Mid-game rally paces CB Extreme to win over ASC

OH Canada advances in World Cup

by Than Acuff 

My two favorite National Anthems, and no I’m not un-American, are France’s and Canada’s. My appreciation for France’s came from having an attractive French teacher in high school as well as the stirring scene from the movie Victory in which Sylvester Stallone and Pele both starred. It is also one of my favorite soccer movies of all time along with Mean Machine, The Damned United and a short documentary film about the Koh Paynee Football Club in Thailand.

My appreciation for Canada’s comes from hearing it played and sung during Stanley Cup playoff games in Canada.

As for our own National Anthem, I do like it. Especially when it was played at Memorial Stadium before Baltimore Orioles games and the whole crowd would yell “O” in unison at the start of the line “Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave.”

Speaking of baseball, the Adult Softball Club (ASC) likens themselves to the Colorado Rockies. While last season was one to forget, this season is better. The Rockies are reportedly doing better, and ASC is as well with one win under their belt after they edged out an 11-10 win over Butte & Co two weeks ago and then almost beat Toad last week. True, they are sitting near the bottom of the Wednesday league standings but they’re not all the way at the bottom. While they share a similar 1-4 record with four other teams, including the Inglorious Batters sorry Elkhorn, their runs differential number of -45 puts them in eighth place out of 10 teams.

And that brings hope. And ASC brought some hope into their game Wednesday, June 24 when they faced CB Extreme who were coming into the game with just one win themselves.

That said, there’s a fairly well-known sports fan saying, it’s the hope that kills you.

ASC was in the running for their second win of the season at first as they went toe-to-toe with CB Extreme through the first three innings with a mix of good offense and good defense.

It started with the defense in the bottom of the first inning. Andrew Tower led off with a base hit and scored when Mark Krause got dirty for an RBI double and Mick Demi singled to score Krause for a 2-0 CB Extreme lead and were poised for more. That is until ASC’s shortstop Luke VandenBerghe scooped a ground ball, tagged a runner and then threw to second for the force out and a rally ending double play.

ASC then tied the game 2-2 with two swings of the bat as Aubrie Davenport singled and then jogged home thanks to a two-run home run from Trey Peden. They too were poised for more, but the CB Extreme defense did its job to stop them in their tracks as well.

CB Extreme returned to the plate to score two more runs when Jason McRoy and Brett Hubert both knocked base hits and scored on a two RBI single from Jolene Deith. That ended quickly again though and ASC came right back when Matt Harnett led off with a double to left field and reached home on a single from VandenBerghe. Davenport singled to put runners in the corners and Peden came through again, though not like before, as he tapped an RBI single to left field to tie the game 4-4.

Continued good defense from ASC kept the game tied through the third inning but then things unraveled. Or rather, CB Extreme unleashed, scoring eight runs in the bottom of the fourth inning with nearly everyone getting a hit. The McRoys efforts put two on base to start the rally off and Heather Theiss and Jolene Deith all connected amidst a string of RBI base hits to drive in three runs.

Tower and Katy Ives both then got on base and Krause, Vickie Hormuth, Demi and Sara Reese connected for back-to-back-to-back-to-back base hits, or four RBI hits in a row, to push CB Extreme out front 12-4.

Braydon Saunders looked to keep hope alive as he led off for ASC with a triple and scored on a sac fly RBI but some extreme defense by Ives in the outfield quashed that and Addsion Ives continued the CB Extreme offensive effort leading off the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo Inside the Park Home run (ITPHR) to deep right field. Theiss then smoked a single down the third baseline, and Tower and Krause pushed two more runs in with RBI hits for a 15-5 lead.

Hope quashed but enthusiasm not for ASC as they did manage to score two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Emily Smith led off with a single and a sac hit from May Lamb (shout out to Drew and Laurie in Calais) scored Smith and Haleigh Vigil tapped an RBI single before all was said and done for ASC in their 15-7 demise.

Despite the fatalistic opinion of hope among sports fans, I implore ASC to keep hope alive, as I do U.S. soccer team fans. I mean, look what it did for USA Hockey in 1980. And while I’m old-er, I’m okay with that for several reasons one of which being, I got to see the “Miracle on Ice” happen in real time.