Week 4 of the 2017 Sedona Adult Summer Softball League, on Thursday, June 22, marked the halfway point of the regular season, and the top half of the league has begun to separate itself from the rest of the pack.

L’Auberge Mighty Ducks forfeited both of their games — against top-ranked A Day in the West and fourth place Red Rocks Rotary.

Second place Rokzoo Bucket List picked up two more wins, the first after a comeback win against the Dirty Rats, 7-6. The loss, combined with Pagos’ win, saw Dirty Rats drop to sixth and Pagos take fifth.

Reddell Construction’s 11-1 victory evened its win total and run differential with Red Rocks Rotary. Since Reddell has given up one less run on the season, it leapfrogged into third place.

The Dirty Rats went up 4-0 after the second inning, but Rokzoo immediately responded with three runs of its own to stay within striking distance and continued to chip away each time at bat.

“We just got our hits and got the outs we needed to,” Rokzoo’s Don Bauder said.

In the third, the game was tied at 4. An inning later Rokzoo took a 6-4 lead before both offenses fell silent.

The Dirty Rats managed one run in each of the last two frames, but could not complete their own comeback.

“They just kind of found the holes, found the places where we weren’t,” Dirty Rats’ Ian Gilbert said.

Despite having a 2-4 record, Gilbert said the team has improved since last season, and should only continue to do so.

“We’ve just got to tighten things up,” Gilbert said. “Everything is there for us, hitting and defense. We always seem to play better in the second half of the season.”

Rokzoo followed up the first win with a 19-4 victory against ABC Body Shop. It opened up 5-0 and 8-0 leads after two innings.

After having only scored one run through three weeks of play, ABC Body Shop scored three runs in the third inning.
Adam Day hit a ground ball that was misfired to first, which scored the first run. Renee Day then singled home the second, and two more throwing errors let the third run score. It tacked on its fourth run in the fourth inning.

“We’re happy about the progress we’re making,” said Day, who added that after winning one game last season, this year the team’s goal is to match or better that mark.

The lone matchup of the third and final set of games on the day saw Reddell Construction take on Rough Country Pools & Spa.

A final scoreline of 11-1 in favor of Reddell proved deceiving as both teams made impressive plays on defense.

Reddell’s offense got off to a quick start, putting three runs across in the first inning. Mike Alvarez hit an RBI double before touching home two batters later, and a sacrifice fly scored the third.

Rough Country answered with its only run on a single to right field. Then Reddell’s defense converted an inning-ending double play to prevent any more runs from scoring.

It started on a base knock to center field, which was collected and thrown on a line to third before being returned to second to get the batter advancing.

Five more runs opened an 8-1 lead before the defense retired all three Rough Country batters. Rough Country defense’s best play came in the top of the fourth. With the bases loaded, a long line drive to left field was tracked down and snagged on the backhand, saving at least two runs.

A Reddell center fielder made a diving catch on a shallow hit in the fifth, too.

“I think that was a key to the game,” Bo Rodriguez of Reddell said. “Them making those plays. The league is just warming up, everyone’s stepping up, everyone’s doing what they need to do.”

Pagos beat ABC Body Shop 16-3. The forfeits resulted in automatic 7-0 wins for A Day in the West and Red Rocks Rotary.