It was the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded, and the San Quentin Hardtimers softball team was down two runs. Mario “Rio” Ellis belted a pitch to the outfield, scoring the winning three runs. That lifted the Hardtimers to a 20-19 victory over the visiting Diego Boys.
In the last inning with the score 19-17, DuPriest Brown hit a laser single between third and shortstop. Juan Arballo followed with a single up the middle, putting Hardtimers on first and second.
Next was John Windham. With the pressure on, he calmly turned his hat backwards, lifted the bat, swung at a sweet pitch, and hit a signal into leftfield that was caught by right fielder Sandy “Rasheed’ Lockhart, who the Diego Boys borrowed. Brown and Arballo advanced to third and second.
The Diego Boys intentionally walked Nghiep Ke Lam, loading the bases.
Then Ellis knocked in the game-winners.
“We’ve only beaten the Diego Boys once in two years,” stated a Hardtimer.
The Diego Boys got off to a good beginning with five runs in the first inning.
The Hardtimers responded. Windham hit a deep single into right field, kicking off a rally. Ke Lam followed up with a homerun that made the score, 5-4 Diego Boys.
“Ke Lam can hit!” stated Hardtimer D. Felton.
In the bottom of the third, Ellis hit a shot into right field that brought in Ke Lam. Kevin Carr followed with a homerun, giving the Hardtimers the led at 10-6.
“First time in three seasons I hit a homerun,” said Carr.
Top of the fourth, the Diego Boys rallied with homeruns by Matt Demar and James Schwedy. The score was 14-10 at the bottom of the inning.
The Hardtimers came right back. Ke Lam banged his second homerun of the game making the score 14-11. Carr got on base with a solid hit. Jordan hit a single that brought in Carr and left the score 14-13.
“Bring one in. We’re down by one!” yelled Ke Lam. However, the inning ended with the Hardtimers trailing.
Bottom of the sixth, Windham smacked a double into center field. Ke Lam followed with a hit that brought in Windham. Ellis in turn hit an RBI single, making the score 15-14 Hardtimers.
In the top of the eight, the Diego Boys went up four more runs, leaving the Hardtimers behind at 19-15 with two at-bats left.
Bottom of the eighth, Coach Dan White told the Hardtimers, “Be patient and play. Wait on the ball.”
The Hardtimers responded, leaving the score 19-17 and completing the comeback in the ninth of the May 2 game.
