By Tim “Shoe” Sullivan

Under grey skies and the threat of rain, the Shoe Crew (2-0) finally got the bats going and came from behind to nip Sloppy Swats (0-1), 6-5 in coed softball action at Moore Barn Memorial Monday night.

In a game dominated by outstanding defense, neither team really went nuts at the plate. The Swats, playing in their first game of the season, got on the board first when Jen Eggleston walked and scored following singles by Evan Volm and Matt Barden. The Shoe Crew tied the game at 1-1 when Joe Kinsella smacked a long home run to left in the bottom of the second. Not much happened offensively in the third.

The Sloppy Swats put together a nice rally in the top of the fourth inning when they came up with four big runs to take a 5-1 lead. The big hits were singles by Erin Laffe and Justin Scott and doubles off the bats of Matt Barden and Pat Scheele. Brady Spees added a two-run triple. The Sloppy Swats were held scoreless the rest of the way as Shoe Crew turned two nifty double plays.

After only scoring one run in the first five innings, the Shoe Crew suddenly came alive in the bottom of the sixth. They bunched almost all of their hits into one inning. Max Delap led off with a double. Chelsea Stenzel’s groundout moved Delap to third, and he scored on Kyle Norwood’s triple. 5-2 Swats.

Then Melissa Dombrowski socked a double to center which drove in Norwood. 5-3 Swats. Andy Horst was intentionally walked, and Nicole Spees made a great play at second to rob Tammy King. Two outs. Joe Kinsella singled to load the bases and Amber Hintz strode to the plate. Amber smashed a solid single to left driving in Dombrowski and Horst to knot the game at 5-5. Then Matt Hodgson singled to send Kinsella home with the eventual winning run. Winning pitcher Kyle Norwood noted: “The Swats really gave us a battle like they always do. Those big hits by Melissa and Amber saved the day for us.”

The Swats went three up and three down in the seventh as the Shoe Crew escaped with a 6-5 victory. Sloppy Swats actually outhit the Crew, 11-9. RD’s Diner awarded some broasted chicken dinners during the game. Melissa Dombrowski and Amber Hintz won chicken dinners for their key hits, and Matt Hodgson earned one for getting five hits in a game the week before. Jackson Spees and Campbell Spees, the Swats’ superfans, won dinners for retrieving foul balls, and Ben Gruba earned a chicken dinner for doing a fine job selling candy bars.

SLOPPY SWATS BATTING STATS: Brady Spees: double, triple. Jen Eggleston: two walks, run. Evan Volm: two singles. Beth Singer: single. Matt Barden: single, double, run. Pat Scheele: single, double, run, RBI. Erin Laffe: single, run, RBI. Justin Scott: single, run. SHOE CREW BATTING STATS: Kyle Norwood: triple, run, RBI. Melissa Dombrowski: double, run, RBI. Andy Horst: walk, run. Joe Kinsella: solo homer in second, single, two runs. Amber Hintz: two singles, 2 RBIs. Matt Hodgson: single, RBI. Michelle Morrisey: made great play at third. Max Delap: single, double, run. TIME OF GAME: 48 minutes.

The first game of the night was a bummer as Airport Bar (2-0) throttled Team BAMF (0-2), 20-0 in four innings. Winning pitcher James Marthaler held BAMF to four hits, all singles. Airport scored early and often with three runs in the first and nine more in the second and a bunch more after that. Adam Lee led the way with four hits while Meg Lee, Josh Swan, and Kyle Krieger contributed three each. Tyler Mader, Sue Gruba, James Marthaler, Stefanie Jackson, and rightfielder Kim Schmitz chipped in two hits apiece. Kim Schmitz technically “won” the game for Airport by driving in Marthaler with run #20 thus invoking the 20-run rule after four innings.

The defending champion Airporters amassed 24 hits during the tilted tilt. RD’s Diner broasted chicken dinners were awarded to Kyle Krieger of Airport for fine all-around play, Kathy Glodowski for being the first fan at the game, Erin Laffe for getting BAMF’s only walk, and Bobby Sullivan for umpiring.

TEAM BAMF BATTING STATS: Graham Edwardson: two singles. Erin Laffe: walk. Morgan Edwardson: single. Danita Ashland: single. AIRPORT BAR BATTING STATS: Abby Rottier: double, run. Adam Lee: two singles, two doubles, four runs. Adam West: Played “Batman” in tv series. Meg Lee: three singles, three runs. Tyler Mader: two singles, three runs. Sue Gruba: two singles. James Marthaler: double, single, three runs. Stefanie Jackson: two singles, two runs. Josh Swan: double, two singles, two runs. Kim Schmitz: triple, single. Bert Ward: played “Robin” in tv series. Kyle Krieger: three singles, bunch of RBIs. TIME OF GAME: 47 minutes.

MONDAY NIGHT “BUD BERRY” CO-ED LEAGUE STANDINGS: Airport Bar: 2-0. Shoe Crew: 2-0. Kim’s Barrel Inn: 0-1. Sloppy Swats: 0-1. Team BAMF: 0-2.

NEXT WEEK’S GAMES: Monday, May 22: 5:45: Sloppy Swats vs Airport Bar. 6:45: Kim’s Barrel Inn vs Team BAMF. Bye: Shoe Crew. NOTE: All games are played at Moore Barn Memorial Field across from Doug’s Sports Pub in beautiful downtown Buena Vista. There is no admission charge and yelling at umpire Jesse Higgins is tolerated.