Top-seeded Lefty’s Sharks encountered a bump in the road Saturday morning in its quest for a third Ketchum Coed Softball Tournament championship in the past five years at West Ketchum Coliseum.
A strong Power Engineers squad handed Lefty’s its first loss of the summer season 16-9, sending the Sharks to the loser bracket of the six-team double elimination tournament. But the Lefty’s bats and depth were too formidable to stay down.
Lefty’s (14-1, 25-3 two years) run-ruled the surprising No. 6-seeded Redfish Technology squad (4-10) by a 19-7 score, and then pounded out 55 hits in 27-20 and 15-9 championship game victories over Power to nail down its second straight title.
Clutch hitting by Most Valuable Player Casey Hawkes of Lefty’s and the fielding of veteran shortstop Bryan Burrell propelled Lefty’s (.552 team batting, 18.8 runs per game in the tournament). So did the consistent batting of Women’s Leading Hitter M.J. Musselman (.706) and Golden Glover Kori Paradis (.400).
Hawkes (.688, 16 RBI) clouted three homers and drove home nine in the 27-20 Lefty’s win that featured 33 hits including 5-for-5 by leadoff hitter Burrell (4 runs). The shortstop, meanwhile, had 12 assists, four putouts and figured in three double plays during Lefty’s final three winning games.
Besides Burrell (.682, 14 runs), other guns were second baseman/pitcher Anthony Anderson (.778, 10 RBI) and outfielder Dave Hausmann (.706).
In the deciding game, Lefty’s (22 hits) broke away from a 7-7 deadlock by outscoring Power 7-0 in the fourth and fifth innings with contributions at the plate from all 13 players in its batting line-up. Power was limited to just seven hits and two runs in its final four at-bats.
No. 3-seeded Power (9-6) was formidable, especially at the top of its batting order. In its 16-9 win over Lefty’s, Power’s top five Kyle Bennett, women’s MVP Jamie Stone (.545), shortstop Dane McGrady, clean-up hitter Jamie Ulrich (.591) and Golden Glover Michael Adamson (.783, 18 RBI) went a combined 18-for-23 at the dish.
Power leadoff hitter Bennett (.850) was the indomitable spirit for the engineers, winning Men’s Leading Hitter honor and flying around the sacks.
Although it played four games instead of five, third-place Redfish Technology boasted two of the tournament’s top batsmen in Noah Hendricks (.857, 6 runs, 11 RBI, 2 HR, 8 doubles) and leadoff Ben Bradley (.813, 11 runs).
Check the Aug. 13 Local Life for Willy Cook’s photo spread from last weekend’s tourney.
Lefty’s slips through the back door
Lefty’s Sharks picked up the pieces after its 16-9 loss to Power Engineers on Saturday morning with a 19-7 six-inning triumph over Redfish Technology in the loser bracket.
Trailing 5-2, Lefty’s capitalized on six unearned runs in its six-run third and nine-run fourth for a 17-6 cushion. The Sharks batted around with 14 hitters in the nine-run frame including two-run singles by Sarah Benson (3 RBI) and Buffalo Rixon (2 hits) and an RBI single by Kyle Rushton.
Sparking the 18-hit Lefty’s attack were Burrell (4 hits, 4 runs), Hawkes (2 hits, 3 runs, 2 RBI), Wendy Speth (3 hits, 2 RBI) and Anderson (3 RBI). Leading Redfish Technology were Hendricks (3 hits, 2 doubles), Bradley (2 hits) and Tyler Corrock (2 hits, double).
The first title game between Lefty’s and Power featured 47 runs and 57 hits.
Although Power’s defense turned two double plays led by the fielding of third baseman Stone, the engineers committed eight errors. Two miscues contributed to Lefty’s nine-run third that stretched the Sharks lead from 11-9 to 20-9.
Power made a strong rally with a five-run fifth ignited by Bennett’s leadoff homer that trimmed the Lefty’s lead to 23-18. But Hawkes’ third three-run homer of the game, this one the inside-the-park variety, put Lefty’s on top 27-18 and made for an uphill Power climb.
For Lefty’s, Burrell hit 5-for-5 with four runs scored while No. 5-6-7 Sharks’ hitters Anderson, Benson and Hausmann went a combined 12-for-15 with nine runs scored. Each of the 13 Lefty’s batters contributed at least one hit including Musselman (3 hits), Rixon (3 RBI) and Tony Mallane (2 hits).
Power’s superlative flychaser Michael Adamson (5 hits, 5 RBI) also went 5-for-5 as both he and Kyle Bennett (4 hits, 4 runs) hit for the cycle in the high-scoring contest. Others for Power: Dane McGrady (4 hits, 4 runs), Jamie Ulrich (3 hits, 3 RBI), Stone (2 hits, 3 runs, 3 RBI) and Jeff Poggi (3 hits, 2 runs, 3 RBI).
Hawkes (8-for-10, 9 runs, 14 RBI, 2 sacrifice flies in the last 3 games) started the deciding game with a two-run homer and Lefty’s scored runs in each of its six at-bats to hold off Power’s valiant upset attempt.
Once again, everybody hit for Lefty’s including Anderson (3-for-3, triple), Benson (3 hits, 3 RBI), Musselman (3 hits, 2 runs), Paradis (2 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBI) and Rixon (2 hits, 2 runs). Stone (3 RBI) went 4-for-4 for Power, while Bennett (3 runs), McGrady (3 RBI) and Adamson each delivered three hits.
Enjoying Saturday’s Ketchum Coed Softball League champi-onship result at Atkinson Park is the Lefty’s Sharks mother and daughter duo of catcher Jimberly Rooney (left) and in-fielder Kori Paradis. Photo by Willy Cook
