06/24/2026
Our sponsored team, the Taproom Mudsliders are back!
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Season Opener: Raquette Lake Taproom Mudsliders vs. Minerva
How many construction zones are between Raquette Lake and Minerva? At least 4.
How many Stewarts do you pass to Minerva? One-ish. (North Creek Stewarts is nearby).
How many miles to Minerva? 50.
How many songs did we sing loudly for those 100 miles? According to Kurt, who had to ride
with me – too many.
How many women’s softball teams in Minerva on Tuesday, June 23rd? Two.
Two great teams who couldn’t have been happier to be back on the field, competing,
supporting their teammates and each other. It was perfect weather for the first game of the
softball season, and the bugs were at an all-time low.
Raquette Lake started off the batting order with Sandy “Strippy” Tetreault, Ella “Sonic”
Patrick, Aris “ ‘Merica” Bird, Jenifer “JT” Temple, Jaimee “J-Bolt” Tormey. Minerva quickly scooped up Raquette’s attempts to start the game with an offense and shut them down.
In the field, Raquette retaliated with a similar approach. Madison “Mad-Dawg” Rice fielded
a grounder and tossed to Leslie “Fire Cracker” Beauchamp for the first out. ‘Merica fielded
a grounder and tossed to Leslie for the second out. Jenifer “JT” Temple hustled down a pop
fly in the middle of the infield for the 3rd out. Score at the end of the first inning 0-0.
Back at bat, Sara “Slugger” Warner started off the batting order with a hard thwack that
bolted past 2nd base earning a single. Jennifer “Shins” Ernenwein sacrificed herself to push
warner around the bags. Leslie crushed a hard line drive that Minerva’s short stop managed
to get in front of and catch. Mad-dawg rocketed a long fly ball to center field earning herself a double. Deb “Toga” Dalpos made her debut for the Mudsliders sailing a fly ball to left
field, but Minevra tracked it down.
On defense, Jenifer Temple fielded a grounder and threw to 2nd. Strippy knocked down a
long fly ball to center field and hustled it into 2nd base for the tag for the second out. The
third out was a little chaotic – JT and Shins chased down a player running home for the out.
Top of the 3rd inning, Lora “Lo Lo” Bornemann, Kat “Me-Wow” Forsell, Jenni “8675309”
Wehrlin all gave a good punch at the ball, but the infield played like they had honey all over
and quickly earned their outs.
Bottom of the 3rd, Jenifer Temple thought she should take matters into her own hands when
she fielded two balls and threw them to Lora at 1st and then Mad-Dawg finished the inning,
running for a grounder, scooped it up and flicked to Bird at 3rd. Score still 0-0.
With the sun starting to set in the sky, the game pressed on with Sara “Bring it on”
Shanahan starting the top of the 4th inning. She crushed a ball into center field earning
herself a single. The top of the batting order followed her but was unsuccessful to bring her
in.
Bottom of the fourth, Bird went for a hat trick taking all 3 outs in the field – fielding a
grounder with a throw to 2nd, catching a fly ball and then throwing to first to nab the base
runner out. Score stuck at 0-0.
Top of the 5th inning, Raquette stalled at bat and quickly returned to the field. Mad-Dawg
hustled down a fly ball for the first out, Jenifer Temple fielded another grounder with a throw
to first and Strippy poured the jet fuel on in the outfield to grab a long fly ball.
The sixth inning is where the game became suspenseful. Raquette put forth some
aggressive at bats, but Minerva wasn’t having any of it. Returning to the field, the
Mudsliders made a few errors allowing the home team to score 3 runs. JT finally put an end to the inning when she fielded two grounders to first and then another to 2nd. Score 0 -3, Mudsliders trailing.
With Coach Gary pacing and Assistant Coach Elaine “Lainey” Dillon giving the team a
peptalk – the top of the 7th began with Lora who crushed a bullet over 2nd base earning
herself a double. Jenni advanced Lora with a smack up the middle of the field and earned
herself a single. Kat “Me-Wow” did not just roar when she got up to bat, she clawed, sliced
and diced a ball into left field bringing Lora in and earning an RBI. First run of the game and
season for the Mudsliders! Shanahan boomed a ball into left field pushing Kat to second
(Jenni was tagged out). Strippy gave a poke to 3rd where Kat was tagged out. Ella had no fear
when she went up to bat with 2 outs against the Mudsliders and delivered one into the
outfield bringing Shanahan home and earning a double. ‘Merica sent a high ball into the
outfield which landed causing confusion earning a double and helping Ella sneak home.
Top of the 7th, score tied up 3-3.
The Mudsliders needed to hold off Minerva from any additional runs to send the game into
extra innings, but Minerva knew they had tacos and cold beverages to share with everyone
and decided it was time to end the game. They batted strategically and quickly ran the
bases, earning themselves the winning run and ending the game. Final score 3-4 Minerva.
Next week the Taproom Mudsliders are home on Slider Field (in Raquette Lake) against
Chestertown at 6:30PM. Hope to see you then.
~’Merica
