Hares put together first win of the season vs. Meatsticks

Old school takes down new school

While I may have missed some big games this year at least I can say I was there for the Hares’ first win of the season.
Sure it took me two tries, but it was worth it.
My first attempt came last week when the Hares, formerly the Gray Hares, faced the Rasta Hairnets at Gothic Field, only to lose 21-3.
Still, the Hares had come close several games before that so I wasn’t going to give up on them yet and decided to catch them against the Meatsticks at the field where local softball started, Pitsker.
Pitsker Field is named after Martin “Pitsker” Sporcich, who was the umpire at home plate for decades at the early softball games as well as a big fan of the loaded Ladies team.
And I would hazard a guess that a couple of the current Hares first played local softball at Pitsker during its heyday.
It remains a classic field and while it provides a near perfect venue for little league, it does posses some shortcomings as a softball field.
Still, it’s a classic and has been the home of numerous Hills Brothers title runs as well as the location of one of the most incredible showcases of power hitting. Years ago Joe Buckel won the Crested Butte News Miller High Life High Hard One Home Run Derby by knocking 26 dingers (or was it 32? To be honest, I stopped counting) over the fence including one that cleared the “wood bank” entirely.
Fast forward to Thursday night for some more Pitsker Field magic when the Hares faced the Meatsticks.
One last side note—I would also hazard a guess that a couple players on the Meatsticks team, who are born and bred Crested Buttians, may have been conceived following a softball game at Pitsker Field.
At any rate, the Hares opened the game determined to erase the memory of their drubbing the week before and take advantage of the erratic Meatsticks squad.
Dave Clement led off with a walk (a walk’s a run), reached second on a bloop single by Jen Hartman and then scored when Kent Fulton drove a base hit to right. Tammy Armour stepped up and pushed another Hare home with a single to shallow left. The Meatsticks regrouped on defense to put an end to the Hares’ opening inning rally when Thomas McLean scooped up a grounder at third, tapped the bag and then fired to first for the 5-3 double play.
The Hares had some defensive heroic of their own in the bottom of the first. Not so gray Hares shortstop Adam Stichter pulled in two grounders in a row to get the force at second base and second basewoman Lucy Hecker made a leaping grab to rob Annie LeClair of a base hit and end the inning.
The Hares picked up where they left off in the top of the second with a flurry of base hits and conservative base running.
Base hits by Stichter and Carleen White put runners in the corners for Sam Lumb. Lumb delivered a base hit RBI to center and Nancy Weitkamp walked to load the bases. Clement scored a Hare with a single, Hartman followed suit and then Fulton cracked a two-RBI double to right for a 7-0 Hares lead.
Armour capped the Hares’ offensive outburst with a two-RBI single and a 9-0 Hares lead. Riding high, the Hares took the field well aware of their potential fate. For starters, no lead is safe in slowpitch softball, especially so early in the game. Secondly, the Hares have blown numerous leads this season.
The Meatsticks tightened up on defense and proceeded to nickel and dime their way back into the game. Base hits by Courtney Bock and Stephen Graham scored the Meatsticks’ first runs on the game in the bottom of the third.
The Meatsticks then retired the side in the top of the fourth and Dusty Ostrand looked to rally his team with some inspirational/antagonizing words, exclaiming, “It’s past their bedtime—let’s send them home.”
Kendall Pearson kicked off the next Meatsticks rally with a RBI double. Lumb and Hecker pulled off highlight-worthy defensive plays but the Meatsticks responded scoring two more runs off hits by Anthony Slominski and Bock to cut the Hares’ lead down to four runs.
Again the Meatsticks defense and the pitching of Jarrod Smith stymied the Hares offense and Pearson drove another run in. Fortunately the Hares hitters found their swing one last time in the top of the sixth inning.
Clement led off with another single, Fulton remained hot at the plate with another double and Armour drove two Hares home to the hutch with a double to center. A sac hit RBI from Stichter gave the Hares a 12-6 lead with an inning and a half left to play.
The Hares defense clamped down in the bottom of the sixth but showed signs of wear in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Hares had blown five previous games in the seventh inning and appeared destined for their sixth loss in the final inning as the Meatsticks rattled off five runs.
Graham punched a two-RBI inside the park home run, a walk scored another Meatstick and Betsy LeClair pulled the Meatsticks within two runs with a sac hit RBI.
Slominski cracked a line drive to left that slipped through to the fence scoring a run. Slominski stretched for third but a relay from Clement to Stichter to Hartman at third gunned him down for the third out and saved the Hares’ 12-11 win.