Lively Up Yourself, Rastas take 2010 title

KBUT to ban reggae music

When it comes to the post season, do whatever it takes to grab the title.

For some, it means team batting practice on the weekends. For others, it may involve fielding work to hone the double play turn, or shagging fly balls and working on hitting the cut off man.
For the Rasta Hairnets, the 2010 rec league champion Rasta Hairnets that is, it meant Jello shots and new socks, or in the case of the baseball vernacular, stockings.
Rasta player Nicky O’Connor mixed up a batch of Jello shots for each game of the playoffs and the Rastas rallied to three straight wins to reach the finals.
Meanwhile, the number-one seeded KBUT team, sponsored by the number one radio station KBUT, fell into the loser’s bracket in the post season.
But they survived to arrive at the finals against the Rastas last week.
KBUT came out swinging last Thursday night, building an 11-5 lead by the bottom of fourth inning before the skies opened up to stop KBUT in their tracks (It was as if Haile Selassie was watching the game himself from above and had seen enough).
The weather postponed the game until Tuesday night at Gothic Field, with the teams taking the field the way they left it: KBUT ahead 11-5 with one Rasta on first and one out.
The Rastas, again fueled by tricolor Jello shots and new stockings, had a big challenge on their hands, opening the game down six runs.
They chipped off three runs in their opening at bat on a sacrifice rbi from Anne Moore and a two rbi single by Brandin Hamilton.
The two teams traded runs the next inning, but the KBUT defense retired the side in the bottom of the sixth, scored two in the top of the seventh and retired the side in the bottom of the seventh to win 15-10.
Due to the double elimination format of the post season, the Rastas had one more chance at the title. After team meetings to refocus and a coin toss to determine the home team, the two teams took the field for the official rec league championship game.
While throwing miscues plagued the Rastas in the first game, a talk from manager/shortstop Carlos Velado had the team defense on the same page for game two, while their offense opened up big time.
Jane Goldsmith and Roman Kolodziej knocked in the first Rasta runs. The Rastas tacked on five more runs in the bottom of the second as the KBUT pitching staff struggled on the mound.
After KBUT turned the first two outs, the Rastas rallied off a series of walks and base-hit rbis from Arliss Merrell and Kevin Reinert to build a 7-0 lead.
The punishment continued in the bottom of the third inning as the Rastas pulled ahead 11-0. Matt Gutter crushed a two-rbi double down the right field line. Moore tapped a rbi single, and Jaima Giles pushed Merrell home with a single.
Kolodziej tagged another triple in the bottom of the fourth, and the Rastas were sitting pretty on a 12-0 lead.
The KBUT offense got running in the top of the fifth inning to score two runs, but the Rastas came firing back, adding three more runs on hits from Merrell, Theresa Henry and Hamilton.
There was literally nothing KBUT could do to stop the Rasta onslaught, as they tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on another Goldsmith base hit, a double by Scott Tyree and a sacrifice rbi by Emmy Jervey.
By that time the damage was done, and KBUT went down without a fight losing 18-2 to the Rastas, falling one game short of their preseason hopes.
The Rasta win gives team sponsor Brick Oven Pizzeria the first local sports triple-crown title as the Brick Oven hockey team took the 2010 town league title. Brick Oven co-owner and rider Dan Loftus won the solo 2010 24 Hours in the Sage last weekend and now their softball team took the 2010 rec league title.
BIM!