The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Speaking of joints…
by Than Acuff
First of all, harsh Overheard last week. In case you missed it, and you probably didn’t because people always read the Overheard, the cameos and Busted in the Butte, it read, “The Rastas team is really old.”
Untrue.
Older maybe, but not old. You know who’s old? That Twidiot in the White House. You know what’s getting old? That Twidiot in the White House and the arid conditions. You know what else is getting old? Kids who ride and ski better than me. I’ve said it before and I will say it again: Take their $3,000 mountain bikes and their $1,500 ski set-ups away and sit them down in front of a $300 X Box so I can enjoy the outdoors without some punk shredding past me. Besides, at this rate, there’s a good chance all of these micro-shredders will need joint replacements by the time they’re 25.
Then again, kids these days totally shred.
Speaking of joints: Yes, the Rasta Hairnets are older but still a good ten years shy of joint replacements. Yet, Wednesday night in their game against the Rent-A-Gades they definitely appeared far more subdued than the Rasta teams of old. Regardless, it’s good to have them back in the local softball league after a four-year hiatus and hopefully they can catch the magic from years gone by and, ahem, “chase those crazy baldheads out of town.”
They opened the game, just like they left the game four years ago, with hot bats as Thomas McLean and Terran Wight kicked things off with base hits and Jordan Willoford, Ali McGuire and Johnny Green all connected to drive runs in. Arliss Merrell capped the early Rasta rise with a RBI single and the Hairnets were up 4-0.
The Rent-A-Gades fired right back as a couple of base hits and a couple of walks loaded the bases and pushed two runs home. Ryan McCudden stepped up to drive in two more runs with a single and then Mikey Strauch channeled his former tennis pro self, driving a forehand winner down the right field line for a RBI double and a 5-4 Rent-A-Gades’ lead.
In the zone and channeling the Rise Up energy, the Rastas responded with four more runs when Luke Adams singled and scored on a base hit from Lucas McManness and McLean cleared the bases with a three-run inside the park home run.
The game then turned horribly bad for the Rastas and unbelievably good for the Rent-A-Gades as the question of the evening soon became, Will the Rent-A-Gades score 30 runs?
Down 8-5 heading into the bottom of the second inning, the Rent-A-Gades scored eight runs with Jake Ellis, Lauren Alkire and Strauch doing most of the damage.
They then proceeded to step to the plate in the bottom of the third inning to knock in four more runs thanks to Brett Palmer, Emily Ocanas and McCudden. By the time they reached the sixth inning the Rent-A-Gades were sitting on a 23-11 lead with the lone Rasta highlights coming from a brilliant relay from centerfield to gun a Rent-A-Gade runner at home and a two-run home run by Green to straightaway centerfield.
The Rent-A-Gades remained on fire through the rest of the game, rattling off seven more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jeff Snyder and Kari Roberts led off with base hits and Ocanas drove them home with a double. Scott Yost pushed another run home with a sac fly RBI, Amber Knight-Mcloud reached first, hustling down the base path on an infield hit and then McCudden sealed the deal with a three-run shot to right center to push the Rent-A-Gades’ run total to 30.
The Rastas finished the game scoring one last run when Erika Bremer put her Titans track training into use, scoring off a double by McLean but the punishment doled out by the Rent-A-Gades had taken its toll as they finished with a 30-12 win.
My guess is the Rasta team will recharge after gathering for their game Wednesday, June 27 and a celebration of the life of Bryan Koltys.
