The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Drew Stichter still takes home a title
[ by Than Acuff ]
The 2021 softball season came to an end on Wednesday, August 18 when CB Extreme held off a mid-game surge by the Rainbow Unicorns to take the Wednesday league title 12-6.
The Rainbow Unicorns had a prolific regular season, and the best uniforms ever in the history of town league softball, outscoring opponents 121-48 over the course of the summer to finish in first place with a record of 6-0-1. Meanwhile, CB Extreme’s season was erratic at best to finish middle of the pack with a record of 3-3-1. But none of that matters when the playoffs start and CB Extreme made the most of it cruising through the playoffs to reach the finals. Meanwhile, the Rainbow Unicorns lost their magic only to find enough of it to reach the championship game from the loser’s bracket.
After a quiet turn at the plate by the Unicorns, CB Extreme stepped up and went straight to work, taking an early 4-0 lead. Rhett Yarbrough led off with a double off the shin of Alex Mattes-Ritz and then scored on a single by Frank Stichter. Heather Cooper and Sean Slattery combined for two base hits and another run and Andrew “Ted Lasso” Tower capped the quick burst with a two RBI double to shallow centerfield.
More Extreme D held the Unicorns hitless and witless in the top of the second inning and they tacked on two more runs when Jolene Dreith slapped a double to center and Yarbrough and Stichter teamed up once again for two more Extreme runs.
It took an effort from Rob Houston to finally wake up the Unicorns as a charging, sliding grab by Houston in left field got the Unicorns fired up and sparked some offense in the top of the fourth inning.
Lynelle Stanford was the first to strike with a single, Houston then flared a RBI double and Ashley Olfactory Huse reached first as Houston’s base-running acumen reminiscent of his work on the Airheads so many years ago put two on base with Ian Baird stepping to the plate. Baird came through with a RBI double, Heather Culley drove in another Unicorn with a sac fly RBI and Mattes-Ritz found his swing from the Whetstoner days to crack a RBI double down the left field line pulling the Unicorns within two heading into the bottom of the fourth inning.
CB Extreme remained just that, Extreme, in the bottom of the fourth though responding to the Unicorn attack to score five more runs. Evan Sandstrom and Dreith each singled and then jogged home thanks to a first pitch three-run home run from Yarbrough. Hits from Drew Stichter and Cooper partnered up to tack on another run and then Slattery slaughtered a solo strike off the shingles of the far side of the Wine House roof for an 11-4 CB Extreme lead.
At that point, the Rainbow Unicorns’ magic had completely dissipated. They did score two more runs thanks to a double from Rocky Durante and a sac hit RBI from Robbie Vandervoort and an RBI single by Culley but CB Extreme sealed the deal in style as Slattery scooped a squibber at short, stepped on second and slung the ball to first to secure the 12-6 title win.
