Dispatch from Jim Bickal on Tuesday’s (5/17) game:

“When the dust settled, two women lay atop home plate. One, our opponent’s catcher, had been knocked to the ground by the other, Linda Fantin who had just scored the winning run. Fantin’s mad dash home in the bottom of the seventh inning was the culmination of an improbable come from behind victory against a team of scrappy historians.

At 7:00, when the game was scheduled to begin, only eight MPR players stood ready for battle. Coach Bjork drafted Al Schoch, who had come as a spectator, to suit up and play centerfield. It wasn’t until Ellen Rolfes arrived during the first inning that we had a full complement of fielders.

The History Batters jumped to an 8-1 lead and it looked like another long night of softball for the Tuesday night squad. But as the game wore on, the defense tightened. Schoch was strong in center. Val Kahler was snagging line drives at third and Cliff Bentley at short was scooping grounders like Johnny Rothman.

We started to hit and the game tightened. But going into the bottom of the seventh, we were still down by four runs. We rallied in the seventh and tied the game on a grounder by Elizabeth Dunbar. When the throw to third got away, Fantin saw her chance and took off for home, knowing that her run would end the game and begin the chalk talk. Final score MPR 17, History Batters 16.”

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