Whetstoners seal 2012 CB recreation league softball title

“Inertia: A stoner in motion tends to stay in motion”

It took a year but the Whetstoners exacted revenge upon the Rasta Hairnets to win the 2012 rec league softball title at Gothic Field Thursday, August 16.
Almost a year ago to the day, the Whetstoners lost back-to-back games to the Hairnets in the finals to be denied the title.
This year would be different.
“I think we upped the ante on the camaraderie, the fun and the awesome positivity,” says Whetstoner Alex Mattes-Ritz.
And they needed it, because if they were going to win the title, they had to win two games on Tuesday, August 14 and then again on Thursday.
After falling to KBUT early in the playoffs and dropping to the loser’s bracket, the Whetstoners earned a birth to the championship game by beating the Eldo and KBUT back-to-back.
But their true test would come in the finals. Not only would they face the two-time defending champion Rasta Hairnets, but they would be missing Charlie Parr and the McKenrick brothers for the finals, forcing them to pull James Newton, broken thumb and all, off the injured reserve to suit up for the finals.
Furthermore, because the Whetstoners were coming out of the losers bracket in a double elimination format, they needed to win both games that night, while the Rastas needed just one win for the title.
Whetstoner pitcher Rich Driscoll handcuffed the Rasta bats in the first four innings of the first game with five strikeouts, allowing his team to build an early 4-0 lead.
Midway through the fourth inning, the Rastas brought in some fresh players and rattled off three runs to cut the Whetstoner lead down to one.
But Driscoll gave himself a cushion with a two-RBI single and Mattes-Ritz crushed a grand slam to rebuild a 10-4 Whetstoner lead.
Hairnet Reed Betz kept the Rasta hopes alive with a three-run inside the park home run (ITPHR) in the bottom of the sixth inning but the Whetstoners held on through the seventh to win 11-9 and force a second game.
The two teams regrouped during the break to discuss strategy for the finals and the Rasta management laid out three tenets for success.
One, don’t swing at sh**.
Two, Have fun.
Three, take another shot.
The plan played out in the first inning and it looked like the Whetstoners were losing steam just as the Rastas were gaining it.
The Whetstoners opened with three up, three down in the top of the first and the Rastas pounced, taking a 3-0 lead on a sac hit RBI from Betsy Kolodziej and a two-run ITPHR by Betz.
The Whetstoners defense held the Rastas in check in the second inning led by a charging grab by Zach Matthias in left and then proceeded to regain some offensive momentum from game one.
Newton singled and then scored on a RBI triple by Michelle Gerard down the right field line. Mattes-Ritz cracked a two-run ITPHR and Todd Dohlman added in a solo ITPHR to put the Whetstoners on top 5-3.
The next three innings were as good as softball gets with both teams throwing caution to the wind at the plate, on the base path and on defense.
Director of Brick Oven Sports Syndicate (D’ BOSS) Dan Loftus stepped to the plate for the Rastas with the bases loaded and drove a three RBI double to put the Rastas back on top 7-5 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
But Mattes-Ritz struck again. Matthias doubled and scored on a double by Newton and Mattes-Ritz cleared the bags with a two-run shot to straightaway center for an 8-7 Whetstoner lead.
The Rastas fired right back in the bottom of the fifth inning as Scott Tyree led off with a triple and Kelly Winner won the mind game with Driscoll at the plate to walk putting runners in the corners. Damien Teitlebaum stepped up and drove a RBI single, Roman Kolodziej tied the game 8-8 with a RBI double and Aaron “Proud Poppa” Tomcak capped the Rasta uprising with a two RBI double and a 13-8 Rasta lead.
The outburst inspired the Rasta fans into a classic, and personalized, rendition of Take Me Out to the Ball Game (“Root, root, root for the Rastas. If they don’t win it’s a shame”).
Once again though, the Whetstoners would respond. With the Rastas hot and their fans fired up, the Whetstoners were looking at losing hold of the momentum only to snatch it back with big bats and a couple of Rasta errors.
Dohlman doubled and scored on a single by Sarah Cheseborough. Matthias tapped an error-assisted RBI double, Molly Arment tripled to score Matthias and Mattes-Ritz (Mr. August, or dare I say, Augustus) blasted another shot to straightaway centerfield off of Town Hall putting the Whetstoners back on top 14-13.
 In classic Whetstoner fashion, they tacked on three more insurance runs in the top of the seventh—it could have been more had it not been for Teitlebaum.
Mattes-Ritz stepped to the plate looking to drive the nail in the Rasta coffin with a line drive to the gap in left center but Teitlebaum got a jump on the ball and laid out full length for the diving grab to hold the Whetstoner lead to four heading into the bottom of the seventh.
The Rastas threatened another late game comeback scoring two runs before the Whetstoners sealed the win and the 2012 rec league title with a 17-15 win.
After the game, Matthias summed up the physics behind their title run success.
“Inertia: A stoner in motion, tends to stay in motion,” said Matthias.