DCCA, PSS take Inter-Govt crowns

Teams from the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs and the Public School System thrilled the crowd that gathered at Tan Ge Field on Friday night as they each reached the pinnacle of their respective divisions in the 2005 Inter-Government Slow-Pitch Softball League.

Fans were treated to back-to-back nail bitters as PSS survived a three-run rally from the Department of Finance, while DCCA withstood a four-run version from No Zone in the final inning to win the championship.

PSS rode the top seed all the way to the finals with a solid offense that was capable of sending the longball out of the park, and Thelma Mizer wielded the big bat for the educators as the veteran slugger went 2-for-4 with a pair of triples and a run batted in, but it wasn’t a cake walk in the finals as they were out-hit by Finance 16-12.

They took advantage of a couple of Finance errors to open up the scoring in the bottom of the second by scoring five runs off of three hits, but Finance answered with five runs off of six hits in the top of he third to even the game at a nickel apiece.

PSS answered in their next at bat when they scored three runs off of five hits, but Finance cut the lead to two runs in the top of the fourth when they scored a run to keep it close, but the championship’s most valuable player Elisa Brel stopped the bleeding from the pitching circle by blanking the bean counters in the fifth and sixth.

PSS jumped out to a five-run lead in the bottom of the six thanks to a three-run surge, and while Finance scored three runs off of five hits in the top of the seventh, it was not enough to take the title from PSS, as they fell,11-9.

It was a clash of the titans on the men’s side as two of the league’s top teams met in the finals, but a final-inning DCCA explosion in the seventh put the game away as they unseated the top-seeded No Zone, 14-13.

No Zone out-hit the champs, 22-19, but that didn’t matter as each team hit three balls out of the park, and all-around softball superstar Mel Sakisat rose to the occasion for DCCA by hitting 3-for-4 with a pair of homeruns, a single, and driving in four runs in the finale, not to mention pitching a complete game for the champions. For his efforts on the field as the game’s difference maker, Sakisat was recognized as the finals’ most valuable player.

No Zone took the lead in the bottom of the first by scoring three runs off of as many hits, but DCCA answered with three of their own in their next at bat. The seesaw scoring continued in the second when No Zone scored five runs off of six hits, and DCCA tallied a pair in the top of the third to pull to within three runs.

Sakisat and company were able to silence the No Zone cannons in the third and fourth innings as their offense evened the score at eight apiece at the close of four.

No Zone managed a run in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead, but down 9-8 in the top of the seventh, DCCA rallied to score six runs off of six hits to take the lead for good.

Trailing for the first time in the game, No Zone started a rally of their own in the bottom of the seventh when they tallied four runs off of six hits, but they fell one run shy of extending the game.