By Tim “Shoe” Sullivan

Tuesday Night softball action in the Jim Barden Co-Ed League at Moore Barn Memorial Park saw plenty of highlights and rain.

The undefeated Central Door Solutions (3-0) came up with a late rally to slip past Final Score (1-2), 7-5 in the evening’s opener. Joe’s Bar (2-1) hammered Papa Joe’s (0-3) 21-6 in the second game. With the threat of rain looming, CDS jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Abby Rottier, Adam Lee, and Meg Lee each singled and Kyle Brooks went yard with a booming grand-slam homer to left.

Kyle’s dad Kevin, a fan in the stands, said, “I thought that was a homer as soon as he hit it.”

The proud papa also won a broasted chicken dinner from RD’s Diner for retrieving the ball from the trees. Final Score got a lone run in the bottom of the first when Nic Dulmes singled and scored on Bobby Sullivan’s triple. Score 4-1, CDS, after one.

Final Score cut the lead to 4-2 with a run in the second as Kristin DeVogel’s groundout drove in Kendra Preusser. The Solutions added a run in the top of the third when Meg Lee’s double brought in Adam Lee.

Bobby Sullivan’s long solo homer to left for the Score made the tally 5-3 CDS after three. Central Door was shut down in the fourth thanks to great fielding plays by pitcher Jake Mortimer and Mickey Joe Terry at first base. Cory Blake led off with a home run in the bottom of the fourth thus making the score 5-4.

Bobby Sullivan went deep again in the fifth for the Score to tie the game at 5-5 after five. Central Door Solutions took the lead for good in the top of the sixth as Kyle Brooks doubled and came home following singles by Tera Schmidt and Aaron Dodson. 6-5.

The Solutions tacked on an insurance run in the seventh when Adam Lee’s double chased home Abby Rottier who had singled. Final Score could only come up with a double by Jake Mortimer in the sixth and a single by Dalton Wriedt in the seventh.

The game ended with the Solutions on top, 7-5. Brooks was the winning pitcher and Mortimer was saddled with the loss.

It started raining just as the final out was made. Umpire Jesse Higgins checked his radar and decided to begin the second game.

CENTRAL DOOR SOLUTIONS BATTING STATS: Abby Rottier: two singles, two runs. Adam Lee: single, double, two runs. Meg Lee: single, double, run. Kyle Brooks: grand-slam homer, two doubles, two runs. Tera Schmidt: single. Aaron Dodson: two singles. Luke Suchon: single, double. FINAL SCORE BATTING STATS: Nic Dulmes: two singles, run. Bobby Sullivan: RBI triple in first; solo homer in third; solo homer in fifth. Jazmin Soto: triple, single. Dalton Wriedt: single. Kendra Preusser: single. Cory Blake: two singles; solo homer in fourth. Jake Mortimer: two doubles. Kristin DeVogel: single, RBI.  TIME OF GAME: 51 minutes.

A light drizzle began falling as the second game got underway, and four hits by Joe’s Bar plus three straight infield errors by Papa Joe’s led to a 5-0 lead for Joe’s in the first.

The hits by Joe’s were singles by Courtney Nelson and Travis Kempf and doubles by Casey Bielen and the red-hot Rob King. Papa Joe’s got on the board with three runs in the soggy second on hits by Ashley Radmer, Brandon Wojtalewicz, Jeremy Studinski, and Jason VanDewalle.

Joe’s picked up two more runs in the second and four more in the third. The key hits were singles by Ryan Gleesing, Bailey Blue, Kyle Salzman, and “Kinger”’s two-run homer. As it continued to rain, Joe’s led 11-3 after Joe’s batted in the top of the third.

Papa Joe’s really had something going in their half of the third. Matt Bauman, Laura Mattek, and Jake Kluck all scored making it 11-6. Then came the real fun. Ashley Radmer was on third, Brandon Wojtalewicz was on second, and Madison Penning was the runner on first. A nice rally.

Three runs in and no outs. Bases loaded.

Jeremy Studinski, who had doubled the previous at-bat, smacked a rocket to right-center. All the runners took off. Rob King of Joe’s raced over and made a sliding catch of the sinking liner. Kinger then from his knees fired to Travis Kempf at second to double off Wojtalewicz. Kempf then threw over to Brianna Dobbratz at first to nail Maddy Penning who was sliding back in and just like that Joe’s Bar had pulled off a triple play; the first in Doug’s Sports Pub Coed history.

A relieved Rob King said, “Man, if I would’ve missed that catch, the dude (Jeremy Studinski) probably would’ve had a grand-slam homer!”

The fourth inning was also a doozy. Kyle Salzman homered for Joe’s. Taylor Mains singled and King hit yet another home run, his fifth in two games. With one out, Ryan Gleesing singled. Courtney Nelson singled. Casey Bielen singled, but Gleesing got thrown out at home. Two outs.

Bielen thought Gleesing’s out at home was the third out so he walked back to the dugout. Nobody noticed it. Then Brianna Dobbratz singled and Papa Joe’s pitcher Jason VanDewalle  called time and politely asked where Bielen was.

Since he was still in the dugout, the umpire ruled that Brianna’s hit didn’t count and Bielen was out even though he hit a single because he was out of the baseline and also passed up by Dobbratz. So Joe’s only got four runs and after the inning Rob King informed Casey that a team gets three outs an inning and not just two. Joe’s led 14-6 after four and poured seven more runs in during the fifth. The final was 21-6.

JOE’S BAR BATTING STATS: Ryan Gleesing: three singles. Courtney Nelson: four singles, three runs. Casey Bielen: three doubles, single, and almost another single. Brianna Dobbratz: two singles and one taken away. Travis Kempf: two singles, double. Beke Blue: double. Kyle Salzman: homer, two singles. Taylor Mains: single, two runs. Rob “Kinger” King: double, homer, homer, single, tested negative, catch started triple play. Bailey Blue: single, triple. PAPA JOE’S HITTING STATS: Matt Bauman: two singles. Laura Mattek: walk, run. Jake Kluck: two singles, run. Ashley Radmer: two singles. Brandon Wojtalewicz: two singles. Madison Penning: single. Jeremy Studinski: double; lined into triple play. Jason VanDewalle: single; noticed Bielen in dugout when he should’ve been on first. TIME OF GAME: 48 minutes.

LEAGUE STANDINGS: Central Door Solutions: 3-0. Joe’s Bar: 2-1. Final Score: 1-2. Papa Joe’s: 0-3.