Worth the wait: Chassell wins Over 50 title
TAPIOLA — It was a long wait for the Chassell Over 50 Softball League team.
But Chassell earned its first-ever playoff championship Thursday by outlasting the team that had won the past four titles, Houghton.
“You know that Houghton is always going to make it tough,” Chassell manager Arne Putala after his team’s 12-11 win Thursday night. “I was sweating out that final out tonight.”
As it turned out, the final out was not secured until outfielder Nick Lindemann of Chassell made a nice running catch of a flyball with the tying run on second base.
Houghton scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh to nearly erase a 12-6 deficit.
“We needed one more hit tonight,” Houghton manager Dave Usitalo said. “But it’s been a nice run for us.”
Mitch Lake, the winning pitcher, credited his defense for the victory.
“We had some nice double plays in this game,” Lake noted. “Our defense was really strong when it had to be.”
Chassell grabbed a 6-2 lead after three innings as Charlie Kemppainen and Pat Duguay had key hits.
Houghton rallied back to make it close at 7-6 after five frames behind big hits from Jim Perron and Tom LeGault.
But Chassell’s four-run outburst in the top of the sixth made it more comfortable.
Duguay and Kemppainen each poked out four hits for the winners, with Jim LaChance adding three more.
Jerry Fish, Darryl Putala and Lindemann added two raps.
Perron’s three hits paced Houghton, while Nick Eikenberry also had three. Hoffman, LeGault and and losing pitcher Scott Madajewski all contributed two raps.