Avenging a terrible loss from last season, the Coors Light Chuggers stayed undefeated by whipping KPMG A 19-5 in co-ed softball action at the Field of Dreams Sunday morning.
The hot-hitting Chuggers put the game out of reach early scoring four runs in the first inning, eight in the second inning and two in the third inning to open up a 14-0 lead and they coasted from there.
“We played well,” said Chuggers’ captain Alan Markoff. “We remember what happened last season and we were determined to make-up for that horrible loss.
In the 11th week of the winter season, Coors Light led 18-10, having overcome an early 9-1 deficit. But KPMG stormed back to score 10 runs in the final two innings – including six runs after there were two outs in the 7th inning to win 20-19.
“That game really hurt us,” said Markoff. “We’re the type of team that has fun even when we lose, but there was nothing fun about that.”
Demoralised, the Chuggers were blown out in their final two games of last season, including a play-off game, and finished the season 2-11. As a result, the team moved down to the B-League this season.
Back in the B-League for the first time in several years, Coors Light has rediscovered its mojo. With the victory on Sunday, the Chuggers improved to 5-0, the only undefeated team in the co-ed programme.
Markoff said the difference has been defence. So far in five games, the Chuggers have only given up 23 runs – less than five a game. Last season the Chuggers gave up over 14 runs a game, second worst in the entire co-ed programme.
“We’ve always had a good offense, but last year we were simply terrible in the field,” he said. “We’ve cut down on our errors tremendously and even when we make some, we’re clamping down so they don’t hurt as much.”
Coors Light co-captain Mark Wallace questioned why the latest version of the league standings showed the then 4-0 Chuggers in second place behind the red-hot 5-1 Master Batters in the B1 division.
“How can you put a team that’s undefeated behind a team with one loss, especially since that one loss came at our hands?” Wallace complained. “It’s skullduggery I tell you.”
The Chuggers will have a big test next Tuesday when they play a doubleheader, with games against the B-League powerhouse Glovernauts and the A-League’s Island Taste on the same night.
“We’re one of the oldest teams in the programme and our bodies aren’t made for doubleheaders,” said Markoff. “That’s where having a large roster really helps.”
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