The Thursday night Clinton Recreation and Parks Co-ed Softball League playoffs featured a matchup between the top two teams in the league and a closely contested game in the finale. In the end Thrown Together and NGNL were the victors.
NGNL and Bat and Boujee faced off to start game one of two, with the winner of the matchup scheduled to face the Splittin Gaps.
In the first inning, the bats for NGNL got off to a quick start. The team went up 1-0 before run contributions from Dustin Edge, James McDowell, Woo Lamb and Mark Stanford ballooned the lead to 6-0.
Bat and Boujee battled back to get two runs on the board with a homer from Mason Hope and a sacrifice fly from Eli Culbreth, but NGNL stopped the run there.
Up 6-2 in the second, NGNL added two on a two-run double by Edge to push its lead to six. In the bottom of the second, BNB took the lead with a seven-run inning with contributions from Allison Coleman, Ty McLean, Russell Hope and Taylon Hope to put them up 9-8.
In the third, NGNL flipped the script. A base hit by McDowell got a runner on base before a triple by Andrew Johnston brought him home to tie the game. Kelly Wood sent Johnston home with an RBI single to take the lead, and then scores from Lamb, Tyler Williams, Dawson Batts, Wood and Stanford extended it to 15-9.
There was a moment of confusion for both sides regarding outs following Batts’ plate appearance, as Bat and Boujee team members believed it had recorded three outs. NGNL’s Kendra Simmons had grounded out before him. The umpire ruled that the out count was at two, and the inning continued.
BNB rallied in the bottom of the third, scoring six runs to even out the game at 15-all heading into the fourth.
NGNL regained the lead with a two-run double by McDowell to bring two runners in. The batting side added four more points to the board, highlighted by a three-run triple by Batts. By the bottom of the fourth, NGNL was up 21-15. On defense, NGNL forced BNB into three straight outs to keep it scoreless.
NGNL held on to win 23-18 in five innings.
Game Two
Thrown Together and Diamond Dynasty faced off in an elimination game, as both teams lost their first-round matchups.
In the first, Thrown Together took a 4-0 lead before Diamond Dynasty went on an 11-0 scoring run, highlighted by an inside-the-park home run from Cam Moore to go up 11-4.
Thrown Together fought back in the second, first with a single from Johny Renovato to get the first runner on base. After Cameron Jenkins walked, Micah Moyle brought in Johny Renovato with an RBI to cut the Dynasty lead to six. Thrown Together put up 10 more runs, capped off by an inside-the-park homer from Garrette Garcia to take a 15-11 lead as the inning ended.
In the third, Dynasty’s Bryan Rupert cut Thrown Together’s lead to three before two two-run hits from Daniel Rappleye and Moore scored four more runs to give Diamond Dynasty the lead.
But no lead was safe for either side as the innings wound down. With Thrown Together leading 18-16 in the bottom of the third, Diamond Dynasty took it back, adding five runs in the top of the fourth.
The final momentum swing came in the bottom of the inning when, with time running out, Thrown Together drew three straight walks before RBIs from Moyle and Hunter Jackson gave the hitting side the lead at 23-21. Thrown Together then managed to add four more runs before the Dynasty got the final out at 27-21.
In the final inning, Diamond Dynasty left it all on the field. A triple by Cody Wirt brought home Rupert and Austin Spell to cut the Thrown Together lead to just four. As Wirt ran to third, the opportunity to get to home plate became available, and he dashed for it. Thrown Together’s Charlotte Doran caught the ball at home plate and lunged to make the tag, but Wirt jumped over her outstretched hand as he contorted his body to land on home plate and score another run.
With all the momentum in its favor and down only 27-24, Diamond Dynasty recorded two more hits before Thrown Together ended the game with three outs to hold on for the win.
Thrown Together’s victory keeps the team in the playoffs, as it faces Bat and Boujee on Monday, Aug. 10, at 7:30 p.m., while NGNL will play the Splittin Gaps an hour earlier at 6:30 p.m.
With the loss against Thrown Together, Diamond Dynasty was eliminated from the playoffs.