Pitas Meatsticks grind out title over Psycho Rocks

Fourth title for Pitas team, sixth for franchise

by Than Acuff

It was an incredible evening of softball on Tuesday, August 20 at Gothic field as Psycho Rocks and Pitas Meatsticks battled in the Tuesday/Thursday league finals. The Parks and Rec Department was out there grilling burgers and hot dogs and handing out free Rockstar energy drinks. The umpires, all three of them, were adorned in dark blue Whatever USA Bud Light (remember that?) polo shirts and all four sets of stands were packed, with some fans even opting for the bleachers behind the outfield fence to watch these two local softball juggernauts square off.

And in the end, everyone got their money’s worth and then some, as the two teams fought for a total of 14 innings over the course of two games before the Pitas team sealed their fourth Tuesday/Thursday league title in a row.

The two have some history and have taken over as the biggest rivalry in local softball now for the past couple of years and Psycho Rocks is, or was, the odds-on favorite to knock them off.

Only problem, it would take everything Psycho Rocks had, and more, to put an end to the Pitas’ reign as they had to win not one, but both games that night to take the title. Pitas was the team to beat, but rarely is, and had won their last nine games of the regular season, scoring more than 50 runs in one of those games, and cruised through the playoffs winning all three of their games to get to the finals.

The Rocks got the first part of the job done in game one Tuesday night even though Pitas Meatsticks were hovering close to breaking the game open on a couple of occasions during that first game. Both teams reached the four home run limit and both had tremendous defensive plays but Psycho Rocks remained cool and composed and had an answer for everything Pitas threw at them. Then, late in the game, a two RBI single from Rosa Greeley and a two-run home run from Eli Fiddler made the difference in the 20-16 Psycho Rocks win to force a second game.

It was also during that game that I heard the best heckle concerning men stepping in front of women to play defense. Oftentimes the crowd will jeer, “Let the girls play!” when a man steps in front of a woman on defense. During the game though, when the right center outfielder ran in front of the woman in right field to make a catch, Alex Mattes-Ritz yelled, “You ran all that way to be a chauvinist?!”

Brilliant.

So the stage was set for the final game of the season, winner take all, and incredibly, after a slow start, the game actually picked up and topped the action of the first game.

It was there for the taking by Psycho Rocks. They had just fended off the Meatsticks in the first game, gaining all of the energy at the field. The fans were significantly in their favor and Pitas lost standout shortstop Scott Sanders to a prior engagement.

It’s just that the Meatsticks are no one-trick-pony and can make adjustments when needed. While Sanders is a big loss, they simply insert Roland Mason into the position. Sure, he’s probably 10 years or so older than Sanders and not quite as agile, but will reach anything within three feet of him and go yard just as readily as Sanders.

Strangely, Psycho opened the game, not so psycho. In fact, they came out quite catatonic. They were less Billy Bibbit and more Chief Bromden.

Pitas, meanwhile, went to work early and started to show why they have racked up so many titles. Unfettered in their approach to every game, they opened by scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning, mixing power with precision. Base hits from Mason, Callie Jo Aspinwall, Cody Sexe and Emily Crooks scored the first three and then Bryan Densmore brought his big stick to the fight to knock a two-run dinger. Fortunately for Psycho Rocks, they have quite a shortstop as well and when Fiddler made a diving backhand grab and jumped up to fire to first for the third out, Psycho Rocks appeared to wake up.

Will Mixon brought the team further out of their semi-coma state with a towering two-run home run and a triple from Ben Hayes and a RBI single from Greeley had the Rocks back on track.

Mason brought all of the fans to their feet with a shattering solo shot for Pitas but Psycho responded with another run off a sac fly RBI from Amanda Brack to keep everyone glued to the game, waiting for one of the two teams to blow it open and the other to subsequently crack.

That looked to come in the fourth inning, arguably one of the best innings all season long.

Psycho looked to be slipping back into the Brom-den as Pitas turned two of their first three hitters away with their defense. But then Hayes struck again as he stroked a RBI base hit off the top of the fence in right center and slid under the tag at third base. Greeley remained hot at the plate with a RBI single to center and then Kyle Townsend drove a fly ball to the gap in right center. Drew Stichter and Thomas McLean gave chase, only to collide and have the ball drop to the ground, leaving Townsend with a RBI triple. KT Davidson followed with a RBI single, Montana Wiggins poked a single over the infield and Brack and Fiddler connected for RBI base hits to put Psycho Rocks on top 11–7 and in complete control of the momentum.

Problem for them was, Pitas didn’t seem shaken at all and they proceeded to rattle off three runs of their own off a series of base hits, to pull back within one of Psycho Rocks administering yet another shot of Thorazine into the Psycho team.

Pitas then retook the lead as both Densmore and Mason connected for their second home runs of the game to take a 14–12 lead into the sixth inning. The Psycho bats flailed in the top of the sixth inning, and RBI hits from Emily Crooks and Densmore and a missed cutoff had Pitas up 16–12 heading into the seventh and final inning.

But in keeping with my One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest theme here, Psycho Rocks went to the concrete and tile water spigot cemented into the floor and just started reefing on it to pull it up and toss it through the window to tie the game back up with another two-out rally.

Fiddler led off with a solo shot. Pitas turned the next two outs but Mallory Zimmerman then stepped to the plate and destroyed the ball, sending it high off the netting in left center for a double. Hayes followed that with a crushing two-run home run, Greeley popped a single and then Jason Keener dropped a classic Psycho Rocks “weird area” RBI single in shallow right.

But Pitas still had some tricks up their sleeve and Sexe stopped the Rocks in the tracks with a diving grab turned forward flip for the third out, leaving the two teams locked in a 16–16 tie heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.

While a great effort, that’s not nearly enough to take Pitas out and they ultimately became too much for Psycho Rocks to hold off. The Rocks had done everything they could, and more, through 13 and a half innings that evening but Pitas has a culture of winning and they eventually finished it off. Michael Villanueva and Mason did what they have been doing since they were kids playing in the local little leagues, as Villanueva led off with a double and one batter later Mason drove Villanueva home with a RBI base hit for the 17–16 Pitas Meatsticks win and their fourth title in a row, bringing them even closer to a level not seen since the Hills Brothers’ reign, of which Mason was a part.