Colorado Springs - Week 5 - Highlights

Hashtag Balls (forest green) vs. The Freeballers (lime):

Hashtag Balls got off to a blistering start in the first game of their double header, when 9 of their 11 players would come up to kick in the 1^st inning. Big Hurt (Adam Huerta) got a lead-off double, scoring on Dan Z’s (Jacob Busch) RBI double. A couple sac flies and a string of three singles in a row would plate 3 more to give Hashtag Balls the early 4-0 lead. Jumping to the 6^th inning, already up 11-0, Hashtag Balls would see 4 of their players kick twice during the inning. Dan Z capped off his epic game by booting a solo home run to give him the cycle for the game (kicked a single, double, triple, and home run). The shorthanded Freeballers would try to get some offense together, but the Hashtag defense proved to be too strong on this night, securing their first shut out of the season.

Final Score: Hashtag Balls 15, The Freeballers 0

Hashtag Balls (forest green) vs. Fresh Kicks of Ball Air (black):

In what may go down as the most epic game of the year, both teams came prepared to play some nail-biting kickball that went down to the wire as darkness started to set in on the fields. Hashtag Balls kept their mojo going from their first game, getting their two lead-off kickers Big Hurt and Steamer (Molly Disbrow) on board with singles. They would later come around to score after a pair of fielder’s choice outs and three consecutive singles. Hashtag Balls missed a golden opportunity though, after Dan Z (the hero of their previous game) ended the inning on a fly-out with the bases loaded. Hashtag Balls would take the 2-0 lead to the 4^th inning until Fresh Kicks of Ball Air’s Ryan Piper got an RBI single to score Erik Martin. In the bottom of the 5^th, FKOBA tied the game after Miles Andrews got a 1-out double and scored later in the inning. Hashtag Balls had the chance to win it in the 7^th, as they had Horny (Camden Nahorniak) advance to 3^rd base with 2 outs; Dan Z would fail to convert though with the game-winning run 60 feet away as he popped it up in the infield for the 3^rd out. To extra innings we headed to decide a winner, and it look extra, extra innings in fact. In the bottom of the 10^th, FKOBA’s Ryan Piper came to the plate with 1 out and a runner on 3^rd base. Ryan knew exactly what to do and booted the ball to right field for the walk-off sacrifice fly-out for the FKOBA win.   

Final Score: Fresh Kicks of Ball Air 3, Hashtag Balls 2

Bazinga (red) vs. HeadShots (white):

Bazinga got their buntfest started in the top of the 1^st with three consecutive bunts to start the game. Tim Cornelius drove in Tim Menditto with a sac fly to right. In the bottom of the 2^nd, HeadShots’ Jared Dumont would catch the Bazinga defense sleeping when he scorched a bomb to right field. The relay to get the ball in was a little slower than normal for Bazinga, and after rounding 3^rd base, Jared was able to avoid the throw by Nate Kischer to make it safely home. Nate would single handedly make up for that run in the 3^rd inning, blasting a home run himself to make it a 4-1 game. HeadShots’ Anna Playfair got a little greedy in the bottom of the 3^rd – after leading off the inning with a single and advancing to second base, she tried to score by tagging up from second on a fly-out to right field. This time the Bazinga defense got the ball in fast enough to get her out at home for the double play. Still 4-1 in the 5^th, Bazinga padded their lead with three more runs thanks to an RBI double by Bri Tammaro and an RBI triple to center field by Tim Cornelius. HeadShots couldn’t get any more offense going for the remainder of the game, only getting one base runner on board in the final three innings combined.

Final Score: Bazinga 8, HeadShots 1