St. Patty’s Day couldn’t have been a better day for a battle royale between the Homeowner and Villa-owner softball players. The weather was perfect for a good-hearted yet spirited battle. Lots of trash talking could be heard between friends and teammates as well as fans on both sides of the field.
The game started out as a defensive battle as both teams struggled at the plate. The Villa team struck first with a run in the first and another in the second inning. The Homeowners were able to get one run across in the bottom half of the second to make it 2-1 Villa after two. The third inning was scoreless and the bats for the Villas continued to be cold in the fourth inning. The bottom half of the fourth inning saw the Homeowners come alive by scoring four runs. Ron Hunt started the inning with a single, followed by a double by Mike Rains to score Ron, then Randy Peterson hit a line shot in the gap for a triple to score Mike and another single by Daryl Ness scored Randy. Daryl scored on a single by Bill Strugeon to complete the scoring to take a 5-2 lead over the Villas. In the top half of the fifth, the Villas were able to draw closer by scoring one run but the Homeowners came back in the bottom half to score three more runs to take an 8-3 lead. Ray Horn reached base on an error followed by a single by Dave Hazen, scoring Ray and another single by Mike Kline scored Dave. Dave moved to second base on a fly ball out. Bruce Michael scorched a single to score Mike for their final run of the inning. Looking like a possible blow-out by the Homeowners, things changed quickly in the sixth inning. The Villa bats came alive with three straight singles by Barry Bloom, Bob Carlson and Lloyd Muth. Bill Schaible hit a shot over the head of the left center fielder for a triple for three RBIs. Ron Carpenter hit another single to score Bill making the score 8-7 in favor of the Homeowners with only one out. Steve Andrews drilled a single followed by another single by Bernnie Leland, loading the bases once again. Paul Lewinski stepped up to the plate and hit a fly ball for the second out. On a controversial call, Ron Carpenter tagged up to score the tying run but was called out for leaving third base early. The Homeowners were held scoreless in the bottom half of the inning so the Villas had a chance to tie the game in the seventh with a single by Don Scanlon and then another single by Randy Johnson to move Don to third base with nobody out. However, some great defense by the Homeowners were able to get out of the inning unscathed to win the game.
After the game, the players, fans and community were treated to a great concert on the lawn next to the field with the smooth sounds of our own Sierra Sound.
It was a great afternoon of entertainment on and off the field and we are looking forward to starting it up all over again next fall.
If you have an interest in playing softball at Robson Ranch, there are many ways you can participate. We offer community softball every Saturday at 1:00 p.m. November through March. Community softball is great for those of you that don’t want to play competitive games but still like to get out and hit and throw the ball around. We also offer two separate competitive leagues. The fall league begins around the first part of November and ends in mid-December. This league is a combo league of both “B” level and “C” level players playing together. The winter league begins in early January and ends mid-March. This league separates the “B” and “C” level players and play in their own divisions. Besides league play, if you hang around during the summer, we hold impromptu practices every Tuesday and Saturday. If you are interested in joining us next season, please contact us and we will be glad to have you on our team. You can contact us through our website, www.robsonranchsoftball.com or contact either Randy Peterson at 480-227-3741, [email protected] or Bill Schaible at 951-531-7146, [email protected].