It was a crazy 3-hour, 12-11 game
Perhaps it was fitting. With the season offering as many ups and downs as the Post 334 delegation realized each day driving from Nemo down the mountains into Rapid City, then back the week before, why wouldn’t one particular game offer the same ride.
Well, Thursday night July 9 at Wintercrest West under the lights and a steady drizzle, it did.
In a game that lasted at least three hours (everyone it seemed had stopped checking the time on their watches and cell phones after the sixth inning), Post 334 outlasted the Champlin Post 600 team in a game that featured nearly 375 pitches 12-11.
Rookie Luke Hite, making his debut in the outfield for Post 334, came through with the game-winning hit in the last of the sixth — an opposite field double down that painted the left field foul line. Hite’s two-out hit came after Slappy Jensen’s infield pop up was dropped. Jensen then stole second and scored when the left-handed-hitting Hite delivered down the line.
Devin Croal, veteran second baseman who came on in relief of three previous Post 334 pitchers in the fifth inning, shut the door and collected his first mound victory.
In the wet and sloppy conditions, Post 334 starter Doug Pouliot could not find his balance point and the strike zone before he was lifted. Will Heiser and Pat Freese also pitched in the slippery mound conditions with limited success.
Post 334 fell behind 5-0 in the top of the first, but rallied for eight in the last half of the inning. Though Post 334 never trailed again, Champlin came back to tie the score three times before Hite came through with the game-deciding RBI…
Posted: July 9th, 2009