PAHRUMP SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS: Upstarts lose in the end

The end result was expected -- Fire & Ice won the Pahrump Softball Association playoff championship.

But it was the upstart Heavy Operators that provided the excitement before the champions were crowned last Saturday at Petrack Park.

The Heavy Operators were sixth in the six-team league during the regular season, winning just once. When they lost their playoff opener to the Hornets, form continued to hold.

And then, the Heavy Operators caught fire. They defeated the Hot Tamales and Silver Flames last Friday, giving them more wins in one day than they had during the previous two months.

But they weren't through. Trailing 3-2 to regular-season co-champion Team X-Treme, Amy King's two-run single, Tiffany Darr's gritty pitching and airtight defense lifted the Heavy Operators to a 4-3 win and into the championship contest.

"Maybe we were supposed to lose all season," suggested Darr, who along with King are the only seniors on the team. "I'm proud of the way everyone played."

Not only did Darr pitch four games in two days, she did much of the coaching.

Head coach Ron Murphy was out of town on vacation. That didn't stop Darr, King and Co. from their surprising run.

The Heavy Operators kept it close during the early stages of the final game before the innings caught up with them. Darr admitted her arm was hurting when it was over and Fire & Ice had emerged with a 9-3 win. Nevertheless, she was smiling and the other girls on the team could feel good about their performance.

"I expected to play Team X-Treme again," said starting Fire & Ice pitcher Jessica Armendariz. "They (Heavy Operators) played tough and deserved to be up here with us."

Fire & Ice, however, was a team on a mission. It had dominated the league early before Team X-Treme beat Fire & Ice and the teams tied at 13-1-1 for the regular-season title. No other league team even had a winning record.

Fire & Ice emerged from the playoffs with no defeats while everyone else had two. The champions were bolstered all season by the tough pitching of Sara Coleman and an aggressive style that is a by-product of playing for coach Eli Armendariz.

"It was the funnest it's been for me," standout first baseman Breann Kukurin said. "This was my fourth year playing for Eli. This team really jelled."

"We played pretty well," F&I coach Eli Amendariz said. "We didn't go for the jugular right away, but we got the job done."

As always, Fire & Ice was aggressive, taking the extra base, stealing as often as possible and forcing foes to make extra throws. But the Heavy Operators kept the champions from running away with the game.

"Before the season started I thought they were the team to beat," coach Armendariz said of the Heavy Operators. "They should have been confident facing us. All season long, they won once and then they won three in a row. They did an excellent job. They kept us on the ropes for a while."

Ultimately, the cream rose to the top but not before the upstarts did some upsetting.

"It really made things exciting at the end," said league organizer Maggie Villa.