FORT RUCKER, Ala. (August 25, 2011) -- It couldn't really be called anything less than a blowout as Old Skool dismantled a lackluster Showstoppers team in the Fort Rucker Intramural Softball Championship game Aug. 18, 18-2.
The two teams had to battle each other through two games due to Old Skool coming in from the losers' bracket of the double-elimination tournament and winning the first game.
Ironically, it was Showstoppers who put Old Skool in the losers' bracket earlier in the tournament.
The final score hardly reflects how tough the competition on the field was. Old Skool sat out one of its usual players, Russ Smedley, who stepped in to coach the team due to a torn rotator cuff.
The Showstoppers, while mostly effective on fielding, had a lot of trouble swinging the bats.
The sheer power coming from the Old Skool lineup wore down the younger Showstoppers team, as swinging bats proved to be an easy task for the now three-time champions.
While the early innings of the first game had Smedley worried about his team's chances, it was the complete opposite in the second game. The first game still ended in victory for Old Skool, 19-6.
The team went up 6-0 in the first inning on the strength of hitters like shortstop Jeremy Adams and outfielder Sam Gipson.
A three-run home run from Daniel Stowe, outfielder, helped push Old Skool's lead to 14-0 after two innings.
Old Skool tacked on two more runs in the third inning, but the Showstoppers' gloves started working more efficiently.
Unfortunately for the team, Showstoppers' bats still didn't get going and only yielded two runs for the team -- it's only two of the game.
After the next inning went by with no change in the Showstoppers' score, it was decidedly over.
Showstoppers' coach, Brad Mort, said his team was present and accounted for, but the offensive prowess that helped the team get to the championship games failed to show up.
"Our bats just didn't work tonight," he said. "That's what kept us from ever really getting into the game. We've struggled some this season with not hitting the ball, but tonight was not the night to have those issues."
Mort said this isn't the last the league has seen of the Showstoppers and that the team would be back next season ready to challenge for the title, once again.
Smedley said he was more than pleased with how his team performed and that bringing home the championship for the third year in a row helped ease the pain of not being able to play.
"We've been playing great all year," he said. "We do have some issues with letting our bats go cold when we get a comfortable lead and last Thursday it caught up with us. There was a little bad blood between the teams after our series of games in the regular season and the beginning of the tournament. But, in the end, we got everything going right."
Old Skool players ended the night by shaking the hands of their rivals and posing for pictures with the league and tournament trophies, proudly holding up three fingers to represent their third consecutive title.
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