Dec. 8, 2008 — Reuben Molloy's pinch-hit, inside-the-park, two-run home run Sunday at the D.C. Canegata Ballpark propelled the defending champions of the Quarren Schjang 40 Plus Softball League, Just For Fun, to a double-header sweep of the Las Vegans and a trip to their ninth finals in as many years.
The champs were down one game to none in the best two-of-three semifinals coming into Sunday's game, and after a lopsided loss to the Las Vegans on Friday faced the real possibility of not playing for a championship for the first time in a long while. However, a strong pitching performance from Edwin Sankitts in the first game Sunday evened the series at one game apiece and set the stage for game three's extra-inning thriller.
Dennis Brow's two-run blast in the top of the first inning got the Las Vegans off to a good start in the deciding game with an early 2-0 lead. Just for Fun failed to score in the bottom of the inning.
The Las Vegans got four more runs in the top of the second off of Just for Fun starter and game-one winner, Sankitts, and they looked well on their way to dethroning the champs with an early 6-0 lead. They scored four runs on a two-run double by David Clarke, an RBI single by Colin Jarvis, and an unearned run. Just for Fun finally got on the board in the bottom of the inning on Melvin George's RBI single, trailing 6-1 after two innings.
Mario Ortiz came on in relief of Sankitts in the top of the second and he would keep the Las Vegans off the board until the sixth inning. Meanwhile, the defending champs began their comeback in the bottom of the third with three runs to draw to within two runs of the lead at 6-4. Just For Fun scored three runs on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Raymond Cintron and a two-run single off the bat of Gary Molloy.
An unearned run in the bottom of the fourth brought Just for Fun within one at 6-5 after four innings. They took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth at 7-6 with two runs on an RBI single by Eustace Davis and a Las Vegans error.
Steve Simmonds' RBI single in the top of the sixth tied the game at seven, and after just for fun failed to score in the bottom of the inning, the teams headed into the final inning with the score all squared.
Both teams came up empty in the seventh inning and the game went into extra innings.
Jesus Saldana's single in the top of the eighth gave the lead briefly to the Las Vegans at 8-7. The stage was now set for Reuben Molloy's game-winning heroics. With Davis on second, Molloy — pinch-hitting for Melvin George — lined a ball into right that eluded the right fielder. Davis scored easily from second to tie the game and Molloym hustling all the way, circled the bases for the in-the-park home run to send his team into their ninth championship finals in as many years.
The winning pitcher was Mario Ortiz, who came on in relief of Sankitts — who also started game two on Sunday. Ovidio Oquino got the loss for the Las Vegans. Top hitters for the defending champs were Reuben Molloy, 1 for 1 with a home run and two RBIs; Davis, 2 for 4 with one RBI; and Gary Molloy, 2 for 3 with two RBIs. For the Las Vegans, Clark went 2 for 3 with two RBI, Jarvis 2 for 4 with one RBI, and Dennis Brow 1 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs.
The finals start Wednesday when Just For fun will face the regular-season champion Rebels.
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