Hares silence Trash Talkers with their bats

Peanuts and beer for everyone

by Than Acuff

There’s no question Hares player, former local sheriff and chainless racer Sam Lumb knows the secret to fan support. As the Hares warmed up for their game against the Trash Talkers Thursday evening at Pitsker Field, Lumb was sharing team beers and peanuts with the crowd, generating a buzz, albeit somewhat muted, for the upcoming game.

The Trash Talkers, on the other hand, were somewhat lethargic in their approach to the game as they trickled in slowly but surely from work to the game. And while they were winless in five attempts so far this season, every day is a new day and anything can happen on any given day. Unfortunately for the Trash Talkers, nothing new really happened on this day in particular as they fell to the Hares 20-8.

Hollywood, the man, the myth, the legend, opened the game for the Trash Talkers with a walk and eventually made it home thanks to singles from Brian Kunes and Julie Frerichs. The early Trash surge though was soon tossed in the can when Hares third baseman Tom Stenerson scooped up a grounder, tagged the runner and then fired to first base for the double play.

The Hares then busted out the bats for a beat-down in the bottom of the first inning, led off by a single from Barefoot Lucas McMahon. Additional base hits from Zane Wrisley and Frank Stichter tied the game 1-1, Lumb dropped a single in shallow left, Gary Huresky cracked a two-RBI single and Kent Fulton, who honed his swing playing for Oregon State University when the Pac 12 was an eight-pack, followed with a RBI single for a 6-1 Hares lead.

Note to self: Contact beer company and propose the eight-pack. 

When six is not enough and 12 too much, an eight-pack gets you right where you need to be.

“When I get done with a ‘sixer,’ I’m feeling pretty good but not good enough. So I buy the 12er and then figure, hell, I got 12 beers, might as well drink them all and that’s when trouble starts. 

“But the eight-pack gets me right where I need to be. You know, in the zone. I’m funny but not obnoxious. I can pull off feats of strength without falling on my face. I can ride a townie without stacking into a flower box.”

Grab eight and get straight.

The Trash Talkers are no slouches though, and they got some bite to their bark and found their groove on offense in the top of the second inning with a two-out rally.

Dave McGuire singled to right-center and scored on a double from Erik Ervin. Kat Hassebroek pushed Ervin home with an error-assisted RBI double, Hollywood walked, again, and additional RBI hits from Kunes and Frerichs had the Trash Talkers on top 7-6.

The Hares took the lead back in the bottom of the second inning as RBI base hits from both Stenerson and Stichter pushed the Hares ahead 10-7. Both teams then muddled through the next couple of innings on offense, with the only run coming from Kunes who cracked a solo inside the park home run off the netting in left field.

Don Bunnell got the Hares back on track with a RBI single and the Hares started running away with the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. Stichter knocked his third RBI double of the game and Kevin Vierling stepped up to knock a RBI single.

Five more base hits from the Hares pushed in five more runs, capped by a RBI single from Mark Bortolin and the Hares were resting comfortably on an 18-8 lead heading into the final inning.

The Trash Talkers got together for a little team hug, hoping to spur some late-game heroics but the energy never made it from the bench to the plate as they were held scoreless. Meanwhile, the Hares tacked on two more runs on a double from Wrisley to seal the 20-8 win.