Rangely True Value advances to championship game
In a double elimination tournament, a loss can be devastating or motivating since a team can still come back and win the tournament. It is just more difficult because the team with one loss has to beat the undefeated team twice in order to win the title, but it has and can be accomplished.
The 2013 Coed Softball tournament, sponsored by the ERBM Recreation and Parks District, is now complete, and a champion was determined Wednesday after press time.
Last year’s defending champion, Rangely True Value Hardware (Rangely TVH), entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed after a regular season loss to last year’s league runner-up and former champions, Ace Trucking (Ace). Both teams advanced to the semifinal game with two wins.
Ace defeated ERBM Synergy (ERBM) in the first round, then beat White River Electric Association (WREA), while Rangely True TVH beat Natural Soda in the first round then Pioneers Medical Center (PMC) in the second.
The first two innings of the semifinal game between Ace and Rangely TVH were scoreless but Rangely TVH broke the tie with five runs in the top of the third. Rangely TVH led 8-2 in the sixth inning and although Ace had a rally and scored four runs, they lost 8-6, dropping to the loser’s bracket.
In other play, WREA defeated Shepherds Office Outfitters in the first round, then Natural Soda and PMC in the consolation bracket. ERBM and Shepherds were both eliminated after two games.
PMC defeated What You Want (WYW) in the first round and eliminated them in the consolation bracket, before they were eliminated by WREA.
WREA was eliminated after losing to Natural Soda in the consolation quarterfinals on Tuesday. Natural Soda’s loss to Ace Trucking will set up a rematch of last year’s championship game between the defending champs Rangely TVH and Ace.
Last year, Ace won the championship semifinal game but the loss motivated Rangely TVH to come back and beat Ace two times in a row to win the league championship.
