battle that will be a strong candidate for “game of the year.” CM’s Ronzoni Hacker started the game doing what he does best, striking out batters. His first victim for the “Cold Beer K” was Dan “Glove Whisperer” Muller. TKDT did take a 1-0 lead after Evan Anderson scored off a Chris “Retired no More” Alf single. CM started out flat, going down 1-2-3. TKDT teed off on the outfield and extended their lead to 4-0 in the second inning with “Coach” Craig Brothers, Matt “Birthday Boy” Anderson and Rob Ranberg all getting hits and scoring a run. They had a chance for a few more but Muller was thrown out at home by Angel Shannon to end the inning.
CM could still not get it going and Jackie Blue Livesey started off with a big wiff for a “CBK.” Neal “Happy to be Phat no More” Giberti got the team’s first hit of the game but the team couldn’t capitalize and failed to bring him home.
TKDT continued to pour on the hits with both Alf and Cam Rainwater starting the third with one. Ronzoni came through with a big “CBK” to Justin Guth who went down looking. Brothers and Jus Archer came up with big RBI hits to extend their team’s lead to 6-0. Those two were left stranded though as Matt Anderson struck out and Ranberg popped out. CM finally got on the board in the third when Matt “Fist Pumpin” Grev, who was called up from the Mahwah Maulers, drove in Hacker in his first at-bat in the league. Unfortunately for CM, they stranded two on base as Brandon Remick flew out to end the inning. The run got the team fired up and they stepped up defensively in the fourth, holding TKDT scoreless for the first time all game. They even turned a double play on Jim Cassineri. CM inched a step closer when Burdick scored, making it 6-2 but it was still a disappointing inning because Shannon CBK’d and Rob Pelletier popped up to the pitcher costing them a few runs. CM stepped up defensively again, holding TKDT to one hit and no runs. Russell “The Love Muscle” Dalglish burned the outfield for a double and drove in Grev but Matt Anderson delivered his third “CBK” of the game, this one to Jared Hall to keep the lead at three. Hacker handed Dan “Chasing Number One” Muller his second CBK of the game, part of another scoreless inning for TKDT. Anderson added two more “CBK’s” to his total as he got Remick at the beginning of the sixth and DJ Dave Hoffenberg at the end but in between those, CM scored four runs for their first lead of the game 7-6. Hunter Pike had a long single that drove in two of those runs and all of those runs were scored with two outs.
That lead was very short lived as Evan “I hit Bombs” Anderson launched one out of the park, burning Ronzoni and tying the game 7-7. CM turned their second double play of the game, this time on Guth to end the inning. CM picked the wrong time to go down 1-2-3 and in doing so they sent the game to extra innings, the first time for both teams this season. Brothers led off the eighth with a single but the next three batters could not get him home, including Matt Anderson who suffered his second “CBK” of the game. The top of the order for CM led off the bottom of the eighth like they led off the game, going down 1-2-3. TKDT’s bats came alive in the ninth, scoring five runs as they hit through their order. Alf is turning out to be a great late season addition as he got his fourth hit of the game, this time a two run single to give his team a big 12-7 lead.
CM exchanged hits with outs and was going to need a big two out rally to overcome this deficit. Pelletier and Giberti did their part, both scoring a run. Ronzoni and DJ Dave both got on base to keep CM alive but Grev flew out to end the game and give TKDT their best win of the season 12-9 and CM their second loss in a row.
CM turned it around in their next game and halted their losing streak with a 13-3 win against The Garlic McGraths. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back. McGraths kept it close, 6-3, through four innings until CM put it out of reach. This was a complete team win as every guy got a hit and all but three scored a run. The star of the game offensively was Angel Shannon who pulled off a very rare feat of hitting for the cycle with a triple, double, single and then a home run for the icing on the cake. He finished with two runs scored and five RBI. Defensively it was Ronzoni with eight put-outs and a CBK. Both teams recorded a double-play with CM throwing out Jeremy Prior at home and McGraths catching DJ Dave napping at second.
The Killington Deli Team and Slips, Trips, and Falls (STF) had a short-handed battle with each team only having nine players. STF jumped out to a 3-0 lead off rookie pitcher Justin “Acme” Guth but could not capitalize when it mattered the most. TKDT slowly crept back and eventually overcame their deficit and took a 5-3 win. The athletic director supporters were a raucous crowd and witnessed some of the best web gems of the season. Archer had a running over the head grab in the second and added another in the fifth but it was STF’s Colin Greene who stole the show. He threw out someone at home from deep center field which is the throw of the year and also robbed a home run as he caught it smashing through the fence. A big CBK in the fifth was the only thing that deterred an outstanding game.
