Long-ball Economics

DeRailed defends CC Adult Softball League ‘Championship Cup’ with timely hitting and strategically placed homers

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Defense wins championships

So do solo home runs … for the other team.

Such was the long-ball economics lesson that played out during the championship round of the Charles City Adult Slowpitch Softball League postseason playoffs that pitted DeRailed against archrival The Pub, Wednesday night at Westwood Park.

Needing to win two games before its opponent won one, DeRailed prevailed twice with football-like finals of 19-11 and 23-21 to maintain possession of the league’s championship cup while winning its fifth league title in six years.

About everyone in both teams’ lineups was more than capable of reaching the fences and then some, especially on a night when the ball seemed to carry. But the league has a five-homer-per-game limit, so teams had to pick their spots to get the most RBI-bang for their shots.

Homers hit on “accident” — and this happens more than one might think — after the five limit are automatic outs.

The week before in the double-elimination tourney’s opening round, top-seed DeRailed was winning 9-5 going into the bottom of the seventh against The Pub, which rallied for five runs to win it and send DeRailed to the loser’s bracket.

“That sure was a tough one to lose,” said DeRailed pitcher Darin Crooks, who perhaps got a little distracted during that inning when he started bickering with the home-plate umpire about illegal arc rulings on his pitches.

While nursing another five-run lead going into the seventh inning of the championship-deciding game, it looked as if was going to be “Deja Vu all over again” for DeRailed as its players were again engaging in a verbal spat with the umpiring crew while The Pub was rallying late.

But the game and season ended with an ironic twist. Crooks delivered a gopher ball to a Pub hitter after the team had already reached its five-homer limit. It resulted in the third and final out, halting the rally two runs short.

Essentially, it was a walk-off homer winning it for the team in the field.

“Most of our games against (The Pub) are like this,” Crooks said. “It’s nice to keep the cup … only our names are on it since it’s only been around for four years.”

As for Crooks and teammates Casey Cajthaml and Tad Barry, they have been around much longer when it comes their tenure with the DeRailed.

“You can call us the original gangsters,” said Barry, who had a couple of three-run shots during the championship series, so no fault there.

“The team has had a lot of players on it over the years … some now with The Pub,” Barry said. “But we’ve been on it since about the beginning.”

For those who’ve left, DeRailed has managed to fill the holes. One of the newer players is Trevor Thein, who was named Tourney MVP (there was a discussion about Thein possibly being the first catcher to receive that award).

Another DeRailed newcomer, Jason Reiff, may have been on the shortlist for the award. The quintessential “five-tool player”, DeRailed almost lost the slick-fielding, super-speedy, power-from-both-sides Reiff the week before when he injured his wrist making a diving catch in the outfield during the team’s loss against The Pub.

In the subsequent elimination game against Hot Shots Billiards, Reiff hit one-handed effectively enough to help keep DeRailed in the tournament.

Other members of DeRailed who were in the lineup during the championship series included Ryan Begemann, Luke Johnson, Brandon Rippentrop, Dustin Rippentrop, Tanner Schmidt and coach Ed Cajthaml.