KEY WEST -- The Roncos had a chance to get back into a first-place tie with the Snappers last week in the Jewfish League, but the boys in red broke a 10-10 deadlock in the top of the seventh inning with an eight-run rally and held off the Roncos for an 18-11 win. The victory put the Snappers alone atop the over-40 league with a 9-3 record while the Roncos dropped to 7-5.

The yellow fellows jumped out to an early lead with solid base hitting from their entire order. The Snappers were able to pull within one run in the fourth highlighted by a trio of doubles off the bats of Richard Booth, Dean Thompson and Javier Ferretti.

The Roncos went up 10-7 in the fifth, but the Snappers turned up the heat tying the game in the sixth as leadoff batter Don Anderson smacked a triple to start the eight-run rally, which included home runs from Thompson and Ferretti.

Scott McCollum went yard, doubled and singled, Tony Alfonso, Hugo Valdez Sr. and Dale "Big D" Bittner each roped a pair of base hits, Booth doubled twice for two RBI and Nick Myers, Tony "El Bigote" Mendez and "The Colombian Comet" Jeremiah Periard cracked one single apiece.

Tommy "Lapp Dogg" Lapp went 4-for-4 with a triple and two doubles, Bobby "Hookster" Davila ripped a two-base hit and two base hits for three RBI, John "Schleppy" Childs slugged a three-bagger and singled twice, Randy "Smoke 'Em" Okum and Shaun "Turbo" Niles each doubled and singled, Ricky "Washing Machine" Gonzalez singled twice for two RBI, Chris Cassidy [and the Sundance Kid] singled home two runs, as Jimmy "The Big Tuna" Hake and "Diamond" Dave Sweeting each singled.

JAIBAS 28, MORAYS 27

The nightcap made the opening game look a bit boring as this game went into an eighth inning and was finally decided by a Kansas City tie-breaker.

The Morays batted through their order in the first, second and third innings, with solid hitting by the entire lineup and the first of John Baltzell's two home runs.

The Jaibas' offense stalled just as the Morays got started, batting through the order in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, with Harry "Did I Miss That Call" Milliken going yard in back-to-back at bats and "The Fabulous" Al Difabio crushing his second of two homers for the evening as he swore the bat was not juiced.

At the end of six, the Jaibas were trailing by one but solid base hits put them up by one in the seventh. The Morays came back with one of their own, forcing the KC tie-breaker. The Jaibas put two on the board with their turn at bat, knowing that they would be facing the heart of the order for the Morays, who scored one. With captain Harry "Did I Miss That Call" Milliken at the plate representing the winning run, the Jaibas refused to intentionally walk him knowing that with one swing of his bat the game would be over. Instead, his long fly ball was nothing more than WTP (warning track power) and was caught at the fence to end the game.

In addition to his two home runs, Baltzell doubled and singled for seven RBI, Bobby "They Call Me Bobby" Lopez tripled, doubled and singled twice for three RBI, "The Outlaw" Jesse James singled four times sending two home and Fatz Yaniz ripped three base hits and doubled four three RBI. Bobby "Hookster" Davila drove in four runs via a double and a single, Matt "Whopo" McLellan, Stan "The Man" Griffith and Mike Rivera each singled twice, Ricky "The Washing Machine" Gonzalez nailed a two-run homer, Mark Garcia doubled and Nick Hogan singled.

The Morays' Milliken doubled and singled for six RBI to go with his two dingers, "The Pride of East Lansing" Joe Graciak tripled, doubled twice and singled for four RBI, Scott Russell drilled four singles, Tino Cubria cracked a trio of base hits, Difabio also singled and sent four teammates across home plate, Brant "Butters' Voss thumped a three-base hit and a base hit, Dylan "The Cornhusker" Kibler and Benny "Pocholo" Aleman each singled twice, Chuck "The Wall" Malby doubled and singled and James "Pops" Knowles had the dubious distinction of striking out, and any softballer knows the payoff for a K is a case.

Compiled by Ron Cooke

rcooke@keysnews.com