Rotary Softball Champions...Three Peat!
The Rotary Club of Sacramento are softball champions for the third year in a row with an improbable come-from-behind victory over South Sacramento in the semi-final game and an unbelievable finish in the championship game over the East Sac/North Sac/Arden Arcade combo team.
The theme of the series was “Win One for the Mik” who was injured on the first pitch of the game. “Did anyone get the license number of the truck that hit me?” Mik asked. While running to first base, Mik Miklaus collided with their 2nd baseman, hitting the ground hard head first. “I have a broken left collar bone…clavicle …it is in three pieces. But the real problem was I could not get air after the collision. Several cracked ribs on the left side and bruised lungs…nothing broken! No bleeding! Just painful to move. President Thom gets to drink my share of the championship champagne….I could not have gotten to emergency without him. The Mik will be ready next season!”
The improbable come-from-behind victory was improbable when South Sac scored 8 runs in the bottom of the first to claim an 8-1 lead. “I thought we were toast being behind 8-1,” Prez Thom Gilbert said upon his departure to the hospital (see above paragraph).
But the boys of summer chipped away. First rallying to tie the game and then putting on a hitting clinic, to eventually win the contest, 22-8. Third base coach and Past-President, Peter Dannenfelser II, got dizzy waving runners home. Center fielder, Frank Geremia, made the play of the century with an unbelievable catch, robbing South Sac would-be hitter of extra bases with the bases loaded. But the real story was hitting. Kevin “yellow socks, make you run faster, jump higher,” Smith-Fagan, seemed to be on base the entire game. Jim Culleton, hitting extraordinaire, had more hits than the Beatles. The hits kept coming and coming with contributions from clean-up hitter, Rick Osen, hitting a one-hopper against the fence to score 3 runs. And let’s not forget #97, Tim Pinkney, with at least 3 RBI’s without hitting the ball out of the infield. “I never hit the ball out of the infield, but I got 3 RBI’s, Past Prez Pinkney proclaimed.” With the Sacramento team hitting on all cylinders and playing superior defense, the contest was all but over.
The championship game, however, was completely different. With Sacramento leading 10-1 and going into the Combo’s home half of the seventh inning, the combo team rallied. “We just could not get that third out!” The fans screamed! Great defense was the key. Left fielder, Lorcan Barnes, made the runner-up play of the century to end the Combo team threat in the 6th. Third baseman, Bob Miller, made several grabs of would-be base hits to thwart any combo team rallies. But Sacramento finally got the last out, with a smash to shortstop, Kevin Smith-Fagan, flipping a toss to 2nd baseman, John Swentowsky, to end the game. “You guys played way above your heads,” Combo Coach, Mike Soto, lamented.
Between the two games, perpetually injured right fielder, Jay Lowden, with his two bad knees, was seen icing them down. John Swentowsky also was seen borrowing Jay’s ice packs to ice his strained quad injury. After a long 9 week season, the injuries were a huge part of the game. Winning pitcher, Hal Bartholomew, (for only his 3rd win of the season), was heard saying during the celebratory victory suds, “We had 4 good legs among us; unfortunately, all 4 good legs were on 4 different players. Also heard bragging over beverages was Kevin Smith-Fagan, “What is better than beer? Championship Beer!” Cheering on the team to victory were loyal fans, Tammy, Taylor and Sierra Lowden and Barbara Swentowsky. Also absent from our championship team was Bob Daly, who was in Ireland running a marathon instead of running the bases…priorities?
Until next year…”Sustain the Illusion!”