Ballers Take Congressional League Title Walking Away
October 6, 11:10 am by jpfinlay
Champagne sprayed over the infield as Rob’s Beltway Ballers celebrated their Congressional Softball League tournament championship victory, the capstone to an undefeated year.
The Ballers went 12-0, including the league tournament and their 14-6 victory Saturday over two-time defending champion No Talent AZ Clowns in the final.
“It was a hard-fought victory. They gave us a good game,” said Rob Myers, Border Patrol agent and captain and namesake of the Ballers. “We knew we’d have to give them a good game, but this team was built for a championship.”
In the sixth inning, the Ballers scored six runs to break open what had been a tight game.
Pitchers for the two teams took decidedly different approaches. For most of the game, AZ Clowns pitcher Stephen Burns routinely threw strikes, displaying a command of the strike zone few other pitchers in the league possess.
Les Locke for the Ballers pitched to contact, putting the Baller infield in position to make simple plays.
Clinging to an 8-6 lead in the bottom of the sixth, Myers started the decisive Baller rally. With runners on the corners, he smacked a single to right field that brought home a runner. From there, Baller bats continued to produce, including a sharp ground ball that hit Burns in the face. The ball gave Burns a gash on his nose, though he continued to pitch after a brief visit to the dugout.
Sean Wilson blasted a two-RBI triple to left field, pushing the Ballers’ lead to 14-6.
In the top of the seventh, the AZ Clowns could not muster the comeback; the side retired without scoring another run.
Despite their failure to achieve a three-peat, the AZ Clowns nonetheless could celebrate reaching the championship game for the fourth straight time.
“They beat us,” Rob Bloom said. “We still played a good tourney.”
The AZ Clowns enjoyed a comeback win before the championship game. They started the morning playing Margin of Terror. The previous weekend, a rain delay halted the game in the fifth inning with Margin of Terror leading 5-3. When play resumed Saturday, the AZ Clowns came back to beat Margin of Terror with a walk-off hit by Burns in extra innings.
Twice rain delayed the Congressional tournament, thus the later-than-normal finish. For the championship game, Mother Nature obliged with perfect conditions, sunny and warm.
The rain delays upset a few who had tight schedules, though it cost some significantly more. Myers’ fiancé, Kara Moon, lives in Indiana. For each of the four weekends of the tournament, Moon flew into D.C. to play for the Ballers, playing with Myers in the outfield as the Ballers marched to the championship.
“Four weeks worth of airline tickets later,” Myers said in an e-mail, “JACKPOT!”
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