Winning “One” For Skunk Hollow

From time to time this newsletter attempts to cover neighborhood sports programs — the kids and their T-Ball or softball, the women and their hot-shot softball team, and Gene Marquardt’s star-studded slow-pitch team. 

However, after all the Hurrahs of summer had faded, we discovered that one local slow-pitch team had played the entire long, hot summer without one word of acknowledgement.

This team, the Skunk Hollow Jug Blowers (Yup, Honest Injun), was hastily thrown together by Phil Conners, of 4349 Windflower, with the able assistance of several other players from Skunk Hollow. These included Fritz Anderson, Roger Alt and Ron Melvin all of Windflower; Don Adams from Milford, and John Dillon from Danbury.

The team, playing on Sunday nights in the super-tough Pine Bluff League, almost managed to get through the season with a perfect record. ‘The opposition spoiled the team’s perfection by fielding only seven men, for one game, giving Skunk Hollow its first (and only) win of the season.

While it was rumored that the team provided more laughs than hits, it can be said that most members of the team did catch over 50% of the balls hit directly at them, and on several occasions they actually hit the ball themselves. In fact, Fritz Anderson and Don Adams did manage to hit home runs. (Yes, they did run all the way around the bases—unassisted.)

The team is rumored to be going into secret practice sessions sometime after Thanksgiving Dinner, in preparation for next May’s opener.

High on the team’s objectives is a revenge re-match with Marquardt’s toughies. After two exciting head-on matches, it was decided that Gene doesn’t pitch too good. In both games he had trouble hitting our bats.

Watch this paper next year for future episodes with the dynamic, hustling Skunk Hollow Jug Blowers. That is, provided we can get the team talking to one another again.

Ron Melvin