By Tim “Shoe” Sullivan

Blowouts were the name of the game Tuesday Night in the “Jim Barden” Coed Softball League at Moore Barn Memorial in beautiful Buena Vista.

In what was supposed to be a close battle in the opener, Joe’s Bar (6-2) blasted Final Score (4-4), 21-8, in six innings. In the second “game”, Central Door Solutions (6-2) bushwacked Papa Joe’s (0-8), 25-1, and the rout only lasted five innings. Final Score batted first and took a 2-0 lead on Morgan Oppor’s walk, Bobby Sullivan’s double, and Kelly Arndt’s single.

Unfortunately for the Score, Joe’s Bar then came to bat. You wanna talk about a rally? Well, Rob King, Courtney Nelson, and Casey Bielen all singled. Meg Lee walked to drive in Kinger. Travis Kempf followed with a booming grand slam homer to left and just like that it was 5-2 Joe’s. Then a walk to Dani Brezinski and singles by Bailey Hinderman, Ryan Gleesing, King, Nelson, and Bielen sent four more Joe’s runners in to score and when the dust finally settled, the score was 9-2 not in favor of the Score.

The onslaught continued after Final Score went three up and three down in the second. Kempf led off with another homer and Joe’s got two more runs thanks to singles by Casey Kedrowski, Gleesing, Chelsea Stenzel, and King. Actually, King had three hits before Final Score even made it through their batting order; 12-2 after two.

Final Score’s Morgan Oppor tripled in the top of the third but she was left stranded. Joe’s struck again with four more runs as two batters walked, Bielen, Meg Lee, and Dani Brezinski singled, and Gleesing doubled. 16-2 Joe’s after three. Final Score finally got something going in the top of the fourth by putting five runs on the board.

The nice rally included singles by Kelly Arndt, Dalton Wriedt, Mickey Jo Terry, Cory Blake, Carly Johnson, and Jake Mortimer. 16-7. Casey Bielen socked a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to put the tally at 17-7.

Final Score got their final run in the top of the sixth when Cory Blake hit his third homer of the year. 17-8. Joe’s picked up one run in the fifth when Casey Kedrowski walked and scored. He also walked and scored in the third. “Kedro” leads the league in walks with nine.

He explained, “I got a good eye.”

So the score was 18-8 with Joe’s coming to bat in the bottom of the sixth. They needed two runs to win by the 12-run rule. They got that and more in about a minute. King singled, Courtney Nelson singled, and Bielen ended the game with a three-run homer; 21-8 was the final.

Outfielder Rob King of Joe’s noted, “We expected a close game. Final Score has some talented players for sure. Hey, we lost two games already this year. You never know what’s going to happen. That’s why they play the game.”

Final Score had eleven hits, including eight singles. Joe’s had nine hits and two walks in the first inning alone. Sean Stroik’s Joe’s Bar on the Square banged out 23 hits including four homers.

Casey Bielen of Joe’s said, “This league is still up for grabs. CDS beat us twice and we gotta play them again. That game might be one for the ages.”

FINAL SCORE BATTING STATS: Codi Klismith: walk; Morgan Oppor: walk, triple; Bobby Sullivan: double, single…Bobby’s parents Casey and Sharon were in the bleachers, thus putting three Caseys at the game); Kelly Arndt: two singles, Dalton Wriedt: single (makes great roofs); Mickey Jo Terry: single, run; Cory Blake: single, solo homer in sixth; Carly Johnson: single, run; Jake Mortimer: single. Jim Billings (Final Score owner): did not attend game and instead went to Stanley Downs’ party).

JOE’S BAR BATTING STATS: Rob King: four singles, three runs; Courtney Nelson: three singles, two runs; Casey Bielen: three singles, solo homer in fourth, three-run homer in sixth, six RBIs; Meg Lee (on loan from CDS): walk, single; Travis Kempf: grand slam homer in first, solo homer in second, walk, three runs; Bailey Hinderman: single, walk; Casey Kedrowski: single, two more walks, three runs; Dani Brezinski: walk, single, two runs; Ryan Gleesing: three singles, double; Chelsea Stenzel: single, almost got run over at the plate. TIME OF GAME: 51 minutes. ESTIMATED CROWD: Standing room only.

The second game was over by the time the 13th batter walked up to the plate. Central Door Solutions, tied for first with Joe’s at 6-2, scored eight runs on nine hits in Inning Number One en route to a 25-1 thrashing of Papa Joe’s.

The opening salvo included singles by Kyle Brooks, Melissa Dombrowski, C. Bielen (on loan from Joe’s), Abby Rottier (pronounced Ro Tee Ay in France), and Adam Lee, doubles by Meg Lee, Sara Skibicki, and Robby Armatoski, and shortstop Garrett Karnowski’s triple.

Papa Joe’s only run of the game came in the fourth when Jeremy Studinski tripled and scored on Jason VandeWalle’s grounder. After getting stymied in the second, the Solutions came up with eight additional runs in the third. They had eight consecutive singles by Sara Skibicki, Armatoski, Melissa Dombrowski, Bielen, Rottier, Adam and Meg Lee, and Kyle Brooks plus Garrett Karnowski’s double.

Adam Lee and Bielen homered for CDS in the fourth, and they got another bunch of runs in the top of the fifth. The rally included Abby Rottier’s third hit of the game and Sara Skibicki’s third hit as well. Melissa Dombrowski socked four hits for the winners as did Kyle Brooks.

CDS BATTING STATS: Abby Rottier: three singles, two runs; Adam Lee: three singles, solo homer in fourth; Meg Lee: double, single, two runs; Kyle Brooks: four singles; Taylor Brooks: robbed on a line drive to pitcher; Garrett Karnowski: triple, double, single; Sara Skibicki: double, two singles, three runs; Robby Armatoski: double, two singles, three runs; Melissa Dombrowski: four singles, four runs, (yells “Fore!” in golf); C. Bielen: two singles, homer. PAPA JOE’S BATTING STATS: Jake Kluck: single; Sam Przybelski: single, great catch in center; Jeremy Studinski: triple, run; Jason VandeWalle: single; Brandon Wojtalewicz: two singles. TIME OF GAME: 48 minutes. CROWD SIZE: 15 (all Papa Joe’s rooters).

LEAGUE STANDINGS: Central Door Solutions: 6-2. Joe’s Bar: 6-2. Final Score: 4-4. Papa Joe’s: 0-8.

No games on Tuesday, July 4.