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Chips “Beat Pete”
On Saturday, April 28th, 2007, the Buffalo Gap Chips maintained their perfect
record in the state of Texas by defeating a picked nine assembled by Pete
Christy, Sports Director of KCBD News Channel 11 in Lubbock, Texas. Challenging
the Chips to be a part of his “Beat Pete” segment on KCBD, Christy was
warned of the Chips’ undefeated streak, but the Lubbock stalwarts were
indefatigable and charged on.
The conditions of the playing field at the National Ranching Heritage Center
were appropriately rustic, with the field resembling a shallow dish. Pitching
uphill for the duration of the game, Bob “Bone- crusher” Wettemann took
most of the game to find his location, but by the end of the game had struck
out 4 en route to a 15-12 victory.
In a drama-filled game that represented one of their more difficult games
to date, the Chips overcame a number of obstacles to achieve final victory.
Playing short handed, they were joined by former club members Chris “The
Hammer” Gardner and Chad “Mickey” Mikulec, who struggled early but found
their bats in time to tally key aces late in the game. Fueled by the offensive
performance of Darren “Special K” Kieschnick, who was a single short of
hitting for the cycle, the Chips got on the board early by tallying two
aces in the top half of the first frame, only to be stymied by the conditions
of the field.
Accustomed to dodging barns, sheds, and assorted barnyard animals found
in the friendly confines of the Buffalo Gap Historic Village, the rock-hard
and uneven conditions of the Lubbock prairie made fielding by Peter “Coalminer”
Neuman, Wade “The Ghost” Goolsby, Mikulec, and Gardner difficult, though
their young arms kept final victory within reach. The more experienced
players found the up-hill, down-hill style of baserunning particularly
onerous, with “Spider” Simpson making repeated demands for oxygen and Arlen
“Huff-n-Puff” Daddy Jeffery living up to his name. Defensive play was anchored
at the corners by the solid effort put forth by Joel “Flaps” Brant and
Matt “Mitts” Crisman, whose sure hands as first tender helped tally a number
of outs.
Coming from behind, the Chips stormed back to take the lead in the top
half of the seventh inning, holding the Lubbock-ites scoreless in their
last at-bat, with Pete Christy himself becoming the final out with a caught
foul tip.
Having secured another win, the Chips plan to return to Lubbock in July
to participate in the festivities associated with this year’s inductions
into the National Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame. At that time, they
hope to recreate an early college game for the entertainment of dignitaries
such as Pete Incaviglia, John Olerud and Fred Lynn. |
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