Team Mossimo Skunks OTL Title

When Team Mossimo took the court for its first game in the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club Over-The-Line World Championships, July 14, it’s players might have felt skunked by the tournament’s seeding committee.

The team had three well-known men’s open players, including Mike Poteet, a former world champion, but was left unseeded and thrown into the middle of the toughest bracket. But in the end it was Poteet, Rob Stillman and Trevor Shine--Team Mossimo--that were doing the skunking.

The trio went 9-0 during the four-day tournament that started July 14, and won the 1990 title by not just beating but “skunking” a couple of OTL powerhouses Sunday. In OTL, skunk is the term used when one team leads another by 11 or more runs at the completion of an inning. Games last four innings, but a team can get skunked at any time.

Team Mossimo reached the finals by skunking second-seeded Club Sportswear, 16-5, in three innings, then routed Ryno Athletic Club, 12-1, for the championship. The game was called with one out in the bottom of the second, after Team Mossimo scored eight runs on eight consecutive hits.

“Nobody even expected us to be here on Sunday, but we knew what we could do,” said Poteet, who helped Captain Morgan win the 1987 OMBAC title.

Team Mossimo made believers of Ryno Athletic Club, which was bounced from the winners’ bracket with a 21-19 loss to the eventual champs on Saturday, after Ryno hit six home runs in the first inning to lead 8-0.

“They have talent in abundance,” Ryno’s Gary Romano said. “They’re young and strong, they hit the ball hard and play defense. I would have picked them to be in the top-10.”

In the women’s open final, third-seeded MGM Realty was forced to a second game before it beat top-seeded and defending champion Island Gecko Maui, 13-5. MGM, which came back from a 17-10 loss in the first finals game, found a winning combination with a virtual rookie and an old hand who has persevered through hard times.

Stephanie Olow, a former softball player at Mt. Miguel High and Louisiana Tech, played in only her second OTL event, while Marilyn Medina continued her comeback from a disabling 1987 car accident. Medina was also being treated for skin cancer and had to wear long sleeves and cover her face with a special lotion that looked like orange war paint. Medina, Olow and Rose Teeple scored five runs in the top of the fourth to pull away.

“I just picked the game up real quickly and I’m used to the pressure,” said Olow, whose Lousiana Tech team reached the College World Series in 1985. “I got a ring, which is something I didn’t get in college.”