By Rob Potter
LIBERTY — The Royal Associates Horsemen and Manor House of Furniture & Appliances, Inc. softball teams both earned victories on Monday night in Liberty Slo-Pitch Softball League games at the Liberty Elementary School field.
In a “C” Division game, Royal Associates defeated Rolling V Transportation Services, 25-3. The game was called in the fifth inning due to the league’s 15-run mercy rule.
In the nightcap, Manor House topped the Parksville Homes Raiders, 18-12, in an “A” Division contest.
Royal Associates wins big
After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first inning, Royal Associates answered with nine runs in the bottom of the first. From that point on, Royal Associates kept adding to its advantage.
Rolling V (0-13) scored its two runs on RBI singles by Frank Pisapia and Glenn Porter.
In the bottom of the first, Tommy Merton gave Royal Associates a 3-2 lead when he hit a three-run, inside-the-park home run to left-center field.
Moments later, Jimmy Snowden made it a 4-2 game when he scored as John Hamilton reached base on an error.
Royal Associates (11-2) scored five more runs in the frame. Key hits included an RBI double by Jason Wagner and an RBI triple by Greg Merton.
Tommy Merton hit another inside-the-park homer, this time a two-run shot, in the bottom of the second to extend the Royal Associates’ lead to 11-2.
The team recorded three more runs in the frame as Bobby Merton ripped a two-run double to left-center field and Kevin Hough had an RBI single.
Rolling V scored what turned out to be its final run of the night in the top of the third. With the bases loaded and one out, Andrew Teitelbaum hit a sacrifice fly to bring Pisapia in to score.
Royal Associates scored its final 11 runs in the bottom of the fourth. The highlight of the inning was Tommy Merton hitting his third inside-the-park home run of the game. Merton and two teammates scored on the blast to deep left field.
Bobby Merton and Greg Merton each added an RBI double in the frame. In addition, Ruben Cardona, Hough, Wagner and Greg Merola all hit an RBI single in the inning.
First-inning scoring outburst leads Manor House to victory
Manor House jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on its way to victory over Parksville Homes.
Leadoff batter Ryan Edwards singled and scored when Derek Blume tripled to center field. After an out was recorded, Tim Mills belted a two-run home run over the center field fence.
Moments later, Mitch Peck hit a three-run homer to left field and Josh Belle hit a solo homer to right field.
Parksville Homes (3-11) responded by scoring three runs in the top of the second. Billy Curry and Gene Smith both crossed home plate when Adam Hauser singled to center field.
Hauser advanced to third base when the throw from the outfield was errant. He then scored on Robert Curry’s base hit.
Manor House (7-6) stretched its lead to 10-3 in the bottom of the second. Shane Lewis began the frame with a double to left field and scored on Edwards’ double.
Two batters later, George Helms blasted a two-run homer to center field.
After a scoreless third inning, Parksville Homes inched closer to Manor House in the top of the fourth. The first batter, Mike Beach, reached base on an infield hit. Blume then recorded the first out of the inning by making a nice diving catch in center field.
Smith singled to put two runners on base. Hauser then singled to center field to bring Beach around to score.
Manor House answered with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a double-digit advantage at 14-4. Lewis had an RBI double, Edwards hit an RBI triple and Blume added a two-run single.
In the bottom of the fifth, Manor House extended its advantage to 18-4. Belle and Blume hit an RBI single and an RBI double, respectively, and Belle and Lewis each scored on an error.
Despite being behind by 14 runs, Parksville Homes kept battling. The team scored three runs in the top of the sixth and five runs in the top of the seventh.
In the sixth, Jonathan Hinkley hit a two-run homer to left-center field and Beach tripled and scored on an error.
Hauser led off the top of the seventh by smacking a home run to center field. Billy Dertinger added an RBI single and Josh Mendez hit an RBI triple and then scored on an error as Parksville Homes cut the Manor House lead to 18-11.
After Mendez crossed the plate, Hinkley hit a solo homer for the team’s final run of the contest.