Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Big bats, big wins keep coming for 7 Dog Ranch

Hailey Coed Softball champs, a fourth time

---

By JEFF CORDES
Express Staff Writer

Tournament MVP Buddy Peterson takes a home run trot after his sixth-inning homer clinched 7 Dog Ranch’s 18-13 championship game victory Sunday at Hailey’s Lions Park. Photo by Willy Cook

Ask anyone about Buddy Peterson's chances to be the Most Valuable Player of some athletic tournament and the likely answer is, you're talking about the sport of basketball.

He led the Carey High School basketball team in scoring in his senior year of 1997. Fifteen years later, Peterson was a key player on the Jivaro Headhunters basketball squad that in March won its fifth Outlaw League title in six years.

Who would have thought that the dapper and athletic Peterson, hailing from a Carey family of male athletes, would be the big slugger for a championship softball team?

But Peterson was certainly the MVP gold medalist for the 7 Dog Ranch slow-pitch softball team in last weekend's 5B Photo Hailey Coed Softball League tourney at Lions Park.

Not only was Peterson on fire in Saturday night's Home Run Derby with nine, that's right, nine dingers, to just three for long-ball hitting Trenton T.J. Petersen, but Buddy kept his home run swing going in Sunday's tournament finale.

His sixth-inning three-run homer, with two outs, capped a furious 7 Dog Ranch six-run rally from a 14-11 deficit and provided the top-seeded reigning champs with a 17-14 victory over No. 2-seeded Cups & Bras in the tournament semi-final.

Peterson wasn't done and neither was 7 Dog Ranch. In Sunday's championship game against Cups & Bras, Peterson (4-for-4, 4 runs, 7 RBI) cranked out a grand slam homer in the first inning and added a title-clinching two-run blast in the home sixth frame for 7 Dog.

7 Dog Ranch's 26-hit attack silenced any comeback hopes of the determined Cups & Bras challengers in a 18-13 triumph that culminated the two-day, seven-team double elimination tournament—the league's 24th.

It was 7 Dog Ranch's fourth consecutive Hailey Coed Softball League tournament title—and the third straight year that the champions have won the season-ending tournament in undefeated fashion.

During the four-year streak, 7 Dog Ranch has a glittering 67-3 record and has outscored foes by a 17.6 to 7.4 average margin in 70 games. The champs have won 12 consecutive city tournament games since 2009.

Second baseman Peterson (.834 batting average with 11 RBI) was one of many heroes for 7 Dog Ranch (.536 team).

Pitcher Sean Harrington, who won the MVP in 2009 and 2010, batted .778 with 3 HR and 9 RBI. T.J. Petersen had 5 doubles and 3 HR with a .819 average, 11 RBI. And Buddy Peterson's Carey basketball teammate Greg Edwards pounded at a .584 clip from the leadoff spot.

The 7 Dog Ranch women contributed big time led by Amanda Lyons .750 and Anna Edwards .500. It was a relentless attack by the champions, who finished the season 14-1 (3-0 in the tournament) and averaged 19 runs for each game.

In the title game, Greg Edwards smacked a three-run homer in the five-run 7 Dog second inning and the champs took the lead for good 10-7. In the fourth, T.J. Petersen belted a sinking liner that slipped past the diving catch attempt of Ryan Stavros and went for an inside-the-park grand slam.

Cups/Bras (12-5) played outstanding defense—getting terrific infield plays by shortstop Morgan Uhrig and second baseman Bryan Burrell, and also from outfielder Matt Nelson that took the wind out of 7 Dog rallies. Cups also turned a slick double play. And Stavros made a fine running grab.

The runner-up team (.482 tourney team average) finished the title game with 18 hits led by Kenny Nelson (.750, 15 RBI), who belted a pair of two-run homers, and Matt Nelson (.750), who cranked out three hits in the finale along with Stavros and Burrell (3-run HR, 4 RBI).

But there was no denying 7 Dog Ranch, which joined the league's dynasties over nearly a quarter century of play. Two teams, Uhrig Fencing/River Run Auto Parts (1995-99) and Wicked Spud (2000-04) have won five straight tourney titles.

Left fielder Wendy Speth of Cups & Bras (.550, 9 runs) was women's Most Valuable Player.

Joining Buddy Peterson as Home Run Derby champs were Jeff Schroeder and Jen Hallyburton (6 and 5 respectively Thursday), and JonMarie Shaw and Anna Edwards (3 apiece Saturday, with Shaw capturing the long-ball tiebreaker).

See today's Express Web site for complete tournament results, and check a future Local Life for photos by Willy Cook.

comprar viagra
acheter viagra
buy viagra