In a hard fought battle, the Daily Forty-Niner newspaper staff defeated The Union staff 5-4 in the annual softball game Saturday.
The visiting Union came out strong, scoring three runs in the first inning while holding the DFN at 0.
The DFN staff made a comeback in the second inning. With one out and two runners on base, photo editor Amy Beth Bennett hit a single up the middle that, with the help of two Union errors, turned into a triple.
"It was a solid hit," Bennett said. "I just wanted to get to second."
With the score tied 3-3, after three innings, getting to second became more of a focal point.
The Union struck back in the fourth. With a controversial runner on second, displaced managing editor David Weiner doubled and drove in a run. This gave the Union a 4-3 lead.
This was Weiner's fifth straight softball game. "When's Weiner going to graduate?" John Kennedy, DFN managing editor said.
The DFN doubled in the fifth which tied the score at 4-4.
The score remained tied until the bottom of the ninth.
"When I got up to bat, all I was thinking about was getting Cayton to third," Kennedy said.
With one out and staff writer Rodd Cayton on third, DFN editor-in-chief Jodi Banks hit a sacrifice grounder to second that scored the game winning run.
"The sacrifice was not intentional. It was just a bad hit," Banks said. "The team pulled together and came through."