Kathy Chubb brings in a run on a double during the Moms 12-20 loss to the Grilled Cheeselers on Thursday, July 19, 2018 at Sharpe Field. HALDAN KIRSCH/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
As they walked onto Sharpe Field, pop music was blasting, and teenagers were dancing and singing. That meant the Grilled Cheeselers were warming up to play against the Moms.
The Moms looked serious going into the softball game last Thursday, July 19, at Sharpe Field, completely opposite of the Grilled Cheeselers. Both teams cheered for each other and gave lots of positive reinforcements.
“We have fun because we are all really good friends and work together at the Boys’ and Girls’ Club,” said Julia Koron, team captain for the Grilled Cheeselers. “It’s fun to play with your friends because there is an ease to playing. Mistakes are a laugh, not a worry.”
The newest member of the Grilled Cheeselers, Molly Walsh, started the season off with a few base hits to help the team.
“I just got here. (It’s my) first game of the year. It’s exciting,” Walsh said. “I feel like I did good. We did good. We won.”
Grilled Cheeselers won with a final score of 20-12 against the Moms.
To start off the game, the Grilled Cheeselers came out on fire and hit an in-the-park home run. The score after the first inning was 4-1.
In the top of the second inning, Koron hit a grand slam in her first at-bat. The Moms were down big at the bottom of the second inning but got a spark from Kathy Chubb, who hit a double and drove a few runs in. The second inning was all Moms, though — even with a rare strikeout in the bottom of the second by the Grilled Cheeselers’ pitcher, Ellie Rappole. The Moms came back from a score of 8-1 to take the lead, with the score at 9-8 going into the top of the third inning.
The Grilled Cheeselers started to pull away during the third inning, and they ended up scoring eight runs. With the score at 16-9 going into the bottom of the third, the Moms could only manufacture two runs.
With a nice lead heading into the fourth inning, the Grilled Cheeselers didn’t slow down at all. Koron hit her second in-the-park home run, and the team stretched the lead to 19-11, going into bottom of the fourth inning. The Moms only got one run.
Koron’s big performance helped lead her team to victory.
“It’s always a big game when you hear you’re playing the Moms,” Koron said. “I think we play best when we are loose and keep the atmosphere as light as possible. We play music, dance and do our ‘out gig’ to keep it fun.”
With the score at 19-12 during the top of the last inning, both teams knew it was over, and the Grilled Cheeselers added one more run to seal it.
“I’m excited to have fun with these girls,” Walsh said. “They’re all great players. We just worked together and pumped each other up.”
