By Dave Hoffenberg
The best of three Championship was under way this week between the #4 seed Phat Italian and the #1 seed Clearly Moguls. The Phat was vying for their first title, while C.M. was going for their third in five years.
Game one
Game one began with C.M. coming out cold and going down 1-2-3. The Phat was about the same but got one runner on base. Will “The Thrill” Burdick had the web gem of the game with a diving snow cone catch but the umpire called it a no-catch — good thing Ronzoni’s quick thinking got the out anyway. (Instant replay showed it was a catch.)
Judd put C.M. on the board first in the second off a Brain Peterson single. The Phat matched that and then some. They had an explosive second inning, hitting six singles which led to a 7-1 lead. C.M. welcomed back Neal Giberti off the “DL” and he scored in the third to cut the lead 7-2. Loco and Chris both scored their second runs of the game to stretch the lead 9-2. Loco stayed hot in the fourth with his third hit of the night and drove in two runs for an 11-2 lead. C.M. finally woke up the bats in the fifth but had to do it all with a two out rally. First Ronzoni showed he could do it with his legs besides his arm when he flew around the bases for his first ever inside-the-park home run. DJ Dave got a clutch single and scored and so did Brando to cut the lead 11-5 but unfortunately Bubba stranded the bases loaded with a hit back to pitcher Matt “Ajax” Anderson. Ronzoni’s hit fired up the team and they finally got a 1-2-3 inning on the Phat. Brain drove in Jackie Blue in the sixth for their sixth run but it wasn’t enough. Jared Hall had a big “Cold Beer K” in the seventh and the Phat took game one 11-6. Ajax used the “Unintentional Intentional” walking method on Judd and Brett and it worked.
Game two
Game two things were reversed. The Phat Italian came out cold, stranding two runners in the top of the first. Coach DJ Dave changed up the batting order a bit and Clearly Moguls woke up the bats. Ajax made the mistake of pitching to Judd and he made him pay with a huge three-run blast. (You would think Ajax would’ve learned his lesson form the two regular season games where Judd did that to win the games.) Brain Peters also scored to make it 4-0. The second inning saw good “D” from both sides. C.M. had a big two-out rally in the third. Will got a huge stand up triple in the third driving in Brando. Ajax went back to the walking Brett and Judd method but this time he loaded the bases in the process. Brain Peters, who was moved up in the order for this reason, made him pay with a two run single to make it 7-0. They had a chance for more but Scooter suffered a big “CBK,” stranding two runners. The Phat finally got on thee board in the fourth with Evan and Chris scoring to cut the lead 7-2. Ajax couldn’t fins the plate in the fourth, walking the first two batters and Neal drove in Jack from that to make it 8-2. The Phat went down 1-2-3 in the fifth with one of those being a “CBK” by Coach Craig. Ronzoni and DJ Dave started the fifth with two singles and both scored to stretch their lead 10-2. Evan got a solo home run in the sixth for the Phat but Brain and Scooter both scored for C.M. in the bottom to make it 12-3. Ranbo Ranberg scored in the seventh but that was all she wrote and Clearly Moguls tied this series at one game a piece with a 12-4 victory sending this series to the following Monday.
Game three
Game three, DJ Dave changed the order once again anticipating the “Walk like a Man” method from Ajax. He only walked them twice but it worked just the same. Brain Peters stayed hot from last week and got a big two-out triple and drove in Will and Neal for the first runs of the game 2-0. Scooter ended the inning with a “CBK.” The Phat matched the runs with Jimbo and Dan scoring to make it 2-2 after one inning. Nothing happened in the second for either team. The bottom of the order produced for C.M. with Ronzoni, DJ Dave and Brett all scoring to regain the lead 5-2. Clearly Moguls “D” was “En Fuego” all game.
They shut down the Phat 1-2-3 in innings 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6! The Phat had some good “D” too with Jimbo and Loco scooping up everything around them as they combined for ten of the outs. Bubba put the icing on the cake and the champagne popping with his first home run of the season, a huge two run blast to center field with his Dad in the stands to see it. Ronzoni who was “En Fuego” all game put the exclamation point on the title as he ran down Rookie Power Hitter Evan at first to end the game.
In the end it was Clearly Moguls who took down the Phat Italian 8-2 to win the 2014 Killington Softball League Championship and make their record 3-1 in championships. They’re also the first #1 seed to win it. Ronzoni wins the MVP award. He had eight put-outs, one “CBK” to Dan the Man and only allowed two hits.
Click here for footage of Game Three
Schedule
Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014 @ Killington Golf Course
Softball League 9 Hole Scramble 5:50 p.m. Call the Pro Shop to sign up 802-422-6700.
