The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Where have you gone Joe Schmitt
The regular season has come to a close and Lauren Alkire and her incredible software system are busy crunching numbers to figure out seeds for the upcoming playoffs and, as of press time Tuesday night, there’s a three-way tie at the top of the comp league between the Nuts and Honeys, the Talk of the Town and the Stash. The Nuts faced the Talk of the Town at Gothic Field Monday night with the number-one seed on the line and the Nuts ended up crushing the Talk 18-2 to take the top spot, temporarily.
Meanwhile, the Stash took down the Rent-A-Gades to bring their record to 10-3 along with the Talk and the Nuts.
That can all change again Wednesday night as the Talk plays the Wine-Os and the Nuts square off against the Rent-A-Gades.
The Rent-A-Gades have a chance to play the spoiler if they can recover from the drubbing they suffered at the hands of the Stash Monday night at Pitsker Field.
Pitsker Field is an institution in Crested Butte and is one of the first amenities created by the town to provide a venue for local athleticism. The field has hosted women’s softball leagues, fast pitch softball leagues, little leagues, men’s leagues, home run derbies, the Trouser Snakes, the Loaded Ladies—the list goes on and on.
I know I’ve personally seen some of the best and worst athletic feats, and injuries, in the history of local sports at Pitsker. I watched the Hills Brothers dynasty in men’s league play. I’ve seen Trevor Reep crack a game-winning double in a little league championship. I watched Joe Dukeman win one home run derby by crushing dinger after dinger to right center, including sending one into the tennis courts. I also watched Joe Buckel smash 36 home runs in another home run derby, including sending one ball over the bank. And I watched a player chase a high fly ball to deep centerfield only to inadvertently knock it over the fence with his glove for a game-winning home run. I also watched Pete Rinaldi break his leg in half sliding into third.
Monday night provided a mixed bag of both as New Speedway Boogie provided an auditory backdrop with crushing renditions of Grateful Dead songs at Alpenglow for the game between the Stash and the Rent-A-Gades. The only other discernable sound was the not-so-sweet crack of a single-wall aluminum bat.
The big story was watching the unraveling of one Joe Schmitt. Schmitt came to town several years ago after a minor league baseball career on the Western Slope and immediately established himself as a one-man wrecking crew, providing power with speed and a cannon of an arm.
But the local leagues have worn down Schmitt over the years and Monday night was a testament to that. Even he knew it, commenting after the game during which he struck out looking and fouled out, “I haven’t had a game like this in 10 years.”
On the highlight end of things, the game opened with an outstanding defensive play when Stash hitter Barb Peters cracked a line drive up the middle. Pitcher Jerry Heal somehow got the tip of his glove on it and second basewoman Heather Duryea snagged the deflection out of midair to deny Peters a base hit.
The Stash did manage to score three runs after that in the top of the first, including a two-run inside the park home run (ITPHR) by Mike Neustedter.
Defense carried the Rent-A-Gades through the first couple of innings, including solid play from player/manager Andrew Butterfield at third base and they tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the third as Peace Wheeler slapped a two-RBI single and brother Justin Wheeler drove in another run with a sac fly RBI.
The Rent-A-Gades took a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth before the Stash put together their own defensive highlight.
Duryea pushed a base hit down the right field line with Jeffery Snyder on first. Sarah Freundt chased the ball down and tossed it to Alison Gipple, who then relayed it to Neustedter as Snyder was being waved home. Neustedter turned and fired home to get Snyder by a step and end the inning.
The Stash put together a two-out rally in the top of the fifth inning to build a 9-5 lead. Peters kicked it off with a two-RBI single, Neustedter drove a two-RBI double to right and Freundt capped the rally with an error-assisted two-RBI double.
The Stash built on its lead in the top of the sixth as Gipple and Peters drove in runs with base hits and Neustedter did the impossible once again. With the bases loaded, Neustedter cracked a second ITPHR, this time a GSITPHRAPF (first one to figure out what that means and call me at the Crested Butte News gets a $20 bar tab at the Eldo compliments of the Sports Barrel) to put the Stash on top 15-5.
The Rent-A-Gades finally woke up and used the single-wall bats to their advantage, poking a series of singles to load the bases. Snyder drove a run in with a single, Duryea followed suit and Schmitt stepped to the plate to extend the comeback run with the bases loaded. But, in an effort to try to push the ball to the opposite field, Schmitt ended up fouling out, ending the inning.
The Rent-A-Gades defense did its job in the top of the seventh to hold the Stash scoreless, but the Rent-A-Gades were done scoring one lonely run in the bottom of the seventh inning to fall 15-8.
