Bashers Show Heart to Clinch Winning Record

They say it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. The Bashers proved that this cliche applies to softball as well. Despite being two men short, the boys in orange were able to split a double-header against the first-place Hard Times Cafe by taking the opener 16-15 and losing the second game 31-9.

With only eight men at Virginia Highlands at the time of first pitch, coach Mark made a surprise decision to start Kevin on the mound, his first start in 15 years. The Bashers would get on the board in the top of the first. After back-to-back leadoff singles by Dave and Dean, Glen drove home the first run with a ground out. With two outs, Pat would single and Marty would walk. Kevin would help his own cause with a bases-clearing double. Mark would then walk, and Dave would drive home Kevin to make it 5-0 after a half inning. Kevin would hold Hard Times Cafe to three in the bottom of the inning to keep his side two runs to the good after an inning.

In the top of the second, the Bashers would put up four more runs. Glen and Matt had singles to start off the inning, while Pat would reach on a fielder's choice that eliminated Matt. With one out, Marty hit an RBI double, followed by Kevin's RBI groundout. Mark would drive home Marty with a single. Dave would hit another single and Dean would drive home Mark with a single as well. Kevin would struggle in the bottom of the frame, giving up nine runs, leaving the score at 12-9 after two.

In the top of the third, the Bashers would take the lead for good. Matt led off with a double, which Pat would follow with a double. Marty then had an RBI single, and Kevin would drive in two with a single of his own. Mark would get a single. With one out, Dean and Glen would hit back-t0-back RBI singles. With two outs, Pat would hit a double to drive home two runs, but was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a triple. With the lead, Kevin gave way to Dave on the mound. Dave would pitch a donut in the third, and the Bashers led 16-12 after 3.

The Bashers were held scoreless in the fourth, and the while Hard Times Cafe would score three in the bottom of the inning, the Bashers held the line and came up with an inspiring, underdog victory by the mark of 16-15.

After pouring it all into game one, the Bashers were unable to overcome the manpower disadvantage in game 2. The Bashers spotted their opponents seven in the top of the first, but did manager to score nine times themselves. Dave, Dean, Glen and Kevin each had RBI singles, while Pat had a pair of RBI singles and Matt had a one-run and two-run single. However, that would be the only offense the Bashers would muster, as Hard Times Cafe ended the game with 31 runs.



The Bashers clinched a winning season with their win in the first game, and now stand at 10 up and 6 down. The finale of a successful fall campaign occurs on Wednesday, October 18th at Jennie Dean against Hot Action. For the field location, see the links section.