By Ted Waddell
FREMONT CENTER — August 27, 2004 – One thing’s for sure about the final game of a season.
One team is going to end its season on a positive note with a win and the other team is going to finish the season with a disappointing defeat.
In Wednesday evening’s season finale for a couple of locally sponsored men’s softball teams, Rod’s Taxidermy (11-1) topped Stone Arch Inn by a final score of 5-3.
However, Stone Arch Inn (13-2) began the scoring with a run in the third inning.
At its turn at bat in the fourth, Rod’s Taxidermy, coached by Rod Smith, took a two-run lead by sending a trio of batters across the plate.
In the fifth, Rod’s tacked on another run to make it a 4-1 ballgame. But the Stone Arch team answered with a couple of runs in the sixth.
Rod’s responded with a run in the bottom of the sixth to ensure a victory in its final game of the year. The Stone Arch players returned to the bench with hopes of “well, there’s always next year.”
Josh Smith got the Rod’s Taxidermy fans stirred up with a sixth inning inside-the-park home run. After getting his bat on the ball, Smith displayed an Olympics-worthy demonstration of “feet, don’t fail me now” speed on the basepaths.
Other top batters in the game included Rod’s Jason Maciejewski, who hit a double, and Stone Arch’s Josh Milucky, who smacked a triple.
In the top of the seventh, Stone Arch had the bases loaded with two outs. But a line drive to left field was snagged for the final out of the contest.
Brian Brustman was the starting pitcher for Stone Arch. He was relieved in the fifth inning by coach/pitcher Dennis Brockner. Hopper Huizera was the catcher for both Brockner and Brustman.
Jimmy Davis pitched for Rod’s and Jack Henderson was the catcher.