SIMULATED L.A. — Wednesday night’s battle between Greeneview and Carroll produced a first in these simulated softball and baseball contests: a walk-off win!
Down by two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Carroll’s Kaylee Stemmer blooped a soft single just over the Greeneview shortstop’s glove to score Mara Beam with the game-winning run in an exciting 15-14 Patriots win, Wednesday night at Dodger (simulated) Stadium.
Yeah, we flew the kids out to Los Angeles. What of it?
They did their homework on the charter jet.
Air fare is dirt cheap right now.
We think it’s a simulated tax break.
So we did it!
It’s not like the Dodgers were using the place.
Both teams made the best of their simulated journey to California. The Rams and Patriots smacked 34 hits to go with their 29 combined runs. Five pitchers were used, and each of them slept for the entire simulated trip back to Ohio, with their throwing arms in slings.
Greeneview had a five-run top of the ninth inning, and things looked pretty bleak for Carroll.
But in the bottom of the inning, Destiny Casey started things off with a single, advanced on Jessica Babros’ walk, then scored on Beam’s single to left center. Ellie Trusty then doubled to left, scoring Beam, before Stemmer collected her only hit of the contest, the blooper into left field. Stemmer actually reached base five times, including four walks.
Beam had a big day at the plate. She clouted a three-run homer that looked like a line drive as it carried over the left-field fence at Dodger Stadium, in the seventh. In all, she went 4-for-5 at the plate, with her home run, a double and a game-best (maybe even a simulated season’s best) of five runs batted in.
Carroll teammates Taylor Fenton and Tinley Browning each had three hits, with Fenton going 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored, and Browning smashing a two-run home run in the second, adding a double in the fourth, and scoring two runs.
Greeneview’s Catie Caraway emerged as the game’s top hitter. Caraway connected with hits on six of her seven trips to the plate, with a double and three runs scored.
Other Rams hitting leaders included Bryce Ratliff who went 4-for-6 with three runs driven in. Harley Clonch and Alexa Simpson both collected three hits in five at-bats, with a pair of doubles each. Clonch drove in four runs and scored twice, while Simpson drove in one Ram run.
After an opening week lost to Yellow Springs, the Carroll Patriots have now won two straight and have a 2-1 record.
After a win over Cedarville to start the season, the Greeneview Rams have now lost two in a row and are at 1-2.
NEXT UP: Fresh from a bye week, Bellbrook (1-0) heads on the road to some simulated location to take on the Fairborn Skyhawks (1-1). As always, if you have a location where you’d like to see the next game played, notify umpire, sports editor and dice roller John Bombatch at [email protected] with your requests.