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Show Over-the-Line hotshots show Parkites how it's done by JIM S MEDLEY Record staff writer They came cocky. They played cocky. And in victory they were cocky. The San Diego Over-the-Line softball team, the Pros From Dover, put on a clinic of bat control in "hitting 'em where they ain't" last Saturday at the Park City High School to win the fifth annual Over-the-Line Tournament. The Califomians, sporting pink "Park City, Over-the-Line. Tournament Tourna-ment (Champions 1985'! shirts before the tournament started, handily marched through four local teams before encountering difficulty from the Rock Hudson team of Parkites Marilyn Burrell, Dave Zatz and Tom Kirkbridge. Malt and hops consumption was the only area in which San Diegans Dale Gross, Gayle Sutter and Grady Dutton plus a support group of a half-dozen or so might have felt threatened on this warm, windy day. The trash can burgeoned and by day's end it beckoned for relief. Surely anyone interested in recycling aluminum could have earned a week's wages in one stop. This tournament was not meant for blood-and-guts softball players. While winning is nice, having fun seemed to be more the order of the day. Besides, beating a San Diego team at Over-the-Line is like trying to beat a team of Utah skiers next to impossible: San Diego is the home of the game. After losing its first game, the Rock Hudson team tightened up and won five in a row in the loser's bracket. In what was to be its final victory a 14-5 win over 2, Guys! And a Married Woman (Parkites Tim "Razor" Sharp, Jim Mayberry and Judy Collins) Zatz and Burrell found their bats hitting at a 7 for 10 clip. Their timely hitting continued into the first inning, at least, against the . San Diego trio as Zatz collected five singles and his teammates two apiece. The nine hits led to six runs and an eventual 6-0 lead, as Sutter managed the only hit for the Califomians. It must be noted the Pros From Dover had to sit through a 90-minute layoff waiting for a winner to emerge, from the loser's bracket and a concerted effort at filling the trash can had been made. At 6-0 the game was close to being over, since the nine-run rule was in effect. Any team leading by nine runs won the game. But as quickly as Rock Hudson built the lead, it saw it diminish. Burrell failed to get a hit in her next six attempts and Kirkbridge went 2 for 5. Zatz stayed hot and ended the game a perfect 9 for 9. Meanwhile Gross went on a rampage, slicing and dicing the Hudson defense for 10 consecutive hits while Dutton went 7 for 10. . The teams were tied at 6 after two frames and the Pros took a 10-7 lead into the fourth inning. The locals got one run back in the fourth, but using only two outs, the Pros managed seven runs, enough to ice the game. Although individually the San Diego threesome has played in the Park City tournament all its five years of existence, this was only the second time they have played together as a team. The last time they combined was in 1981 their first championship year. |