Kochevar’s rises to the 2026 softball summit

1…2…3… Coop, Frank!

by Than Acuff 

Back in late March the Kochevar’s hockey team came back from a 3-0 deficit to win the A/B league title. On Thursday, August 13 the Kochevar’s softball team made a similar comeback to add a softball title to the walls of franchise headquarters on Elk Avenue.

Truth be told, it was a game of mixed emotions for me. On the one hand we had Pitas, the most prolific franchise in the history of local softball, playing all season long in memory of teammates Heather Cooper and Frank Magri.

On the other hand, we had Kochevar’s. A team that walks the line of competitiveness and camaraderie like no other team, yet still managed to finish the Tuesday/Thursday league regular season in first place and cruise through the post season to reach the finals.

The initial weather pattern kept the crowd small in size at the start yet still noteworthy as not only were there fans from the Triborough area of Mt. Crested Butte, Crested Butte and Crested Butte South, but even fans, rather a fan/father Rick Krause, from Wausau, Wisconsin who flew in for championship week and all the festivities surrounding it.

The two teams did not disappoint as Kochevar’s looked favorable to win, Pitas then surged and looked to take complete control before Kochevar’s rebooted when it mattered most leaving online gamblers changing bets and losing money nearly every inning. Never one to shy away from hyperbole, this game was Rocky 1 and Rocky 2 over the course of seven innings. It was Ali v. Foreman in Zaire. It was awesome.

It started with defense in the top of the first inning, specifically the defense of Hannah Stirckland. Pitas started off with back-to-back singles looking to build the first lead of the game but when Strickland flagged down a hot grounder at first to get the out, Kochevar’s pitcher Mark Krause followed with scooping a comebacker and tossing to first for the second out and John Dreher made a highlight grab in the outfield for the third out to leave Pitas high and dry.

Kochevar’s then showed their cards early in the bottom of the first as it was obvious aggressive base running was the plan stretching for any and all bases available.

Andrew Arnold led off stretching for two and then stretching for home on a single by Ashley Huse. The next three batters followed suit to load the bases for Matt Savard who stretched his arms and bat to bomb a grand slam over centerfield for a 5-0 Kochevar’s lead.

But, as I mentioned earlier, Pitas is a storied franchise that packs a lot of punch, and they started punching, throwing some jabs while mixing in a left hook and a left uppercut. Drew Stichter threw the first one-two to double and score on a single from Melissa Mason. Vikie Stone jabbed with a single to load the bases and Thomas Mclean threw a body blow to drive in two more runs with a single. Emily Velado followed with another jab RBI single and then Jason Chamberlin went with a left hook for a three-run home run and a 7-5 Pitas lead.

Kochevar’s stayed on their feet, but Pitas kept punching as Scott Sanders and Heather Duryea each landed jabs to score two more runs and then Stichter connected with a left hook that started at his hip for a two-run home run reaching the 10-run limit for a 10-5 lead. Pitas kept Kochevar’s on the ropes through the next four innings. While they couldn’t land the knockout punch, they continued to land jabs, and body blows here and there both at the plate and in the field culminating with a two RBI triple from Chamberlin in the top of the fifth and an over the shoulder grab by Duryea and toss to first for an inning ending double play in the bottom of the fifth. The same Duryea who has been a part of at least 20 titles over the years playing for teams such as the LoBar, Homegrown Hitters, the Rent-A-Gades as well as Pitas.

Amidst all of the pummeling, Kochevar’s rope-a-dope started working. Sure, they took a succession of big punches but a sac fly RBI from Huse, a solo shot from Savard and an RBI single by Hunter Lucas amidst the pounding showed they weren’t going to drop to the mat easily.

Suffice it to say, Pitas needed to put them away, but they didn’t and when Krause did the unthinkable fanning one of the most, if not the most, consistent Pitas hitters of the past 10 years in the top of the sixth inning, moms hugged their kids while dads stood mouths agape.

Down 14-8 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, a step to the left and a right hook to the ribs in the form of a solo shot by Dreher to lead off had Pitas spun against the ropes and Kochevar’s started swinging back. Strickland then singled and Savard knocked his third home run of the game, this one off the roof of Mountain Spirits. Prawit Durgan and Holly McFadden followed with base hits and John Duffy scored one with a single to pull within two.

Then Pitas got the second out and what happened next was the stuff of legend as Kochevar’s proceeded to go on a nine-run two-out rally. It started with a two RBI triple to the chin, i.e. the gap, in left center from Krause. Lucas popped a weird area RBI double for a body blow. Arnold and Huse combined for a one-two combination to score two more runs. Dreher added an RBI triple to go with his home run and when Strickland singled to score a run and Durgan doubled to score two runs, Kochevar’s was up 21-14 and Pitas returned to their corner dazed to get cuts from Mickey to reduce the swelling.

But nothing could bring Pitas back. Sure, Will Mixon found his stroke for a towering solo shot but that was the last big punch they managed to land as Kochevar’s bided their time and held out for the 21-15 TKO and the 2026 title.

Oof, writing that felt like a boxing match. I bet so did reading it. See you next summer!