The 2017 Adult Summer Softball League opening day saw a rematch from last summer’s championship game, but ended up with a number of blowouts on Thursday, June 1, at Posse Grounds Park.

And despite some of the stronger teams putting up double-digit runs, the consensus amongst all teams was the need for better batting.

Reddell Construction, formerly known as the Balloonatics, was last year’s runner up but dropped their first two games of the season.

They took on Red Rocks Rotary in their first matchup, falling 6-3. Reddell went up 2-0 after the top of the first inning, but Red Rocks Rotary immediately answered.

Four consecutive singles plated the first of three runs, the second came in on a walk and the third on a fielder’s choice.

Rotary’s defense then retired all three Reddell batters in the second. In the bottom of the third they opened a 6-2 lead.

“I thought we played solid as a team, everyone clicked,” Mikey Rebstein of Rotary said. “We had a couple of errors in the first but we fixed those right away and went out and had fun.”

On the flip side a lack of continuity hurt Reddell, according to Tyler Pennington.

“Having not practiced together, getting the hang of everyone, feeling everyone out and what positions to play,” Pennington said.

At the same time on the Upper Field, newcomer Rough Country Pools & Spa took on Pagos, described by spectators as one of this season’s top teams.

But Rough Country led 4-0 and 4-2 in the early going. That was until Pagos’ Nando Machado crushed a two-run home run over the center field fence in the top of the third inning.

The Pagos defense settled in, retiring all three Rough Country batters to swing the momentum in their favor.

The game’s most pivotal play went Pagos’ way. With two runners on in the top of the fifth inning, the Rough Country defense almost converted a triple play to maintain the tie. A pop fly was caught in the outfield and the runner going to third was thrown out, but the runner was ruled safe at second.

That runner, Norvi Felix, was later batted home by Aron Martinez to secure the 5-4 victory.

“It was all right,” Pagos’ Kyle Abrigo said. “We started playing as a team.”

Despite the loss, Rough Country was happy to have a competitive game with the powerhitting Pagos squad.

“I was pretty pleased with how we played,” said Scott Williams of Rough Country. “I’d say we had good teamwork and fundamentals.”

Last season’s champion, A Day in the West, debuted with a 15-5 win over Reddell. It reached the five-run limit in the first two innings to take a 10-0 lead.

“The first game is always fun, our infield had a good game,” said A Day in the West’s Hector Escamilla. Interestingly enough, Escamilla thought that the team could bat better, too.

Reddell broke the shutout in the fourth with a run, but A Day in the West responded with five of their own.

Reddell’s Mikey McKinnon batted in three on a two-out single in the fifth inning, but the game ended as he tried to reach second base.

Jeff Lynch of Reddell also blamed the bats.

“We have a lot of new guys, and we didn’t practice much,” Lynch said. “So just do a better job hitting the ball.”

Down on the Lower Field, ABC Body Shop lost 13-0 to the Dirty Rats, who went up 4-0 after the first and
10-0 after the fourth.

“I mean it’s a good start, we could have hit a lot better, we needed to hit with more power,” Dirty Rats first baseman Nathan Leake said.

Inexperience was ABC’s biggest problem, according to Kenny Kubrock. In the end, the team looks to win more games than last summer.

“I think we have some new players who haven’t played before,” Kubock said. “And the first game jitters, so everyone wasn’t at their best.”

The final games of the evening saw A Day in the West beat the L’Auberge Mighty Ducks 10-0 and Rokzoo Bucket List beat the Dirty Rats 14-4.

Adult Summer Softball
Standings — Week 1