Column, Sports

Chittenden Softball League: onto playoffs

Rock Landscaping vs. Dirty Mike & The Boys

Rock Landscaping took on Dirty Mike & The Boys and it was a close game through the first few innings. Chauncey Germain started the scoring for DMTB with a solo shot in the top of the first. Three straight doubles by the first three batters for Rock led to a 3-1 lead after one. Nick “Hebrew Hammer” Davis and Nate Gilman tied it up with back-to-back RBI singles. Both teams went down 1-2-3 in their next at-bats. Rock’s Bailey Peters broke the tie with a big three-run shot that just hooked in fair territory. They got one more run in the inning to take a 7-3 lead. DMTB could only muster up two hits the next two innings but Peters stayed hot with his second three-run homer of the game. They added another with Buddy Bartlett’s RBI to stretch their lead 11-3. That was all the scoring for Rock but DMTB managed three more runs, falling short 11-6.

By Dave Hoffenberg
Dirty Mike Davis pitches to First Stop Base Camp’s Smith Donelon in last week’s game leading up to the playoffs.

Flannels Fanatics vs First Stop Base Camp

Runs were at a premium in the nightcap with Flannels Fanatics vs First Stop Base Camp. FF started out going down 1-2-3 and then facing a 2-0 deficit. Ronnie Crosby drove in Duane “Big D” Laughlin to put FF on the board and cut the deficit in half. FSBC got one in the third to go back up two runs. Brett “Brenda” Regimbald found his mojo and launched one over the fence to put the deficit back at one. Big D got a big “Cold Beer K” to keep the score the same (3-2). That’s all the offense FF had left and FSBC added one insurance run in the 6th to squeak out the 4-2 win. FF Tim Blanchard went down swinging twice for two “Cold Milk K’s.”

FSBC won in a low scoring game by two and lost in a low scoring game by two. DMTB pulled off the 3-1 win. It was a defensive battle through six innings (1-1). FSBC’s Smith Donelon got the lone run for his team with a solo shot that was going foul but hooked fair. DMTB broke the tie in the bottom of the seventh for the win. They also won the “CBK” battle by delivering one to Ed Mazzella who went down swinging and the other to Jake “From State Farm” Clark-Trapana who let the third strike drop on the plate.

FF wishes their next game had runs at a premium and was low scoring. It was for them but not for their opponent. This game was close until the teams took the field. Judd “DJ’s Mom Thinks He Looks Like Magnum” Washburn got the first run of the game with a nice looking sac that scored Ronnie Crosby. Rock tee’d up on veteran pitcher Ronzoni Hacker to the tune of 11 first inning runs. That was with only one home run by Bartlett, the rest were all base hits. They hit through the order and then some. There was nothing doing in the second for FF offensively but holding Rock to three runs was a plus defensively. Ricky Robair had a nice looking sac in the third to score Crosby but Rock practically batted through their order twice in the bottom of the third, scoring 13 runs. Nine out of ten batters got up twice. They had four home runs in that half-inning alone. Blanchard and Hannah Greene scored for FF but it didn’t matter. This game was a slaughter and a huge win for Rock 27-4. It was also the worst loss in FF team history. They did find an ace in Greene who the team said was outstanding. Multiple players for FF said she was the best player both offensively, which didn’t take much, and defensively stopping all balls that came her way.

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