Slow pitch season opens with classic comeback

Moose Wilson christens 2011 season with
the “Dark One”

I’m not sure who officially introduced the “Dark One” to the local slow pitch softball leagues but the first time I ever witnessed it was 12, maybe 14, years ago when I started covering local softball.
The Dark One is a pitch that defies gravity, physics, common sense, reality, one’s own sense of being and, most important, a hitter’s ability to hit.
In its simplest form, the Dark One is a knuckleball. But it is so much more than that. The Dark One can actually make time stop as it arcs through the air only to accelerate time to the speed of light as it drops to the back of the strike zone.
(Wait, which is faster, time or the speed of light?)
And so it was 12 or 14 years ago when I saw the Dark One thrown by Kelly “Moose” Wilson.
(Side note: Moose got his nickname working in the oil shale fields near Parachute, Colo. in the 1980s.)
As far as I’m concerned, I credit Moose for bringing the Dark One to Crested Butte. I’m sure there’s someone out there who can easily dispute that because softball has been in Crested Butte since “back when coal was king,” and I don’t think Moose was playing softball here “back when coal was king.”
At any rate, Moose was there Monday evening at Pitsker Field to toss out the first pitch of the 2011 season and what better way to start off the season than with the Dark One.
And what better way to start off the 2011 season than with a showdown between two-time competitive league champions—the Talk of the Town and the Green Robin Builders Ball Busters.
Green Robin has spent numerous seasons, under a variety of names, knocking on the door of the comp league title and oftentimes plays the spoiler in the playoffs, but has yet to bring home the actual title.
This year they’ve added some punch to their line-up and an ace to their pitching rotation in John Ralston, so this could be their year.
Though, after the first two innings, it looked like just another year rather than “the” year for Green Robin.
A sloppy Green Robin defense gave up four runs alone on throwing errors and RBI base hits from Ronnie Hughes, Davo Moore and Kelly McGuire paced the Talk to an 8-1 lead.
But the Green Robin defense clamped down to hold the Talk scoreless in the third and fourth innings and scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth to pull back to within one.
Adrienne Weil and Mike Lauerman led off with base hits and Rebecca Weil roped a two-RBI double to left. Erica Kelleher knocked in another run with a single and Mikey Weil capped the Weil Bunch outburst with a two-RBI single up the middle.
Adam Ofsterdahl cracked a solo inside the park home run (ITPHR) and Pete Basile tied the game 9-9 with an RBI single.
The Green Robin defense got stronger as the game wore on, turning their second double play of the game in the top of the sixth inning. Pitcher Andrew Hadley flagged down a come backer and tossed a bounce pass to second allowing Mikey time to make the move from shortstop to cover second. Mikey scooped the throw in stride and fired to first base for the 1-6-3 double play.
Adrienne put Green Robin on top 10-9 with a sacrifice fly RBI and Lauerman provided the eventual game-winning run with a solo ITPHR for an 11-9 Green Robin lead.
The Talk threatened to take the lead back when Moore knocked in another Talk run with a base hit, but Hadley closed the game fanning a Talk batter for the 11-10 Green Robin win.