Monday marked the start of the final week of regular season play for the Chautauqua Men’s Softball league, and it began with a double-header.
The first game was a matchup between the YAC PAC (4–3) and Slugs (6–1). Heading into the game, the Slugs were eyeing the immortalized achievement of an undefeated season, while the YAC PAC hoped to win their third-straight game.
At the outset, the YAC PAC had a grasp on every facet of the game. Their outfielding had the precision and lethality of a cobra.
While the Slugs weren’t bad outfielders in the short field, the outfielding mistakes occurred where the grass began to grow.
The Slugs extended innings to a detrimental extent, notably in the first inning when the YAC PAC got 10 runners through home.
The third inning saw the Slugs add runs sporadically, but they lacked the ability to make big plays.
When the fourth inning came, the YAC PAC rattled off 11 more runs, the twist of the dagger in the once-undefeated Slugs.
The game ended at the conclusion of the fourth inning; this is the YAC PAC’s second win in a row by mercy rules.
“As the commissioner said, ‘We’re peaking at the right time,’ ” said Mitchell Smith of the YAC PAC. “It must feel good to be the top team in the league. I’m not sure how long they’ll have that title.”
The second game of Monday’s double-header was the Artritics (1–6) and Fish Heads (3–4) bottom-of-the-ranking battle.
The Arthritics were looking for their coveted second win of the season, while the Fish Heads looked to get back on track after an uninspired middle of the season.
The Arthritics were first to bat, immediately taking off. They were investing in big hits and saw quick returns, with eight runs on the board by the end of the first inning.
The Fish Heads played the long game, looking for shorter plays. This netted them three runs in the first.
As the game developed, the Arthritics hit a wall. Their big hits got smaller, their runs, less explosive. The Fish Heads found the body of their game quickly from there. They scored five runs in the second inning, four in the third and four in the fourth. During this stretch, the Arthritics had zero runs for a score of 16–8.
The Arthritics could only muster two more runs in the fifth, massively outmatched by the Fish Heads’ five runs.
The sixth and seventh innings saw no runs for either team, to end with a final score of 21-10.
“We started down eight, but we were able to turn it around,” said Fish Head Brenden Keogh. “Three-time champs in the past three years, we’re peaking at the right time.”
The playoffs for the league begin with the first seed and fourth seed matchup at 5 p.m. Monday at Sharpe Field. The second seed and third seed play at 6:30 p.m.
