It was a showdown of CERN powerhouses to kick off the 2006 Geneva Softball League season - last year's GSL champion Leptons against the much-improved Quarks. In fact, the Quarks were so much improved that they managed to knock off the mighty Leptons 8-7 in a hard-fought, well-played game.

The Quarks jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first inning thanks to some timely hitting. The Leptons, after struggling early, fought back and took a one-run lead late in the game. But the Quarks weren't done, and in the sixth inning managed to regain a one-run lead and shut down the Leptons in the seventh.

There were several great plays on both sides, and everyone contributed in one way or another, but two standout performances deserve special mention, and both - coincidentally or not - happened to be women. For the Quarks, Riza Haener made several great plays at second (including a diving stab of a line drive from Leptons coach Ben LeGeyt - she seemed especially pleased by that one, for some reason - hmmm...). On the Leptons side, Melissa Butz was all over the outfield in her usual all-out style, and initiated a double play that any of the guys would have been proud of.

One interesting observation - of the six teams that played on Sunday, only two were able to field complete, 10-player teams. Guess which two???

Both teams exhibited their usual good sportsmanship, and both sides had a great time. It seems the offseason recruiting has resulted in two very evenly-matched teams, and all agreed afterwards that the game could have easily gone either way. But the Quarks got the well-earned "W," and the entire league took notice of their emergence as a force to be reckoned with in the GSL.

Congratulations, Quarks! Mike