Kochevar’s holds off late game surge by Eldo

“Let’s keep the win streak going, and have some fun”

By Than Acuff

With the Tuesday/Thursday softball league playoffs now slated to start Thursday, July 24, teams are positioning themselves for favorable seeds in the postseason or at least looking to establish some momentum heading into the playoffs. Especially when it comes to the teams sitting at or above .500 and just below first place.

Teams like… the Eldo and Kochevar’s.

The Eldo came into the game against Kochevar’s Tuesday, July 15 at Gothic Field 4-4 and apparently on a winning streak as one player said to his Eldo teammates prior to the game, “let’s keep the win streak going, and have some fun.”

Some internet digging revealed that they were coming in hot off a win so by all means, keep the winning streak going, especially with the playoffs on the near horizon.

Though, it’s a bit like saying when you make parallel turns while on telemark gear, you’re still telemark skiing.

Make America Telemark Again.

But that’s a bit nitpicky, I guess. Like wondering if the Epstein files exist.

Kochevar’s, on the other hand, came into it locked in a tie for second place with Pitas with a record of 6-2 and the exact same run differential. Not only that but they’ve played each other twice this season so far with each team winning once. 

But stats are for nerds and it really just comes down to who shows up on game day and Kochevar’s showed up a little bit more than the Eldo on this particular game day.

It actually appeared they showed up a lot more than the Eldo as they started slowly but soon built an 11-4 lead by the fourth inning.

 Despite a great effort by Eldo first basewoman Lexi Chiani jumping high to reel in a toss and land on first base to get the out to deny a leadoff base hit. Kochevar’s did eventually score first as Zane Wrisley and Vince Scola each singled and Mark Krause scored Wrisley on a single to left field.

But then the Eldo’s most recent roster acquisition stepped to the plate in the top of the second inning. AJ Munoz, rumored to have played some competitive baseball in his day, is casual both with his pitching and his approach to the plate when hitting but make no mistake, when the ball is in the air, Munoz looks to murder it, and he did for a towering solo shot to straightaway centerfield to tie the game 1-1.

Kochevar’s soon responded with a two out rally in the bottom of the second inning. John Duffy led off with a single but sat there on first as the next two Kochevar’s hitters popped out only to be back in action as Andrew Arnold pushed him home with a double. Prawit Durgan scored two more runs on a double to right center, a single from Ashley Huse loaded the bases and then Wrisley pushed two more home with a double for a 6-1 Kochevar’s lead.

The Eldo did show some offensive spark in the top of the third as Brian Carney, Anna Carroll and Brian Lynch all connected for RBI base hits to pull the Eldo within two runs, but Kochevar’s had more still when Krause and Hunter Lucas each slapped base hits and eventually scored off base hits by Duffy and John Dreher. Kristen Tyson then joined the party with an RBI double, Durgan did the same and Kochevar’s was cruising until Carney went fully horizontal at shortstop to rob Huse of a line drive base hit and stop the bleeding at 11-4.

Then came Munoz again for the Eldo and Munoz likes the meatball and Munoz smashed the meatball he was served over the centerfield fence and off the cop shop for his second solo dinger of the day.

Down but never out, the Eldo continued to chip away at the Kochevar’s lead as Nick Fulweiler and Carney each hit RBI base hits and then Munoz returned to the plate in the top of the sixth inning for his third solo bomb of the night to help pull the Eldo within three.

But Kochevar’s still had more as the bottom of the batting order came through once again. Dreher led off with a double to right, Tyson singled and Arnold came up just a bit shy of Munoz’ effort settling for an RBI double off the fence in centerfield. Robin Yost and Durgan followed with sac hit RBIs and Kochevar’s were out front 14-8 heading into the top of the seventh inning.

Once again, the Eldo was down but not out, and they made one last push inspired by the effort of Marty McGrane who led off stretching and getting dirty for a triple. McGrane scored on a single from Kristen Sheehan and when Carney doubled, it set the stage for Carroll who drove a two RBI single to pull the Eldo back within three of Kochevar’s. Lynch and Chiani then each stroked singles to load the bases for, you guessed it, Munoz. Down three, bases loaded and Munoz at the plate makes for some excitement, and all eyes were looking to the skies. Unfortunately, one final and fourth home run of the night eluded Munoz as he ended up lining out and Kochevar’s finished with a 14-11 win.