Monticello Men’s Softball League

All Ways smiling

All Ways Taxi, last year’s runner up, keeps it light in win over Murray’s Chicken

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MONTICELLO, NY — They may not be the top team in the Monticello Men’s Softball League at the moment, but one thing you can say about the 2007 league runner-up, All Ways Taxi, is they come to play hard and have fun.

When Taxi was swept by Fitness Factory last August in the championship series, this writer used the famous phrase that was once the hallmark of the Brooklyn Dodgers: “Wait ‘til next year.” (After years of heart-rending defeats to the New York Yankees in the World Series, the Dodgers finally broke through in 1955.)

For All Ways Taxi, next year is here and things are okay. The team has a winning record (6-3) and they seem to be enjoying the ride.

Smiles were in profusion before, during and after the team’s 8-1 win over Murray’s Chicken on July 2, as players kidded each other and kept it light. Nothing changed that happy-go-lucky spirit, not even strike outs by would-be sluggers like Chris Sinceno or being beaned while running to first by Mike Ballard. Similar events have brought on some testy feelings and outbursts by other players in the league many a time, so this was, indeed, refreshing.

For their part, Murray’s Chicken players were in good spirits, too, despite a 1-9 record and some difficulty assembling players from a team that has an adequate and talented roster but has trouble with consistent attendance.

League organizer Mike Greco has now brought his vintage play and wit to All Ways Taxi. Using a mix of banter, his version of a “fast” ball and a baffling change up, Greco kept Murray’s Chicken batters mostly at bay. Holding a team to one run in this softball league is rare.

Manning the mound for Murray’s Chicken was veteran Bobby Yakin. A time-tested veteran in his own right, Yakin will be the first to tell you that this kind of pitching isn’t really his best asset. Nevertheless, after yielding four runs to Taxi in the first inning, Yak got in the groove and things improved as the game progressed.

All Ways Taxi’s Matt Stoddard got things going in the first inning with a booming triple. Mike Mann’s infield single put runners on the corners and Corey VanKeuren’s mini-roller plated the first run of the game.

A double by Adam ‘Bones’ Lake made it three-zip, and it looked like William Elberth’s homer would cause Taxi’s total to swell to five. But umpires ruled that Elberth had missed second base and he was called out.

Greco, staked to a 4-0 lead, faced only four batters in the first inning and worked around a leadoff single by Brandon Cunningham.

All Ways Taxi added a pair of runs in the second inning, fueled by a double by Dave Soderblum and a walk to Stoddard. That set the table for VanKeuren, who doubled in two runs to make it 6-0.

Murray’s Chicken couldn’t capitalize on a pair of singles from Shane Cunningham and Tim Movey to start the second. Greco’s wiley ways yielded three straight outs and the shut out continued.

Yakin settled in and showed greater effectiveness as he blanked Taxi in the third, and yielded only two more runs for the rest of the way via a RBI double by Stoddard in the fourth and a RBI single by Greco in the fifth.

Greco’s waddling run, as he stole a base, brought almost as much humor to the bench as Sinceno’s frozen stance on a called strike three. Hey, football is his game, not softball. Greco kept people apprised of the fact that flag football season is only 70 days off.

Murray’s Chicken got its lone run in the fifth inning as Matt Goldsmith was granted a free pass to first, following an errant pitch by Greco. A subsequent passed ball sent Goldsmith to second and he scored on a single by Darryl Fannings.

In keeping with players not losing their heads, Mike Ballard kept his, which appeared destined to be removed by a bean ball throw to first base that passed the outstretched arm of Shane Cunningham. The ball bounced off of Ballard’s bean but even that turned into a laughing matter.

Murray’s Chicken stayed on the field to take on Style’s Barbershop in the middle game as All Ways Taxi left the diamond smiling.

Talented and in good spirits, this team could end up with more to smile about before all is said and done.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of photos from the game.