Explosive Fire Crackers melt Ice Breakers

The Parks and Rec Softball Fire Crackers warm up before their game against the Ice Breakers Friday evening. The two teams faced off at Youth Sports Inc. with the Fire Crackers edging the Ice Breakers 16-10.

It may have been three days past Independence Day, but when two Parks and Recreation Softball teams squared off Friday, it seemed appropriate the team dubbed the Fire Crackers came out on top in come-from-behind fashion over the Ice Breakers, 16-10.

“It was really fun and hard,” said Fire Cracker B Adams of her team’s comeback victory.

Despite the final score, it was the Ice Breakers who struck first, forcing the Fire Crackers to mount a comeback.

In the top of the first, the Ice Breaker defense faced only five Fire Cracker batters, inducing three groundouts and yielding no runs.

Haley Hobbs led off the bottom of the first for the Ice Breakers and started the inning with a single. Two batters later, Courtney Cox was the first of four straight Ice Breakers to reach base. After Cheyenne Coulter loaded the bases with a single, Riley Shook drove in Hobbs with a single for the first Ice Breaker run. Samantha Lenz put an exclamation mark on the inning with a double to right field, scoring Coulter and Shook to give the Ice Breakers a 3-0 lead.

In spite of the early deficit, Fire Cracker assistant coaches Richard Luna and Bill Adams, filling in for head coach Melissa Foster, said they didn’t have to worry about their team getting down on itself.

“They’re such cheerleaders within themselves,” Luna said, “Everything stays pretty positive.”

The positive attitude paid off, as the Fire Crackers erupted for four runs in the top of the second thanks to a stretch where six of seven batters reached base. Denise Rayton started the rally, reaching on a single. Several batters later, Hayley Luna drove in Rayton and Adams for the first two Fire Cracker runs of the evening. Izzy Haag came up next and plated Amara Brown and Luna to put the Fire Crackers ahead 4-3.

The Parks and Rec Softball Fire Crackers warm up before their game against the Ice Breakers Friday evening. The two teams faced off at Youth Sports Inc. with the Fire Crackers edging the Ice Breakers 16-10.

The Ice Breakers fought back to regain the lead in their half of the inning. With the bases loaded, Sarah Smoot singled to drive in two runs to give the Ice Breakers a 5-4 advantage.

In the third, the Fire Crackers came right back showing their full potential on offense. Adams had the big hit of the inning with a bases-loaded two-run double. The Fire Crackers added three more runs in the inning, reaching the five-run maximum to take a 9-5 lead.

“Once they started getting excited there in the middle innings, everything started to click,” Luna said.

In the bottom of the inning, the Fire Crackers protected their lead with some stellar defense. With the bases loaded and no outs, a fly ball to left field could have unloaded the bases. That is, if Rayton wasn’t there to make an amazing catch.

“Denise has been working on her fielding all year, so that was a major milestone for her,” Adams said. “She was very proud of herself for that.”

“Everybody was proud of her for that,” Luna said.

The Ice Breakers posted three runs in the inning to narrow the Fire Cracker lead to 9-8, but without Rayton’s catch, the Ice Breakers might have reached the five-run max to take back the lead.

As it turned out, 9-8 was as close as the game would be as the Fire Crackers outscored the Ice Breakers 7-2 in the final two innings to seal the victory.

After the game, Rayton’s play still stood out to her teammates.

“I think everybody played really good and Denise made everybody happy with her catch,” Hayley Luna said.