In week three of the Sedona Adult Summer softball league, a matchup of two of the top teams took place: Top spot Pago’s against second-place Dirty Rats
Before the first pitch, the biggest factor on this night would be a decided disadvantage for both sides. A steady wind was blowing straight into the face of the batters on the south field, gusting at times over 20 miles per hour, making it difficult to hit the ball out of the infield. Any ball hit high into the air would float like a balloon for an easy out.
For pitchers, high arc tosses that would normally drop like darts, floated deep and out of the strike zone. Dirty Rats led off the first inning and seemed to adjust right away. Instead of trying to launch the ball into the wind, they started with two singles and a walk. Then a stubby bunt hit and a error and suddenly Dirty Rats led 4-0.
Pago’s, meanwhile, has a power lineup, with three or four players who can hit it over the fence. But once the pitch was launched, they floated up into a wall of wind fading for a soft out. After two innings, it was still 4-0 Dirty Rats.
“It’s hard, with the wind coming in, to pitch. The strike zone was moving,” Pago’s pitcher and coach Mauro Trahin said. “The wind was blowing in so you got to work with it. On fly balls, when you hit the ball up, it’s coming back in so it was really hard.”
“You can’t hit it with the wind. What you want to do is play base hits that are on the ground, line drives,” Pago’s’ Jose Esquer said. “Anything in the air is going to get caught.”
It seemed Pago’s had trouble applying these restraints, but finally in the fifth inning, Pago’s got on the board. With two out, down 4-0, Michael Sells and Trahin singled to load the bases. Aaron Martinez singled cleanly scoring two. Then, after a walk, Esquer hit a fly ball to right center. As the wind gusted, the ball carried all the way back behind second base and dropped in. Two more runs scored, and it was now 5-4 Dirty Rats.
“We weren’t hitting … everybody was down. We were just waiting, it’s contagious, somebody gets a hit … then another,” Trahin said.
“Defensively, we struggled a little bit and that’s how they got some of their runs in the first inning, but then we ended up getting better throughout the game,” Fernando Machado said.
With Dirty Rats ahead 6-5 in the top of the sixth inning, the game took a dramatic turn. Dirty Rats put together another rally, batting with runners on first and second with one out. On a pop-up to second base, the base runners started to advance. But afraid the ball would be caught, the runners retreated. The second baseman appeared to intentionally drop the fly ball and then picked it up and tagged the base runner out. Immediately an argument ensued.
Dirty Rats maintained that the dropped fly ball should allow the batter to be safe on first and the runner who retreated to second should be safe as well, allowing the rally to continue with just one out. The umpires huddled for a few minutes before announcing that the inning was over. The infield fly rule was invoked, meaning the batter was automatically out no matter if the fly ball is caught or not. The ball remained live so the runners are on their own. The runner tagged was out and a double play was completed.
“He didn’t have to tag them both, just one. Infield fly was out number two and the tag was out number three,” Machado said. “That was a good play by our second baseman. They [Dirty Rats] were ticked off. It stopped their rally.”
Pago’s managed to tie it up 6-6 in the bottom of the sixth and the game was approaching the time limit. Both teams would likely only have one more at bat. Pago’s managed to hold the Dirty Rats scoreless and in the bottom of the seventh with just a few minutes remaining, Jesse Vencil got aboard on a dropped fly ball. A base hit advanced him to second and Sells stroked a no doubt line drive single into left field, and Vencil scored the game, winning run. A 7-6 victory for Pago’s.
“We started slow but we got a good team. I knew we’d come back,” Esquer said. “It was windy but you gotta play with the wind sometimes … it is what it is,” Machado said. “When it feels like there’s a little pressure on us, we get better.”
“It was a nice comeback, it was close, but it was good,” Trahin said.
Pago’s finished the night in their second game with an 11 to 4 win against the Red Mountaineers, upping their record to 4 and 1 for the season. That keeps Pago’s in first place, two points ahead of Dirty Rats and A Day in the West.
Don Eicher can be reached at 282-7795 ext 126 or email to deicher@larsonnewspapers.com
