The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, and now I’m blinded
by Than Acuff
How about that eclipse? The Lord provided a sight for sore eyes and now my eyes are so sore. I thought the good Lord would protect me if I glanced at the glory of his work passing the moon between the Earth and the sun.
“Hey, what’s your favorite planet? Mine’s the sun.”
Almost as equally glorious was Pita’s OGs’ rise to the top of the Wednesday league ranks, winning the title game last Wednesday over the Talk of the Town 15-12—a game that proved to be closer than anyone thought but finished the way everyone thought, except for the Talk of the Town, and me a little. I’ve always had a special spot in my heart, and lesions on my liver, for the Talk of the Town.
Side note: Pita’s OGs player Heather Duryea has now been a part of 10—count ‘em, 10—softball title teams.
The game was shaping up for an upset early on as the Talk was clicking and Pitas OGs sputtering. Which, by the way, when Pitas OGs is sputtering, they’re still better than most other teams clicking.
The Talk went right to work in the top of the first inning and Dakota Wiggins led off with a double and scored off a single from Robbie Vandervoort. A walk loaded the bases and then Pitas showed signs of humanness (wait, I just typed humanness and didn’t get a squiggly line, humanness is really a word?) as an error turned into a two RBI single for Dave McGuire. Julie Frerichs then tapped a sac hit RBI and Ali McGuire blooped a RBI single for a 5-0 Talk of the Town lead.
But Pitas OGs are Pitas OGs and when they stepped to the plate in the bottom of the first, one assumed they would erase the Talk’s lead, and then some, almost immediately.
Yet, they didn’t.
Pip Bailey led off with a double and scored when Drew Stichter did what Drew Stichter does, jack a shot over the right-field fence. But the Talk defense, and Dave’s crafty pitching, handcuffed the Pitas OGs’ hitters, holding them to just two runs.
The Talk returned to the plate in the top of the second to tack on a couple more runs. Wiggins doubled again and scored again when Kelly McGuire singled to left. Vandervoort then drove a line drive to the gap in centerfield and kept on running for a two-run inside the park home run and an 8-2 lead.
Pitas OGs soon found their swing as a team in the bottom of the second inning to rattle off six runs. Jess Johnson and Justin Marting sparked the rally as Johnson singled to lead off and then scored on a triple from Marting. Shelby Newberry reached first on an error-assisted RBI single, Bailey slapped a RBI double and Duryea connected for a sac hit RBI to pull within two with one runner on and Stichter stepped to the plate. Dave did his best to try to pitch around Stichter but Stichter took two steps back on a deep pitch to force it into his wheelhouse and crushed another two-run shot over the fence, tying the game 8-8.
The Talk then committed a couple of base-running mistakes and a couple of fielding errors and Pitas OGs took advantage, tacking on five more runs to build a 13-8 lead. Marting stretched for two on an error and then scored off a single from Newberry. Bailey singled and Duryea followed with a RBI double, putting two ducks on the pond for Stichter.
Given Stichter’s past two trips to the plate, Dave looked to intentionally walk him at first, actually rolling the ball across home plate. Stichter swung at one to prevent the walk and when Dave threw him a pitch in the air, albeit one nowhere near Stichter’s sweet spot, Stichter connected for a two-RBI double. Another error-assisted RBI base hit followed by a double from Thomas McLean had Pita’s OGs cued up to blow the game open, but like a loadie at last call in the Talk of the Town, the Talk just wouldn’t give up.
They shut Pitas OGs down for an inning and climbed back into the game as Laura Henneman cracked a RBI single and Erik Ervin blasted a two-run home run over the fence in left center to pull the Talk back to within two runs heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.
Pita’s OGs added a run to their lead but when the Talk turned a 1-6-3 double play to end the inning, they were set for a comeback with the top of their batting order up next.
Unfortunately, the fairy tale ended there as Pita’s OGs settled into fundamental ball and after looking to bust the game open, they settled into getting the win, added one final run and sealed the 2017 Wednesday league title.
