Story and photos by David Abbott
Sonoma West Staff Writer
SEBASTOPOL — On a hot field at Ragle Park last Saturday, the
Sebastopol Men’s Softball League played out its yearly
tournament.
When it was all over, the team from Jasper O’Farrell’s ended in
historic fashion, with a perfect 17-0 record in a season that
featured a fierce rivalry with the team from Graton, and a team of
“lovable losers” from Occidental Hardware that went 0-16.
“The whole thing boils down to this weekend,” said Torrey
Farmer, of the Graton team. “The season is for seeding, but this is
for bragging rights over the winter.”
Farmer and his teammate Mike Josephson, aka “Beef” have been in
the league since 1993 and 1991 respectively, and have shared
organizing duties for the past few years.
Although the competition in the league can be intense at times —
there were two bench-clearing brawls in the regular season, and
several injuries — Josephson said that Sebastopol Softball lacks
the intensity of some of the other leagues in the county, and they
are proud to be the only league still using wooden bats, which they
started five years ago.
“It’s real family-oriented,” Beef said. “Our wives and kids come
out and enjoy the atmosphere with us.”
The atmosphere was hot and dusty for this year’s tournament,
reaching the upper 80s on Saturday, and into the mid-90s on
Sunday.
The tournament was two-game elimination with each game lasting
seven innings or 1 hour 15 minutes, whichever came first. There was
no “slaughter” rule. Each team played two games the first day, with
the exception of top-seeded Jaspers, which had a bye due to Gold
Ridge Fire not being able to field a team.
Graton was seeded third, but according to Josephson it was the
first time in six or seven years they haven’t been second, a
position taken over by the Aaction Rents team of Guerneville.
Jaspers and Aaction Rents, the two top-seeded teams, came
through Saturday’s action undefeated, while the Wasabi and
Occidental teams were immediately eliminated.
Third seeded Graton, fourth seeded Spud Point Crab Company’s
team, and fifth seeded Ace in the Hole, all went 1-1 on Saturday
each facing elimination on Sunday.
Sunday’s action saw Graton eliminate Spud Point in the first
game, and Aces in an extra-inning thriller — widely considered the
game of the season — by a score of 11-10.
The third game was the first match of the day between Aaction
and Jaspers, and the first of three overall for Aaction as the
mercury began to climb on the Ragle Park field.
In the semi-final game that would determine who would face
Jaspers for the trophy, Graton went up against Aaction in a game
that looked like a runaway for Graton when the team scored four
runs in the top of the first.
But in the third, Aaction responded with three runs off of a
triple by third baseman Mark Spain.
After a 1-2-3 top of the fourth by Graton, Aaction came back to
fill the bases, tying the score on a sac fly to right field.
The fifth inning included double-plays by both teams, and in the
top of the sixth Graton went down 1-2-3 for the second time in
three innings leading into a run-scoring fusillade by Aaction.
After Aaction loaded the bases, an error by Graton’s second
baseman led to a run, which was followed by a triple that put
Aaction up by a score of 9-5.
A sacrifice to left added another run, and a dropped fly ball to
short right-center kept the inning going for Spain who drove in the
final run with a single.
Graton went down 1-2-3 in the seventh, and Aaction won by a
score of 11-5, leading to the team’s third game of the day, the
championship game with undefeated Jaspers.
The final looked at first like it would be a runaway by Jaspers,
after scoring three runs on a homer in the bottom of the first, but
in the top of the third, Aaction stormed back with four runs.
The rally began with a pop-out to center followed by a single
and a fielder’s choice. An error by Jaspers’ left fielder and a
double tied the score, and a broken-bat single put Aaction up by a
score of 4-3.
Jaspers immediately tied the score in the bottom of the inning
on a pair of doubles and a pop fly to right, but Aaction took the
lead once again in the top of the fourth.
Jaspers finally took control in the bottom of the fourth with a
nine-run rally started by a single to left by pitcher Rick Dix.
Another single by Ethan Crandall which was followed by an error by
Aaction’s right fielder tied the score, and after a fly out to
shallow right-center, the next eight Jaspers made it safely to base
through a combination of walks, errors and singles.
With a score of 12-5, Aaction made it interesting by scoring
four in the top of the fifth, and Jaspers capped the scoring with
one more in the bottom of the sixth. The final score was Jaspers
13, Aaction 9.
According to Jaspers coach Troy Dougherty, two years ago Jaspers
won only two games, but they brought in some younger players, and
“got rid of some cancers.”
“We overcame a lot of adversity (this season) with vacation
schedules and two season-ending injuries,” Dougherty said. “I told
the guys to be humble and have pride.”
He credits Dix who’s “one hell of a pitcher” for helping the
team play more consistently and other young players, including
teammate Jimmy Branch whose father played triple-A baseball in the
Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
The league began in the mid-1980s. There were originally eight
teams, with a high of 12 in 1988.
Dave Newby of the Spud Point team became involved early on.
Newby moved to Sonoma County in 1978 and started playing in 1985.
He ran the league off and on for about 12 years starting in
1986.
He credits the County in part for the upgrades at Ragle Park
that have made the softball experience what it has become.
“It’s basically a city park taken care of by the county,” he
said. “When I first came here there were just outhouses, and
altogether now the field is nice.”
Newby also credits Jim Corbett for keeping Sebastopol Men’s
Softball a viable concern. Corbett was an official with the North
Coast Officials Association for several years, and came in to
stabilize the organization.
Corbett, aka Mr. Music, moved to Sebastopol in 1975 and worked
as an official until his music career took off.
“I helped get it established. It was a little ragtag before
that,” he said. “I took care of the money and made sure they had
officials at the games.”
The league features players who have played and grown up
together, and many are graduates of Analy and El Molino high
schools.
Newby remembers one summer when Graton Fire left several games
when the alarm went off and took the teams with them to the call,
and at times the fog will roll in and force them to cancel
games.
The part Newby appreciates most though is the family aspect of
the league.
“I’ve seen granddads playing on the same team as their
grandkids,” he said.
But softball in Sonoma County isn’t what it once was. According
to Newby, at one time there were more than 500 teams in the county.
Now there are around 200, due in large part to the cost of
insurance and the overall cost of fielding a team.
For more photos, visit the photo gallery page
Season record and tournament
seeding:
Aaction Rents 10-4 (2)
Aces Wild 7-7 (5)
Gold Ridge Fire 6-8 (6)
(did not play in tourney)
Graton 10-4 (3)
Jasper O’Farrell’s 14-0 (1)
Occidental Hardware 0-14 (8)
Spud Point 8-6 (4)
Wasabi 2-12 (7)
Tournament results:
Saturday, August 8
Aces 3; Spud 2
Wasabi 2; Graton 11
Occidental 0; Aaction 12
Aces 5; Jaspers 7
Graton 1; Aaction 3
Wasabi 5; Spud 9
(Wasabi eliminated)
Sunday August 9
Aces 14; Occidental 5 (Occidental
eliminated)
Graton 9; Spud 0 (Spud
eliminated)
Aces 10; Graton 11
(Aces eliminated)
Aaction 2; Jaspers 4
Aaction 11; Graton 5 (Graton eliminated)
Aaction 9; Jaspers 13 (Jaspers wins
tourney)
