The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Championship Wednesday, August 18
by Than Acuff
We are getting down to the wire and it all comes down to who can handle the pressure right now and who is on a roll. The Rastas were on a roll until they met CB Extreme and fell 20-13. Nevertheless, they are still in the mix, they just can’t afford to lose another game as they are now battling through the loser’s bracket.
And speaking of the loser’s bracket, that’s where the nerves really set in and on Wednesday night, it looked as if the pressure was really getting to both the Rent-A-Gades and the Eleven Tuckers. Facing playoff elimination, the two teams struggled through the early innings and their pitching made for quite the slow game. But once they settled in, the walkfest turned into a dramatic finish as the Rent-A-Gades edged out an 11-10 win over the Eleven Tuckers to stay alive in the Wednesday league post season.
And when I say walkfest, I mean walkfest, as the two teams combined for a total of 19 walks throughout the game starting with nine walks in the first inning alone.
The Tuckers took a 4-0 lead in the top of the first with three RBI walks and a RBI single from Tim Mahan. The Rent-A-Gades came right back in the bottom of the first as three walks in a row loaded the bases before the Renta-A-Gades started to see some strikes and swing accordingly. Spencer Snyder popped a sac fly RBI, Crystal Staggs and Jake Ellis then followed with RBI singles and they were rolling until Tucker shortstop Elliott Manning scooped up a ground ball, tapped second and fired to first for a rally ending double play.
The Tuckers built a slim lead in the top of the third inning paced by, you guessed, a couple of more walks, a single from Tim Mahan and then a two RBI walk by Drew Layman.
The Rent-A-Gades tied it back up in the bottom of the fourth when Peace Wheeler and Spencer Snyder each stroked base hits and Crystal Staggs drove them in with a two RBI single. Brian Kunes pushed one more run home with a sac fly and it looked like the game was turning the corner and into a… game.
But, another series of walks set the Tuckers up for more runs thanks to the bats of Danii Eicholtz, Layman and CJ Hoover for a 10-6 Tuckers lead.
The Rent-A-Gades came right back in almost the exact same manner as three walks led to one run and the effort of Lauren Alkire, Jesse Smith and Wheeler at the plate scored three more tying the game back up once again. A quiet sixth inning from both teams then set the stage for some excitement as they headed into the seventh and final inning tied 10-10.
With their pitcher now finding the plate, the Rent-A-Gades defense was called into action and did their jobs as Jeff Snyder made a leaping grab at short, Alkire scooped up a comebacker to fire to first and the Renta-A-Gades defense retired the final Tucker batter leaving the door open for the late game win.
It’s all about getting the lead off hitter on base and Scott Yost did just that slapping a double to get things going. The Tuckers defense turned away the next hitter but Smith stepped up to the plate with the game on the line and drove a base hit through to score Yost and seal the 11-10 Rent-A-Gades win sending the Tuckers packing for the season.
