The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Back in the saddle again
[ by Than Acuff ]
After falling short of the five-peat last year in the Wednesday league post season, Pitas OGs returned to the top of the heap with an 18-7 win over the Rent-A-Gades in the championship game at Gothic field on Wednesday, August 17.
The Rent-A-Gades started off slowly without a single hit in the top of the first inning while Pitas OGs knocked in three in the bottom of the first inning.
Mark Krause then woke the Rent-A-Gades legion up with a home run and a double from Jeff Snyder had things looking good, until they weren’t as Pitas stopped them in their tracks.
Pitas OGs then broke out their big sticks in the bottom of the second inning as Pip Bailey and Robin Yost both got on base and Sam Reaman and Will Mixon each smacked home runs for an 8-1 Pitas OGs lead.
But there was little sense of panic as the Rent-A-Gades were coming off a thrilling comeback win the week before after a similar slow start.
Kody Hawkins and Brandon Waldron connected to push another run in for the Rent-A-Gades in the top of the third inning and Krause and Kate Schmidt followed suit in the top of the fourth inning; murmurs of a repeat comeback performance started to circulate.
Pitas OGs silenced those murmurs in the bottom of the fourth inning though as they returned to their hitting ways. Reaman led off with a triple off the fence in right and scored off a double from Mallory Zimmerman. Emily Crooks and Ben Hayes each connected for base hits to score another Pita and a RBI hit by Mark Bortolin had Pitas up 11-3 heading into the fifth inning.
Then it started happening again as the Rent-A-Gades had whispers of a comeback circulating once more. Jake Ellis and Crystal Staggs kicked things off with singles and when Peace Wheeler stroked a base hit, Snyder, who had to pinch run for an injured Ellis, wheeled around the bases and hurdled over the catcher at home to score beating the throw from the outfield.
A ground out and apparent running miscue then looked to end the Rent-A-Gades rally but upon further review, the Rent-A-Gades remained alive with two outs, and they used the opportunity to continue to climb back in the game. Lauren Alkire cracked a two RBI double, and Montana Wiggins tacked on another run with a double pulling the Rent-A-Gades to within four of Pitas heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.
After they held Pitas to just one hit and no runs, murmurs of a comeback turned to a muted roar but soon turned silent again as Mixon chased down a weird area pop up to make a diving grab behind first base and the Pitas defense left the Rent-A-Gades without a run in the top of the sixth inning.
At this point it was apparent that Pitas OGs had enough of the Rent-A-Gades and decided to put any talk of a comeback to rest. Mixon started it off with a solo shot, Cooks and Hayes each knocked base hits, Bortolin pushed another run in with a base hit, Bailey did the same and Yost popped a single over third to have two runners on with Reaman stepping up. Reaman sealed the deal as he crushed a three-run home run for an 18-7 Pitas lead heading into the seventh inning and their defense did the rest to return the title to the Pitas OGs.
