Rent-A-Gades hold off Twaddles for softball win

Teams play through
monsoonal flow

Lobar player/manager Roland Mason said it best following the competitive league showdown between the Rent-A-Gades and Twaddles on Monday night at Gothic Field.
“It’s going to be a great August,” said Mason.
He was talking about the level of talent in the competitive league that appears to be emerging as the season wears on. Not only are there the perennial powerhouses such as the Lobar and the Airheads—there is the Wine-O’s squad, formerly known as the Crackers, who are currently tied for first place with the Airheads, and then a load of spoilers in the middle of the pack such as the Rent-A-Gades and Green Robin Builders.
But it doesn’t end there, because bringing up the rear are a couple of teams sitting near the bottom of the standings with a couple of wins each. With just two weeks left in the regular season, they are on the cusp of turning the corner for a late season run, possibly peaking just in time for the post-season.
Case in point: Twaddles.
Twaddles came in Monday night, winning two of their last three games including a win over the Lobar and a one-run loss to the Airheads. They’ve got the talent, they just need the time to gel and the next two weeks could be just what they need.
On the other side of the field was the Rent-A-Gades. They came in Monday night on a three-game winning streak and there’s no question that when they have their full roster intact, they are a threat to go far in the playoffs.
Monday night, when the two teams took to the field, they were faced with another adversary—Mother Nature. The north end of the Gunnison Valley is experiencing the classic summer weather pattern, frequently referred to as a “monsoonal flow,” and then some. Mother Nature is overflowing.
Still, despite periods of heavy rain and the occasional lightning strike, the two teams played through all seven innings without hesitation.
Rent-A-Gader Jeff Snyder set the defensive tone early in the game, sprinting to his left in centerfield to make a full layout diving grab, robbing Gabe Martin of an RBI base hit.
The Rent-A-Gades followed up on offense with a six-run outburst in the bottom of the first inning. The team strung together base hits, error-assisted base hits and a couple of sacrifice RBIs to build an early 6-1 lead.
Twaddles looked to respond in the top of the second when Vann Taylor cracked an opposite field fly ball destined for extra bases, but the Rent-A-Gades outfield came up big again. This time it was Crystal Staggs in right who made a stabbing grab to deny another base hit.
Tarah Niccoli provided the lone run-scoring hit of the inning for Twaddles, tapping an infield single to score Tyler Williams.
The Rent-A-Gades added to their lead on a two-RBI double by Andrew “Butters” Butterfield and when Jerry Heal crushed a three-run shot over the, you guessed it, right field fence, the Rent-A-Gades were sitting on a comfortable 11-4 lead heading into the fourth.
But there was plenty of game left and as the heavens continued to pound the softball players, Twaddles unleashed their own offensive fury upon the Rent-A-Gades with a big two-out rally.
Butters and Heather Duryea turned the first out of the inning but Williams and Niccoli combined for a couple of base hits and Ian Baird drove a run home on a single to right field.
Heal fanned the next Twaddles batter for the second out but Judd Mesaris followed up with a two-RBI single to centerfield. The two Barbs teamed up to drive in three more runs. Barb “Barbfly” Peters singled to score Mesaris and Barb “Barbwire” Winter drove two more home on a single to pull Twaddles within one run.
Twaddles defense clamped down to hold the Rent-A-Gades scoreless in the bottom of the fourth inning. Baird connected for a RBI single and then Twaddles took a 12-11 lead on a sacrifice RBI.
After back-to-back scoreless innings, the Rent-A-Gades found their bats again in the bottom of the fifth inning. Snyder singled and scored when Jeff Banford drove a single to right center field.
A single by Duryea then loaded the bases for Heal and he delivered with his second dinger of the day, driving a high foul ball over the, you guessed it, right field fence, putting the Rent-A-Gades back on top 16-12.
Twaddles pushed one more run home to cut the lead down to three runs and their defense followed with a couple of highlight reel plays in the bottom of the sixth inning. Winter pulled down a high toss to second and held the ball after getting undercut for the force out. Taylor then made an over-the-shoulder grab in shallow center and Twaddles was primed for a late game comeback.
In an effort to take advantage of the slick conditions, Twaddles invoked a near reckless base-running strategy in the top of the seventh inning, but the Rent-A-Gades defense proved unflappable.
With one out and one on, the Rent-A-Gades turned a 5-3-2-1 double play to end the game and improve their record to 5-4 with the win.