MARYSVILLE Neither an official rain delay nor muddy fields kept coed teams Welco Lumber and Lit Up from scrimmaging on the city softball leagues scheduled summer opener July 22.
A nine-run fourth inning gave Welco a lead Lit Up couldnt quite overcome and Welco took the win 18-12 in five innings. The game had no implications for city league standings, however.
Though Welco always tied or led, the game remained close throughout the first three innings.
Welco leadoff batter Clyde Downing started things off with the first of his four doubles. Manager and first baseman Mike Downings own double two batters later brought him in on the way to a four-run inning for Welco. The Downings led Welco offensively, each turning in a 4-for-4 batting performance.
Lit Up answered in the bottom of the first with three runs of their own thanks to RBIs by first baseman Charlotte Smith, third baseman Tobias Tyler and right fielder Tonya Comenote.
After a scoreless second, the teams played to a 6-6 tie in the third.
Ten of Welcos 11 players had hits in the fourth, though, and Welco jumped out to a 15-6 lead. The batting lineup tested the stamina of the Lit Up outfield, hitting several balls to the M-P parking lot for an automatic double. Mike Downing showed how he earned the nickname Grunt as he slugged a pitch into right field for the games only home run.
Lit Up answered with only one run in the bottom of the fourth, but after the teams agreed to call the fifth inning their last, Lit Up started to put together a comeback in the bottom of the fifth.
Patiently, Lit Up strung together base hits in the fifth to close in on the 11-run lead their opponents held.
Kenny Reedy, Kristina Ashman and Justin Tennison all had consecutive hits to lead off the inning for Lit Up. With one out, left fielder Chuck White hit another single to narrow the Welco lead and Weiser repeated the feat a couple of batters later, narrowing the gap to single digits.
Tennison, White and Weiser all scored in the fifth for Lit Up, but the Welco lead proved insurmountable.
Welco manager Mike Downing credited a solid core of players for his teams success. Of the nine years hes played local softball, most of us, four or five of us, have been playing for six of those at least, he said.
Downing said a good attitude is an attribute his prizes highly of his teammates.
We keep spirits high. One person gets down, we all step up and help that person, he said. We just dont get under each others skin.

At M-P High School

Welco Lumber 4 0 2 9 3 18
Lit Up 3 0 3 1 5 12