The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Post-season starts Monday, August 3
After back-to-back losses to the Airheads and the Talk of the Town, the Isotopes won their last two games of the season to close the 2009 regular season in first place with a record of 14-2.
The Isotopes annihilated the Rent-A-Gades 24-6 last Wednesday and then put together a late game surge to eke out an 8-4 win over the Tongue and Groovers on Monday, July 27 at Pitsker Field.
A lack of patience at the plate and solid defense from both squads resulted in a paltry total of five base hits and a 0-0 tie after three and a half innings.
The Isotope women dominated the defensive highlight reel as Lynelle Stanford sprinted into foul territory to reach over the first base line fence to snag a pop foul in the bottom of the first inning. Catcher Sara Dotser chased down a foul pop behind the plate and outfielder Carrie Moore charged in on a dropping line drive to right center for the scooping grab to rob Geordie Van Marter of a base hit.
The Tongue and Groovers broke the scoreless drought in the bottom of the fourth inning, pushing in three runs on four base hits.
Mikey Weil led off with a double and scored on a deep shot to the gap in left center by Joe Erickson. Van Marter pulled a RBI triple to left and Brooke Murphy dropped a RBI single on the leftfield line for a three-run Tongue and Groovers lead.
The Isotopes offense was second in the league in runs scored coming into the game, yet their bats remained uncharacteristically silent through the top of the fifth inning.
The Tongue and Groovers looked to seize on the opportunity in the bottom of the fifth as Adam Ofstendahl led off with a double to right and another base hit had runners in the corners with no outs.
Yet, the Isotopes defense clamped down, giving up just one run on a base hit by Rebecca Weil, holding the Tongue and Groovers close and waiting for their offense to wake up.
The alarm sounded temporarily in the top of the sixth inning as the Isotopes connected for six base hits to score three runs.
Jared Locke led off with an error-assisted single. Kristi Miller, back from her tenure as an island-leaguer in Hawaii, hustled for an infield single and a base hit from Dotser loaded the bases. William Dujardin scored Locke with a single, Big Air Barb Peters pushed another run home with a base hit and a RBI single to left field from Jeffery Snyder cut the Tongue lead down to one.
Terann Maudsley loaded the bases once again for the Isotopes but a grounder from Mark Fontenot got swallowed up in the Weil Kingdom as Rebecca scooped and flipped to brother Mikey at second base to end the inning.
The Isotopes carried their offensive momentum into their final at-bat in the top of the seventh inning to score five more runs.
Stanford and Charlie Gano both reached safely with a single and a double respectively, and Moore tied the game dropping a RBI double to shallow left center.
Locke cracked a two RBI double down the third baseline and Scott Isensee and Peters capped the rally with RBI base hits to build an 8-4 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.
The middle of the Tongue batting order struggled with the pressure of a comeback with Rebecca connecting for the only base hit.
A deep shot from Erickson had potential but Maudsley read the ball perfectly as it left the bat, making a running and reaching grab at the warning track to end the game.
The post season kicks off for the comp league on Monday, August 3—my God it’s already August—with the first round of double elimination play and will continue the next two weeks until a champion emerges on Wednesday, August 19.
