By Joel Priest
For the Silverton Standard & The Miner
Presented by KSJC 92.5 FM, the 2009 Mountain Man Softball Classic returned to town this past weekend with seven teams vying for the coveted two-day tournament’s championship.
And though casual passersby might have deemed it a small field of entrants, fans of the event would have recognized all the squads, including the Gallegos Ragin’ Rhinos — tops in 2008 — from Grand Junction. But a repeat was not to be had, and for the third year running, new kings were crowned on the rugged diamond.
Having lost to the Rhinos, 25-8, in Saturday’s round-robin play, Bases Loaded of Durango avenged themselves with a 31-20 win in Sunday’s bracket semifinals, then went on to clip RE/MAX (Ouray/Ridgway) with a seventh-inning rally, 11-10 in the finale.
Bases Loaded had finished sixth in ’08, while RE/MAX improved from their third-place result. The Outlaws (Montrose) finished fourth, as they had last year.
The winning roster was: 3B Scott DeBolt (captain), SS Stacy Toppin, 2B Clint Wiese, 1B Justin Eden, P Chuck Day, C Joel Priest, OF Lukas DeBolt, OF Aaron Chubbuck, OF Ray Jalomo, OF Chad McNatt, OF Scott Key, OF Bill Gwinn.
Thanks go out to all involved in putting on this year’s event, and to all players, their families and fans for competing and attending!
