By Dave Hoffenberg
And then there was one, all alone at the top and that is Clearly Moguls. The team swept its three-game week and came away unscathed after the first round of games. Now it’s wash, rinse, repeat and on to the second round of games. CM started with a double-header last Monday night and only gave up four runs in each game, but scored 31 combined. Wash and rinse was a good tagline for Monday as all the teams played in the rain and the bitter cold, but at least that kept the bugs away. CM’s first victim was the Karrtel. CM came out swinging with six runs in the top of the first, three off a monster home run from Ira “Irish He Was On My Team” Zane. Some were calling it the longest home run ever hit in Killington. The Karrtel had no answer except “Ronzoni” Hacker delivering his first “Cold Beer K” of the night to Steve Greene. More of the same in the second for CM with another six runs. Judd Washburn got into the homerun category with a two-run shot. The Karrtel got on the board in the bottom with the duo of Evan “Testy” Anderson and Alexis King both scoring and then Forrest Baker to cut the lead 12-3. “Ronzoni” sent Nick Melotti back to the bench with a big “CBK.” The third saw nobody score, but Baker joined Ronzoni and delivered a “CBK” to Hunter “Whiskey” Pike. Baker kept that going by catching “DJ” Dave Hoffenberg looking for the old backwards “CBK” to start the fourth. Jesse Mike followed that with a pop-up to first. That just meant a two-out rally for CM and they shined with five runs. Both Brett Regimbald and Zane hit two-run inside-the-park homeruns. Luke Carey came into the game for the Karrtel in the bottom just to suffer a “CBK.” The final score was an 18-4 mercy win for CM.
CM immediately had to face First Stop Outback in a battle between the unbeaten for first place. Oddsmakers had this game close to even, “Ronzoni” did not. He was pretty confident early that CM was going to cruise. FSO had different ideas and started the scoring with two runs in the top of the first. “Ronzoni” did catch Chris Major looking for a major “CBK.” CM put five on the board in the bottom and never looked back. Washburn blasted a two-run shot and Scott “Scooter” Watelet got two with a bases-clearing triple. FSO had no answer except to see “Ronzoni” deliver another “CBK” and it was another looking, this time Kyle “The Ks are for CBKs” Kostura watched strike three bounce off the plate. The bottom of the order with Russell “The Love Muscle” Dalglish, “Ronzoni” and “DJ” Dave for CM, led off with back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases. That was part of a six run inning to stretch the lead 11-2. They added two in the third to make it 13-2. FSO got those back in the fourth to put their deficit back to nine. “Ronzoni” stayed “En Fuego” getting every out of the inning, including another “CBK” looking. His latest victim was Mike Bouffard. It’s the first time that every “CBK” in a game was with the batter caught looking. CM only needed one run to get the mercy win but never got it. They astonishingly went three innings without getting that elusive run. In the fifth, Regimbald led off with a triple but could not get home. The fifth also saw a very rare “CBK” from Washburn. His team could not believe it, but with the big lead, they enjoyed it. CM welcomed back Dalglish for his first games of the season and also welcomed him into the “CBK” category. In the end CM got the 13-4 win.
Next up they faced the OmyaRamas who were pretty confidant, having just beat Killington Resort. More on that in a moment. OR had the fans and megaphones on their side. This game saw Washburn take to the mound for his first start ever, while “Ronzoni” was away. He’s been on the receiving end of outs at first, but he started the game with back-to-back throws to first for his first pitcher put-outs. He then started the scoring in the bottom with an RBI single. Washburn delivered his first “Cold Milk K” of his career, in the second to Brayden Shannon, and kept OR scoreless. Scooter had a nice looking sac in the bottom and made it 2-0 CM. Jesse Mike suffered a “CBK” to end the inning. OR took its first lead in the third with four runs. Three came after Max Pockette burned Scooter for an inside-the-park home run. It was a rough night for John Gatto as he suffered the first of three “CMKs,” all looking. CM went down 1-2-3 in the bottom with all three outs by short stop Jimmy Mee to first baseman Jacob Godfrey. Shannon added his second “CMK” of the game and it was another looking from Washburn, part of a scoreless fourth inning. CM put on a mini hit parade to regain the lead 6-4. The fifth started with Regimbald getting a sweet web gem. He dove backwards, knocked the ball down, stayed with it and from his knees, threw the runner out at first. Gatto followed with his second “CMK.” Dalglish is starting to take over “12 Pack Jack’s” moniker with his second of the night. Coach Bailey Peters scored in the sixth to cut the deficit to one. Washburn smacked a clutch two-run homerun for some insurance runs, 8-5. They had a chance for more but Scooter went down looking for a big “CBK” delivered by Peters. It was the last chance for OR and they gave it their all. Ryan Pfenning led off with a single and got to second after a fly out. Shannon came up and suffered his third “CMK” for an 0-3 night. OR was not out of it just yet. Let me paint this picture: Bases loaded, two outs and Gatto comes to the plate having already suffered two “CMKs.” What a perfect time for his first hit. Unfortunately for OR, he went down looking again to end the game with a “CMK.” The game ball went to Washburn who recorded his first win as a pitcher and delivered six “CMKs” with four looking and accounted for four runs.
The OR started its week on a high after beating Killington Resort for the first time ever. KR pitcher Matt “The Cat” Kinsman wasn’t a fan of the cold weather and said, “It apparently was not warm enough. The bats were pretty cold and we lost.” The OR scored in every other inning and played some solid “D” throughout. Bailey Peters pitched a solid game for OR and they doubled up KR, 10-5. Peters’ dad Matt plays for KR so this victory was pretty sweet for him. He did feel bad for his dad so he served up a meatball in the seventh and his dad took full advantage with a gift home run.
KR bounced back in its next game, blasting FSO with a 14-2 mercy win. Being the home team, KR produced all those runs in only four innings of play. They were a singles hit parade with 12 in the game plus a few doubles and a home run by Dustin Blanchard.
Congrats to McGrath’s Sushi who finally got into the win column after three straight losses. They came out swinging on Monday and liked the cold weather as they busted up OR, 18-11. The loss for OR came right after their big win against KR, so maybe they were still enjoying that. The win was a solid team effort for MS. Everybody hit, most everyone scored and all played some good “D” when it mattered most. MS now has a winning streak after crushing the Karrtel last Wednesday with a mercy win.
Standings:
1. Clearly Moguls 5-0
2. TIE: First Stop Outback 3-2
Killington Resort 3-2
3. TIE: OmyaRamas 2-3
McGraths Sushi 2-3
4. Karrtel 0-5
SCHEDULE:
Wednesday, June 20
McGrath’s Sushi vs Killington Resort @ Killington 5:50 p.m.
Killington Resort vs Clearly Moguls @ Killington 7 p.m.
Karrtel vs First Stop Outback @ Bridgewater 5:50 p.m.
OmyaRamas vs First Stop Outback @ Bridgewater 7 p.m.
