Tight-fisted wins garnered by FC, Moody, Freewill

By Marvin Birchfield
STAR STAFF
mbirchfield@starhq.com

   It was an eventful night in Elizabethton Park and Rec Men's Church League softball, with each contest being decided in a close manner.
   In the first matchup of the night, it was First Christian with a win over Roan St. Church of God in a 15-10 final.
   First Christian trailed 6-2 after the first frame, when the shouting and hollering began over runs being scored from Roan St. got the audience's attention.
   Marty Williams drove in the first score for Roan St., with Bill Matherly coming home, and several mistakes from the Christians allowed runs to follow.
   The First Christian team came back to tie the contest in the top of the second, as a double from Steve Sochalski brought in Andy Franklin and Robert Holly.
   The Christian rally was going strong in the top of the third, as it produced eight runs to take a 14-9 lead, with Josh Carter driving in the final run to score David Bouknight.
   Another run was added in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by deacon Franklin, scoring Jeremy Sochalski.
   Roan St. had faith that it could come back, but a lack of support closed the doors as it earned just one run in the bottom of the fifth, with a double from Bill Matherly driving in Justin Conway.
   Moody Aviation 16
   Zion Baptist 15
   He leadeth them to green pastures, but there was no promise land waiting for Zion Baptist, which lost a heartbreaking final against Moody Aviation.
   Zion had things going its way after the first three innings, when it jumped out to an 11-6 lead.
   A flurry of runs came in the top of the second, after Zion came away with six hits to score six runs, with the last score coming off a single by Bill Williams, bringing home Gary Roache.
   Moody decided to start holding its accountable in the fourth and fifth frames, after it had back-slid to a five-run deficit in the first three frames.
   "I'll Fly Away" became the theme for the Aviation team, as 10 runs were produced over the next two frames.
   A double from Richard Harrell lifted the spirits of its congregation, when Joel Davis came home to start the rejoicing.
   Nathan Fogerlie connected with a double to tie the contest at the end of the fourth inning, as Moody was not only focused on bringing people closer to the Lord, but showing runners the way to the plate.
   Moody took the lead in the bottom of the fifth, after a shot from Davis brought home the go-ahead run, with Enoch Birx scoring.
   A hit from Sean Fair in the bottom of the sixth brought Zion back to within one -- Ray Lyons Jr. and Tony Ruston crossed home -- but this was all that was left on the plate of the Baptist.
   First Freewill Baptist 15
   Zion Baptist 13
   The confortation between the regular Baptist and the Freewill Baptist ended with the First Freewill winning the argument over Zion.
   First Freewill grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning, when Jerry Rouse ripped a hit up the middle to drive home Craig Ingram.
   Zion tied the contest in the top of the third as Bill Williams grounded out to second base, driving home Roger Snodgrass.
   Searching for someone to lead the flock, Rouse stepped up in the bottom of the frame with a solo homer to right-center field.
   First Freewill scored five runs in the third, with the last one coming off a shot to the net by Mick Matheson to bring in Jimmy Townsend.
   After the advantage grew to 10-2 in the fourth inning, Zion decided it needed a revival if it was going to stay in the game.
   A shot to left field by Ronnie Hall scored Williams to bring Zion back to within one run.
   The Freewills responded when a hard-hit ball from Andy Curtis nailed the left field fence to bring home Matheson.
   Zion stormed back in the top of the sixth to score seven runs in the final frame.
   A grand slam from John Johnson pulled Zion to within two, but just like God helping Moses hold back the waters, Townsend saved the day by making a couple of nice grabs in the outfield to save the Freewill's from a deceptional loss.