A DYNASTY AT THE PEAK
9/12/02

After failing to win any titles in the franchise's first three seasons with CSA, Peaked In High School captures their third straight championship. All three titles have come in the past 84 days.

Peaked In High School once again romps in the championship game, this time against Spotted Dicks and adds the CSA Thursday Summer Co-ed Softball championship for the franchise, 19-6.

The championship for the Thursday night Piedmont Park league matched up the top two seeds. Additionally, Peaked in High School had two former Spotted Dicks players, captain Darren Hulst and alternate captain, Ray Peebles. Spotted Dicks had a player that had just won a championship with the Sunday Peaked in High School team, Susan Weigel. The game also had seven players, and five starters  that won a championship with Roger's, We're Not Hungover, team in summer 2001.

Both teams also had to make dramatic seventh inning comebacks in the semi-finals just to make it to the championship game. Peaked in High School trailed the Fighting Amish by four runs going into the bottom of the seventh. They managed to put a rally together with a walk, a couple hits, and some errors. They scored five runs without recording an out, and the winning run scored when the ball bounced off the face of one of their other runners. Spotted Dicks had to make an even bigger comeback. They trailed by six against Last Call in the seventh inning. They managed to string hits together and trailed 13-12 with runners on first and third and one out. The next batter tied the game and after recording the second out, they scored the winning run from second base to advance to the title game.

This led to a championship match-up of 1 versus 2. The first inning was fairly even. Peaked put two quick runs on the board and Spotted answered with three of their own. In the second inning, Peaked busted the game open and took a lead they would never relinquish. Paul Crater led off and started a seven run rally that gave Peaked a six run lead. The inning was capped by a two run single by Ray Peebles that scored Kirk Graves and Darren Hulst. That was followed by a two run triple by Championship Game MVP, Doug Van Sickle. Peaked added two more runs in the top of the second. In the bottom of the inning, Spotted failed to score and the score was 9-3 after two.

Spotted changed pitchers in the third and Peaked went down 1-2-3. A two run homer by Peter Kitrell in the bottom of the inning made the score 9-5, but that was as close as Spotted would get.

In the top of the fourth, Peaked sealed the game. Sending fourteen batters to the plate, they scored 10 runs.  The inning was marked by a crucial error at third base. With two outs and a runner on Kirk Graves on third, Amy Schuneman hit a foul pop just by third base. It looked like it would be the third out, but the ball was dropped. With a second chance, Schuneman reached on a single and advanced to third after a throwing error. Peebles followed with an RBI single, which was followed by a Van Sickle home run. Those four runs made it a ten run inning and after Spotted failed to score in the bottom of the fourth, the score was 19-5.

The fifth inning was a mere formality. Peaked did not score any runs, but the pressure was on Spotted Dicks. They had to score three runs or the mercy rule would go into effect. They managed one run, but Ray Peebles caught a pop up behind second base for the third out and Peaked In High School had secured their third championship in three months.

PEAKED IN HIGH SCHOOL
starting line-up

1. DARREN HULST
2. AMY SCHUNEMAN
3. RAY PEEBLES
4. DOUG VAN SICKLE (Championship Game MVP)
5. JAMIE DWYER
6. KATIE BLANKENSTEIN
7. PAUL CRATER
8. KIRK GRAVES
9. JANYE MCCLINTON

Did not play
MONICA HOLLISON, MICHELLE SABA, LEE TEMPLE, CHARLIE WHALEN