By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
Trailing 11-10 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, Doug's Bar/Kim's Barrel Inn of Stevens Point wasn't too concerned that its second straight Class A/B Wisconsin Amateur Softball Association title was in jeopardy.
With the top of its power-hitting order coming to the plate in the last frame, Doug's/Kim's was confident it would score at least one run against Mission/Mizuno/Tire Experts of New Richmond.
Doug's Todd Higgins made sure Mission wouldn't have a chance to knock off his team, as he smashed a dramatic 3-run homer over the leftfield fence to give Doug's a 13-11 win Sunday at Zenoff Park in Stevens Point.
"I was fired up," Higgins said. "I was waiting for a good pitch, let out a growl and let her fly."
Doug's player/manager Greg Flees said the team wasn't too worried entering the final frame.
"We had our top coming up in the seventh. We felt really good," Flees said.
Things weren't looking so hot for Doug's/Kim's in the early innings, as Mission took a 7-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth.
"We didn't play a very good game at all," player/manager Greg Flees said. "The first five innings was probably the worst we had all year.
"I think we weren't very selective, we weren't hitting it like we usually do."
But the team's bats would wake up, as Doug's scored five in the fifth and four in the sixth to catch up and then keep pace with Mission.
"We came back and had a good last two innings," Flees said. "It's a nice way to win, we made it exciting."
Doug's had four straight clutch, two-out hits in the fifth and plated all of their runs with two away. Following RBI singles from Tim Kraus, Don Lorbiecki and Al Kruzicki, Flees connected for a two-run triple to cap the scoring.
After Mission battled back for three in the sixth, Doug's scored four in the sixth to tie the game at 10-10. Higgins hit a solo homer to center, while Shorty Flees tripled and then scored on a John Kawleski sacrifice fly. Then Kraus came through with a two out, two-run single to knot the score.
Mission broke the tie in the seventh on a RBI bloop single.
The state championship was the third in five years for Doug's/Kim's. The team also won in 1995 and again in 1998.