MiniBar Goes from Worst to First and “Brings Championship Home to Court St.” by Brian Abate

Entering the 2025 Red Hook Softball League postseason, the seeds were 1: MiniBar 2: The Record Shop 3: The Wobblies 4: Hometown 5: B61 6: Bait & Tackle. Both MiniBar and the Record Shop secured byes, and on July 24, B61 beat Hometown 6-5, and the Wobblies beat Bait & Tackle 9-4 to set up the semifinals.

After a rainout postponed both semifinal matchups, they were rescheduled for August 4 and it was a beautiful, sunny day. Both games took place at 6 pm with the Wobblies playing the Record Shop and B61 playing MiniBar. In last year’s semis the Wobblies won a high-scoring game over the Record Shop 20-15 while B61 beat Bait 12-11 on a dramatic walkoff hit in the ninth inning.

This year, both semis featured good pitching and great defense. The Wobblies strung together a few clutch hits to jump out to an early 3-0 lead on the Record Shop. Nate Laux made a running catch in center field and stepped on second to turn an unassisted double play and get the Wobblies out of a jam. The Record Shop broke through their next time up with an RBI triple and a sac fly. A fly out ended the inning with the Wobblies still up 3-2. The Record Shop helped keep the Wobblies off the board with a nice sliding catch by Alex in the fifth.

The Record Shop had first and third with one out in the fifth, but a beautifully turned double playonce again helped the Wobblies escape with the lead. The score remained the same in the bottom of the seventh as the father-son duo of Wyatt and Cheeky Rodriguez came through for the Wobblies. Cheeky pitched well, and Wyatt made a running catch in left field way into foul territory for the second out of the inning and fittingly made an easier catch to end the game and send the Wobblies to the championship for the second year in a row.

At the same time, MiniBar got off to a strong start as their lefty pitcher Louis escaped a second and third jam in the top of the first. Brothers Joe “Fish” and Mike helped get MiniBar off to a strong start offensively as Joe hit an RBI single and Mike crushed a three-run homer. MiniBar made a beautiful barehanded play, and B61 made three great diving catches. The strong defense kept the score 4-0 until an RBI double in the fifth made it 5-0, MiniBar.

The defending champions B61 would not go quietly, and loaded the bases in the top of the sixth. A clutch two-run double and a two-out, two-run double cut it to 5-4, but a fly out ended the inning with MiniBar still in front. The score remained 5-4 going into the bottom of the seventh, and B61 once again threatened with runners on first and second and no out. However, a nicely turned 5-5-3 double play and a groundout to second ended the threat and sent MiniBar to the championship.

The championship game took place on August 7 at Dovey Diamond, and the weather was beautiful. The national anthem was performed, and there was also a hot dog race.

The Wobblies threatened early with second and third and one out in the top of the first. A sac fly gave them a 1-0 lead, but when the throw went to the backstop, a second runner tried to score. A nice flip from the catcher to their reliable lefty pitcher Louis, got the out at the plate to escape further damage. MiniBar came right back to tie it up in the bottom of the first, but an RBI single in the top of the second gave them a 2-1 lead.

MiniBar threatened in the bottom of the third with first and second and no outs, but a diving play by Satchel at short momentarily kept the Wobblies ahead. MiniBar tied it up, but the Wobblies escaped the inning with the score tied. In the bottom of the fourth, MiniBar loaded the bases with one out, and Joe “Fish” hit a sharp grounder off the shortstop’s glove, which rolled into the outfield. The runner from second tried to score, and the throw home was up the third baseline, which led to a collision. The ball rolled to the backstop, and a third run scored to put MiniBar up 5-2.

MiniBar’s strong defensive play helped them maintain their lead. A diving catch by Christina in center ended the top of the fifth, and a 6-3-5 double play ended the top of the sixth. With two outs and a runner on second in the top of the seventh, Jeff “Pickles” lined an RBI single to extend the game and bring the tying run to the plate. However, Louis induced a grounder to second, which clinched MiniBar’s first championship.

“We Are the Champions” blasted on the speaker as MiniBar celebrated. After the game, Kate Morelli of B61, who won the championship in 2024, presented MiniBar with the Calucci Cup.

“We’re bringing the championship home to Court Street,” said brothers Joe and Mike.

Umpires Mike and Hector deserve credit for their work both throughout the season and in the championship. Hector gave a shout-out to Turf, who played left field for MiniBar, for his improvement from last season to this season.

“We finally did it,” said Ace in the celebration after the game.