Eldo holds off Hares for 17-14 win in classic CB softball battle

Or was it 17-12?

By Than Acuff

Turns out, according to the league website, the score was actually 17-11 which is weird because I keep pretty detailed notes during games so I’m going with what I saw because that’s what I saw. 

Or did I?

What I do know is that the Hares are having a rough season with just one win and the playoffs starting in two weeks. Remarkably, their only win came against Pitas Meatsticks, who currently sit tied in second place with a record of 7-3, during which the Hares racked up 30 runs. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the Hares are late bloomers and will catch fire once the post season starts and shock the local softball world. 

And they nearly shocked the Eldo on Thursday, June 29 at Gothic Field with a late game surge that eventually fizzled out.

The Hares looked to make an early move in the top of the first inning as hits from Lucas Mullen and Bryce W. Miller drove in a run but the efforts of Mark Krause and Prawit Durgan in the outfield flagged two hits bound for extra bases leaving the Hares to their lone run.

Fortunately for the Hares, their defense was equally solid as they held the Eldo to just two runs as Patrick Henry Cashion singled to center, Kate Schmidt walked, and Andrew Arnold drove them home with a triple to the gap in leftcenter before Hares pitcher Sam Lumb fanned the next batter for the third out.

The Hares came back to retake the lead in the top of the second as Kent Fulton singled and scored off a triple to right field by Tucker Brown. Tom Stenerson then scored Fulton with a single up the middle and when Carl Tucker singled, the Hares were on the run. Until Eldo shortstop Arnold did what I believe I’ve seen him do on several occasions which is scoop up a grounder, tap second base and fire to first for a double play to stop the Hares in their tracks.

The Eldo offense then started to roll thanks to some inspirational, and savvy, base running by Krause. Krause singled to lead off in the bottom of the second and then stretched for third on an infield pop single by Ashley Huse drawing the Hares defense into a run down before getting dirty to slide safe into third under the tag. Marty McGrane scored both Krause and Huse with a triple and two batters later Pip Bailey crushed a three-run home run over the fence in rightcenter for a 7-3 lead. The effort of Brown at second base helped hold the Eldo at bay until the bottom of the third inning as the Eldo knocked in six more runs.

Cashion opened it up once again as he stepped to the plate after a single by Krystal Ramsey to drive a two-run home run. Four batters later Krause one-upped Cashion with a three-run crusher to straightway centerfield and the Eldo was now out in front 13-3.

The Hares were noticeably frustrated with the situation but still stalwart in their resolve to climb back into the game and slowly but surely did just that. Dan Brown smashed an RBI single off of the netting in leftfield and Mark Bortolin tagged an RBI single to score two Hares in the top of the fourth inning.

The Eldo added to their lead off RBI hits from Ramsey and Cashion and a solo inside the park home run by Kristen Tyson, but the Hares displayed the kind of resolve that may just carry them late into the post season with a rally in the top of the sixth. Which is exactly where my scoring strayed from the scoring in the book.

By my records, here’s what happened.

Dave Clement and Liz Tucker kicked things off with singles and then Stichter and Miller drove runs in with base hits. Dan then dropped a two RBI triple in shallow center and then, wait a minute, now I see it. I misread a “7” for a “9” in my notes and while Dan did hit a two RBI triple, it gave the Hares nine runs total, not 11.

Good thing I’m not a financial advisor, bookkeeper or a journalist. 

Regardless, Bortolin connected for an RBI single and Tucker drove an RBI double to deep centerfield and the Hares were back in action down just five runs.

The only problem was, they were out of time as the Eldo tacked on one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning and then held the Hares to one run in the top of the seventh to hand the Hares a 17-12 loss, their ninth loss of the season. I still believe the best of the Hares is yet to come and as Yogi Berra once said, “it ain’t over till it’s over.”