Brandy Moses-Straub is the first baseman for Mike's Radiator Service/Dirty Pitches, who captured the 2008 Helena Women's Slowpitch Softball City Championship.

Mike's Radiator was sitting in the cat-bird seat at the city tournament, needing to win only one of two games versus Sandy Mac's/Jackson Creek/Bushilla/Ace Lawn/East Helena Liquor/Montana Propane to claim the title.

Sandy Mac's won the first game, 14-11 in nine innings, before the Dirty Pitches rebounded to cop the crown with a 17-16 victory in eight frames.

Both teams qualified for the ASA State Women's Tournament in Billings last weekend, along with Dairy Queen and Nickel's Casino, who placed third and fourth, respectively.

Rounding out the Mike's Radiator/Dirty Pitches roster are Taralee Mongoven, Sue Ames, Amanda Hastings, Becki Kolenberg, Brooke Jones, Steff Lundstrom, Lora McDaid, Niki Schoffield, Timmon Shephard, Megan Warn, Maureen "Mo" Boyle, Zodi Zolynski and Christy Rusdal.

Moses-Straub started out playing baseball with the boys as an 8-year-old in her hometown of Billings. She played Cal Ripken hardball until the age of 12, before switching to girl's fastpitch softball.

She earned three letters in softball at Billings Senior (at left field and first base) and two monograms in basketball. The Lady Broncs qualified for the state softball tournament all three years, although her junior season the tourney was canceled due to the weather. Brandy was selected to the all-conference team as a senior.

In college, Moses-Straub played varsity horse polo and intramural basketball. She came to Helena in 2003, where she has been a member of Dirty Pitches for the past five years.

Prior to her husband Patrick Straub retiring as the Capital High boy's soccer coach, she kept the team's stats.

Last year, Moses-Straub served as the Helena Bengals girls junior varsity basketball coach.

"Brandy is one of the most consistent players we have," said Dirty Pitches captain Taralee Mongoven.

"Her glove is magic at first base. She can scoop anything in the dirt. All you have to do is get it in her vicinity and she'll come up with it," Mongoven said.

"Her bat was huge this year also. She had some wonderful hits and burned a lot of outfielders in clutch situations to help score runs and win games," the Dirty Pitches captain said. "Brandy is a whiz on the base path, she plays heads-up and takes a lot of extra bases. She did a great job of coaching third base for us when she wasn't on them.

"She is always a positive voice on the field and off. Brandy would pick us up, brush us off and send us back out there every inning with a smile and a high five."

Mike's Radiator entered the state tourney in Billings last weekend with a 17-4 overall record.

Q What is your favorite part of playing with the Mike's Radiator Service/Dirty Pitches team?

A They're just a wonderful group of women. We're constantly laughing and whooping and hollering. And those marathon games we had against Sandy Mac's at Districts were very special.

Q Do you have an exercise program, besides softball?

A Hiking, jogging, some basketball in the winter and outings with our dogs nn Madison, Ellie and E.J.

Q What is the highlight of your athletic career?

A When I was a freshman at Stanford, our horse polo team went to Nationals at Brushy Creek, Texas. And this last year when our Lady Bengals won the second JV crosstown hoops game.

Q What are some of your hobbies?

A Fishing, backpacking, horseback riding and taking advantage of the outdoors.

Q How much longer would you like to play softball?

A I want to keep playing as long as I can, as long as I'm not too tired at the end. This is a good league, it's really a lot of fun to get out and play.

Reporter Curt Synness: 449-2150 or curt52s@bresnan.net