Don’t let the name fool you. There’s nothing disorganized or muddled about the KAOS baseball team. In fact, they looked more like a sleek, well-oiled machine on the weekend as they rode the borrowed arm of pitcher Amanda Hostrawser to first place in the annual Merritt mixed slo-pitch wrap-up tournament at Central Park.
KAOS jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and then held on to defeat Scared Hitless 16-13 in a high-scoring final game on Sunday to take the ‘A’ division title.
The KAOS win over Hitless avenged an earlier 18-9 loss to the runners-up during round robin play – the only loss by the KAOS squad all season.
KAOS got to the final by beating Detox 9-4 in one of two semi-finals on Sunday morning.
Timely hitting and fielding from throughout the lineup were two key ingredients to KAOS’s success on the weekend, but ultimately it was Hostrawser’s throwing that made the difference as her mix of pitches consistently kept opposing hitters off-balance.
“I only started playing slo-pitch three years ago,” Hostrawser said, “but I grew up watching the likes of Colleen Herrington and my mom (Cheryl Ponting) play. They were both pitchers.”
Hostrawser, who was picked up by KAOS because her own side, Team Boston, couldn’t field enough players for the tournament, said that five games in just two days was a lot of pitching.
“Day one was okay, but by the final game on day two, I thought that my arm was going to fall off,” she said.
The perils of pitching were evident as Hostrawser was sporting a big blue bruise on the inside of her lower right leg – courtesy of a line-drive in the final game of the regular season.
“It doesn’t really bother me,” the fearless chucker said. “I’m not afraid of the ball, and I have a high pain tolerance.”
In ‘B’ division action, it was Rebus over Wild Dog, Crazy Cat 18-15 in the final game, while City Furniture took the ‘C’ crown, 10-6, against Stone Cold.
