IM summer titles claimed

By Eric Rangus erangus@emory.edu

The matchup in the July 11 IM men’s summer softball league was appealing. The Asian Christian Fellowship had rolled the through the season undefeated. What Bar Exam? had two losses, but the core of this talented group of law students had finished second in both spring softball and flag football and won the IM soccer title.

Something had to give.

It was the (soon-to-be) lawyers, who were overwhelmed by ACF’s big bats, which hammered the way to a 16-10 win.

ACF used big innings to great effect, putting up six runs in both the third and sixth. Senior Danny Kim, who was also the winning pitcher, helped himself with a 4-for-4 evening, including a double, 2 RBI and a run scored.

But What Bar Exam? had its offensive highlights as well. Like a four-run first inning featuring a two-run triple by Eric Berardi.

But it wasn’t enough to keep up with ACF’s balanced attack. Nine of ACF’s 11 starters scored at least one run, seven had at least one RBI, and three players—Kim, Danny Jeon (two hits, two walks, two runs scored, two RBI) and John Non (two singles, three walks, two runs scored and one RBI)—reached base every time they batted.

The win was ACF’s first championship in any IM sport.

Physician Assistants, an aptly named team of first-year students in the medical school’s P.A. program, scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning, held off a late rally by the Boys and Girls of Summer in the bottom half, and won the IM co-rec summer softball championship July 12, 7-6.

Down 5-4 to start the final inning, PA loaded the bases with one out on singles by Brent Price and Mandy Wilson and a walk to Cheryl Cabalza. Price scored the tying run on a fielder’s choice and, after another walk to load the bases, clean-up hitter Jeremy Ruddel stepped up.

He hit a grounder to the left side that looked like it would end the inning, but the ball trickled under the shortstop’s glove. The error allowed two runs to score and gave PA a 7-5 lead.

Not content to roll over, the Boys and Girls of Summer—a team of predominantly graduate students in neuroscience—began the bottom of the seventh with a bang. Sean Kaufman of Residence Life led off the inning with an opposite-field solo home run to cap a four-hit evening.

When the next hitter, tying run Jennie Soria walked, a big inning looked to be on the horizon.

But PA’s Dave Fox pitched out of it, coaxing the next two hitters into fielder’s choices and getting Allen Cheng—who had doubled in his previous at bat—to pop up for the final out.

But PA’s seventh-inning rally was not without controversy. With Price and Wilson on and nobody out, Neil Hunter was sent up to pinch-hit for Cabalza. He doubled in both runners to give PA what appeared to be a 6-5 lead.

Unfortunately for PA, Hunter had hit earlier in the game and was, therefore, ineligible.

He was declared out and the runners returned to their bags with no change in the score. Cabalza then stepped to the plate, walked, and what turned out to be the championship-winning rally, continued.

Click here to read about Emory's softball leagues during the summer.