Pecs IM beat Hamburger Mary’s 10-4 but lost to Baja Betty’s Bang 12-11 in the last two B Division games of the America’s Finest City Softball League’s season on July 8.

Because Pecs and Baja Betty’s finished the regular season with identical 14-6 records, Pecs earned first place due to a run differential of 38 to 34 runs.

Pecs bolted out of the gate in their first game, scoring four runs in the first inning and preventing Hamburger Mary’s from scoring with a strong defense. Hamburger Mary’s couldn’t seem to find their groove.

In the next game, Pecs held Baja Betty’s to one run in the first inning, while managing to knock in four runs in their first at-bat. Pecs’ Kresimir Grgurevic was up to bat first and hit a low drive down the center for a base hit. Rob Harris followed with a pop-fly that was dropped. Paul Shepherd then hit a line drive down the center, driving in two runs as he made it safely to first. Frank LeJune hit a low ball down the center, just over the infield, resulting in a base hit to drive in another run for Pecs. Eric Pruett hit what should have been a single, but due to fielding errors, got him to second base and drove in a fourth run.

The second inning opened with a renewed effort by Baja Betty’s to catch up. Colin Pearce hit a base hit down right field, while Ed Johnson hit a line drive between first and second. Chris Veldkamp then hit a base hit and drove in another run for Baja Betty’s. Steve Torres drove in another run, and by the bottom of the second inning Baja Betty’s had pulled ahead by one run, 5-4.

Baja Betty’s seemed to have renewed confidence, and successfully kept Pecs from scoring in the second inning, capitalizing on their momentum.

In the top of the third inning, Baja Betty’s scored twice to bring their lead to three runs at 7-4. In the next inning, Pecs made two base hits with their first two batters, Grgurevic and Harris. Dan Case then drove in two runs with a line drive down the center. By the end of the third inning, the game was tied 7-7.

In the top of the fourth, Torres hit a line drive down the third base line for a base hit. Andrew Hoffman followed with a base hit of his own, but good fielding by Pecs made an out at second base. Ray Diaz, Grady Mitchell and Colin Pearce all made base hits and loaded the bases for Ed Johnson, who made a base hit but sacrificed the second base runner for a second out. Veldkamp then hit a fly ball for the third out. Baja Betty’s Bang scored four runs in the fourth inning to take an 11-7 lead.

Jonathan Olow hit a line drive to the shortstop but was safe at first. James Gallegos then hit another drive to the shortstop and was also safe. Vinnie Arroyo made a base hit and drove in a run for Pecs. Tony Mendez drove in a second run for Pecs. Harris hit a base hit and drove in a third run for Pecs to cut Baja Betty’s lead to 11-10.

Pecs kept Baja Betty’s scoreless in the next inning, but when Pecs’ Frank LeJune stepped up to the plate with two outs and Pecs was down by one run, he hit the only homerun of the day to tie the game at 11-11, causing an extra inning.

In the sixth inning, Baja Betty’s managed to score a run to take the lead and put the pressure on Pecs. In the bottom of the inning, Pecs seemed to run out of steam at the end and hit three fly balls, all of which were caught.