Photos by Lloyd Engen La Puente was the surprise team of the entire 33-team Alamosa Parks & Recreation coed softball program, rising up to go unbeaten in winning the Coed Recreational League Tournament Championship.

La Puente goes unbeaten

in 11-team

season finale



By LLOYD ENGEN

ALAMOSA — Saving the biggest surprise for last, the Alamosa Parks & Recreation 33-team coed adult softball summer program ended the season with yet another new champion late Wednesday night.

La Puente, a team no one had expected to be playing for the Coed Recreational League Tournament title, much less win it, did just that, going undefeated through the entire 5-day tourney despite coming in with a low seeding due to finishing in the bottom half of the league during the regular season.

It certainly didn’t come easy, either. La Puente had to play an opening round pigtail game because of its seeding, starting its run with a win over KCA Sewing. Then came a win over McDonald’s, followed by an upset over SLV Regional Medical Center to advance to the semifinal game against favored Fransen Farms.

And La Puente won again, this time squeaking out a 5-4 nail-biter to reach the championship game against league leader La Jara Trading Post, the defending tournament champion that had swept the 2007 tournament undefeated.

La Jara Trading Post had dropped into the losers’ bracket in a quarterfinals loss to Fransen Farms, and then found itself facing Fransen Farms again in the losers’ bracket semifinal elimination game for the chance to get back to the title game.

That game, too, was a heart-beating thriller, with La Jara Trading Post pulling out an 8-7 win in the final inning.

With the new kid on the block facing the defending champion, La Puente put it all together behind the stellar pitching of SLV Food Bank director John “Muck” Kilpatrick, the sure-handed, heads-up play of catcher Jenna Boostrum, and a flawless defense to seize the 2008 Championship with an exciting 10-7 win.

Both La Puente and La Jara Trading Post had engaged in thrillers with Fransen Farms to get there.

In the championship bracket semifinal, Fransen Farms held a 4-2 lead over La Puente after three innings on the excellent hitting of Dustin Fransen, Michelle Escheman, Eric Oaks, Lisa Stoeber and Tim Grandell.

The score stayed that way over the next three innings until La Puente came to bat in the bottom of the seventh, facing the prospect of dropping into the losers’ bracket. But Eric Shively led off with a hit, Kilpatrick followed with another, and with two outs Chris Mackey drove in the first run. Claire McCardle followed with an RBI hit to tie the game, and David Helmuth delivered the winner.

In the semifinal elimination game, La Jara Trading Post took a 7-1 lead over Fransen Farms after four innings, getting solid hitting from Jaime Decker, Kristi Bervig, Brandon Gylling, Tyler Dickman, Cathy Hall, Bryce Decker, and Jared Anderson.

But Fransen Farms was far from done, getting a run in the fifth and then breaking loose for 5 runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 7-7. Nathan Fransen started the rally with a hit, and with two outs Escheman, Oaks, Merissa Armstrong and Grandell all delivered and scored.

That brought La Jara Trading Post to bat in the bottom of the seventh after stranding two Fransen Farms base runners in the top of the inning. Cathy Hall led off with a base hit, Bryce Decker hit into a fielder’s choice, and Crisann Zook did the same. Jared Anderson then singled, and up to the plate stepped Amanda Meyer, hitting a grounder between first and second. But Anderson beat the force out attempt at second and then avoided the tag in a rundown between second and third as the winning run crossed the plate.

Now there were just devoted fans of the two teams on hand for the late, late show between La Puente and La Jara Trading Post for the title, and if a second game had been needed, it might have been time for the early morning show.

The game showed all the signs of going to the “if” game, too. La Puente got things going in a big way with 5 runs in the bottom of the first inning as Kilpatrick, Sara Sudol, McCardle, Will Floyd and Helmuth all reached base and scored, assisted by the hitting of Nora McBride and Eric Shively.

Meanwhile, Kilpatrick was mowing down the La Jara Trading Post batters, allowing just one base runner in the first three innings. But La Jara Trading Post bats came alive in the fourth to the tune of 4 runs as Brandon Zook, Jeff Vance, Bervig and Gylling all cross the plate.

Shively and Kilpatrick teamed up for a run in the bottom of the inning for a 6-4 La Puente lead, but La Jara Trading Post kept on hitting the ball, adding 3 runs in the top of the fifth to take a 7-6 lead. La Puente took the lead right back in the bottom of the inning, however, with Mackey, Floyd and Taylor Little scoring and McBride and Shively delivering key hits.

Another run in the bottom of the sixth had La Puente on top 10-7 as Kilpatrick scored on a hit by McCardle, and then it was up to Kilpatrick to try to finish the win from the mound. He had stranded two La Jara Trading Post base runners in the top of the sixth on some big plays in center field, now he turned to forcing grounders to wrap things up.

Bryce Decker led off with a hit and when Crisann Zook grounded out to Mackey at short, Decker attempted to score and was thrown out at home. Anderson then stroked a hit, but Kilpatrick induced a final grounder back to the mound to end the game.

It took the La Puente players a few moments to fully realize what they had just done. Then some hugging began to take place because, after all, they were the new Coed Recreational Champions, a feat so new to them so that when they received their championship shirts from Toni Reynolds of Alamosa Parks & Recreation, they seemed surprised when asked to pose for a photo.

Call them modest, call them humble — the La Puente players knew how close the tournament had been. A play here or there, or a bad bounce, and who knows which team might have come out on top.

Best of all, though, call them Champions.