Stash Me continues to dominate comp league

Such was the case Monday evening when Stash Me faced the Talk of the Town at Gothic Field. Stash Me sits at the top of the comp league standings, head and shoulders above the other three teams. The Talk of the Town, on the other hand, is mired in the middle of the standings, hovering around .500 all season long. Truth be told, the energy at comp league has been a bit all over the place this year. Some of the best games I’ve seen have been in the comp league, with several wins determined in the final at-bat. Unfortunately, there are only four teams, making for some rather subdued softball as well. Crazy to think that comp league softball is where it is. Times are different. Local softball has been through so many different incarnations from fast-pitch, to slow pitch, to slow pitch men’s, women’s and coed leagues, to comp and rec leagues—and now, possibly, just one league next year? Glasses of Chardonnay, children, Brie and free live music seem to be the preferred evening activity rather than beer, children, sunflower seeds and cheap athletic activity. Or so I’ve been told. Plus, you can’t break your leg, your collarbone, or your occipital lobe, pull a hammy or any other season-ending injury at Alpenglow, but you can in softball. Though you can get smacked in the head by an errant ball or a Frisbee tossed by some kid, which can be drink-spilling but not season-ending. Things were moving along swimmingly Monday evening before the monsoonal flow hit and it was shaping up to be another classic comp league showdown with three lead changes through the first three innings, three home runs and nary an argument. Stash Me stepped up and scored first in the top of the first inning as Scott Sanders led off with a double and scored on a single by Katherine Long. The Talk came right back in the bottom of the first to score five runs, making the most of base hits and walks. Brent Laney led off with a double and scored when Tom Consentino cracked a base hit up the middle. Dave McGuire showed some uncharacteristic power at the plate, driving a two-RBI double to the fence in centerfield and a couple of walks scored another run and put three runners on with Michael Faktor up to bat. Faktor can go big, go little or go nowhere at the plate. This time he hit two of three options, grounding into a force at second but scoring a run and reaching first for a 5-1 Talk of the Town lead. The drizzle then turned to rain in the second inning but nothing would stop these teams from playing. The Talk had a temporary dugout set up, compliments of the new Gothic backstop, some cord and a tarp. Stash Me, on the other hand, just stood in the rain and fed off of the surge in the rain to spark a surge at the plate. Drew Stichter singled and scored when Kate Schmidt flared an opposite field RBI double down the right field line. McGuire fanned the next Stash Me hitter with his mix of barely legal tosses but Rachael Glanz picked her teammate up with an RBI single. Wildman singled, an errant throw on a double play attempt allowed another Stash Me run to score and then Sanders put Stash Me back on top 6-5 with a two-run shot to straightaway centerfield. The Talk then escaped a jam with the bases loaded and Pete Basile at the plate. Basile flirted with an extra base hit that dropped foul but tweaked his knee while running and was forced to sit—should’ve gone to Alpenglow, I guess. Wildman stepped in for him and lined out to short to end the top of the second. The Talk of the Town took the lead back, thanks to the Laney/Consentino combination. Laney doubled and Consentino cleared the bases with a towering home run over the left field netting for a 7-6 Talk lead heading into the third inning. The rain continued and so did the game as Stash Me took back the lead for the second time, the third lead change so far, paced by the bats of Barb Winter, Stichter and Sanders. Winter singled and then trotted back to the bench when Stichter drove a two-run dinger over the batting cage behind the right field fence. Schmidt doubled, Brian Chandler (who wins this year’s John Polzin look-alike contest) power-bunted a single and Sanders pushed Schmidt home with a single for a 9-7 Stash Me lead. Then came the lightning, or at least one lightning strike, and a discussion ensued that went something like this: Umpire: “They refuse to play with lightning.” Wildman: Something about the other team being scared. Further discussion… Wildman: “Let’s call it.” Further discussion… Wildman: “If we’re gonna play, let’s play now. If not, let’s go home.” Further discussion… Anonymous: “Let’s call it, go to my house and do bong hits.” Further discussion…. and the game was called due to rain. The comp league season wraps up this week with the playoffs starting on Monday, August 4 at 5 p.m. at Gothic Field. The championship game is scheduled for Wednesday, August 13 at 5 p.m. at Gothic Field.