House League Learns Not to Mess With Texas Republic
September 21, 1:44 pm by jpfinlay
The players of Texas Republic threw their gloves into the bright blue sky and circled for a team hug. Surviving a grueling, two-day tournament to win their first House Softball League championship brought out that kind of euphoria.
“We’re the champs,” said Laura Jezik, who recorded the final out of the championship game — a 16-11 victory over DGS — with an acrobatic stop at second base. “It was a total team effort.”
Texas Republic was led by tournament MVP Josh Gelman, who provided the offensive spark throughout the tournament as leadoff hitter and played great defense in left-center field. Gelman, one of the fastest players in the tournament, routinely caught balls that would have been dropped for hits against other teams.
“He always got on and got things going,” said captain Josh Maxwell, who works for the House Agriculture Committee. “Josh scored a lot of runs.”
Despite the high scoring, the championship swung on two Texas Republic defensive plays. In the top of the fifth inning. DGS loaded the bases with hopes of taking the lead. Instead, the third out of the inning was a caught fly ball. “We missed our chance,” said Justin Field, the batter who popped up for the third out.
In the top of the seventh, Texas Republic turned a double play that effectively ended the game. Jezik was involved in all three outs in the inning, each more impressive than the last.
And it was strong defense that got Texas Republic to the championship round. In arguably the best game of the tournament, a back-and-forth Final Four matchup against the Insliders, Texas Republic relied on its defense to keep the game within reach. The seventh inning started with the Insliders leading 8-6. Chris Johns, shortstop for the Insliders, reached first base on a one-out single. The next Inslider batter hit a grounder, which Texas Republic turned into a double play.
In the bottom of the seventh, the first two batters got on base, advancing to second and third before right fielder Gene Howard stepped to the plate. Howard sliced a line drive down the right field line, scoring two runs as he motored to second base, tying the game. Two batters later, Corey Connors smashed a deep fly ball over the Inslider center fielder, bringing Howard home.
The Insliders made their sixth straight Final Four, though they continue to fall short of the championship game. “We were right there all game, but we always find a way to lose,” Insliders pitcher Matt Anthes said. “We’re like the Buffalo Bills of softball.”
DGS clearly faced the more difficult path to the championship game. They advanced from the tough “Dirty South” bracket, beating Owego Fire Department in the Sweet 16 and Potomac Fever in the Elite Eight, before closing out the 2008 champs, the Blue Pups, in the Final Four. “We didn’t have a breath of fresh air for 21 innings,” said Field.
The victory over Potomac Fever was another great matchup. DGS, led by captain Anthony Reed and second baseman Katie Frawley, won thanks to a four-run seventh inning, extending a 14-13 lead to an 18-13 victory. “DGS hit better than I’ve seen them [do] in two years,” Potomac Fever’s Brian Fields said. “They capitalized on our mistakes.”
Not all of the high seeds advanced. The Dead Presidents, the overall No. 1 seed, lost their first game to the Blue Pups. The Big Lebowskis, the No. 3 seed, also lost their opening round game, to the No. 35 Saints. That game was incredibly tense, with the largest, most vocal crowd of any in the tournament.
The Lebowskis were no stranger to controversy in the regular season, with left fielder Adam Weinstein known for aggressive posts on the House Softball League Web site. Prior to the tournament, Weinstein posted that he would walk back to D.C. from the fields in Clifton, Va., if the Lebowskis did not make the Final Four.
With the Lebowskis playing their opening game late Saturday afternoon, players from many other teams stayed at the field to watch, some more interested in jeering the Lebowskis than cheering the Saints. A pregame cheer of “Let’s Go Saints” echoed from the stands before the first pitch was thrown. As the game wore on, the cheering grew louder and louder, and while most of the cheers were appropriate for a public park, occasionally curse words and derogatory comments could be heard from the partisan crowd.
“There is way more cheering here than an average Nats game,” said Erik Helgesen of Scared Hitless, who watched from the stands.
In the end, the Lebowskis were undone by an inability to throw strikes, losing 23-18. The Saints’ strategy was to take pitches every at-bat, a scheme that often resulted in walks. “We’ve been plagued with bad pitching in the tournament,” Big Lebowski captain Josh Shapiro said. “We’ll be back next year.”
The tense atmosphere reached a tipping point after the game. A Lebowski player marched into the stands and approached the most vocal of the Saints supporters. The player then slapped a beer out of the hand of a male fan, spilling it onto a woman sitting next to the man. From there, a near-riot erupted.
Many of the aggrieved fans played for Milwaukee’s Best, including the man and woman involved in the beer incident, and had been loud supporters of the Saints. Once the beer spilled, a player from the Milwaukee’s Best team grabbed the Lebowski player by the back of the neck as the enraged crowd screamed. A full-scale fight was only pre-empted when numerous players and fans stepped in between the two men, attempting to dissipate the furious crowd. At that point, many were screaming physical threats of violence, though ultimately no punches were thrown.
Within a few minutes the crowd calmed down and cooler heads prevailed, though the commotion was loud enough that another game was suspended to allow its umpires to help harness the crowd.
In the end the Saints knocked off a top seed for the second year in a row, and despite the ugly postgame incident, the Saints advanced to the Elite Eight. Captain Lionel Anderson credited the team for hard work and dedication. “We stick together out here.”
By the time teams returned to the fields Sunday, the crowd was calm. The action started with two mercy-rule games, including eventual champion Texas Republic beating the Homers 12-2. Homers pitcher Blake Swango said after the game, “We made a bunch of errors and they didn’t. They’re a good team.”
Texas Republic kept on winning despite the absence of some regulars. Ryan Stalnaker missed the tournament to go on his honeymoon, while starting first baseman Deon Nelson attended the game but was unable to play. Prior to the tournament, Nelson was pitching at a Texas Republic practice when a line drive connected with his forehead, and 27 stitches later Nelson was relegated to scorekeeping duty.
Nelson’s perseverance may reflect the best qualities of his team. The 2009 champions were able to raise the trophy in the face of late-inning deficits in both the semifinal and final games.
Texas Republic is an original member of the House League, joining in the inaugural year of 2006. Despite some strong regular seasons, they had never made the second day of the tournament, until now.
“No more the best team not to win a championship,” shouted MVP Gelman after the final game. Teammates joined Gelman in celebration — a title well-earned, a distinction happily removed.
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