By Tim “Shoe” Sullivan

At 5 PM Monday, there were five teams alive in the traditional post-season coed softball tournament at Doug’s in beautiful downtown Buena Vista.

By 7:30, the field had been trimmed to three.

Two games were on tap at Moore Barn Memorial early Monday evening. In the opening game of the tournament, Shoe Crew got past a feisty Team BAMF, 11-5. Then Kim’s Barrel Inn beat the Sloppy Swats, 8-4, in the nightcap.

After the first game, BAMF captain Christopher Ashland noted, “It all came down to the first inning. We just couldn’t get anybody out. Our defense was great the rest of the way, but that first inning kinda done us in.”

BAMF actually had 15 hits to the Crew’s 13, but the opening inning was a nightmare for the losers. BAMF took a 2-0 lead when Corey Blake tripled to drive in Erin Laffe and Brad Ashland. But in the bottom of the first, the Shoe Crew came up with nine runs on eight hits and BAMF also committed two errors. The big Crew rally included singles by Sam Polley, Jared Shilka, Amber Hintz, and Melissa Dombrowski, doubles by BJ Stearns, Aaron Wahl, and Kyle Norwood, and Norwood also added a triple later in the inning as the Shoe Crew batted around.

The winners only scored two more runs after the first. Stearns tripled and came home on Tammy King’s single in the fifth, and Norwood walked, moved to third on Melissa Dombrowski’s single, and scored on Andy Horst’s sacrifice fly.

“We had a bunch of runners on base almost every inning, but we just couldn’t get the key hits,” Lakyn Lloyd of BAMF said. “Geez, we had the bases loaded in the fourth and seventh and only got one run each time.”

Singles by Kimberley Brockman, Chris Ashland, and Steve Stroik produced one BAMF run in the fourth. A double by Corey Blake and Chris Ashland’s base hit netted the losers a single run in the sixth, and a walk to Morgan Edwardson and singles by Jake Bailey, Erin Laffe, and Brad Ashland accounted for BAMF’s final run in the seventh.

The Shoe Crew’s outfielder Melissa Dombrowski remarked, “They kept fighting back, but we made some huge plays to stymie them.”

The Shoe Crew’s win earned them the chance to play undefeated Airport Bar on September 12. Airport was 12-0 during the regular season and had the tourney’s opening round bye.

TEAM BAMF BATTING STATS: Jake Bailey: three singles; Erin Laffe: two singles; Brad Ashland: three singles; Corey Blake: triple, double; Kimberley Brockman: single; Chris Ashland: two singles; Steve Stroik: double, single. Morgan Edwardson: walk.

SHOE CREW BATTING STATS: Kyle Norwood: double, triple, single, walk; Melissa Dombrowski: two singles; Andy Horst: sacrifice fly; BJ Stearns: double, triple; Julie Peskie: great play at third; Aaron Wahl: double, single, sac. fly; Tammy King: single, RBI; Jared Shilka: single; Amber “Chipmunk” Hintz: single, run.

TIME OF GAME: 52 minutes.

Kim’s Barrel Inn’s defense was the key to their 8-4 win over the Sloppy Swats. KBI’s outfield of Kevin Hurd, Morgan Oppor, Nic Dulmes, and Jazmin Soto caught seven fly-balls and Megan Pollack, Megan Wiczek, and Josh Barnes handled the infield flawlessly.

The Swats scored two runs in the first on singles by Karin Kedrowski, Matt Barden, and Jen Eggleston. Then the KBI gloves went to work and the Swats only managed three singles and a double for the remainder of the game. The Swats scored their third run in the second on a walk to Nicole Spees, Nate Pezewski’s single, and a sacrifice fly by Brady Spees.

The fourth inning was huge for KBI as they came up with four runs. With one out, shortstop Josh Barnes tripled and two batters later Kevin Hurd left the yard with a two-run homer. Then four straight singles by Megan Wiczek, Jack Mortimer, Danielle Hoover, and Jake Mortimer plated two more.

The fans in the stands yelled: “Hey have you heard? It’s Kevin Hurd!”

The Barrel netted two more runs in the fifth thanks to singles by Hurd, Nic Dulmes, and a Josh Barnes’ double. Their final run in the sixth came courtesy of Danielle Hoover’s single, a base hit by winning pitcher Jake Mortimer, and Morgan Oppor’s RBI ground-out. 8-4 was your final.

KBI had 16 hits while the Swats were held to seven.

KBI first-baseman Jack Mortimer observed, “The Swats are always tough. Our outfield was super. I never thought we’d hold them to only four runs. Usually they get about twelve.”

The Barrel will play in the title game on the 19th. The league party is also on the 19th.

SLOPPY SWATS BATTING STATS: Brady Spees: sacrifice fly, robbed by Morgan Oppor. Evan Volm: walk; Karin Kedrowski: single, walk. (Her dad Bruce was cheering her on from a picnic table). Matt Barden: single; Jen Eggleston: two singles, walk; Nicole Spees: walk, single; Nate Pezewski: single, double.

KIM’S BARREL INN BATTING STATS: Jake Mortimer: two singles; Morgan Oppor: single; Nic Dulmes: triple, single; Josh Barnes: two doubles, triple; Kevin Hurd: two singles, two-run homer in fourth; Megan Wiczek: single; Jack Moretimer: two singles; Danielle Hoover: two singles.

Two games remain in the tournament. September 12: Airport Bar vs Shoe Crew. September 19: Winner of that vs Kim’s Barrel Inn for the championship.

Also like to give a shout-out to super-fan Marie Adams who celebrated her birthday Monday!