Millers Blows 11-Run Lead, Loses First of the Year 16-14

        It was 11-0 Millers after 3 1/2 innings and all looked right with the world on a breezy Friday Night in Annandale, NJ. The two-time defending champs were still unbeaten in the '07 campaign but a not-so-funny thing happened on the way 9-0, the roof caved in.

        Helluva Good Cheese added some quality players including Rich Nadeau, Scott Gale "Force" and Dale "Bay City" Roller among others and all were on hand to help the regulars, some of whom have been playing in the League for over a decade. However, when you have an 11-0 coming to bat in the 4th inning of a Slo-Pitch Softball game, you don't normally worry about who is playing on the other team.

        Mark "Oscar Meyer" Deiner went 4-for-4 and Captain Bill "Full" Nelson, who is quietly hitting a robust .630 for the year, went 3-for-4 as Millers went up 2-0 and then 11-0. Consecutive hits by Nick Dworski, Joe Eugenio, Dave "More Than An" Ihling and "Richie" Rich Talian led a 3rd inning charge that eventually plated 9 runs and gave the Miller's faithful what most thought was a comfortable lead. The Cheeseheads however, had other ideas.

        Miller's got the Cheeseheads rolling by giving away extra outs and runs by the truckload. Double plays that couldn't be turned, line drive off gloves in a tough Sun and a flyball that fell between two OF's who otherwise played tremendous defensive games all helped HGC crawl back in it.

        Miller's LF Dave Ihling may not be old enough to remember the Rock Band 'Boston' that gave him his nickname but he is old enough to track down flyballs and did just that for the most part on Friday and also went 3-for-4 while LCF Vasil "Missing" Hlinka also ran down many line shots and made some tough catches despite having both hamstrings wrapped tightly and limping noticably in between innings.

        Dave's father Rich, coming off a 'Player of the Week' performance against Harley Davidson a week earlier when he went 3-for-4 with a Home Run, pitched well the first few innings as he dealt with a tough wind but with the extra outs, HGC may have started to figure him out the 3rd time around the order as they posted 9 in the 5th and a blowout all of sudden became a nail-biter.

        Miller's still led 13-12 after 5 and 14-12 after 5-and-a-half but a two run HR for HGC tied in the Bottom of the 6th and then, after Miller's failed to score in the Top of the 7th with the top of their order, P.J. Dowling reached for a pitch that looked like it was almost a foot short of the plate and somehow got it up in the jetstream and launched it way out of the yard for a 'walk-off' two-run Homer that won it for HGC.

        There will be none of Lionel Richie's Dancing on the Ceiling this week as a disappointed Ihling took the loss on his shoulders "It's my fault we lost" said Rich Ihling after the game "I can't freakin believe it". Ihling finished only 2-for-5 but in fairness to him he was robbed of a Home Run as a Cheesehead OF reached over the fence and brought an Ihling flyball back in the yard to end the 3rd inning when Miller's could've put the game essentially out of reach.

        The elder Ihling was not alone in taking blame as SS Scott Farrell only had two hits "It's a team game obviously and if one or two things had happened differently, we win" said a disgusted Farrell in the postgame "but the biggest thing for me was not coming through in the 7th with the wind howling out. Needless to say I didn't enjoy DJ'ing afterwards and did not sleep well Friday Night." For the record, Farrell lined out to the LCF after Deiner had started the inning by getting his 4th of the game. Ihling followed that up by flying out to RF.

        "We're obviously not Ruth and Gehrig or Maris and Mantle but we are counted on to do certain things in certain situations especially when we finally get a game on Field #1 and Rich and I did not get it done" added Farrell who took out his frustration on his opponents a day later by going 22-24 in a Tournament in Lakewood,NJ "it won't happen again." The bats of Jimmy 'Man-to-' Mannion (.524 for the year with a boatload of key RBI) and Kevin 'K-Fitz' Fitsimmons (.643) were missed but with an extra hit here or there or one more defensive play, the Tavern would not have had to worry about anything else.

        Sadly the undefeated season is gone but there is still a lot of work to be done. Miller's is still in first place and faces Pro-Activity this week before returning to Field #1 to face rival Tap Masters on the 6th of July. They also have rematch with Woodglen waiting in the wings as well as a late August rehook with The Cheeseheads on the open Field #3 at Foran Park.