Offense Comes Early, Often as Staff/Faculty Keep Streak Alive

The staff/faculty softball team entered Elm Park cool and calm Wednesday evening; its student challengers arrived wanting to end their opponents' win streak. Wyatt Decker led off the game with a blast over the left/center field wall. A leadoff home run for the students? No big deal for the staff/faculty and Mike Paulhamus, who returned to pitch after a one-year stint on the disabled list. The 58-year-old hurler then tossed three scoreless innings on his way to a 25-14 win that extended the streak to three. The students took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to the home run by Decker and an RBI single by Kanen Gavitt. Their teammates were Ryan Hushon, Mike Wiertel, Tyler Helmus, Bryce Auker, Noah Grubie, Justin Wenger, John Kennedy, Brandon Harmon, Zach Arencibia, Alex Shenk, Jacki Wagner, Melissa Frank and Kirsten Sweeney. Joining Paulhamus on the staff/faculty team were Michael Richards, Jami Hughes, Rick Wyland, Chester Rogers, Scott Kennell, Eric Ranck, David Wyland, Ethan Kline and Dylan Lackey; they responded in their half of the first inning with four runs. Paulhamus worked a 1-2-3 inning in the second and his teammates rode the momentum by scoring seven runs in the bottom of the second, aided by a two-RBI triple by Kennell and a two-RBI single by Ranck. The game remained relatively quiet until the fifth, when the students put up eight runs to cut the lead. Staff/faculty got four runs back in the bottom of the fifth. The students were determined, but only scored three runs in the last two innings; staff/faculty added seven in the sixth to put the game away. Paulhamus became the active leader in wins in the staff/faculty vs. students softball tradition not to mention the rivalry's "most senior" winner pitcher. Intramural assistant Jeremy R. Bottorf, who provided the game summary and the photos, thanks all who participated and Angel Stroud for umpiring.