Captain's Corner

Ranger Rap

Ger's lose 2 including a loss to Angels who score 14 in the bottom of last inning to win out 24-23.....thank goodness it was over-the bases were still loaded and only one out....so we were lucky to hold them to 14!!! 11 walks were issued by 3 different Ranger's pitchers along with several miscues. Up side was season high 26 hits including Matty Alou Lefkovits with 4 hits and a 3b, Taub with 4 hits, T Martin with 3 hits and a 2b, Goody with 3 hits including a 2B and HR and 3 RBI's, Law man with 5Rbi's, Stan Thomas with 3 hits and slugger Josh Winsor with perfect 3 for 3, 1BB, 1 HR, 1 2B and 3 rbi's.

A very dejected Ranger squad and Captain headed to the sec game against the Storm and managed to recover taking a 6-2 lead into the top of the 6th. 5 runs later scored by Storm they trailed 7-6 going into the bottom of 6th...no Ranger runs followed and another 4 run explosion by the Storm closed out a terrible day in a 11-7 loss. Bright lights once again were Matty with 3 more hits and a 2B and Wins with another round tripper and 3 RBI's.

Rangers evidently were off for Memorial weekend a bit early. We strive to return to our days of glory soon!!!

Ranger luminaries

Josh Winsor 5/7,1BB,6 RBI's, 2 HR's, and a 2B

Matt Lefkovits 7/9 5 runs, 1 2B,1 3B, 3 RBI's

Larry Taub 6/9 6 runs

Scott Lawrence 4/6 8RBI's

The Temple Shalom Stars woke up Sunday morning, dragged themselves out of bed and quickly learned that they were not the winners of the $590,500,000.00 PowerBall Lottery.  Unfortunately, that wasn't going to be the only thing the Stars didn't win that day as they looked to lengthen their 12 game winning streak. 

First up were the Goldsteinless Muckdogs.  Having already beaten them twice in convincing fashion, 16-5 and  10-3, the Stars entered the contest overconfident.  Adding to that false sense of invincibility, the visiting Stars' first two batters made outs and the Stars still scored 4 runs in the first.  With two outs in the second inning, they tacked on 3 more (on a Darius Wu moonshot).  It looked like another walk in the park (pun intended as Brian Elliott was pitching for the Muckdogs).  But the Muckdogs, led by sub-captain J.J. Eusay, mounted a rentless comeback and grabbed a 12-8 lead going into the seventh inning.  The Stars quickly struck for 3 runs and had runners on 1st and 2nd with only one out.  But the Muckdogs clamped down and, proving every dog has its day, got the last two outs and prevailed 12-11.

Next up were the Garber Riverdogs.  This was a near carbon copy of the first, as the visiting Stars jumped out to a lead, then lost the lead and then found themselves down by 4 going into the seventh inning.  Just like in the opener, the Stars struck for 3 runs, had runners on 1st and 2nd and only one out.  A sinking liner to right center field was caught/trapped by Tommy Garber.  The field umpire never made an audible call but was rumored to have made a fleeting hand gesture of an out.  Confusion reigned on the base paths as the throw into the infield resulted in a double play which ended the game and handed the Riverdogs a 7-6 victory.

Now with the Muckdogs pulling to within a game of the Stars in the standings, things have gotten interesting in the best Division in the Temple Shalom Softball League - the Handsome Captains Division.

Another windy day greeted the Bulls as we had an away and home game in the friendly confines of field #9. The first game pitted the Bulls against the surging Sea Dogs. We started out great with a single from our lead-off batter Rick Levy followed immediately by a run scoring double by Joel Gilhang. Unfortunately for the Bull's the Sea Dogs defense tightened up and held the Bulls scoreless for the remainder of the inning and also the 2nd and 3rd. In the meantime the Bulls defense gave up 3 runs in each of the 2nd and 3rd innings. The 4th inning the Bulls decided to utilize the wind and short field and back to back HR's by Brian Ortega and Manny Madrigal along with hits by Jason Hall, Bob Davis and Travis Massey and the score was knotted at six after 3 1/2. The Sea Dogs then broke it open with 5 in 4th, 4 in the 5th and 3 in the 6th and even though Manny Madrigal hit his 2nd HR of the game in the 7th, the Bulls couldn't mount a comeback in an 18 - 8 loss.

The second game the Scrappers came to visit the Bulls and jumped out to a large lead with 3 runs in the 1st, 3 in the second and 2 runs in each of the 3rd and 4th innings. Meanwhile the Bulls bats were very silent and only plated 2 runs in the first 3 innings courtesy of a Brian Conn single and FC by Jack Borenstein. The 4th inning was a different story however as the Bulls started with a double by Joel Gilhang, single by Brian Ortega then another 14 batters came to the plate and when the dust settled the Bulls had scored 13 runs to grab the lead. A double by Jason Hall, single by Bob Davis and then another double by Travis Massey and with his hustle, a miscue, and a great slide at home… Travis ended up scoring. This still left the Bulls a few runs down, but hits from Evan Rausch, Ken Sprague, Brian Conn and a big hit by Jack Borenstein moved the Bulls within striking distance and loaded the bases for Rick Levy. Last week Rick had a triple and brought home the winning runs and this week he came up big again with a bases clearing double that put the Bulls in the lead. Hits by Joel Gilhang and Brian Ortega were followed up with Manny Madrigal's 3rd HR of the day and important insurance runs. With time winding down, the Scrappers were unable to make a comeback and the Bulls savored the 15-11 win. Great team effort as every Bull crossed the plate during the game.

Hitting Highlights:

Manny Madrigal -- 3 for 5 with 3 HR's, Sac Fly and 6 RBI's.

Jason Hall -- 5 for 6 with 2 doubles

Joel Gilhang - 4 for 6 with 2 doubles

The Sea Dogs started the day hoping to avenge one of their 3 defeats to hard hitting Davis Bulls. Playing on a short field we knew we would have to earn a victory in the early game. The Bulls got off to the early lead by getting 2 first inning runs. After 3 consecutive monster first innings in our early games we had hoped to get off to our normal quick start. 1-2-3 we went and made us wonder if we would be in for a long day. Fred Levay then settled into a groove and blanked the Bulls for the next two innings. The donut holes arrived and we proceeded to plate 3-3-5-4-3 over the next 5 innings. Bob's team tried to make one run with back to back jacks in the 4^th, but overall went quietly to a 18-8 defeat. Vengence was ours!!!

We next played the hard charging Muckdogs and hoped to take advantage with their skipper away tending to family business. Initially it looked great as we built a 7-0 lead going into the bottom of the 3^rd. Then our inability to get an out on the bottom half of their order paved the way for them getting back into this game as they closed the gap to 7-6. After they tied it 7-7 the following inning Jason Murray tried to kick start our offense hitting a inside the park HR gaining back the lead 8-7. Unfortunately the remainder of our bats didn't respond and following a horrible call by the umps we never got a chance to attempt a comeback and we ultimately lost 9-8.

Hitting stars on the day:

Troy “2.0” Steele- 5 hits 6- runs 8- rbi's with 1-2b and 2 fence clearing HR's

Jason Murray- 4 hits 5- runs, 4- rbi's with 2 inside the park HR's

Jett Sarrett- 5 hits, 1-2b 2- runs and 4-rbi's

Fred Levay also contributed with 3 hits and pitched two outstanding games

The Wahoos started and ended the day playing .500 ball.  In game 1, the Wahoos hosted the Riverdogs.  The Riverdogs scored early and often while the Wahoos could only muster up 3 runs.  Final score, Riverdogs 15, Wahoos 3.

In game 2, the Wahoos played their mother team the Reds.  Both teams couldn't seem to string hits and runs together until the 5th inning when the Wahoos scored 5 runs on 4 hits and a BB.  A dandy defensive day by Aaron Weintraub in turning 2 unassisted double plays kept the Reds off the board.   Final score Wahoos 8, Reds 6.

Offensive stars were few for the Wahoos, but Rick Leon went 5-7, Aaron Weintraub collected 4 hits, Harlan Davis and Rony Batagower each had 3 hits, and Larry Schnitzer had 3 hits with 3 RBIS for the day (by the way, when Schnitzer is in the team leaderbox for hits and RBIs, it's not a good sign.............)

First  London's Scrappers took a 6-0 lead the Yanks scored 6 in the 4ththanks to Rick Rosen's two RBI single!

Scrapper's won in walk off fashion 7-6.

Next came SkipperBob's Pirates-Yanks fall behind and a rally in the 4th with Steve Shiller, Greg Ritter, Jonathan Braun, Gary Frank and Tony Dillard playing hitting heroes.

In the final frame hits by Shiller, Ritter and Justin Reed get the Yanks within one but it wasn't the Yanks' day and another 7-6 heartbreaking defeat.

Pow candidate Rick Rosen 3 for 6 and nice against the fence grab

Row candidate Jonathan Braun 4 for 6 with four doubles

With Coach Goldstein in absentia, the Muckdogs set out for another sweep but we scheduled to face two first place teams in Unell's Stars and Haufs Sea Dogs. Tough Task.

In Game 1 against division rival Stars, Unell's boys jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the 1st only to see the Dogs answer for 4 of our own.  Big hit by Jeff Goodman with a 2 run single.  Darius Wu made us pay for pitching to him in the 2nd by belted one over the LF wall giving them a 7-4 lead.  In the 2nd, we answered with another 4 spot.  In the 4th, choosing to walk Wu and load the bases, a single tied the game but Unell was gunned down at home to end the inning.  Another 4 spot gave us the lead and some cushion in the 4th.  RBI singles by Ira Bershad and sub John Chung capped off the scoring.  In the top of the 5th with time expired, Unell's group made a furious comeback that fell a little short and we hung on for a HUGE division win 12-11.

In Game 2 we saw a solid Sea Dog squad jump out to a 7-0 lead as we hadn't recovered from the Euphoria of our first win over Unell.  The bats awoke in the 3rd inning with a 6 run outburst.  A couple of singles by Art Rothenberg and Stuart Rosenfield combined with a walk between them allowed Lewis Zwick to draw a walk and force in a run. After a double play the inning seemed to be over, but the next 4 hitters kept it going completing the barrage to draw us within one run.  In the 4th inning, Zwick popped one over the LF head for a double and an RBI tying the game.  The Sea Dogs took the lead by one in the 5th and we answered with 2 to reclaim the lead in the bottom half.  RBI's by Jeff Goodman and Ira Bershad were the key hits.  Time expired as we were hitting in the bottom of the 6th giving us another huge win and ANOTHER SWEEP!!!!

Top Hitters:

JJ Eusay  5/6, 5 R, RBI
Tim Williams  5/8, 2 R, RBI
Jeff Goodman  3/6, 5 RBI

Another very windy day saw the Angels start with an important intra divisional game against the first place Rangers trying to close a 3 game deficit. It started poorly as six out innings usually do as the Rangers led off the game with a 10 spot. After 3 ½ innings the Rangers held a commanding 23-6 lead. The Angels scratched out 4 thanks to a 2 run double by Jon Simonson sending it to the last inning. After holding the Rangers scoreless, the Angels started a dramatic rally sending 15 consecutive batters to the plate who reached base successfully. The Rangers made two pitching changes as they had walked 6 batters so far. A single by Loren Jaffe and a walk to Robbie Franklin loaded the bases with the score tied at 23. Three straight balls to David Tennyson walked in the winning run and provided one of the all time come from behind victories. The top five batters combined for a 16-19 performance.

Game 2 was against the Royals. Playing off the adrenalin rush of the previous win, the Angels broke loose for 9 in the first. Bruce Ackerman and Loren Jaffe both had 2 run doubles. The Royals closed the margin to 10-7 after 3. The Angels built a 17-8 lead before the Royals rallied in the final inning to close the final gap to 17-13.

Hitting stars were abundant led by POW candidate Troy Tennyson 7-7 (and 13-13 the last 2 weeks). Jon Simonson 6-7, David Tennyson 5-7, Loren Jaffe 6-8, ROW candidate David Phillips 5-8, Steve Gadol 3-5, Bruce Ackerman 4-8 and John Miller 2-3. Clint Hauck in his final Shalom League games played a strong left field when pressed into emergency duty.

With two Ranger losses, the division tightened with the Angels 1 game back of the co-leading Rangers and Riverdogs.

The Storm had a 2 game road trip starting with the Owls of Matt Roth. The Storm scored 2 in the top of the 1st featuring rbi hits from Zane Belyea and Kyle Kravitz. The lead grew to 6-0 in the 2nd on a bases clearing double from Barry Hersh and an rbi hit from Ryan Alford with 2 outs. The Owls plated 4 in the 3rd to close within 6-4. The Storm immediately grabbed 5 in the 4th featuring consecutive 2 out rbi hits from Kyle Casper, Kravitz, Allan , and Earvin Dickey. Each team scored 2 in the 5th with the Storm  coming on Hersh 2 run HR. The game ended 13-6 for the Storm.

Game 2 had the Storm visiting 2 time defending champion Larry Silverman's Rangers. The Storm scored 2 in the top of the 1st on rbi from Alford and Belyea. The rangers answered with 3 in the home half and a lead 3-2 they would keep until late in the game. The Storm were silenced for the next 4 innings while the Rangers added 3 for a 6-2 lead entering the 6th. With the wind blowing in on 4, it looked bleak for the Storm, but their 1st 4 batters reached safely, and after 1 out, Kravitz tied the game w a bases clearing 2b. Gary Strouse had a big 2 out rbi hit for a 7-6 lead. The Storm retired the top 3 rangers in the home 6th and the 7th inning began with a tenuous 7-6 lead for the Storm. The Storm quickly tacked on 4 featuring Hersh rbi hit and a 3 run HR from Alford. The Rangers scored 1 but the Storm finished with an 11-7 come from behind win.

Hitting: POW candidate Barry Hersh 7-8, 7 runs, 7 rbis, 2-2bs, HR all into the fierce wind on 4; Ryan Alford 5 hits, BB, 2B, HR3 runs, 5 rbis; Zane Belyea 4 hits; ROW candidate Gary Strouse 5-6, BB; Al Valenti 4-6, BB, 3 runs; Earvin Dickey 3 hits, BB.

We finally put together 2 solid performances in earning a sweep and giving Phil Kim the proper send off to the west coast. Great weekend heading into the bye week and time to enjoy.  We will welcome a new addition to the squad in place of Phil Kim and hopefully keep the train rolling against the high flying Stars and stud Darius Wu.

On May 5, 2013, Darius Wu stepped to the plate for his final at bat of his historic day in the Temple Shalom Softball League, having already racked up 15 RBI and 4 over-the-fence homers.  Staring in from the mound was Barry Epstein, the Royals southpaw hurler, who had already surrendered two of the dingers.  Unlike the shellshocked Angels' twirler, John Miller, Epstein wasn't going to back down and issue a free pass.  Two Stars were clogging the bases as Epstein let the pitch fly.  As Wu stepped into the pitch, he blurted out, to no one in particular, "missed it."  And that he did.  For on that glorious Cinco de Mayo, Darius Wu's only mistake of the day was his statement that he had made a mistake.  As the ball gracefully floated over the left centerfield fence, Epstein could only shake his head in amazement.  And so the Legend of Wu had a new chapter added to it.  

Ranger's Rap

A big rarity, not-Gers split again. Play one of their best games on D in opener in route to a 11-4 victory over the tough Wahoos.Many offensive 2 hit stars including Goodman with 3 rbi's as weel, Taub with a BB as well, Lefky with 2 2B' and runs scored, and Lawrence with a 3B and 2 RBI's. T martin was on base thrice including 2 BB's and a 2B when Master Leon allowed him to swing....5BB's were gifted to the Gers in this walkathion. Wins was however the offensive cog with two doubles, a triple and 3 RBI's plus a stong pitching performance.

Second game was a melt down by the Gers in a a 10-9 loss to the Buckos....Oh Vey!!! Defense was shaky including the Wins man issuing 6 free passes....errors abounded and timely hitting was not apparent. Bright spots with two hits were Lefky, Law, Wins (and another triple) and Matty. It was a real travesty and I can say no more.

Ranger Dandies

Josh Winsor 6/5 2 Sacs, 2 2B's, 2 3B's and 6 RBI's -ROW candidate

T Martin-2 2B's and 2 BB's

Lefky-4 hits, 2 2B's, and 4 runs scored

Lawrence-4 hits, a 3B, and 4 RBI's

The Storm started the day as the top scoring team in the league and the most accomodating team in the league as well. The 1st inning v the R'dogs followed this pattern. The Storm scored 6 in the top of the 1st featuring rbi hits from K Casper, Mark Rappaport, W Casper, Edward Jamison and 2 rbis from leadoff Tony Macaluso. The R'dogs capitalized on the 9 man defense for 4 of their own. The Storm added 4 more in the top of the 2nd featuring Ryan Alport's fence HR , rbi hit from K Casper and 2 rbi 2b from W Casper, and an rbi hit from POW nominee Al Valenti. The hosts countered with 1 and the Storm led 10-5 after 2. In the top of the 3rd the Storm added 2 on rbi hits from Jimmy Aaron and rappaport. Unfortunately, Rappaport, injured his hand on the play, and the short handed Storm's fortunes would change with the depleted defense further impaired. The R'dogs took full advantage and the storm lost in a 4 inning game 20-12.

Game 2 had conference opponenet Red Sox playing the Storm and the Red Sox also only had 9 players. This game would also only go 4 innings. The Red Sox scored 2 in the 1st and the Storm replied with 3 featuring rbi hits from aaron and rappaport. The Red Sox scored 5 in the 2nd whereupon the Storm scored 9 where everyone contributed to the response. After the red Sox were silenced in the top of the 3rd featuring a 5-3 DP with Rappaport and Valenti making key plays for the DP, the Storm batted for 25 minutes and scored 21 runs. The prolific inning had everyone scoring 2 or 3 times except K Casper who sandwhiched 2 Ks around a fence GS HR. Each side scored 2 in the 4th with the Storm still batting as time lapsed with the 35-9 win.

Hitting : POW Nominee Al Valenti 4-4, 4 bbs, 2b, 3 runs, 5 rbis; Edward Jamison 5-8, 2 3bs, 4 runs, 3 rbis; Mark Rappaport 5-7, bb, 4 runs, 6 rbis; Tony Macaluso 3-5, 4 bbs, 2b, 6 runs, 5 rbis; Ryan Alford 5-6, 2 bbs, 3 2bs, HR, 8 runs, 5 rbis; Jimmy Aaron 4-5, 3 bbs, 3 2bs, 6 runs, 3 rbis; K Casper HR, 4 runs, 7 rbis; W Casper 6-8, 2 2bs, 6 runs, 5 rbis

7 straight Stars articles in a row is a little too few if you ask me, don't you think???

Yanks faced Sulzer with the wind blowing in on field one???No worries for the Bombers as a balanced attack led to an 11-4 win.

Game two was a different story as Roth's Owls batted for 45 minutes of our 60 minute game and prevailed 20-10.

Pow candidate Steve Shiller 6-8 with four runs scored and similar speed to brother Rob

The Temple Shalom Stars stormed to their eleventh and twelfth consecutive victories on Sunday.  First up were the surging Miller Angels.  Brad Parr sparked the relentless Stars attack by going 4 for 5 with 4 runs scored and 3 RBI as the Stars deflowered the Angels 34-15.  But Parr was far from finished.

The second game was against the injury-ravaged Lachman Royals.  Parr chipped in another couple of hits as the Stars dethroned the Royals 28-8.

Parr's line score for the day read: 10/6/6/4.  Should be good enough for honorable mention for either POW or ROW.

The Temple Shalom Stars stormed to their eleventh and twelfth consecutive victories on Sunday.  First up were the surging Miller Angels.  Matt Sorge, who missed the Stars victories the week before, picked up where he had let off as he went 3 for 5 with 3 runs scored and 4 RBI as the Stars deflowered the Angels 34-15.  But Sorge was far from finished.

The second game was against the injury-ravaged Lachman Royals.  Sorge went 4 for 6 with a couple of runs scored and an RBI as the Stars dethroned the Royals 28-8.

Sorge's line score for the day read: 10/5/7/5 with a double.  Should be good enough for honorable mention for either POW or ROW.

The Temple Shalom Stars stormed to their eleventh and twelfth consecutive victories on Sunday.  First up were the surging Miller Angels.  Chase Berg ewnt 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI to pace the attack as the Stars deflowered the Angels 34-15.  But Berg was far from finished.

The second game was against the injury-ravaged Lachman Royals.  Berg chipped in another 4 hits, scored five times and knocked in a run as the Stars dethroned the Royals 28-8.

Berg's line score for the day read: 11/8/8/4.  Should be good enough for honorable mention for POW.

The Temple Shalom Stars stormed to their eleventh and twelfth consecutive victories on Sunday.  First up were the surging Miller Angels.  Robert Santiago went a perfect 4 for 4 with a walk, 2 doubles, a triple and 5 RBI to pace the attack as the Stars deflowered the Angels 34-15.  But Santiago was far from finished.

The second game was against the injury-ravaged Lachman Royals.  Santiago hit a fences clearing grandslam in the second to put this one away.  Santiago ended the game with 6 RBI as the Stars dethroned the Royals 28-8.

Santiago's line score for the day read: 9/3/6/11 with a walk, (2) doubles, triple and a grandslam homer.  Should be good enough for honorable mention for either POW or ROW.

The Temple Shalom Stars stormed to their eleventh and twelfth consecutive victories on Sunday.  First up were the surging Miller Angels.  Hall of Famer Irv Munn paced the attack by going 5 for 5 with 4 runs scored and 3 RBI.  Munn even legged out a two-run triple in the first as the Stars deflowered the Angels 34-15.  But Munn was far from finished.

The second game was against the injury-ravaged Lachman Royals.  Munn cooled down to only go 4 for 4 with a walk and a couple of runs scored as the Stars dethroned the Royals 28-8.

Munn's line score for the day read: 9/6/9/3 with a walk and a triple.  Should be good enough for honorable mention for POW.

The Temple Shalom Stars stormed to their eleventh and twelfth consecutive victories on Sunday.  First up were the surging Miller Angels.  Roy White, who missed the Stars first two games (their only two losses on the year), went 4 for 5 with a double and triple.  Inexplicitably, Angelic manager John Miller disrespected White in the fourth inning when he intentionally walked Darius Wu with the bases loaded to get to White - who promptly deposited an RBI single to stretch the Stars lead to 23-6.  The Stars deflowered the Angels 34-15.  But White was far from finished.

The second game was against the injury-ravaged Lachman Royals.  White hit a fences clearing homer in the first and had a 2-run triple in the second enroute to another 4 for 5 game as the Stars dethroned the Royals 28-8.

White's line score for the day read: 10/7/8/7 with a walk, double, triple and homer.  Should be good enough for honorable mention for either POW or ROW.

The Temple Shalom Stars stormed to their eleventh and twelfth consecutive victories on Sunday.  First up were the surging Miller Angels.  Darius Wu started the scoring with an RBI single in the first.  He quickly followed that with a three-run homer in the second and a grand slam in the third.  With the Stars clinging to a 21-6 lead in the fourth, Wu stepped to the plate, again with the bases loaded.  Angelic manager John Miller then intentionally walked Wu to plate the all-important 22nd run.  In all, Wu knocked in 9 runs as the Stars deflowered the Angels 34-15.  But Wu was far from finished.

The second game was against the injury-ravaged Lachman Royals.  Wu started the scoring again - this time with a sac fly in the 1st.  An RBI single in the second started a 9 run rally.  After a groundout in the third, Wu homered in the fifth (solo shot), sixth (3-run blast) and seventh innings (3-run blast).  Once again, Wu knocked in 9 runs as the Stars dethroned the Royals 28-8.

Wu's line score for the day read: 9/9/8/18 with 5 over-the-fence homers.  Should be good enough for honorable mention for either POW or ROW.

On the 2013 Shalom League Spring Season’s Hump Weekend, Zane’s Reds fell back into a familiar pattern by settling for a split and evening their record at 7-7. The push has the Reds leading their division by 2 games and tied for second place, 3 games behind Conference 2 leader Buhrow’s Baby Jays (10-4).

The Reds offense was firing on all cylinders in Game 1 against Davis’ Bulls, batting around in both the 1^st and 2^nd innings plating 7 and 9 runs, respectively, on the way to their most impressive win of the season, 24-10 (and it wasn’t even that close – sorry Bob, but I’m sure you’ll agree). Michael Barth and Brad Zane scored 4 runs each while Todd LaCocq and James Lee each drove in 5 runs. 4 of Lee’s 5 RBI came on an inside-the-park Grand Slam. The Reds put up crooked numbers in all 4 innings in which they batted.

It looked like the recipe would continue in Game 2 against Sulzer’s Indians as, once again, the Reds scored in their first 4 innings and took an 11-4 lead into the bottom of the 6^th. Unfortunately, the defense proved porous as the Indians scored 6 runs to make it a 1 run game going to the 7^th. The Reds managed a single tally in the top of the final frame but that was soon erased by Nick Anderson’s fence clearing blast to lead off the bottom of the inning. The next three batters reached safely and tied the score at 12. An intentional walk filled the bags and brought in the outfield, still without a recorded out. It looked like the strategy would pay off as the next batter hit a fly ball to shallow Left Center. Rob Zane caught the ball and threw a one hopper to home where Catcher Lee blocked the plate and tagged out Patrick Sanchez trying to score the winning run. Once again, an intentional walk loaded the bases, but this time a clean single ended the Reds’ hopes of back-to-back sweeps heading into the Mother’s Day off weekend.

Reds Hot Hitters:

On a cold morning when the wind was howling at 25mph, the Angels encountered a strange meteorological phenomena… when the red hot Stars came to bat, the wind was blowing out to all fields. When the Angels came to bat, the wind was obviously blowing directly in toward home plate. And the wind direction changed every half inning! Positives to take away were perfect on time attendance by all players and no injuries.

Game 2 against the Muckdogs ended up being more of the same, lot’s of positives, just none of them reflected on the scoreboard.

Leading hitters on the day were POW candidate Troy Tennyson 6-6 with 6 rbi’s, ROW candidate David Phillips 5-6, Loren Jaffe 5-6, Robbie Franklin and Cookie Hauck both 3-5.

The Angels will use the off week next Sunday to recuperate and prepare for the stretch drive.

 The Riverdogs employed their new 9 man lineup Sunday, splitting two games to stay at .500 for the season. The Dogs were surprised when the Yankees countered with the same innovative formation. The Yanks scored 10 first inning runs and then held on to beat the Riverdogs, 13-10. Jamey Newberg, who had only been a rumor so far, started the game with a triple and then asked to renegotiate, as he was then leading the league in batting, on base, and slugging. Rob Shiller started his day with a bang, homering in the first and tripling in the second. Taylor Cross tripled twice in a 3 for 3 effort, while Irwin Kaufman was also perfect with with two hits and a walk in three appearances.

After falling short, the Riverdogs headed to field 1 for the game of the week, against Miller’s Angels. The two clubs had split previous games, so this was the last time the bitter rivals would meet before the playoffs. The Riverdogs had scored 15 runs in each of the previous matchups, but that would not be enough this time. The Dogs jumped to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first on homers from Rob Shiller and Bill Guidice. Angel skipper/pitcher would remember those dingers. After the Angels got 2 runs back (thanks in part to a questionable play by Abbey Garber), Stan Kelly started another Riverdog rally, scoring on Seth Kaufman’s double, before Rob Shiller doubled two more home. Taylor Cross knocked Shiller in for an 8-2 lead, but the Angels scored four of their own in the bottom of the second, and got two quick outs in the Riverdog third before Captain Miller started thinking (possibly aided by his crack Lieutenant, Loren Jaffe). After another Seth Kaufman double left first base open with two out, Miller intentionally walked Rob Shiller with league RBI Leader and known strongman Randy Ransom on deck. Neither Stats Inc nor Elias could find a record of an intentional walk to bring up Ransom, who answered the insult with a double of his own, plating both runners. Miller reraised, intentionally walking Guidice (no one homers twice off of JM).

A six-run Riverdog fourth paved the way for Miller’s next crucial decision. Bottom of the order boys Abbey Garber and Stan Kelly singled, as did Jamey Newberg and Rob Shiller, setting the table for RBI boys Seth Kaufman, Randy Ransom (another double), Bill Guidice (double of his own), and Taylor Cross (his ninth straight hit!). The 16-7 lead got shaky when the Angels mixed hits and walks to get within three runs at 16-13 with the clock running out. Miller had a tough choice with two on and two out. He had leadoff man TJ Underwood up as the tying run but chose to have his runner leave early to force the game to go one more inning. The Riverdogs scored 2 more runs, so now the Angels needed 5 to tie and six to win. Three of their first four batters scored, meaning Miller came up as the tying run with two out. When his fly ball was tracked down in the gap, the Riverdogs sealed the 18-16 win. Bill Guidice was 3-4 with 4 RBI, a double, homer, and IBB in the win. Randy Ransom knocked in 5. Jamey Newberg four hits, four runs, retires again.

Big Dogs:

Taylor Cross (W, 1-0)- 7-8, 2 triples

Randy Ransom 5-8 with 3 doubles on the day

Seth Kaufman comes back from injury to go 5-8 with 3 doubles and a triple, 5 runs, 3 RBI

Riverdog of the week: Rob Shiller, 6-6, plus SF, IBB (with Ransom on deck - ultimate compliment and craziness), double, triple, 2 homers, scored 7 runs in eight plate appearances, 8 RBI, played CF of 3 man outfield on big field in 18-16 game of the week divisional win

Riverdog Rookie of the week:

Stan Kelly went 2-4 and scored twice in 18-16 divisional game of the week win.

Yankees looked more like the walking wounded as veterans and subs resembled a Mash unit.

Seadogs eeked out a victory to pad their division lead. In the nightcap the Yanks used a ten run first and John Banta's grand salami to edge Garber's Riverdogs 13-9.

Banta was our Pow going 7-8 with 9 rbi's including a tape measured granny.

Jonathan Braun was our Row going 5-6 with two bb's and two doubles.

Justin Reed also went yard on the first pitch from closer Garber...

Thanks to all the hustling Yanks for playing through pain to go to 3-0 on Field 6 this year.

Game 1 against Division rival Davis' Bulls was the first of what would end up as two pitchers duels on the day.  Facing the legend Bob Davis, we were only able to muster 5 runs.  Fortunately for us, Brian Elliot was equal to the task in holding the Bulls to only 2 runs.  Tim Williams and JJ Eusay played some solid defense in the infield and even though we left 10 runners on base, we managed to get the hits when we needed them.  We held on for a 5-2 victory and got our first division win on the year.

Game 2 was against yet another legend on the mound in Sean Greeley and the Baby J's.  We struck for one run in the first on hits by Phil Kim and Tim Williams followed by a Sac fly by JJ Eusay.  There was not much more offense from either side as a pitcher duel broke out once again and the game was tied at 3 after 7.  In the 8th we went meekly and the Jays struck for one run and a walk off.  Maybe next week we will hire a new hitting coach.  Final Jays 4 Muckdogs 3.

Stars for the Day

Brian Elliot (POW)- Held two great hitting teams to 2 runs and 4 runs while also going 3-6 at the plate with an RBI.
Ira Bershad- 4-6, 2B, RBI
Phil Kim- 5-7, 2B, 3 Runs
JJ Eusay- 3-5, Sac, 2 RBI
Tim Williams- 3-6, 2 R, RBI
Ki Bays- 3-6, 2 RBI

The Angels played game 1 against the Blue Wahoos. The Wahoos won the hits contest with 12 singles to the Angels 11 singles. The Angels won the game by bunching the hits better by scoring all 5 runs in the 4^th inning on 7 hits as the Wahoos spread their 4 runs over 3 innings. Dustin Madlock’s defense in right field was a key, including a great catch and an important double up off of first to end a late rally.

On to the game of the week against the Riverdogs who had lost 6 of their last 7 as opposed to the Angels who had won 6 of their last 7. Rookie skipper Abbey Garber made a crucial decision in deciding to play with 9 players allowing his top hitters to bat 5 times. The Angels were unable to exploit 3 outfielders but were able to exploit the bevy of substitute pitchers who gave up 11 walks. The game was close throughout but the Angels fell short 18-16.

Hitting stars on the day were POW candidate Jon Simonson 5-7, Loren Jaffe 5-7, ROW candidate TJ Underwood 4-7, David Tennyson 4-6 and Steve Gadol 1-2 with 4 walks. A post game lunch featured some beers and several shots of jagermeister for those that could handle it.

Ranger Rap

Splitzky again....same story-horrid defense in the second game, great comeback in the opener. Down 7-0 against the High flying Owlz, Gers rallied for 5 in the 4th, 3 more in the 6th to knot the score at 8 and the walk off run on a "Lay down the Law" rence double in bottom half of the 7th....a real thriller. Lefky batting in 2 hole had a nice game with 3 hits and fuel all day. Tim "Tom" Collins had 3 hits including a double and 2 RBI's-what a stud!!! Chief Thomas chipped in with two hits as well.

The second tilt was all about charity-the Gers decided to insure a Riverdog victory by granting 5-6 outs most innings and even more in a couple of frames. The Offense belted out 13 hits.....in other words, none to speak of. Larry Taub "and weave" did have a strong offensive game with 3 hits and 1/3 of our 6 runs scored. The Law Man had 3 hits including two doubles and 3 RBI's. Lefky once agin had 2 hits and 2 runs scored.

We are still in the feeling out process and will round into shape as the season progresses. This next week we will work on fundamentals such as catching the ball and throwing it directly to a teammate......

Ranger Ruby's:

Scott Lawrence-5/7 3 2B's, 4 RBI's

Jeff Lefkovits-5/7 3 runs

Tim Collins-4/6 2 RBI's and a 2B

That's all folks

After pacing the league being the last undefeated team the Sea Dogs have only managed splits the last two weekends.  We opened against Division rival Yankees with a chance to sweep the season series.  After giving up an initial run to the Yanks in the first we again started the games batting around the line up as we scored 7 runs featured by four consecutive singles to start the inning highlighted by a bases clearing double by Kyle Wall .  The Yanks short-handed did keep fighting and closed the gap to 8-6 before Troy Steele hit a double in the bottom of the 4th and we ended up plating an additional 3 making it 11-6. After a scoreless 5th the Yanks tried to make it interesting, but fell short 11-9.

Game 2 we hosted 2-time defending champs and conferance rival Rangers.  The Ranger's quickly struck in this game with a 3 run burst in the first inning.  After stranding a couple of our own in the 1st the bottom of my order "good guys" started to get things going by string together 5 consecutive hits including a 3 run triple by Travis Levay.  We ended up plating 4 and held the 4-3 margin until we came to bat in the 5th.  This time the top of the order got going as we added 4 runs to gain a comfortable 8-3 lead.  The Rangers made one last push getting within 8-6 but an additional 5 run inning in the bottom of the 6th sealed this victory.  In the sixth we had back to back triples from Jett Sarrett and Fred Levay.  The Rangers went quietly in the top of the 7th as the Sea Dogs got a hand up in the conference race.  The win must have been stunning for captain Silverman as he couldn't remember who he played (Riverdogs?) in his recap.  

I want to tip my cap to Fred Levay who pitched two outstanding games for us in a sub role.  Also rookie Kyle Wall had a big day at the plate going 5-6 with a double and 4- rbi's.  Great team defense (Silverman said we would be leaky during pre-season projections).

How bout them Sea Dogs!!!

In game 1 the second meeting between the Scrappers and the Jays on the season was anything but a replay of the first time they met 2 weeks ago.  The Scrappers would strike first in this one but neither team would ever lead by more than one run.  In the bottom of the 7th with the score knotted at 8, Sean Greeley came to bat with bases loaded and 2 out.  He sent a rocket to left field, scoring the winning run and the Jays pull this one off 9-8. 

 Game 2 saw lots of good defense and very little offense as the Muckdogs visited the Jays.  The Muckdogs took a 3-2 lead to the bottom of the 6th when Kelly Alexander scored on a David Buhrow single to left, knotting the game at 3.  With a scoreless 7th, the game went to one pitch extra innings.  The Dogs were shut down in the top of the 8th bringing up the bottom of the Jays lineup in the home half of the inning.  Ron Roberts singled to lead off and scored from first on a Sam Jones double to the fence, ending the game 4-3.  Defense led the way with 3 double plays for the Jays middle infield.  

Once again, the Red Sox have dropped a twin bill.

The offense has risen as we scored in excess of 10 runs in each game. But the defense has let us down.

There was one defensive gem, as Matthew Rakofsky ranged to his left, diving for a ground ball and throwing from his knees to get the swift Storm batter.

During our game against the Reds, “The Natural” made an appearance. Yossi Rudomin has had a rough year at the plate. But, today he made a mighty swing, and, literally, hit the cover off the ball. With a mighty swing, he hit the ball off the end of the bat (a foul ball), but the cover was literally torn away from the ball.   Yossi Rudomin, “The Natural”

Offensive Stars:

Bennett Robinson 8 AB, 6 hits, including 2 triples and one home run and 7 RBI

Matthew Rakofsky  8 AB, 7 hits, including 1 triple and 5 RBI

Nick Milton 9 AB, 6 hits, including 1 double and 2 RBI

David Eisenberg 8 AB, 5 hits, including 1 home run and 2 RBI

The Temple Shalom Softball League Stars somehow managed to eke out two more wins on Sunday and extend their winning streak to 10 games.

First up were the short-handed Casper Storm, playing without their first three draft choices.  Regardless, the gutty and resourceful Storm led 3-2 after 2, 7-4 after 3, 9-5 after 4 and 10-8 after 5 complete innings.  The sixth was scoreless, with the homestanding Storm hitting into the last out of the inning with less than a minute to spare.  The Stars got a leadoff triple from ROY candidate Roy White, followed by a double from Brad Epstein, a one-out walk to Brad Parr and Robert Santiago's 2-run double which gave the Stars their first lead since the top of the second inning.  The Storm then meekly went 1-2-3 in the seventh and the winning streak was intact and at nine.

Next up were the underdog Weinfeld Pirates.  The Stars quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead after one on the strength of Brad Epstein's 2-run triple, Irv Munn's sacrifice fly and Brad Parr's homer.  The Stars tacked on a run in the third and appeared to be cruising.  The Buccos then broke out with hit after hit and tied the game at 6 in the top of the fourth.  Brad Parr's two-run single in the bottom of the fifth brought in the go-ahead runs.  A Darius Wu bullet to Brian Rubenstein at home cut down Scott Ulick's attempt to cut the lead to one in the top of the sixth and the Stars hung on for their 10th consecutive victory, 8-6.

SuperStars:

POW: Brad Epstein - 8/4/7/5 with a 2B & 3B and solid shortstop play sparked the Stars to their ninth & tenth consecutive wins

Game 1 had the Wahoos traveling to the "Strull" filled Pirates.  After a scoreless 1st inning, the Wahoos plated 6 in the 2nd, 5 in the 4th and 4 in the 5th on the way to scoring 18 overall.  The Pirates made it interesting in the bottom of the last by scoring 5 to cut the lead and final score to 18-13 in favor of the victorious Wahoos.  In this game, Aaron Weintraub had a homer and a 1B, Donny Holtman was 2-3 with a SF and 2 2Bs., Ron Batagower was 3-3 with a 2B and SF, and Larry Schnitzer and Martin Sopher each went 3-3. 

In game 2, the Wahoos were on the road playing the Angels.   The Wahoos could only muster up 4 runs in this affair. Several miscues in the field and on the base paths contributed to this 1 run loss.  Final score, Angels 5, Wahoos 4.  Offensive bright spots in this frustrating loss were Aaron Weintraub 2 hits, Rick Leon 2 hits, and Alan Chernov 1 BB and 1 1B.

I want everybody to wish Michael Zientz a speedy recovery.  While volunteering to pitch while I nurse my injuries he ruptured his achilles during the first inning fielding a ball.  This is my second season to play with Michael and he has been nothing but a positive influence on our clubhouse and his presence will be missed.

We are currently taking applications for pitchers!!!

Game 1 against division rival Scrappers started off with a bang (not talking about Michaels achilles) as we opened the game with an 11 run outburst as 15 players batted in the inning.  While we were forced to go to our 3rd string pitcher the Scrappers kept charging closer each inning eventually closing the gap to 11-9 entering the 4th inning.  In need of a big inning Allan Laffer started us off with a single which triggered a big 6 run inning which for the most part cemented the eventual final of 18-14.

Game 2 we traveled to play Davis' Bulls.  Again we got off to a quick start and held a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the 4th.  The Bulls got things going plating 7 runs over the next 2 innings.  We made things interesting in the top half of the 7th until the tying run was gunned down by Bob Davis at home plate to end the game.  

Hitting Stars-  Greg Hurst  6-7 with 1-2b, 

                    Troy Steele  4-7  with 1-2b, 3-r and 3- rbi

                    Marc Biesman 4-5 with 2-bb, 5- runs

                    Jett Sarrett- 3 rbi's in game 1

                    Jeff Roberts-  3-4 with 3- runs, 1- SF, 1- BB

                    George Reed-  2 hits and 2- bb

I also want to thank Alan Gohlke for stepping in an pitching overall 2 excellent games.

The Royals played the part of the suave, elegant Jekyll in game two of their doubleheader by defeating Zane’s Reds 9 – 5. But the Royals unleashed their inner Hyde in the opener, yielding a 17-run fourth inning in a 23 – 13 thrashing by Casper’s Storm.

Pitcher Fred Levay cruised through the second game, scattering 11 singles, as the Royals defense backed him up with inspired, and at times, spectacular defense in one of the most dominant defensive performances of the year.

Rookie of the Week Brad Earls and Joel Cerefice combined to turn two, 4–6–3 double plays to squash Reds’ threats. And with the base loaded in the bottom of the seventh, and the tying run at the plate, Mike Voss charged an apparent single and threw a strike to second base to force the runner and end the game.

Former Royal, Michael Barth was dominant through the first three innings as he scattered five hits and held the Royals scoreless. Trailing 3 – 0, The Royals tied it up in the top of the fourth. Justin Toone led off the inning with a ringing double to left, and Levay keyed the inning with a two-run single with the bases loaded.

The Royals then broke it open in the fifth. Earls, who was a perfect 7 – 7 on the day, led off with a booming triple. RBI singles by Cerefice, Voss, and David Shaw made it 7 – 3. For Shaw, his 2-run single produced his second and third RBIs in the game, as he drove in a total of seven in the doubleheader. Dennis Shaw’s RBI single in the sixth added some much needed insurance as the Reds plated two, and loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh before Voss made his defensive gem.

Brad Earls  3 – 3, 1 Run, 1 RBI, 3B
Mike Voss  3 – 4, 2 Runs, 1 RBI
Jeff Fahrendorf  2 – 3, 1 Run
Fred LeVay  2 – 4, 1 Run, 2 RBI
Justin Toone  2 – 4, 2 Runs, 2B
Barry Epstein  2 – 4, 1 Run

For as good as Royals’ pitching was in the second game, it was equally as bad in the first game. The Storm benefitted from nine walks (yikes!) from Royals’ pitchers in a colossal fourth inning collapse.

The Temple Shalom Softball Stars faced both their Divisional foes on Sunday - looking to seize control of the tiebreakers and the Division.  

First up were the Goldsteinless Muckdogs.  In methodical fashion, the Stars handled the Muckdogs for the second time this season, winning 10-3.   Darius Wu and Chase Berg both homered, Brian DeFee was a perfect 3 for 3 at the plate and defense clamped down any attempts at a comeback.

In the Game of the Week, the Davis Bulls were looking to avenge their heartbreaking 10-9, 11 inning loss to the Stars two weeks ago.  This one wasn't as close as things got out-of-hand quickly as the Stars scored 4 in the first, 3 in the second, 6 in the third, 5 in the fourth and 6 more in the fifth.  In the end, the Stars amassed 35 hits.  Mr. Wu led the way by hitting for the cycle (in his first four plate appearances), ending the game with five hits, five runs scored and 6 RBI.  Roy White chipped in 5 hits, 4 runs scored and 4 RBI.  Irv Munn, a Board Certified Professional Hitter, had 4 hits and 5 RBI.  The first five in the lineup scored 19 runs and the Stars prevailed 25-14. 

POW & ROW Candidate:

Darius Wu - 9/9/7/7 line score; BB, 2B, 3B, (2) HR - most of that with a tweaked hamstring

That is all...................

The Angels continued their hot streak Sunday with a real team effort as all 12 players got a hit in game 1 and 9 players had at least 3 hits on the day. Game 1 against the Indians was decided early as the Angels erupted for 10 runs in the second on 2 walks and 10 singles. 7 more scored in the 4^th with the big hit a bases loaded triple by John Miller leading to a 17-0 margin before the Indians closed the final score to 19-3.

Game 2 was against the division leading Rangers. The Rangers held a 6-5 lead after 4 before the Angels plated 3 in the fifth thanks to a two run triple by POW candidate Jon Simonson who also scored. One more increased the score to 9-6 as the Rangers failed to score in the final two innings.

Leading hitters were Jon Simonson 5-7, Troy Tennyson breaking out of a slump at 4-6, Loren Jaffe 4-6, John Miller 2-3, ROW candidate David Phillips, hot hitting Steve Gadol and David Tennyson 3-5, TJ Underwood, Robbie Franklin and Clint “Cookie” Hauck all 3-6.

The Angels have won 5 of their last 6 and are ready to join in the pennant race.

The Storm scored 35 runs and yielded 33 today in a pair of contests that were each close for 1/2 the game and non-competitive by each game's end.

Game 1 featured the Royals traveling to the Storm. The Royals struck for 2 in the top of the 1st and the Storm answered with 4 in the home half featuring 2 out rbi hits from Mark Rappaport, Judah Epstein and a 2 run 3b from Wayne Casper. The Royals then played 7 runs in the top of the 2nd for a 9-4 lead. The Storm reestablished a 2 run lead by also scoring 7 in the home half. The inning featured rbi hits from Tony macaluso, Barry hersh, Kevin Hancock, Kyle Casper, Rappaport, and W Casper. The Royals plated 1 in the top of the 3rd to trim the score to 11-10. The Storm did not score in their half of the 3rd and the Royals were shut out in the top of the 4th. The Storm then scored 17 runs in the home 4th, consuming all but 2 minutes of the 22 minutes that were on the clock. Everyone of the 12 players scored at least 1 time in the inning. The Storm prevailed 28-13.

Game 2 had the rubber match between the Indians and Storm. The Storm scored 2 in the top of the 1st featruing rbi hits from Hancock and Macaluso. The Indians scored 1 in the home half courtesy of a single and 3 base error. The Storm plated 1 in the 2nd as did the Indians. The Storm had 2 in the top of the 3rd for a brief 5-2 lead where upon the Storm declined playing any more defense for the day. The Indians scored 4 for a 6-5 lead after 3. The Storm scored 1 to tie the game at 6 but left the bases loaded. The Indians graciously accepted profuse gifts from the Storm the last 2 innings scoring 14 runs in the 20-7 defeat for the Storm.

Hitting: Macaluso 4-5, 2 bbs, 4 runs, 3 rbi; Hancock 5-7, 2-2bs, 3b, 6 runs, 5 rbis; Hersh 5-7, 4-3bs, 5 runs, 4 rbis; Sub Judah Epstein 5-7, 2b, 2-3bs, 5 runs, 3 rbis; K Casper 4-5, 2 bbs, 2-2bs, 3b, 3 runs, 4 rbis; W Casper 5-6, BB, 3b, run, 6 rbis; Earvin Dickey 3-4, bb; Rappaport 4-4 game 1, 2b, 3b, 3 runs, 6 rbis; Al Valenti 2-3, 2 bbs, 2 runs

Game One vs the Schnitzerless Wahoos- Top of the first and the Bombers belt 11 hits for 10 runs highlighted by Steve Shiller's two safeties and Gary Frank's bases clearing double for 3 big rbi's! The Yanks cruise to a 20-2 win with 3 hits each from Shiller, Justin Reed, John Banta, Doug Baer and Tony Dillard. Mike Hickey looked Jeteresque at short and Jonathan Braun hit a three run inside the park homer!

Game two against London's Scrappers- Banta stifled the scrap heap while going 2 for 3 at the dish. His battery mate, Rick Rosen was perfect at the plate and was unintentionally intentionally walked. Rbi's from Hickey, Shiller, Banta, Doug Storm, Braun and Dillard let the Yanks to a 7-2 victory.

Yankee heroes:

John Banta Pow candidate 5 for 7 4 runs scored and allowed just four runs in 14 innings.

Justin Reed 4 for 6 and 5 runs

Doug Storm 3 for 5 and 3 RBI's

Steve Shiller 4 for 7 with 3 runs

Doug Baer 3 for 4 with two BB's

Tony Dillard 3 for 6 with 4 RBI's

The Yanks have won their last three games outscoring opponents 44-14...

Ranger Rap

Splitzky for Gers. Nice 11-7 win in opener agianst the Riverdogs. 5 run eruption in 4th inning allowed Gers to prevail. Led on Offense bt Taub with 4 safeties, Martin with 3 hits, 3 RBI's and 3B, and 2 hits each by Wins, Weeds, and Matty.

Second tilt was an offensive blackout as Gers only had 13 hits...2 intentional passes to Scotty Lawrence worke effectively to stimie the squad. LT continued his torrid hitting with two more hits. T martin also stayed hot with two hits and 2 RBI's. Sil had two hits as well.....the rest took the 2nd tilt off as we lost 9-6 to the mighty Angels....Oy Veh.

Ranger Stars

L Taub-6/7

T Martin-5/7, 5 Rbi's and a 3B

In game 1 vs. Might Rakafski's Red Sox, we started quick and used one big inning to get a big win.  In the top of the first Phil Kim and Tim Williams got things started with back to back hits. After receiving orders from his dad and captain Paul Rakafski to pitch around JJ Eusay, young Ben left one over the plate and JJ hammered a 3 run bomb over the RCF fence for a quick 3-0 lead.  We added 3 more in the 2nd to go up 6-1 but the Bosox put up a 4 spot in the 3rd to draw within 1.   After a scoreless 4th, the Dogs would erupt in the 5th for 11 runs.  Key hits were abound as we put together 8 hits, including a triple from Elliot Goodman following another intentional walk of JJ.  Kay Bays also added a big double to complete the scoring. After a scare in the bottom of the 7th, we hung on for a 18-13 victory.

In game 2 vs Division rivals Unell's Stars, we were told we got to use some of our runs from the game before so we just went through the motions.  When our captain showed up from D.C. and informed us this was not the case, it was too late.  We only mustered 8 hits and never really posed a threat.  Final score was 10-3.

Hitting Stars: 

Tim Williams  6/7, Triple, 4 R , RBI
Elliot Goodman  4/7. Triple, 5 RBI
JJ Eusay  1/3, 3 Run Fence HR which led to 4 walks, 5 RBI
Stuart Rosenfield  3/7

Reds Wrap by Todd LeCocq (Captain Rob Zane was out this week)

Our toughest test came in game one against the 1-loss Buhrow’s Baby Jays without their ace on the mound, Sean Greeley - like that would really help :).  It was back and forth for most of the contest with the Reds finding the muscle to climb their way to the top with an 8 run 5th giving the Reds a 14-8 victory

Top performers Game 1:
Brad Zane 4 for 5, RBI, 3 R
Michael Barth 3 for 4, 2 RBI, R

In game 2 the Reds faced another tough team – Goldstein’s Muckdogs. The Reds started off strong taking a 3-0 lead and shutting down the Muckdogs top sluggers in the 1st. But after some key defensive mistakes and a 6 run 3rd inning for the Muckdogs, the Reds fell behind and couldn't climb their way back until the final and 6th inning. With a one run lead the Reds took the field, but the lead just wasn't big enough and the Muckdogs took the victory, 12-11.

Top performers Game 2:
Brad Zane 3 for 4, RBI, 2 R
Nick Anderson 3 for 4, RBI, 2 R
James Lee 2 for 3, RBI, R and a great catch in the outfield
Randy Vickery 2 for 3, 2 R

The Temple Shalom Softball Stars racked up their fifth and sixth consecutive wins on Sunday as they maintained their lead in the Handsome Captain Division.

The Opener was against the Farin Bronx Bombers.  The Stars, sporting the highest scoring offense in the League, used their relentless attack to ruin the 2013 debut of the Yank's ace, Jon Banta.  The 14-11 victory was only secured when the Farinians left the tying run on base in the bottom of the seventh.  Roy White (fence-clearing homer) and Matt Sorge led the charge with three hits apiece.  Robert Santiago and Irv Munn also each chipped in a pair of safeties.  Chase Berg added his first fence clearing homer in the second inning.

Next up were the battling Roth Owlz.  Things were knotted at 2 after three innings but the Stars tacked on 12 unanswered runs over the next three innings to put this one away, 14-3.  Darius Wu put the exclamation point on the victory when he blasted a two run homer in the fifth.  Robert Santiago was a perfect 3 for 3 while hitting last in the order.  The win helped the Stars maintain their 1 game lead over the Goldstein Muckdogs and extended their lead to 2 games over the Davis Bulls.

The Stars have a chance to take command of the Division as they face both their Divisional rivals this coming Sunday - including the Game of the Week against the Bulls.

Game one on Sunny Field 9 vs Unell's Stars. Tight battle throughout with hits, runs and plenty of miscues by both squads. Justin Reed (3 for 4 including a Ballentine Blast), Steve Shiller (3 hits), Mike Hickey (3 hits) and Rick Rosen (2 for 3) were the Yanks' hitting stars. 11 runs weren't enough as the Bombers got Outcoached by Hitchcock of the Stars. Shocking final 14-11 Stars.

Game two was a different story as the Yanks pounded out 20 hits and cruised to a 17-10 win over Millers' Angels. John Banta went yard and was unceremoniously walked in the first and third innings. The second time as the Yanks held a 13-2 lead and in "Barry Bonds' style" was walked with the bases drunk". Miller's craftiness didn't work out as the Yanks made him pay both times. Reed and Shiller both had perfect games at the plate while Jonathan Braun, Doug Storm, Gary Frank, Mike Hickey and Scott Butnick each delivered two key hits

Ranger Rap

Splitzky....1st game saw horrible defense and plenty of offensive offense except T Martin with a perfect 3 for 3 and 3 runs scored in front of Josh "Big Fly" Winsor who had a perfect 3 for 3 as well....all HR's and 6 RBI's!!!! Next best O came from Sil who had 1 hit and a BB.....Josh and Tony couldn't do it alone and the defense was pourous at best...all led to a 18-7 Bulls goring.

We came back nicely in the night cap with a solid if not spectacular 15-7 win over the Red Sox. More hitting and mostly good D was on display. Sil, Tom "Vodka" Collins, and Doug Wedemeyer (Weeds) all had 3 hits from the bottom of the order. The Lefko boys each had 2 hits and T Martin had two more hits and a sac. Even Scott Lawrence (Larry) had 2 hits including a double. Goody chipped in with two hits as well and Geno Entes had a 2 run triple!!! The Winsor monster continued his assalt on TS pitching with another HR ( his 4th of the day!!) and a pedestrian double and 3 more RBI's.

Ranger Dandy's

ROW/POW-Josh Winsor 5/7, 4 HR's, 1 2B, 9 RBI's, 5 Runs

Tony Martin-5/6, SAC, 4 RBI's

Tim Collins-4/6, 2 RBI's

Weeds-4/5, 2RBI's 

Game 1 had the Reds visiting the Jays.  Missing All Star pitcher Sean Greeley for the 2^nd week in a row, the Jays hitting slump continued, as their normally hot bats were as cold as ice.  Neither team could get much going until the 3^rd when the Reds had a breakout inning.  Helped out by poor Jays defense the Reds batted around and hung 8 runs on the board.  The Jays tried a comeback but the deficit was just too much to overcome as the Reds took this one 14-8. 

In Game 2, the Scrappers were at home but that advantage, as well as consistent defense from the home team would prove non-existent.  Batting around in the top of the first, the Jays plated 11 en route to a 21-2 thrashing of the Scrappers.  

Team Captain David ‘Baby J’ Buhrow was quoted after the game as saying, “Sometimes when you win, you actually lose.  Sometimes when you lose, you actually win.  Sometimes when you win or lose, you really tie.  And sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose. I think it’s safe to say that we won one and lost one today.”

The Angels came into Sunday riding a two game winning streak. The Owlz jumped out to a 5-0 lead after 4 innings as the Angel bats had only mustered 4 hits. The bottom of the order started a rally on singles by Steve Gadol and Bruce Ackerman as a 2 run single by David Tennyson was the big hit in the 4 run fifth. Still down 5-4, the Angels entered the decisive seventh. Bruce Ackerman singled and Dustin Madlock doubled into the gap scoring 1 to tie it at 5 with Dustin advancing to third on a wild throw. A slow roller to first scored Dustin with the lead run. A scoreless seventh for the Owlz gave the Angels an exciting 6-5 come from behind win.

Game 2 against the Yankees was a toughie as the powerful Yanks had the wind blowing out to build a 17-2 after 3 innings due to their power and the Angels gloves. The Angels showed signs of life in closing the final gap to 17-10.

Bruce Ackerman was 4-6 and is our POW candidate. David Tennyson was 6-8. The rest of the Angels were saving up their hits for next week, so the Indians and Rangers better beware!

The Wahoos opened the day with the 10:00 start vs the Royals.  After giving up 3 in the top of the 1st, the Wahoos bounced back with 4 of their own.  After a scoreless 2nd inning, the Wahoos erupted with 7 in the 3rd to take a commanding lead en route to a  13-6 victory.  Aaron Weintraub made a pair of dandy defensive gems to help keep the Royals off the board.

In the Game of the Week, the Wahoos played the leagues most "mishpachaed" team, the Red Sox.  The Wahoos plated 4 in the top of the 1st to take an early lead, but gave up 10 to the Red Sox in the 3rd causing them to fall behind 12-7.  Both teams score 3 in the 4th.  In the top of the 5th, the Wahoos scored 9 runs on 9 hits and walk and took a 19-15 lead.  In the bottom of the 5th, the Red Sox answered with 2 of their own, but an easy fly ball to RF caught by Ted Nguyen ended the game and sealed the win in the GOW.

Aaron Weintraub is our POW and Ira Utay is our ROW.

Blue Wahoos stars were abundant today:

Alan Chernov 2 hits, Larry Schnitzer 3 hits 3 RBIs, Ira Utay great glove all day at 1B, Rick Leon 4 hits 2B SF 4 RBIs, Aaron Weintraub spectacular defense 6-8 including 4-4 in game 2 7 runs scored 5 RBIs, Rob Sosebee 3 hits 5 runs scored, Harlan Davis 5 hits SF 4 runs scored, Rony Batagower 6 hits 3B 2B 7 RBIs, Donny Holtman 4 hits 2B, Ted Nguyen 4 hits, Martin Sopher 3 hits 2B SF

After barely missing on a sweep last week, The Dogs looked to learn from missed opportunities this week.  In game 1 vs Lachman's Royals, we used defense to hold the hard hitting royals to only 7 runs through 6 innings and went to the 7th inning tied 7-7.  They pushed one across in the top of the inning and after getting two quick outs in the bottom of the 7th things seemed bleak.  Someone brough a dog to the field and it started barking right about this time which signaled the Muckdog rally time. Lewis Zwick and Phil Kim drew back to back walks and Tim Williams smacked a single loading the bases.  Captain Lachman visited the mound to discuss walking JJ Eusay and tying the game.  However, they pitched to him and JJ Smashed a ball off the right field fence to end the game 9-8!

In game 2, we met up with the Big Red Machine who were coming off of a huge win over the powerhouse Baby Jays.  We started slow going down 4-0 but came back with a 6 spot in the 3rd to take the lead.  Stuart Rosenfield started things with a single and was followed by a single by Phil Kim, a walk from Tim Williams, back to back triples from JJ and Elliot Goodman, and finished with singles from Jeff Goodman, Ky Bays and Ira Bershad.  We added 3 in the 4th and 1 in the 5th, but the Red put up a 4 spot in the 5th and added 3 in the 6th to grab a 11-10 lead. After a leadoff out in the bottom of the 7th, consecutive singles by Tim Williams, JJ and Elliot Goodman put the winning run at 3rd with one out.  The Reds chose to walk Jeff Goodman intentionally and pitch to Ky Bays.  Only needing a sac fly, Ky went for the kill and smoked a single up the middle to score JJ with the winning run. Final score 12-11.

Hitting Stars

JJ Eusay  7/8, 2 Triples, 7 RBI, 4 Runs, Game Winning walk off RBI in Game 1 Tim Williams   4/7, RBI, 5 Runs
Stuart Rosenfield  3/5, 3 Runs
Phil Kim  4/7, 2 Runs, 2 RBI
Ky Bays  3/7, Walk Off Game Winning RBI in Game 2

The Storm took to the field hosting 2 strong teams from division 1 of Conference 1. Th Scrappers capitalized on Storm fielding generosities for a 7-0 lead after 1  1/2 innings. It was 8-1 Scrappers after 4 1/2 when the Storm erupted for 6 to close within 1 and had a runner alledgedly thrown out at 3rd halting the rally. In the 6th the scrappers added 2 and after the 1st 2 outs, the Storm struck for 2 runs and left the tying run on base in the 10-9 loss.

Game 2 had the league's last unbeaten team arrive 7-0 at the storm. The Storm gave the Sea Dogs 3 in the 1st but struck back with 2 on Kevin Hancock's HR and Mark Rappaport's rbi hit. Neither side scored in the 2nd but the Sea Dogs added 3 in the 3rd for a 6-2 lead. Tone Macaluso's SF cut the deficit to 6-3 after 3 innings. The Storm took the lead in the home 4th with 5 runs and all delivered with 2 outs. Tony fant singled in 2, Barry Hersh tripled him home, Hancock doubled in Hersh, and Macaluso singled home Hancock for the 8-6 lead. Each team scored 1 in the 5th. The Sea Dogs, with time running low, tied the game with 2 in the top of the 6th. Fant tripled leading off the home half. Captain Hauf intentionally walked Hersh and Hancock and Macaluso singled over the drawn in outfield winning the game 10-9. The Storm evened their record by providing the Seadogs their 1st loss of the season.

Hitting Stars: ROW candidate Tone Fant 4-5, 3 BBs, 2b,3b, 5 runs and 4 rbis

POW candidate Mark Rappaport 5-6, 2b, 1 run, 2 rbis

Barry Hersh 4-7, BB, 2b, 3b, 2 runs, 2 rbis: Kevin Hancock 3-6, 2 BBs, 2b, HR, 3 runs, 3 rbis: Tony Macaluso 4-7, 5 rbis

The Temple Shalom farm team, the Jelly Donuts who compete in the University of Texas Intramural League, won their 1st game of the season on Sunday night by a score of 9-7.  The Jelly Donuts led early on 9-1 but gave up 6 towards the end of the game making the game closer then it should have been.  Past and future Shalom League stars Teddy Garber, Tommy Garber and Jacob Schnitzer lead a star studded squad.  Tommy at SS, Jacob at LF and Teddy at RF anchor a very solid defense.  In the upcoming game on Sunday night, Teddy will make his minor league pitching debut.  On the night, Tommy was 2 for 4 with 2B and 2 RBIS, Jacob was 2 for 4 with a 2B, 2 runs scored and 1 RBI and Teddy was a whopping 4 for 4 with 3 runs scored. 

The Jelly Donut trio hope to be activated in the "Bigs" in early to mid-May when school lets out.

With two big divisional games the Sea Dogs needed to bring their A game.  We didn't necessarily hit on all cylinders, but we had many key contributors up and down the line up and our big guns hit when needed in crunch time.  The area where we did bring our A game was on the defensive side of the diamond.  We gave up a combined 6 runs on the day.  With a couple players absent and Kevin White pulling his calf and having to shift to 1B for the last 3 innings we had some players playing out of position.  Kyle Wall handled 3B without an issues, Jason Murray played a great OF, Troy 2.0 played a stellar RCF and Badger did his usual (-2 runs from the opponents) with his play at SS.  I also want to give thanks to my catcher Allan Laffer for calling a great game behind the plate.

Our player of the game was Kevin White who not only had a good day with the bat, but gutted out the final 3 innings against the Yanks (literally playing on one leg) so we could keep 10 fielders.  

by Barry Epstein

The Cardiac Royals played both games down to the wire Sunday, thus ensuring that the hordes of fans would buy concessions throughout.

The first game was at the Ballpark at Arlington against Larry “I think I can outrun Ron Washington” Silverman. The Royals took an early 2-0 lead in the first and then parlayed that into a 5 run, 7-2 deficit by the end of the second inning with a patented “7+ outs Shalom league inning.” Once we got that out of our system, it was shutout ball until the last inning. The comeback was highlighted by a 3 run shot to McKinney by David “Rick” Shaw. Alas, it was not enough as the Rangers poked in a run in the bottom of the last inning to win 8-7.

Justin Toone  3 – 4, 3 Runs, 4 RBI, 2B, 2-run Fence HR
David Shaw  1 – 3, 1 Run, 3 RBI, 3-Run Fence HR
Brad Earls  2 – 4, 2 Runs
Steve Solomon  2– 3, 3 RBI

The second game at Kaufmann Stadium was as topsy-turvy as they go. After trailing early, the Rockin’ Royals erupted to take an 11-4 lead midgame, led by singles and doubles by just about everybody. Upon getting word that concession sales were dipping due to the blowout, the Royals did their part by giving up back to back to back triples(or something like that) and allowing the Storm to take a 12-11 lead going into the bottom of the last inning. With hot dogs sold out, the Royals tied it and sent the game into extras. After holding the Storm without a run in the 8th, Justin “Car” Toone doubled and Anthony “Perty” Verdi knocked him for the winning run.

Anthony Verdi  3 – 5, 1 Run, 2 RBI, 2 2B, GWRBI
Fred LeVay  4 – 4, 3 RBI, 3B
Joel Cerefice  3 – 4, 3 Runs, 2 RBI, 2B
Steve Solomon  3– 4, 1 Run, 2 RBI
Justin Toone  3 – 5, 3 Runs, 2 RBI, 2B
Barry Epstein  3 – 5, 3 Runs, 3B
David Shaw  2 – 3, 2 Runs, 1 RBI
Travis LeVay  2 – 4

The star for the Royals was Justin “I like the number 6” Toone, who had 6 hits, scored 6 runs, knocked in 6 RBI and wolfed down 6 chili dogs.

The Bulls faced their two divisional rivals this week and after two extra inning games and 18 innings the dust settled, leaving the Bulls with a split.

The first game the Stars visited the Division leading Stars and fell behind after two innings 4-1. After Jack Borenstein started off with a single in the top of the third, the next 5 batters reached base and the Bulls took a 6 – 4 lead highlighted by a Brian Ortega double and 2 run single by Manny Madrigal. The Stars tied it in the 4^th and then the Bulls took a brief lead in the 5^th as Ortega singled and Madrigal doubled. With the bulls up one the stars rallied for 2 to take the lead and the Bulls then scored one to tie it in the top of the 7^th. The Stars weren’t able to score and into one pitch extra innings we went. At that point the defenses took over (or maybe it was lack of hitting) as both teams failed to score in the 8^th inning. The Stars threw out a Bull at home in the ninth to quell a scoring opportunity so into the 10^th…then 11^th we went. The bottom of the 11^th the Stars were able to plate the winning run ending the marathon game.

Final Tally - Stars 10 – Bulls 9

Game 1 highlights:

Brian Ortega – 5 for 5 with 2 doubles

Manny Madrigal 3 for 5 with a double

Bob Davis 4 for 4 with a sac.

Evan Rausch 3 for 4

Ken Sprague 2 for 4

The Muckdogs who were scouting the Bulls during the early game (Obviously giving them an unfair advantage that I may talk to the commissioner about) started out hot and plated 3 runs in the top of the first. Although the Bulls bats were silent the last several innings of game 1, they came out with 2 runs in the first and then in the 2^nd strung together several hits to put 5 runs on the board. The Muckdogs fought back with 4 of their own to tie the game after 3 innings and then each team scored one in the 4^th. We then played a scoreless inning and time ran out so again we were back to one pitch extra innings. Neither team scored in the 6^th and the Muckdogs didn’t plate anything in the 7^th. The Bulls came up and after one out Manny Madrigal came up with a single and then scored after a Davis single and up stepped Travis Massey. Travis had a rough day, hitting the ball hard all day but being the victim of great defensive plays. But he lined a ball past short that allowed Manny to speed home (OK he didn’t speed home, but he made it safely).

Final tally: Bulls 9 – Muckdogs 8

Game 2 highlights:

Manny Madrigal 4 for 4 with game winning run

Bob Davis 3 for 3 with a sac.

Brian Ortega 3 for 4 with a double

Travis Massey and Joel Gilhang 2 for 4.

3, 4 & 5 hitters combined for 22 of 25 for the day

Trying to bounce back from an ugly week last time out, getting mot of their team back proved to be a much needed lift.  In game one, we took on the mighty Red Sox and reigning league MVP Matt Rakofsky.  We scored 3 in the first on hits by Phil Kim and Tim Williams follwed by another mamouth HR by JJ Eusay.  Coach Goldstein started a 3 run second inning with a triple to the fence and displaying his deceptive speed and was follwed by singles from Stuart Rosenfield, Phil Kim and Tim Williams and JJ finished it off with a sac fly.  With the Sox threatening, we blew it open in the 4th with a 6 spot using 7 singles, applying the blooper strategy to get to the veteran hurler Paul Rakofsky. Final score 12-5.

In game 2, against a Bulls team coming off a tough 11 inning loss to division rival Stars, we again put up a 1st inning 3 spot on singles from Phil Kim, Tim Williams, JJ Eusay, Ki Bays and super sub Steve Uman.  We put up 1 in the 2nd, 3 in the 3rd and 1 in the 4th and sat tied going into extra innings.  In the top of the inning we posed a threat to break free with bases loaded and only one out but Bob Davis stiffened and held us scoreless.  They would win it on an rbi single in the bottom of the inning.  We did manage 17 hits but left way too many runners on base.  Final Score 9-8.

Hitting Stars:

(POW)  Phil Kim  5-8, 4 Runs scored, great outfield play
Tim Williams  5-8, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI
JJ Eusay  4-6, 3 Run fence clearing HR, 4 R, 6 RBI
SuperSub Steve Uman  6-7, 2 R, 2 RBI
Larry Goldstein  4-5, 3B, 2 Runs
Lewis Zwick   3-6, 2 R, RBI

It took three weeks and some serious head scratching by Coach Sulzer to figure out why the Indians drop the first four games but like every great coach, (i.e. Wooden, Stengel, Torre, La Russa) Coach Sulzer went back to the basics and decided to switch around a lethargic offensive. 

With this new and improved lineup, the Indians were ready to go against Casper’s Storm.  In the first inning the story was much like the season, we went quietly and watch Casper’s Storm jump out to a 3-0.  In the second inning, the Indians decided to wake up with scoring 6 with run producing hits by Sanjay Pant and Jeff Lewin.  In the fourth inning the Indians were able to tack on another run led by Bruce Lewin RBI single. With a 9-5 score going into the 6^th, the Indians were able to add another two runs to go on to win 11-5.

In the second game the Indians played against Weinfeld’s Pirates.  With the Indians now riding a 1 game winning streak, the Indians jumped out  to a quick 3-2 lead.  The Indians were led by rookie Cody Barron leadoff single and Tommy Apligian double.  In the third inning, again the Indians were able to plate three more with again Barron leading off the inning and followed by hits from David Pinkus, Tommy Apligian, and Patrick Sanchez. In the fourth with the Indians now comfortably ahead 6-2, the Indians plated 5 more with Ryan Lewin leading off followed by hits from Bruce Lewin and Jeremy Golden.  With two men on, Tommy Apligian hit a fence clearing 3-run homer into a strong wind in route to a 12-5 Indians win.

Stars of the Week

Bruce Lewin – 5-6 with 4 singles and a double

Tommy Apligian – 6-8 with 2 HR- one fence clearing, a double, and 3 singles

David Pinkus- 5-8 with a double and 4 singles.  Plus great defense at 2B.

The Temple Shalom Softball League Stars extended their winning streak to 4 games with a pair of disparate victories over the Davis Bulls and London Scrappers. 

The Opener against the Davis Bulls was on Field 3 with the wind blowing in from left.  When the dust finally settled, a new Temple Shalom Softball League record was set as the game went 11 innings.  It featured 4 lead changes and several game-changing plays on the basepaths.  Neither team scored in the 7th through 10th innings.  The homestanding Stars plated the game winner on rookie Brad Parr's 2-out single, which scored rookie Matthew Sorge.  The inning was kept alive by rookie Brian DeFee's two-out single which moved Sorge into scoring position.  Earlier in extra innings, rookie Darius Wu's bullet to home cut down the potential go-ahead run when rookie Robert Santiago stabbed the throw and applied the tag. 

The second game was against the London Scrappers on Field 9 with the wind blowing out to right center.  The Scrappers beat the Stars Opening Week.  Things were different this time.  Darius Wu hit two fence clearing homers.  Brad Epstein, who went 0 for 5 in the game against the Bulls, went 5 for 5.  Rookie Roy White was 4 for 4 with a walk.  The Stars scored early, often and throughout the 26-8 payback romp. 

Appropriately Named Stars:

Ranger Rap

The Gers managed to eke out a game 1 victory against a game Royal squad 9-8. The game was a see saw affair with several ties. The Gers broke an 8-8 tie with a walk-off single by Josh Winsor "knot" at the end.  Tim "Tom" Collins broke out with a 3/3 offensive outburst including a double. He also palyed excellent D at 2B.  Taub had 3 hits and The Law was 3/4 with a double, HR, and 3 RBI's.

In the second tilt the Gers faced their first division rival in the Riverdogs. The Gers lead all the way but were only up one going into the fourth.....a five run eruption allowed the Gers to prevail 9-4 and run their record to 5-1.  Tony Martin had 3 hits and 2 RBI's, Winsor a two run shot, Goody two hits and RBI's, and Weeds with two hits as well. Chief Thomas had two hits and a RIB....The Law once again with a double and HR and two more RBI's. Good team effort with some defensive clean up still necessary.

The Angels decided to re start their season after a less than satisfactory start. First up in the new season was the undefeated Riverdogs. The very generous Riverdogs gifted 4 walks and an error or two as the Angels erupted for 9 runs in the first. ROW candidate David Phillips had the big hit in the inning, a bases loaded triple. After building a 12-1 lead after 2 ½ innings, the Riverdogs started their comeback with 7 in the third and 5 more in the fourth which cut the Angel lead to 14-13. After a scoreless fifth, the Angels came to bat in the decisive sixth. RBI singles by Loren Jaffe and John Miller plus a sac fly scored 4 to take the lead. The Dogs had the heart of their line up come up but only scored 2 as the Angels netted their first triumph of the season 18-15.

Game 2 against Zane’s Reds saw the Angels use their comeback powers as they fell behind 7-1 after 3 ½. 3 in the 3^rd and 3 in the 4^th tied it at 7 again coming to the decisive 6^th inning. After holding the Reds scoreless, the Angels came up with 6 minutes left. 4 singles, a walk and an error let the Angels score 5 and run out the clock for a 12-7 win.

Leading hitters on the day were John Miller 5-6, Jon Simonson 5-7, David Phillips 4-6, David Tennyson 5-8 and Steve Gadol with 1-2 and 4 walks to increase his team leading on base average to a sizzling 750.

Undefeated in their new season, the Angels plan on petitioning the Commissioner to void the first two weeks of the original season.

With all 12 Wahoos present for the 1st time this season, the Wahoos won a pair of games within their own division.  Game 1 had the Wahoos hosting the league's most veteran team, the Pirates.  The Wahoos took a 4 run lead in the bottom of the 1st and never looked back on the way to a 9-4 victory.  Game 2 had the Wahoos traveling across the border to face the Jays.  The Wahoos scored 4 in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th and never trailed on the way to a 13-5 victory over the unbeaten Jays.

No one really stood out for the Wahoos, but the Wahoos won 2 with a total team effort.  Defensively making nearly every play and scoring runs with timely hitting over and over. 

Rick Leon is our POW and Martin Sopher is our Row.

Offensive stars for the day:

Rob Sosebee 5 hits, 4 runs scored

Harlan Davis on base 4 times, 4 runs scored

Aaron Weintraub 5 hits, 3-4 in game 2

Rony Batagower 3B and 2 SFs

Rick Leon 4 hits with a 2B

Donny Holtman 2 hits and 1 BB

Ira Utay 3 hits

Ted Nguyen on base 2-3 in game 2

Martin Sopher 2-3 in game 2 with a 3B

Jaime Aron 3 hits

Alan Chernov reached base 3 times with a single/rbi in game 1

Larry Schnitzer reached base 4 times with 3 hits

8 1/2 Yankees tried to compete with two undefeated teams this morning. Lots of hustle from the outmanned Pinstripers weren't enough as Buhrow's Kiddie Jays won 10-6 and Jauf's Seadogs won 11-4.

Justin Reed starred in game one going 4 for 4 with three doubles and 3 RBI's. Jonathan Braun had three hits and made some sparking plays in the field including an unassisted double play.

In game two our hitting and fielding star was Steve Shiller with three hits and great grabs in Left.

The Yanks are looking forward to having their stars back and hittin with the wind at least once this season!!

On a chilly, windy day in Plano, the Riverdogs proved immune to the elements as they swept two games from the Angels and the Bulls, to take sole possession of first place with a 4-0 record. The Dogs won the opener 15-5, jumping out to an 8-0 lead in the first two innings and then putting the game away with a seven run fourth inning, capped by a Taylor Cross grand slam home run. Five Riverdogs had three hits each, while Cross and Randy Ransom led the team with 4 RBI each. The Dogs headed to field 2 for the second game, knowing the wind would be blowing out for the powerful Bulls. The Bulls took a commanding 8-1 lead early, but Stan Kelly’s single leading off the third started a six-run Riverdog rally. The Bulls were still ahead 10-9 going to the sixth and final inning. Hall of Famer Irwin Kaufman, Ben Delgadillo, and Rob Shiller all singled ahead of Randy Ransom’s homer, which put the Dogs up 13-9. Brian Ortega* homered to start the bottom of the inning, before the Bulls loaded the bases, bringing the potential winning run to the plate but Scott Elfenbein induced a fly ball to Dylan Buhrow for the final out and the sweep. The Riverdogs have matched their fall season total of four wins, but have two division games coming up with the Angels and the Rangers.

Dog stars: Randy Ransom - 7 for 8, 5 runs, 9 RBI, 2 doubles, a homer the hard way; Seth Kaufman - 5 hits including double and triple while hobbled; Rob Shiller - 5 hits, 5 runs; Bill Giudice - 3 doubles; Scott Elfenbein - 2-3 each game and great pitching in the wind and cold; Tom Cross - got on 5 out of six times; Ben Delgadillo 2-3 each game; Taylor Cross Grand Slam. *Dog trivia: Ortega was a Riverdog draft pick as part of a sign and trade deal.

Despite a 4-0 start, all is not well with the Riverdogs. Sources cite a clubhouse rift over the performance of veteran Abbey Garber. While General Manager Abbey Garber went along with Manager Abbey Garber’s decision to start the season with aging veteran Abbey Garber in the starting lineup, certain unnamed players and front office personnel aren’t happy with decrepit veteran Abbey Garber’s .188 average. Manager Abbey Garber said, “Don’t quote your new fangled statistics to me. I know hard-nosed ballplayers. Abbey Garber was an all star in this league. Maybe more than once.” One time fan of the year and team insider Kathy Garber was spotted Sunday with two other team scouts at the University of Texas, presumably watching Riverdog prospects Teddy Garber and Tommy Garber.   After catching glimpses of both Teddy and Tommy last season and in spring training, many fans want to know what it will take for them to abandon their foolish dreams of attending college for steady lifelong careers as Shalom Leaguers. General Manager Abbey Garber admitted that the delay in promoting the kids keeps them under club control longer in the future, but would not say how much longer the team could carry the feeble veteran.

Despite posting over 22,000 tweets in the last four years, Riverdog prospect hound Jamey Newberg has been curiously silent when it comes to the Garber situation.   When asked his opinion, Riverdog home run champion Randy Ransom said, “I let my bat talk for me.” Riverdog speedster Rob Shiller could not be caught for comment. Even noted Riverdog talker Scott Elfenbein said, “Believe it or not, in my family, I am the quiet one.”

You can view each team's stats with accuracy when sorting by team. Kyle is working with the website on the aggregate issues that are still hampering our database. Also, the issue with division wins being off is being addressed. Thanks!

The Temple Shalom Softball League Stars, cursed with the kiss-of-death by Dr. C and his pre-season prediction of their impending championship, avenged their Opening Day double-dip loss with a life-affirming sweep of the Division-leading Goldstein Muckdogs and the Schnitzer Blue Wahoos.  With the sweep, the Stars went from Worst to First in the Handsome Captain Division.

The first game featured a relentless Stars attack, led by Chase Berg's perfect 4 for 4 at the plate, Brad Epstein's 5 RBI and Steve Hankin's 3 for 4 performance.  The game was tight until the Stars put up a 9-spot in the 6th to cement the 16-5 victory over the depleted Muckdogs.

The second game saw 3 Stars belt fence-clearing homers.  Darius Wu started the bombing run with a no-out, 3 run blast in the first.  Crafty Blue Wahoo hurler and sub-Captain Rick Leon, wanting no part of Wu in the second, intentionally walked him with runners on first and second and two outs to face Brad Epstein.  Mr. Epstein promptly deposited the first pitch he saw over the left-center field fence for a grand slam.  Roy White, who went 3 for 3 with a walk, joined in with a 2-run moonshot in the sixth to close out the Stars scoring.  The Stars shined, 18-10.

POW:  Brad Epstein - 6 for 7, 5 runs scored, 10 RBI, BB, (2)2B, 3B & Grand Slam

ROW:  Roy White - 5 for 6, 4 runs scored, 3 RBI, BB, 2B & HR

In the opening game against Shalom legend John Unell and his squad of Stars, the Dawgs put up a valiant fight without their LCF, RCF, SS and 3B regulars.  Trailing 2-0 after 1/2 inning, JJ Eusay hit a monster bomb over the LCF fence to tie it at 2.  The Stars plated 3 in the 3rd only to be answered with 3 of our own on an RBI single by sub Greg Fleischer and yet another towering 2 run bomb by JJ that left not only Unell gasping but star Yankees outfielder Justin Reed who happened to be looking on thinking.....If i were only great like that. That would be the last time we would celebrate as the opponent put up 12 runs in the next 3 innings to ice it (literally).

In game 2, facing a brutal inward blowing wind (the only way we could hope to contain Justin Reed), the dawgs started slow going down 3-0.  In the 3rd inning, the bats thawed out and we put together a 5 spot to take the brief lead.  Gregg Fleischer drove in Stuart Rosenfield and Lewis Zwick, JJ added an RBI double followed by back to back RBI singles by Ky Bays and Brian Elliot.  Farins Yanks regained the lead at 10-5 and we mounted one last come back that fell a little short.  

Hitting Stars:

JJ Eusay (POW)- 4 for 5, 2 Fence HR, 2B, 6 RBI, Diving catch in LCF.

Super Sub Greg Ritter- 3 for 6, 2B, 2 Runs, Great SS Defense filling in

Ky Bays- 3 for 6 (3 for 3 in game one)

Art (Car Wash) Rothenburg- 3 for 6

Reds Wrap by Michael Barth (Captain Rob Zane was out this week)

Game 1
'Twas very windy, and the home plate umpire seemed to have an appropriately-relaxed strike zone, yet a questionable threshold for minimum arc height.  After 2 innings the Reds led 8-7, but things fell apart in the 3rd inning when the Baby Jays scored 15.  They hit gaps well, and we missed too many opportunities to get outs on fly balls, resulting in a 23-9 loss.  Kudos to Sean Greeley on excellent pitching (only 1 BB) and to rookie captain David Buhrow on a fine draft and an undefeated start to the season.

Game 2
'Twas still very windy, and the Red Sox started with walking our first 3 batters on 9 pitches.  3-3 tie after 2 innings, but this time the 3rd inning fell in the Reds favor, as all 10 of our players scored in a row.  The scorebook looks pretty cool with an entire column of shaded diamonds.  The Reds were happy to earn a 20-16 win for Captain Rob in their first division game of the season.

Reds stars:
Michael Barth - 4 for 5, 2 BB, 5 runs, accurate pitching in heavy wind
Todd LeCocq - 4 for 6, BB, safe head first slides to 1B and (a few moments later) to home, excellent play at 3B
Brad Zane - 2 for 3, 3 BB, SF
Mike Sheppard - 5 for 7 with a double, 5 runs, 4 RBI
Chris Musquiz - 4 for 7 with a double and 2 triples, 6 RBI
Alan Taper - 4 for 6 with a triple
Randy Vickery - 5 for 6, gritty play at 2B

While the score didn’t reflect it, the Royals defeated Sulzer’s Indians in a close game in their doubleheader opener, 25 – 8. However, they fell in the nightcap to Buhrow’s Baby Jays, 13 – 6.

In the opener, the Royals offense and defense came alive with great teamwork in their first victory of the young season. Anthony Verdi, making his TSSL debut, paced the 28-hit offensive attack with four hits and scored three runs, while David Shaw had three hits and drove in four to lead the team. But it was a stellar pitching performance by Barry Epstein in the most brutal softball conditions imaginable, that secured the victory.

With a game-time temperature of 39⁰, a wind chill factor of 28⁰, and wind gusts as high as 42 mph blowing in on field 5, the Royals sent their entire lineup to the plate and scored six runs to open the game. Joel Cerefice and Justin Toone keyed the big inning with RBI doubles.

After the Indians countered with two of their own in the bottom of the first, the Royals scratched together single runs in the second and third. Brad Earls led off the second with a booming triple, and scored on Epstein’s double. Singles by Cerefice, Steve Solomon, and Travis LeVay made it 8 – 2 heading to the bottom of the third.

The Indians mounted a four-run rally in their half of the third to make it 8 – 6. The momentum clearly had swung in the direction of the Indians as they held the Royals scoreless in the fourth, and then scored another run in the bottom of the frame to make it a 1-run game.

Cerefice’s second double of the game followed a one out single by Brian Carter, and set the table for Solomon’s clutch two out, two-run single in the top of the fifth, to give the Royals some breathing room. But the Indians continued to claw back, plating one more run in the bottom of the fifth. With a little over five minutes left in the game, the Royals came to bat in the top of the sixth holding on to a precarious 10 – 8 lead. With the home team Indians guaranteed one more at-bat, the Royals desperately needed some insurance runs.

Led by Shaw and Epstein, the Royals offense erupted for 15 runs on 10 hits. Shaw was 2 – 2 in the inning, with an RBI double, and a three-run fence homerun into the teeth of that fierce wind. Not to be outdone, Epstein also drove in four with an RBI single and three-run triple. And finally, Dennis Shaw walked and singled, and scored twice in the inning, as the Royals sent 18 batters to the plate.

David Shaw  3 – 5, 3 Runs, 4 RBI, 2B, 3-Run Fence HR
Barry Epstein  3 – 5, 2 Runs, 5 RBI, 2B, 3B
Anthony Verdi  4 – 5, 3 Runs, 3 RBI
Brad Earls  3 – 3, 4 Runs, 1 RBI, 3B, 2 BB
Joel Cerefice  3 – 4, 3 Runs, 3 RBI, 2 2B
Steve Solomon  3 – 4, 3 RBI
Brian Carter  3 – 5, 3 Runs, 3 RBI, 2B
Justin Toone  2 – 3, 3 Runs, 1 RBI, 2B, 2 BB
Travis LeVay  2 – 4, 1 Run, 1 RBI 

It appeared as if the Royals had used up their entire day’s allotment of hits against the Indians, as they could manage only two hits against the Jays – through four innings – in the nightcap. Their inability to get anything going offensively and a series of defensive lapses resulted in a 10 – 0 deficit heading to the top of the fifth. The Royals finally awoke in the fifth, and rallied for nine hits and six runs over the next three innings, but it was too little, too late. Shaw and Toone led the Royals with two hits apiece.

 It was a blustery morning with the wind chill dipping down well into the 20's as play began in week 2.  The Jays took the field against the Reds.  The wind proved to be a factor early as pitches danced and pop flies drifted out of reach.  The stellar pitching of Sean Greeley sent 4 Reds to the bench with a K in the book.  The Jays jumped out to an early lead and then piled on in a 15 run 3rd inning that left the Reds looking for answers.  Solid hitting performances were found thru out the lineup as the Jays continued their week one superiority finally putting the game away 23-9.

 Game two saw a different mood as two preseason favorites faced off.  The Royals struggled in week 1 but regained expected form winning game 1 and looking to square their record against the Jays.  It was an early struggle, but the Jays eventually put together some offense eventually taking a 10-0 lead including another bomb from Kelly Alexander that landed somewhere around Coit and Hedgecoxe.  Sean Greeley continued his stellar pitching into the North Hurricane as the Jays defense tightened up sensing victory and a car heater.  The Royals would mount a charge eventually putting six runs on the board, but it wouldn't be enough as the Jays take this one 13-6 and improve to a perfect 4-0.

 Big Hitters:

Tony “Scuzza” = 5/9 with 7 RBIs, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 inside park HR and ROW

Chirs Bichler = 9/9 with 4 RBIs, 2 2B, 6 runs scored

Sally Struthers = 6/9 with 3 RBIs, 2 2B

Kelly Alexander = 5/5 with 6 RBIs, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 SAC, and POW

Jeff Radanof = 5/7 5 RBIs, 3 3B

Mitch “Over” Dunn = 3 Big hits and great D all day

Daniel Buhrow = 3 Big Hits and one being a Triple

 The quote of the day came from long time fan Sara (without an H) Tennyson as she so eloquently stated, “The Baby Jays showed such majestic poise in the face of blistering conditions that I am now convinced to marry my only daughter to the son of the Captain of the Baby Jays. He is my hero, my friend, and again my inspiration .”

London's Scrappers come out of the bitter cold winning two.  It all started in game one vs the Rangers.  After the first two batters hit fly balls, super-rookie Johnny Mann started his day with an over the fence home run.  Then the senior Nutt, Danny hit a double and continued the 2 out rally.  Before the first inning was over the Scrappers picked up 4 runs to compete with the Rangers 6.  Second inning the Scrappers picked up 4 more and then some more runs in each inning to follow.  The game ended with Mark Winnie hitting a single to score the winning run.  

Ranger Rap

Rangers made like a balerina and split....1st tilt we took a loss from the jaws of a win....very sloppy defense was the culprit in a 15-16 loss to the Scrap heap. 2nd game saw the Ger's work some magic coming from way behind against the Halos to win 16-12 after trailing 10-3.

Hitting stars:

ROW-Josh Winsor 4/5, 2BB's,3B, Fence clear HR, 3RBI's, and 6 runs

Stan "the man" Thomas-5/7 3 runs, 5 RBI's

Jeff Lefkovits-5/7 3 runs, 4 RBI's and a big double

Goody-3b and 3RIB's in first tilt

Wedemyer-3hits and 3 RBI's

Game 1 we had to travel to frigid Pittsburgh to face the old veteran Weinfeld Pirates.  Being about a minute from having to forfeit we scrambled a batting order which worked as our first 4 players hit leading to 4 runs in the top of the 1st.  We didn't stop there scoring in each of the first 4 frames which included two triples from Kevin White and fence clearing homers from Jett Sarrett as well as rookie Troy "Bam Bam" Steele.  A 9 run 6th put this one well out of reach despite a slight comeback in the 7th to make the game a victorious final of 22-9.

Game 2 (the feature game) we traveled to the Bronx to face a much antipated game not only because 2 undefeated teams faced each other, but also some bad blood after some draft day trades.  Like our first game we quickly got out of the gate by plating 6 against early Cy Young candidate Doug Baer which featured a gap clearing home run by Jason Murray.  The Yanks added one in the bottom of the frame and the visiting Sea Dogs added another 2 in the second after a 2 run double by Troy Steele.  The defenses took over as no runs were scored over the next 2 1/2 innings.  After the Sea Dogs scored another in the 5th the Yankees made their biggest threat highlighted by a 3 run Justin Reed (inside the park) HR to cut the lead to 9-4.  Will this be the spark they needed?  Jason Murray again came up big as he hit almost the same shot as in the first inning and again raced around the bases.  Yanks may have Mr. October- Sea Dogs have Mr. March.  The good guys plated another 3 runs which all but ended this intial grudge match.  The good thing is we will be playing them another 7 times in the next month.  I also want to thank the 3 fans for showing up on the cold, blustery day especially Abbey Garber who stayed engaged in the game.

Multiple Stars Today:

Jason Murray 4 hits including 2 inside the park homers 6 runs and 4 rbi's

Kevin White 6 hits including 2- 2b's and 2- 3b's with 7 runs and 3 rbi's

Troy Steele with 6 hits including 1-2b, 1-3b, 1- HR (fence clearing) with 7 rbi's

Jett Sarrett with 6 hits including 1- HR (fence clearing) with 5 runs

Jeff Roberts with a 4 for 4 days in the big divisional game against the Yanks

George Reed adding 5 rbi's on the day and shut down defense in RF

Badger and Hauf were along for the ride and I want to tip my cap to all my Sea Dogs on a great hitting and defensive day.

On a friggid Sunday morning the Owlz started of on field 1 on the road against the Red Sox into the mighty winds  in a close game till the 7th.Daniel Roth started the ralley with a single followed up by Andrew Williams and Ken Behr then Bryan Roth drove in 3 with a huge double followed up by a Matt Roth triple. The Owlz batted around in the  7th that ended with 11 crossing the plate for a 16-9 win.

Game 2 had the Owlz swing over to field 7 against London's Scrappers. Daniel Roth started the game off with a 2 run over the fence bomb followed up by Andrew Williams spanking one off the fence for a double as the Owlz plated 3 in the first and 4 in the second highlighted by a Andrew Williams 2 run triple. The game then started to get into more of a defensive battle tied at 9 going into the 5th when Danny Nutt hit a 3 run homer for a 12-9 lead going into the top of the 6th with little time remaining. Daniel Roth started the 2 out ralley with a single Williams double and a Ken Behr  2 run single a Bryan Roth single, walk by Matt Roth and a very clutch game tying single by Jay Swank. The Owlz showed huge heart in the come back attempt but were stopped just shy when the scrappers had a walk off to win in the bottom of the 7th 13-12.

Owlz stars on the day:

Daniel Roth 7/8 on the day with 4 singles, 1 double, 1 triple, 1 home over the fence bomb, 1 BB, 5 RBI, and 8 runs scored.

Andrew Williams  7/8 on the day with 4 singles, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 sf, 7 runs scored, and 7 RBI and great defense in LCF despite the crazy wind.

Bryan Roth 6/9 on the day bwith 4 singles, 2 doubles, and 7 RBI

Matt Roth 6/7 on the day with 5 singles, a triple, 2BB, 1 Run and 2 RBI 

I wanna thank the Owlz for coming out in the insane cold and playing 2 really fun games.

Yanks played well enough to beat Goldstein's Muckdogs 10-8 in a hard fought battle. Mike Hickey, Justin Reed, super sub Nick Anderson and Doug Storm each contributed two huge hits in the win.

The highlight of our game of the week was Eddie Tann throwing out the first pitch. Also, Justin Reed had all four of our rbi's including a three run inside the park homer!

Hauf's Seadogs were too tough as Jason Murray's two homers and Jeff Roberts going 4 for 4 helped the Seadogs win 13-4.

It should be duly noted that the toughest division in all of Shalom Ball has Hauf at 4-0, London at 3-1 and the Yanks at 3-1 as well. 

Happy holidays to all!

On a day that was not fit for softball with brutal cold and blustery winds, the Angels learned two things: Number 1 that Jon Simonson is a warrior. He showed up in shorts and his Angels jersey. During warm up he tore the scabs off his leg and started the game with blood running down his leg from several openings. Number 2, the fuel of choice for Clint Hauck is cookie cake. Compliments of Mr. Simonson, the cookie cake seemed to spur Clint on to greater performance today.

Now for the games which were against our two division rivals. The hard hitting Riverdogs hit the ball very well in opening up a 15-0 lead after 4 innings. They seemed to hit like it was 80 degrees. The Angels recovered the last two innings to close the gap to 15-5.

The new look Rangers came to field 2 and the Angels finally got their first real lead of the season as we scored 3 in the first and 7 in the second to take a 10-3 lead. Still in control after 3 at 12-6, the floodgates opened in the top of the fourth for the Rangers as the bottom of the order continuously hit the holes scoring 10 and shot them into the lead at 16-12. The Angels failed to score in their final two at bats to go down to their fourth defeat 16-12.

Hitting stars were POW candidate David Tennyson with 5-6 with 2 doubles and a triple, John Miller 3-4, Steve Gadol 2-3, Jon Simonson 4-6 and Robbie Franklin 3-5.

The Angels 4 losses are to teams with a combined 15-1 record thus far. The week off next Sunday will provide an opportunity to reboot and re start the season the right way.

Slugfest sums up the first game for the Storm, who put up 29 runs against the Bulls' 24 in a game with the high winds blowing out. The Storm initially put up a measly 6 against the Bulls in the top of 1, who returned 12 in the bottom of the inning. It was a game of catch up for the Storm until the fourth and final regular inning, until the Storm took only their second lead of the game on the back of a huge off-the-fence double by Kevin Hancock, and then managed to add 3 more runs after Kevin somehow managed to elude a pickle between third and home. The Bulls went on to tie the game 24-24 and send it to extra innings, in which 5 runs proved to be enough to bring the Storm the win.

The second game was an offensively quieter affair against the Indians on field 1 with the wind blowing in. It was also a fairly back and forth game, including triples from Ervin Dickey, Wayne Casper, and Kevin Hancock. It was tied up at the end of 4, but after the Storm managed to silence the Indians in the 5th and final inning, they were able to put up three runs and seal the deal 11-14.

A great pair of games from the entire Storm squad. Their player of the week this week was Wayne Casper, 5-5, BB, 2B, 2 3Bs, 6 runs scored and 4 RBIs, and their rookie of the week was Kevin Hancock, 5/7, Sac, 2B, 3B, 6 runs scored, 8 RBIs.

The defending fall champion Riverdogs opened the spring season by winning two on the road. They jumped on the Owlz for four runs in each of the first two innings and then added six in the fourth and another in the sixth on the way to a 15-8 victory. Returning Riverdog Randy Ransom was in midseason form, powering two 3-run Jimmy Jacks over the field 1 fence and playing a flawless third base. Seth Kaufman, back off a long absence, scored four times with four hits. Rob Shiller scored three and knocked in three with his four hits. Sub Teddy Garber also had four hits while winning pitcher Scott Elfenbein knocked in three runs.

Game 2 against the Stars was even more exciting as the Dogs dropped a couple of leads before finally taking the game for good in the seventh inning. Teddy Garber singled to start the winning rally, moved up on a double by Taylor Cross, scored on a single by Tom Cross, and then saw Taylor score the insurance run on a single by Hall of Famer Irwin Kaufman, back after a longer absence. The Kaufmans went seven for eight off losing pitcher John Unell, while the Crosses combined for five hits, three runs, and four RBI. Meanwhile Stars Hall of Famer Irv Munn was limited to only three hits and a screaming line out in four appearances.

Rookie Stan Kelly cleverly avoided the traditional hazing by volunteering his wife, Mary Carol, to keep the scorebook (anybody seen early the early line on fan of the year?). Veteran Bill Giudice had two hits in each game, scored in each game, knocked in a run in each game, and started a double play from shortstop in each game.

Greg "Badger" Hurst is the early favorite for captain of the year.  Greg and his crew of 3 subs guided the Seadogs to an opening day sweep of their two games against the Angels and Royals.  Early Cy Young candidate Fred Levay (he's a sub) only yielded 12 runs in both games.  Biesman I'm sure was heard up to 3-4 fields away.  I think the highlight was how Badger's version of the Seadogs owned the Tennyson's in the first game.  Greg used the strategy of getting out everytime against the Royals to spark the players behind him to hit.  It payed off as they won going away in the 2nd game.  Captain/Pitcher Hauf is currently on waivers if anybody would like to pick him up.  Overall was a very solid performance highlighted by solid defense and some timely hitting.    I want to thank all my Seadogs and hopefully I don't mess things up this weekend.

How bout them Seadogs!!!!!!!!!!!

On Sunday, March 17, 2013 (St. Patrick’s Day), an overcast morning with a few scattered sprinkles greeted the historical beginning of the Shalom League 2013 spring season. For the first time, the league consists of 18 teams of 12 players each, organized into two 9 team conferences of three 3 team divisions. Also for the first time, the Zane brothers occupied the same Shalom League dugout. After last minute schedule shuffling, Zane’s Reds took their positions on field #3 under the management of their rookie captain, Rob Zane. After more than 20 years (greater than 40 player seasons), the great experiment began… Will the twins coexist peacefully and help guide the preseason favorite to the 2013 Championship title or will the spotlight on the pair contribute to a reservation in the Minis? The next five months will tell the story.

Zane’s Reds hosted Weinfeld’s Pirates in the Game 1 matchup. All seemed as it should after the Reds sent 10 men to the plate in the bottom of the 1^st inning, highlighted by Michael Barth’s 2 run triple, in building a 5-0 advantage. The Pirates defense surrendered only a single run over the next five innings. The Reds defense, on the other hand, proved shaky despite a stellar dive and flip by Shortstop, Todd Lecocq. The Pirates built a one run lead heading into the 7^th. After Barth shutout the Bucs in the top of the frame, the stage was set for a preview of what wonder-twin power can do after being activated. Manuel Rajunov led off with a key single and two more by Lecocq and R Zane, brought Bradley Zane to the plate looking for his fourth hit of the game. In his return to the Shalom League after a two year hiatus during which he was inducted into the league’s Hall of Fame, B Zane sent a 2 run shot to the outfield scoring his womb-mate from second and giving the Reds the exciting 8-7 walk-off win.

Game 2 looked like it might match the excitement of the first as Schnitzer’s Blue Wahoos invited the parent club to field #7. Continuing where they left off in the previous game, Zane’s Reds tallied 2 runs in the top of the 1^st inning only to see the Wahoos answer with 2 of their own in the bottom half. Schnitz' club might’ve had more if it weren't for a beautiful one hop throw to the plate by RCF Bill Walter that ended the inning. The Reds turned an unconventional 5-2 double play started by Lecocq after the Blue Wahoos loaded the bases with no outs in the second. The two clubs traded punches until the Wahoos took command in the bottom of the 4^th inning. After a 4 spot, keyed by a Chris Musquiz RBI single, gave the Reds a 7-5 lead, the powerful fish offense pushed 6 and 5 runs across the plate in the 4^th and 5^th, respectively in cruising to a 16-9 victory.

The Muckdogs won both games on the opening day of the regular season, beating the previously unbeaten Indians in the opener and the Owlz in the second game. 

The first game featured a classic pitcher's dual between the Muckdogs' ace Brian Elliott and the Indian's ace Scott Sulzer. The Indians scored 3 in the first. Stuart Rosenfield's off-season workout program in Miami paid big dividends with his crushing double to the fence in the 3rd helping the Muckdogs get within 1. The Muckdogs finally captured the lead in the 5th with JJ Eusay's triple knocking in Lewis Zwick and Tim Williams to give the Muckdogs a 4-3 lead. The following inning Captain Goldstein tripled with the bases loaded to knock in Ira Bershad, Jeff Goodman and Brian Elliott, Art Rothenburg knocked in Goldstein, and hits by Stuart Rosenfield, Lewis Zwick, Tim Williams and JJ Eusay built up a 9-3 lead. The Muckdogs won 11-5. 

In the second game, the Muckdogs made a late inning comeback. Down 9-4, the Muckdogs comeback began in the 5th with JJ Eusay's triple knocking home Tommy Garber and Tim Williams who started off the inning with hits, and then Ki Bays knocked in Eusay. In the 6th, the Muckdogs sent 12 players to the plate, scoring 7 times to seal the 14-9 victory. 

Great pitching by Brian Elliott and flawless defense led by 3B Ira Bershad and LF Ki Bays who both came out of retirement, supersub Tommy Garber in LCF, and the double play combination of Tim Williams and JJ Eusay (plus JJ turned a double play playing LCF when he gunned down a runner who strayed too far off of first base). The Muckdogs hit up and down the line-up, with several of the big rallies started by the end of the order.

Leading hitters on the day were Player of the Week Nominee JJ Eusay 7-8, 2 3Bs, 5 RBIs; Jeff Goodman 5-5, 3 BBs, 2 runs, 3 RBIs; Tim Williams 4-7, 5 runs, 3 RBIs; Brian Elliott 4-8, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; and Art Rothenburg 3-6, 3 RBIs.

In a wonderful stroke of scheduling, the Yankees and the Red Sox (just as will occur on 04/01/13 in the major leagues) square off to open the season.

The game found the Red Sox bats as quiet as could be.  We mustered up eleven hits with only one extra base hit.  We scored three runs and lost the game by a score of 10 to 3.

The second game agains the Indians was quite exciting.  After four quick innings, the score was 3 to 0 in favor of the Red Sox.  In the bottom of the seventh, the Indians scored three runs to tie the game and send it into extra innings.  The eight inning ended on a FANTASTIC play by Jonathan Tillman in right field.  With the possible winning run coming around to score, Jonathan went back and to his left for a line drive...he determined is had turned the wrong way, turned back to his right, back towards the sun (luckily he has sunglasses on) and caught the line drive back handed.  Truly a game saving catch.

The Red Sox bats came alive in the ninth inning, batting around, and scoring 8 runs.  Final score was 11 to 3.

 Baby J’s Baby Jays led off the 2013 campaign with a pair of victories against Millers Angels and division rival the Blue Wahoo. It also reminded the team the importance of wearing a cup.

 Game one saw the Baby Jays facing a very talented Blue Wahoo team that jumped out to an early lead in the game. The Jays were plagued early on with errors both physical and mental but refused to give in. By the late innings the offense was clicking and the Jays pulled out a 12-11 victory. Player of the Game was Sally Struthers with 3 doubles.

 Game two saw the Baby Jays facing Miller’s Angels. The Jays jumped out to a 6 run lead with a big bomb by Kelly Alexander. The Angels fought back to get the score to 6-5 but a Angels error gave the Jays new life and were able to open up the offense for a 18-8 victory. Marcy Tennyson (an Angels outfielder) quoted after grounding out to captain Baby J, "Baby J is the greatest Captain I have ever seen and he is my hero, my insperation, my role model ."  Players of the game were Ron “Ron” Roberts with 2 doubles and fist bumping D at 3^rd base, Sean “Slim Shady” Greeley with amazing place hitting, and Chris Bichler with great D at short and using every bat in the dugout. Rookie Captain Undefeated!

Big Hitters:

Kelly Alexander 5-7…6 RBIs and 1 over fence HR

Sean Greeley 6-7…8 RBIs and great pitching

Sam Jones 3-6…1 RBIs and 1 long distance double

Ron Roberts 4-6…1 RBI and 2 doubles

Chris Bichler 5-8…3 RBIs and 1 double…great D at short in game two

Sally Struthers 5-8…2 RBIs and 4 doubles…and a new appreciation for the cup

Tony Scuzza 4-8…1 RBI and 1 double…great D in LF

Mitch “Over” Dunn 3-5…1 BB and 2 runs scored

Jeff Radnoff…Not sure if I saw him play J

The Buhrow’s…Horrible

Alan London…Amazing D in RF and contributed with key hits and 1 RBI

-A total team effort-

The misnamed Temple Shalom Softball Stars started the season with back-to-back tough 2-run losses to two talented teams - the London Scrappers (8-6) and the Garber Riverdogs (11-9). 

Regardless of the poor outcome, the rookie-laden Stars were encouraged by the debut of many of their newcomers.  Surprisingly, it was actually the veterans of the team that had the shpilkes this Opening Day.  Better days are ahead. 

It's two down, twenty-four to go.  Keep hope alive!

Ranger Rap

The magical Rangers started off right where they ended last season with an opening day sweep including an incredible come from behing win in the opener. Down 12-6 going into the last inning the Rangers mounted a 6 run rally to take the game into extras. They would not be denied scoring the winner in the first inning of ot to secure an improbable 13-12 victory over the Scappy Scrappers. Scotty Lawrence "of Arabia" hit for the cycle and knocked in 6 ribs on his way to an outstanding 1st week of action. Larry Taub had 4 hits and scored 3 times, Tony Martin had a perfect 1st game including great D a triple and a ding dong. Andy " he was a" Good man was on base three times with two knocks and a BB. Coach Sil even had a two out 2 rbi at bat to even the score in the 6 run rally.

In the showcase game, the Rangers ran into a violent Storm who had their hitting shoe on. The Gers plated 7 in the first only to see the Storm rally back with 4 of their own. In a real hard fought see-saw game, the Gers lost the lead and trailed into the later innings. The offense then rallied for 4 runs in the last two innings and held off the Storm in the last at bat to prevail by the count of 17-15.  Once agian the Gers had plenty of offense including Scotty Lawrence with 2 2B's and a 3B, T Martin with 4 RBI's and 3 hits including a 2 bagger,  L Taub with a perfect 4/4 and a dinger, Winsor with a fence clearing 2 run blast, and Andy Goody with a perfect 4/4 and 4 RBI's. It was indeed a great start for the boys although many improvements will be required against the very tough competition that lays ahead.

Ranger Studs:

Scott Lawrence 7/7 1BB, 1SAC, 3 2B's, 2 3B's, 1 HR, 7RBI's, 7Runs-a career for some of us!!!

Tony Martin 5/6, 2 BB's, 2B, 3B, HR, 5 RBI's

Larry Taub 7/8 HR, 5 Runs

Goody 6/6 BB, 6 RBI's

Opening weekend and the Angels were ready to get started…we thought. Game 1 against a Sea Dog team missing 4 members on spring break started with the Sea Dogs taking a 4-0 lead after 1. The Sea Dogs had both good hitting and timely hitting as they took an 11-2 lead before the Angels effort fell short 12-6.

Game 2 against a very impressive Baby J team who took a quick 6-1 lead after 1 thanks to a mammoth home run by Kelly Alexander. The Angels battled back to 6-5 before the power hitting Baby J team kicked it into high gear to finish at 18-8. The Angel offense and defense both look for improvement the rest of the way.

POW candidate Jon Simonson led the attack with 5-7 and 7 rbi’s. ROW candidate TJ Underwood went 4-6 and John Chung 3-4 in a substitute role.

The Angels have spotted the field a 2 game lead after week 1 and look forward to closing the gap next week.

The Blue Wahoos opened the 2013 season as the visitors on field 7, aka known as Canada as they faced the Blue Jays.  Led by Rony Batagower's hitting and the exceptional RF play by rookie Ted Nguyen, the Blue Wahoos held an early lead before falling behind late in the game.  Final score, Blue Jays 12, Wahoos 11.

Game 2 had the Blue Wahoos hosting their parent club the Reds.  The Blue Wahoos led from the 2nd inning on on their way to a 16-9 victory.  Hits were a plenty in this game as Rob Sosebee, Aaron Weintraub, Rony Batagower, Rick Leon, Donny Holtman, Ted Nguyen and Ira Utay all gathered in 2 or more hits. 

Rony Batagower is the Blue Wahoos POW by going 7-8 with 6 RBIs and 4 runs scored.  Ted Nguyen is our ROW candidate for his outstanding play all day in RF and a key slide at the plate bringing in a crucial run in game 2.

Opening Day pitted the arch rival Yanks vs Rakofsky's Red Sox- gotta love it!

A little mist blowing in at Fenway didn't stop the Bronx Bombers from scoring 3 in the first thanks to rbi's from Nick Anderson, and the two Doug McKenzie Bros (Storm and Baer). In the 3rd inning the Yanks got 8 straight hits including back-to-back triples from Justin Reed, Anderson and Storm!

Doug Baer pitched a gem and outfield grabs by rookies Jonathan Braun, Gary Frank and veteran Steve Shiller kept the Bosox at Bay.

Final Yankees 10 Sox 3

In game two the Yanks faced Davis' Bulls. Bombers got six in the first as Steve Shiller's hustle and rbi's from Storm, Baer, Braun and Tony Dillard. Bulls got six of their own in the bottom of the first to knot it at 6. Seesaw battle insued until the Yankee 5th when the Pinstripers got big hits from Baer, Braun, Frank, Rick Rosen and Mike Hickey.

Final Yanks 16 and Bulls 10

Yankee Heroes:

Player of the week nominee: Doug Baer- two wins on the hill a 3.24 ERA, 4 for 6 at the plate, three runs and 3 rbi's.

Doug Storm 3 for 5 and 5 huge RBI's

Mike Hickey 4 for 7 solid ss play

Rookie of the week candidate: Jonathan Braun 4 for 5 3 runs and 2 RBI's two doubles and triple!

I hadn’t seen or heard anything from Schlock the Monger so far this year so I thought I would get the ball rolling with some of my predictions for this year…so here it goes from Sean “Slim Daddy” Greeley.

Conference 1:

Division 1-
Hauf’s Seadogs-Sees the return of Greg “Badger” Hurst which is always a good start…this team has tons of speed, ROY canidate Troy “real deal” Steele will be important for this team. Kevin White and Jeff Roberts help solidify this team with their versatility. They will have great defense but not a lot of pop I see 15-13 for the Seadogs this year.

London’s Scrappers-Best middle infield in the league with his Nutts…another ROY candidate in John Mann. Will need his rookies to come up big for them. They have a very solid defense…always helps when you have an MVP SS with Aaron Nutt. 15-13 and in dog fight with the seadogs.

Farin’s Yankees-Good mix of power with Reed/Banta and speed. Nice versatility from Hickey who can hold down several positions and all of them very well. Great veteran leadership from the Captain…Doug Storm and Doug Baer…throw in maybe the top pitcher in Banta and you have a very formidible team. 14-14

Division 2-
Unell’s Stars-Rookie heavy team…with ROY/MVP canidate Darius Wu…who can play either SS/LCF with the best of them. Good speed but not a lot of pop…does have HOF Irv Munn who is a fantastic steady influence on a team. Bottom a little shaky and depends on rookies…13-15

Davis’s Bulls-The old Bull is back in the saddle again and this team will HIT the ball…may not be able to catch it but will definitely hit it. Serious hitting from ROY Brian Ortega…Bob Davis…Manny Madrigal…Joel Gilhang. All that hitting may not be enough…13-15

Goldstein’s Muckdogs-Another return of a legend…Ira Bershad is back…and was missed. This team is loaded with veteran leadership with Ira, Larry, Art Rothenberg, Stuart Rosenfeld. With that kind of leadership will never be out of a game. Solid middle infield with Tim Williams and always MVP canidate JJ Eusay. Think this team will be light on hitting and speed though…12-16

Division 3-top division in this conference…think the championship rep comes from this division
Silverman’s Rangers-He obviously knows something coming off back to back championships…and with a team starting with MVP canidate Scott Lawrence..ROY canidate Tony Martin and the always steady Larry Taub that is a great start. Pitching could be interesting…15-13

Miller’s Angels-Like this team…no real holes…no real superstars…just solid everywhere…will be consistant every game which will be tough to beat. David Tennyson had a strong preseason and looked good. OF will be solid…INF may be a step slow…15-13

Garber’s Riverdogs-Your defending Fall Ball Champion had a great draft. Outstanding vets with the Kaufmans…Jamey Newberg and Abbey…top speed with Robert Shiller and extreme power from Randy Ransom. Will be no fun trying to beat this team…16-12

Conference 2:

Division 1-
Zane’s Reds-Rookie Captain Rob Zane got a great start with his brother Brad…first time in 20 years they get to play together…which might not make the rest of the league happy but it does this guy. They are probably the best brother combo ever. This team has great smarts with the Zanes…Todd LeCocq…Michael Barth. Not a fast team but will be in every game…15-13

Roth’s Owls-After drafting family his draft was 1/3 done…but with that he added pop with young Andrew Williams and Wesley White…Daniel has shown some pop also so that could be nice. Strong pitching with both John Burke and Ken Behr. Middle OF will be formidible with Jim Kawahigashi out there also. All around defense is questionable…12-16

Rakofsky’s Red Sox-Another Family affair…with the Rakofsky group and the Elfenbein group that is half the team. Good solid start with Matt and Tanner…add Nick Milton to the OF and nice speed up the middle…very little pop though…will have to base hit you to death…14-14

Division 2-
Sulzer’s Indians-This will be the fastest OF in the league hands down. Tommy Apligian, Cody Barron and Sanjay Pant can cover some ground. This is probably Coach Sulzer’s best team to date…no holes…15-13

Lachman’s Rookies…I mean Royals-6 rookies with his top 3 picks being rookies…this team is a crapshoot…hard to tell what will happen here…can go 16-12 or 12-16…until I see something on the field have to go with the 12-16.

Casper’s Storm-Another team that started with high rookie picks…Kevin Hancock has great power and Anthony Pant will be solid wherever he plays…Tony Macaluso is outstanding and versatile and one of the most underrated players in the league. Defense is the question here…14-14

Division 3-
Schnitzer’s Blue Wahoos-This may be the best defense in the league…MVP candidate Aaron Weintraub anchors a very solid team. Good pitching from Rick Leon always helps…light hitting team though, but with this defense will be in a lot of tough games…13-15

Weinfeld’s Pirates-Same team different year…a lot of past pirates come back…Zimmerman…Zweig…Solov…Reister. The versatile Zimmerman and the solid Darren Kammer will help but don’t see a lot of offense here…10-16

Buhrow’s Baby Jays-Another Rookie coach with a strong team…Started with a top OF in Sam Struthers and did will from there. Good mix of speed and power…solid pitching. If rookies Scozzafava (top name in the league),Bichler and Jeff “midget” Radnof come through this will be a tough team to beat. Middle OF of Struthers and Kelly Alexander is in the top also…17-11

It was a Fall classic playoff sequence over 2 weekends. In the title day games, the Thunder gave the Riverdogs their 1st defeat 20-14. Meanwhile, the Reds eliminated the Rockies 5-2. The Reds then rallied for an exhilirating 16-15 walk off win to advance to the winner take all game with the Riverdogs. It was a back and forth affair with the Riverdogs quickly overcoming a 1 run deficit in the bottom of the 6th with 5 runs and won the title 17-13 on the 18th of November! Congratulations to the Riverdogs and all 8 teams on a wonderful Fall season.

I couldn't be more proud of my team. I have truly enjoyed playing with them this fall and every person helped make this year very special.

In a rubber match between a Zaneless Reds team, it was a defensive battle all game. With a no show from the Rockies leadoff/LF we had to take the automatic out all game. Steve Shiller subbing for Nick Milton made a spectacular diving catch to rob Sean Greeley of a hit early on. Our big hitters for the game were everyone aside from the top of the lineup who had one hit combined all game. Jay Swank made a spectacular diving stop to take yet another hit away from Greeley, as well seemed to be on base all day, followed by some big hitting by Rick Rosen who hit great all year with some blazing speed who not only opened my eyes but some spectators to his solid abilities. Brian Elliot pitched a phenomenal game much like he had all year and has been solid all year with clutch hits winning some close games for the Rockies, and Jason Murray made some great catches in LF followed by a line drive hit and some speed that kills. Larry Taub who filled in great for Jeremy Pease was consistent all year offensively and defensively. Art Rothenburg was a fantastic first baseman picking plays like a gold glove all star and Mr.Automatic at the plate. Travis Levay made some great catches and when on the base paths made the Reds look silly trying to catch him and throw him out. Mike Hickey had the only hit for the top of the lineup today and like all year was super solid on third, and if white men could jump he would have had an amazing grab over the fence trying to get a foul ball.

Again I would like to thank all of the Rockies for an amazing run.

Now before I get into this weekend, I forgot to write an article about last weekend. Now I don't remember much about the games. But I do know that if I were to have a player of the week it would be Jay Swank. With a minor tweek to his swing Jay has been the spark plug to the Rockies offense on multiple occasions. That matched with great defense in multiple positions is what has helped this team succeed

The Rockies came in optomistic about their chance in the playoffs. Starting off against the riverdogs the Rockies looked asleep dropping to a 14-1 defecit. The Rockies clawed their way back to 14-8 but ended giving up more runs to a 20-8 defecit. The Rockies came back to make it a respectable game and never gave up.

A down but not out Rockies came to the second game against the Mudcats. A terribly slow start to the offense by the top of the lineup, The back half of the lineup sparked the Rockies to tie up the game in the second. The game was back and forth with solid play by everyone until the 8th inning with the one pitch rule in affect. Brian Jello legs Elliott led off with a massive triple. Needing only to score Brian, Art Rothenburg was walked and with only one out came up Travis Levay. Not for a second was he bothered by the pressure of the situation, stepped in and absolutely launched the ball over everyones head winning the game for the Rockies.

In the final game of the Temple Shalom Ironman Softball Playoffs the Rockies faced Buhrows Bats. With the Bats coach on the bench the Rockies jumped to an early 3-1 lead in the first with the top of the lineup finally learning how to hit. Phillip Kim consisted of 3 of the Rockies 6 total runs that game and Mike Hickey being 2 of the runs. The Rockies held it together in the top of the seventh holding on and not needing their last at bats.

Big Hitters

Mike Hickey 6-9 BB, 5 singles a 2B 5 runs

Phillip (don't bother me i'm playing Sims) Kim 7-10    7 1B 4 runs

Brian (I can't feel my legs) Elliott    7-11   5 1B, 3B, HR, 3 runs, 1 RBI

Zane’s Reds took on the moniker of the Cardiac Kids throughout the chaotic tripleheader that was the opening weekend of the fall postseason and survived by advancing to the final weekend with a single loss in the double elimination format. The Commish’s implementation of re-seeding the teams after each round proved to be trying on all the teams (and the Commish himself) as they waited, not so patiently, for that final out of the longest game.

After rolling back their clocks the night before, the 2^nd seeded Reds started the morning affair facing the 7^th seeded Barth’s Mudcats. These were not the same Mudcats the Reds had defeated twice during the regular season. Captain Barth had to sub for his top 3 players and the visitors came out on fire in the top of the 1^st inning hitting their way to a 4-0 lead. This was not an unfamiliar predicament for the Reds as they had come from behind to earn 7 of their 10 regular season victories, including both matchups with the Mudcats. The Reds bounced back immediately plating 5 runs in the bottom of the 1^st on their way to 12 unanswered. Sean Greeley shut the ‘Cats out the final 6 innings of the contest and the Reds won going away, 12-4.

After learning of the surprising win over the top seeded Rockies, the Reds found themselves facing off against the 8^th seeded Garber’s River Dogs. Once again, these were not the same ‘Dogs the Reds came back against twice during the regular season. The newly confident River Dogs, who’d won a total of 4 games before their opening round upset of the postseason, took advantage of a few Reds fielding miscues to build a 12-1 lead after three and a half. The Reds began chipping away with 3 earned runs in the 4^th and 3 unearned runs in the 5^th but still found themselves down by 7 going into the bottom of the 7^th, 14-7. The Cardiac Kids turned 7 hits and a sacrifice fly into 7 runs highlighted by a Darren Kammer double and a triple by sub Brad London, erasing the entire deficit and sending the game to extras. Both pitchers accepted the pressure of the “One Pitch” rules in shutting down their opponents in the 8^th. After the River Dogs pushed across a two out run in the top of the 9^th, the Reds 3, 4 and 5 hitters went down quietly and were on the short end of the 15-14 heartbreaker.

The Reds road to the final weekend did not get any easier after the day’s last re-seeding, as they were pitted against the only team that manhandled them 16-4 three weeks previously, Banta’s Express. For a third straight game, the opponent looked vastly different than their regular season foe as Captain Banta’s injury forced him to sub for himself. That didn’t seem to matter as the visitors took the Express lane to a 6-0 lead after half an inning. The Reds chipped away again with 2 in the 1^st, 1 in the 2^nd and 1 in the 3^rd. After surrendering 2 runs in the top of the 5^th, the Cardiac Kids once again erased the entire deficit by turning 5 singles and a sacrifice fly into 4 runs. The Express failed to score in the top of the 6^th. Clint Hauck led off the bottom of the frame with a single. Ted Nguyen ran for the hobbling 3^rd baseman and scored on Rob Zane’s clutch two out single, his fourth of the game. Banta’s boys couldn’t push the tying run across in the 7^th as the Reds escaped the weekend, 9-8.

Reds Hot Hitters:

Tony Macaluso .750 (9 for 12), 2B, 6 R, 7 RBI

Rob Zane .727 (8 for 11), 2 BB, 8 R

Darren Kammer .667 (8 for 12), 2B, 4 R, 7 RBI

Brad London .667 (6 for 9) BB, 2 3B

In Game 1 we had a 4-run 1st inning but did not score again, losing to the 2nd place Big Red Machine 12-4.

Game 2 was fun and exciting, but ultimately a 9-8 loss to the 1st place Rockies in the 8th inning.  We got a respectable 17 hits, inlcuding 2 triples and a HR, but only scored 8, as we stranded 11 of our runners.

Yesterday's MudCats +.500 hitters
Aaron Weintraub (sub) 5 for 7, HR
Haran Davis (sub) 4 for 7
Bill Walter (sub) 4 for 6, BB
Larry Lachman 4 for 7, 3B

Bummer we didn't win more, but aside from 1 broken ankle, it was an enjoyable fall season for the MudCats.  Thanks to TSSL management for all your hard work, and thanks to my players and subs for their valiant efforts. Good luck to the remaining teams, and hope to see y'all soon!  -Michael :-)

Welcome to the frozen tundra of field one versus Rob Zane's Big Red Machine. Through mittens and ear muffs (and Jon Simonson's shorts) The Thunder built a four run lead. RBI's from Simonson, Kelly Alexander, Todd LeCocq and Matthew Roth (triple). The Cincy Kids pecked and pecked until they built a 7-4 lead. The Thunder were not to be denied as key hits from Bryan Roth, James Lee, Daniel Roth and John Burke gave us a 9-7 victory as Rob Zane has already shared.

The nightcap (10:00am) on the thawed out Field 4 was not a pitcher's battle as runs were all over the yard during this slugfest. It looked like the team that would bat last would win which proved prophetic. The Thunder was down 16-11 going into the botttom of the 7th. Nervous? Not these pros... Single by Lee, walk to M Roth, double by D Roth, Burke singled, Smonson doubled, Alexander was intentionally passed, and Todd LeCocq won it with a walk off, no doubt about it to give the Thunder a hard fought 17-16 win!

The Thunder have now won 4 straight and look forward to facing Buhrow's Batmen in the first round of the playoffs at 8am on Sunday.

Thunder Lumber:

Daniel Roth 7-8 2 doubles, one three run jack and 6 RBI's

John Burke 6-8

Jon Simonson 5 hits, 5 RBI's 9 Total Bases

Kelly Alexander 5-7 and 2 BB's

Todd Lecocq 5 hits and the game winner

James Lee 4 hits while battling a calf injury

Matthew Roth 3 for 5 and 2 BB's

Zane’s Reds entered the final weekend of the fall season with their eyes on the top seed. Being behind Reed’s Rockies by one game meant they must win two and get some help from either Banta’s Express or Garber’s Mudcats. As it turned out, the Reds couldn’t take care of their own business and as a result, emerged from the morning in the same position they started.

The Reds started the morning facing the only team they had yet to defeat this season, Farin’s Thunder. If the Reds were hoping to avenge their Week 1 9-7 loss to the Thunder, they didn’t start off on the right foot. After giving up a single run in the top of the 1^st, Rob Zane led of the home half with a single down the 3^rd base line and then got caught in a run down between 1^st and 2^nd for the first out. After a scoreless 2^nd, the Thunder pushed 3 across in the 3^rd and gave up 2 unearned runs with 2 out in the bottom of the frame. When the Thunder added a run in the 4^th, they took a 5-2 advantage into the bottom of the 5^th. The Reds offense turned 5 singles and 2 bases on balls into 5 runs (4 after 2 outs) and the lead, 7-5. Unfortunately, the scoring for the home team was complete while the visitors tallied 4 runs over the final two innings as the Reds dropped their second of the season to the Thunder by identical scores of 9-7.

Game 2 against Buhrow’s Bats didn’t start much better than the first. The Reds were held scoreless through the first 2 innings while the Bats pushed one across in the bottom of the 1^st. The Reds bats woke up in the 3^rd and didn’t rest until the end of the 5^th. Eleven Reds saw the batter’s box in both the 3^rd and 4^th, while only nine stepped to the plate in the 5^th. Eight hits highlighted by a Jett Serrett 2 out, 2 run double in the 3^rd gave the Reds the lead, 5-1. A Robbie Franklin 3 run inside the park home run sparked the 6 run 4^th. Subs Steve Solomon and Tom Cross capped the 5 run 5^th with a 2 run double and a sacrifice fly, respectively. The Bats scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 6^th and the score board displayed the 16-5 Reds victory.

Reds Hot Hitters:

Robbie Franklin 4 for 8, HR, 5 R, 6 RBI

Jett Serrett 6 for 8, 2B, 4 R, 6 RBI

Sean Greeley 5 for 7, 2B, 3 RBI (Good to see him back!)

Defensive Player of the Game: Bats’ Sam Struthers – If Mr. Struthers is a 3 it should be because he is subbing for a 1 AND a 2! This 5 tool player robbed the Reds throughout the contest making Web Gems, running like the wind and displaying a cannon of an arm. He must have one ugly girlfriend to warrant a 3 in the Shalom League rankings. Nice pick up for the playoffs David. I’d sub him for you too!

No cold bats on this team:  37 hits in 69 at bats for the day (.536)...get them to chase? no, add eight walks for a .584 OBP...Every Riverdog scored and had at least one RBI...Dogs had innings scoring 9, 6, 4, and 4 runs ...Tim Williams and Barry Epstein homered ... Randy Ransom and Steve Uman doubled ...Riverdogs are undefeated when Larry Schnitzer goes 4 for 4...Steve Uman was almost perfect, getting on base 7 times in 7 plate appearances.  Why almost?  He did not play the field until it got warm outside...Ben Rakofsky extended his streak of multi-hit games to five...Gene Reister has a six game hitting streak working...impotent baserunning:  only the Dogs can single into a double play...Ransom finishes regular season as home run champ ... Epstein leads league in triples ... Which of those did you predict???

Game 1 we paid a visit to Garber's Riverdogs who fielded their original roster for the first time in a long while.  The Volcanoes responded well to the brisk weather by building a 5-0 lead after 3 1/2 innings.  The manager thought it would be a good idea to sit an inning and 9 runs and an injured pitcher later the team trailed and had to play catch up.  Props to Paul Rakofsky who subbed for John Miller on the mound for finishing the game after taking a brutal line drive off the shin off the bat of Randy Ransom.  Scott Sulzer came on in emergency relief and was solid pitching and with the glove.  We rallied for 2 runs in the 5th and trailed by 2 going into what would be the last inning.  Rookie Pat Fitzgerald hammered a clutch 2 run single to left to tie the game and David Tennyson hit what would prove to be the game winner.  Sulzer finished the game with a fantasic snag on a line drive up the middle to complete the 10-9 victory.

Game 2 was against the 3rd place Thunder a potential first round playoff opponent, coached by legend Larry Farin.  After going down 3-0 in the second, we responded by batting around two innings in a row and grabbing a 12-8 lead.  Going into the bottom of the 7th we were protecting a 16-11 lead with the bottom of their line up due up.  After getting one out, the defense couldn't manage another out and came up short 17-16.

Hitting Stars on the Day:

POW Candidate: Mark Winnie  7-8, 2 RBI, 2 Runs
JJ Eusay  6-8 3 RBI, 2B, 3B, 4 Runs (HR away from the cycle in game 2)
David Tennyson  6-9 RBI, 4 Runs, GW RBI
Scott Sulzer  6-8, 4 RBI, 3 Runs
ROW Candidate: Pat Fitzgerald  3-8, 2B, 2 RBI, Clutch game tying 2 run single in game 1

'Shout-out' to super fans Chelsea (Chris Musquiz' girlfriend), Kristen (Joel Cerefice's wife), and Pam (sub Bill Walter's wife) for sitting on metal seats in 41 degrees! Glad they stayed for both games, because game 1 was a stinker!

The MudCats did not perform well against Buhrow's Bats this season, and only managed 9 hits against them yesterday, though the blinding field 5 sun was partially to blame. (I know when I made contact in my first 2 at bats, my eyes were closed.) The Bats hit well however, and we had way too many errors to blame the sun. Congratulations to the Bats on their 18-3 victory, and we wish a quick recovery to their captain David on his existing foot injury.

In game 2 we hardly had any errors and eeked out a 4-2 victory over the 1st place Rockies.  There were 3 memorable defensive plays:

1. Aaron Weintraub (sub) at SS broke left, made the scoop, spun counter-clockwise, and fired a great throw to 1B. With the combination of the sub SS, the spin, and the sun, 1B David Bamburger could not visually pick up the ball at all. Luckily, it missed hitting him by a few inches, as it could have been extremely damaging.

2. Catcher Jeremy Golden caught a great low throw to home (by ?). The runner made an odd split-leg leap, presumably to try to avoid getting out. Jeremy made an upward-swiping tag, but one of the 3 balls was knocked loose and the runner was safe. After the intimate play, the runner said that Jeremy should to take him out to dinner. Funny!

3. Top of the 6th, we were up 4-2, Rockies had runners at 2B and 3B with 2 outs. Their middle-of-the-lineup batter hit a deepish fly ball to RF. [Note: There was not much wind at field level, but fly balls had lots of movement.] Chris Musquiz broke towards CF, then reversed direction, and made the catch, saving our lead. This was the key play in the game, and Chris is perhaps the most exciting-to-watch RF in the league, as every catch seems like a miracle!

Yesterday's MudCats +.500 hitters

Aaron Weintraub (sub) 5 for 6, 2 HR

Joel Cerefice 3 for 5, 2B

MudCats stats leaders for the 2012 fall season

BB David Bamburger 5

SF Aaron Zweig 3

R Michael Barth 17

1B Michael Barth 24

2B Joel Cerefice 3

3B Joel Cerefice, Chris Musquiz 2

HR Chase Berg 3

RBI Joel Cerefice 13

AVG Michael Barth .522

SLG Chase Berg .810

OBP Michael Barth, Dan Feldman .532

Game 1:               Express – 16       Reds – 5

The first game of the morning had the peaking Express taking on the 2^nd place Reds managed by Rob Zane on field 6. The Reds Necks battled more than the blinding sun as the Express jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the 1^st. Brandon Strull started the game off with a single and scored on a double by Banta. Sanchez walked and Jeff Radanof had an RBI single followed by an RBI single from POW Jeff Lewin. The Reds continued to throw up bagels through the 1^st 4 innings while the Express added to their lead scoring 2 in the 2^nd and 3 in the 3^rd. Triples by Bill Giudice and Jeff Lewin lead the way while Brandon Strull, Banta, Radanof, POW Bruce Lewin, Robert Santiago and Edward Jamison had hits while Banta, Sanchez and Brian Strull also contributed with walks. The Reds put up 5 sun aided runs in the bottom of the 5^th but the hottest team in the league added 7 more over the final 2 innings. A 3-Run Fence job by Giudice was the highlight in the last inning while Strull, Banta, Sanchez, both Lewins, Santiago and Jamison all had hits as well. The game ended on a sinking fly ball to right that Sanchez battled the sun on, made the catch and fired to 1^st base to double up the runner who strayed a bit too far - great snag by Radanof at 1^st to end the Red Necks rally. A lot of hitting by the Express - 16 runs on 21 hits.

Hitting Stars:

Brandon Strull:                 3 for 5, 3 runs scored, 2 RBI’s                                      

Bill Giudice:                      3 for 4, 3 runs scored, 5 RBI’s, 3-Run Homer, 3B             

John Banta:                      3 for 4, 1 run scored, 2B, BB, 2 RBI’s                              

Jeff Lewin:                       3 for 4, 2 runs scored, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI’s                            

Game 2:               Express - 11        Volcanos - 8

Going after their 5^th win in 6 games, the Express invited JJ Eusays’ dormant Volcanos over for a little choo-choo sweep. Scientists define “dormant Volcano” as an active volcano that is not erupting, but is supposed to erupt again; luckily, it wasn’t this game. Unfortunately, JJ couldn’t be with us this week so he invited superstar sub Andrew Williams. Andrew saved a couple of runs early but was pretty much held in check offensively as the boys from Round Rock stole one late. The Shark Boy counterparts (Lava Girls / movie reference) jumped out to a 6-1 lead after 3 innings and were leading 8-5 heading into the last inning. The Express finally awoke in the top half of the last inning sending 10 players to the plate and scoring 6 runs to take an 11-8 lead. Everyone had a least 1 hit as we pounded out another 21 hits in this game as well.

Hitting Stars:

Bruce Lewin:                    4 for 4, 2 runs scored, 2B, 2 RBI’s

Jeff Lewin:                       3 for 4, 3 runs scored, 2B, 1 RBI

Robert Santiago:              3 for 3, SAC, 2 RBI’s

*POW CO-Winners Bruce and Jeff Lewin were a combined 12-16, 8 RBI’s, 8 Runs Scored, 3 2B, 3B for the day! There are unconfirmed reports from The Elias Sports Bureau (or maybe it’s The Eli Gershenson Sports Bureau) that the Lewins are the first father/son POW co-winners in TSSL history. Congrats Jeff and Bruce!

In game 1, the MudCats took an early 7-3 lead, but could not score again, ending up stranding 9 runners for the game and falling to the Volcanos 13-7.

In game 2 we had 23 hits and were comfortably ahead 12-4 after 5 innings and expected a victory.  However, the Thunder had a 17-run 6th inning and won 26-16.  The losing pitcher is still wondering what the heck happened.

Nevertheless, 'twas a beautiful morning of enjoyable fall softball with friends, so glad we didn't get rained out!

Today's MudCats +.500 hitters
Aaron Zweig 5 for 8, 2 doubles
Michael Barth 5 for 8, 4 runs
Larry Lachman 5 for 7, 5 runs
Kyle Casper perfect 5 for 5, 3B, 2B, BB, SF, 5 RBI

Defensive gems
Chase Berg guns from LCF for putouts at 2B and almost 1B too
Larry Lachman vertical leap catch and then foot swipe to 1B for the out
Chris Musquiz catching everything in RF
Joel Cerefice coming back for twisting catches in shallow RF
David Martin (sub) difficult running stretch catch in LF

The Volcanoes are having an up and down season. Game 1 against the Mudcats started fast as the Volcanoes scored 3 and the Mudcats countered with 5. Down 7-3 after 3, the Volcanoes started their comeback scoring 2 runs on three singles. 4 more runs the next inning on 5 singles gave us the lead at 9-7. 4 more in the sixth sparked by a two run triple by Andrew Williams allowed us to coast to a 13-7 win.

Game 2 against Banta’s Express was on field 6 which proved to be a bad sun field in right for both teams. The Express left the bases loaded in 3 of the first 4 innings as the Volcanoes led 8-5 after 5. A 6 run eruption by the Express aided by the sun capped their comeback 11-8 as the Volcanoes are still looking for their first two win week of the fall season.

Volcano hitting was led by David Tennyson 6-7, Andrew Williams 4-7, Scott Sulzer 5-7.

Game One vs Garber's River Dogs on muddy Field 7. Thundering bats score 2 in the 2nd and seven in the third to take a 9-0 lead!. Pesky dogs score 6 in both the 3rd and fourth to tie it at 12-12. Even thru 5 the time runs out as we go to extra frames. With the bases drunk, Lewis Zwick laces a double to clear the bases as the Thunder prevails 17-13.

Game two was a masterpiece as Barth's Mudcats took a 12-4 lead into the top of the 6th. 21 batters came to the plate in one amazing inning where The Thunder scored 17 runs in "one for the ages". The Thunder won 26-16 scoring more than Texas did versus OU on Saturday.

Hitting stars for the day: Daniel Roth 6 for 8 with 2 fence clearing homers and hit for the cycle in game two!

Sub Tommy Garber 6 for 9 with 6 runs scored

Jon Simonson 6 for 8 with 4 rbi's

Sub Bob Davis five for seven, sub Bill Walter four hits

Brian Roth 5 hits, 5 runs scored and 5 rbi's

John Unell 5 hits, 4 runs and 4 rbi's

Sub Michael Zeintz 4 hits and 4 rbi's

Matthew Roth 4 hits and 4 rbi's

Lewis Zwick 4 hits and 3 huge rbi's

Clichés aside, Zane’s Reds entered the second to last weekend of the fall season one game back of Reed’s Rockies for first place in the standings and that is how they emerged. Were they “looking past” Banta’s Express toward their rematch with the Rockies? Did the now healthy Express “send a message” to the rest of the league that they are a “team to be reckoned with” come the playoffs? Or did the Reds “just play a bad game?” We’ll let the pundits discuss the meaning of this week’s results for the next fortnight. Bottom line heading into the final Sunday of the regular season… “Any of the eight teams that make the playoffs has a shot of winning the crown.”

Before the Reds batted through their lineup in Game 1, Banta’s Express had already built an insurmountable lead of 9-0 with 3 consecutive "crooked number" innings. The Reds put together 5 hits and a walk in the bottom of the 3^rd for 4 runs and kept the Express off the scoreboard in both the 4^th and 5^th but were outscored over the final two innings, 7-1, and were on the short end of the 16-5 final. In their worst defeat of the season, the Reds could not produce a single extra base hit and totaled a meager 11 hits in the entire 7 inning game. But like a great relief pitcher, this team “has a short memory.”

Puting the futility of their first game behind them, the Reds entered Game 2 against the 1^st place Reed’s Rockies “on a mission.” The Rocks scratched out 2 runs in the top of the first only to be answered by 4 Reds runs in the bottom of the frame. The Reds won the second inning 6-5 and a single Rockies run over their next 3 innings had the good guys clinging to a 10-8 lead heading to the bottom of the 5^th. Super sub, Paul Rakofsky led off the inning with one of his 3 singles of the game. Six Reds followed his lead with singles while the team added two bases on balls and a sacrifice fly before Rakofsky capped the scoring with his second single of the inning. The eight run explosion removed all hope the Rockies had for a comeback and when time expired in the sixth, the Reds claimed the 18-8 victory.

Reds Hot Hitter:

Tony Macaluso 5 for 6, BB, 4 R, 3 RBI

“Tale of Two Games”…

The first game against the bats didn't have much for offense finishing 7 innings with time to spare. A strong defensive outing keeping the score 5 - 4.

The second game was a strong offensive showing however for the wrong team. Zanes Reds were the better team today beating the Rockies 18 - 8. The Rockies captain selfishly concentrated on winning more then having fun like he should. He sucked the life out of his team who never once gave up and fought hard all day. POW nominee Jason Murray played defense like a mad man all day seemingly playing multiple positions at once.

Not for public release!

So far, General Manager Larry Goldstein’s plan seems to be working. We are avoiding notice through careful disappearances by our players. Gene Reister, Kevin Hancock, Tim Williams, Steve Uman, and Larry Schnitzer have all missed time. They excel when they return. Last week, Uman was 5 for 5 (plus a BB), while Hancock had a triple and a homer. We definitely want to keep them under the scouts’ radar. Randy Ransom was also 5 for 5 (plus a sacrifice fly), but if we keep hiding him at third base, no one will notice him. Jaime Aron and Barry Epstein will miss this week, so that will keep Farin and Buhrow from getting another look at them. Epstein did not want to miss, so we had to dummy up a meeting in Hawaii for him. If he submits a travel voucher, we can just bury it until after the season; his contract will be up and we can just stiff him then.

I was surprised to see Goldstein playing for the Mudcats last week. I guess he was trying to get some intelligence from Barth. LG will be back in our dugout this week, so that’s good. Unless he is some kind of double agent??? Hmm, I better check out some spy movies.

Game 1:               Express – 8         Thunder – 7

The Express started the day at 500 and ended the day the same. Taking on Farin’s AC/DC Thunder in game one, the Express sought victory so as to hold all tiebreakers for post-season seeding. The Thunder Punks got lucky with a couple of bleeders and scratched out a few runs in the 1^st inning while the rock & roll train could only answer with 1 run on hits by Brandon Strull (2-4, 1 RS), John Banta (3-3, 2RBI’s, BB, RS) and ROW Winner Jeff Radanof (4-4, 2RBI’s, RS). Farin’s crew continued to be pesky as they chipped away getting another run in the 2^nd and 3 more in the 3^rd, but that was it. The good guys scored 2 in the 2^nd, 1 in the 4^th and 1 in the 5^th to make the score 7-5 after 4 innings. Jim Kawahigashi, Robert Santiago and Brian Strull all had hits to start the inning with Strull getting an RBI. Bill Giudice (3-4, 2RBI’s, RS, 3B) stroked a 2RBI single to close the scoring in the 2^nd while Brandon Strull, Giudice and Banta had hits in the 4^th and Jeff Radanof and Jeff Lewin had hits in the 5^th that plated 2 more. Down 7-5 to start the home half of the 6^th and last inning, Giudice triples, Banta has an RBI single, Patrick (who?) Sanchez laces a single and Jeff Radanof has another RBI single to tie the game. With runners on 1^st and 3^rd, one out, up comes Jeff Lewin who hits a rocket in the hole that LeCocq handles, takes a peek at 3^rd but flips to 2^nd for 1 and no chance to double up the speedy Lewin while Sanchez scores the game winner from 3^rd.

Game 2:               Express – 12       Bats – 13

The late morning affair had the Express taking on David “Baby Jesus” Buhrow’s whiffle Bats. Both teams got out of the gate quickly with the Bats scoring 3 in the 1^st and 3 in the 2^nd only to be answered by the troops from Round Rock with 4 in the 1^st and 2 in the 2^nd. Strull lead off with a walk, Giudice hits an in-the-park HR and Banta triples. Sanchez hits a sac fly followed by 3 straight hits from Radanof, Jeff Lewin and Bruce Lewin while Jim Kawahigashi added a sac fly to complete the scoring in the 1^st. Brian Strull leads off the 2^nd with a single, followed by son Brandon’s single and then an intentional walk in the 2^nd inning to Banta. Sanchez gets another sac while Jeff Radanof adds another RBI single to his totals, his 6^th straight hit of the day. The 3^rd inning had hits from Jim Kawahigashi, Brian Strull and Bill Giudice while Brandon Strull added a sac fly. Other than a BB to Radanof and a 2B from Brandon Strull, all quiet over the next 2 innings. The 6^th started with singles from Banta and Sanchez while Jeff Lewin had an RBI Single and Bruce Lewin added yet another sac fly, our 5^th of the game. Down 3 to start the 7^th, Brandon Strull gets a 1 out single and Banta hits a 2-run fence shot to get the good guys to within 1. Sanchez walks and is the game tying run but gets stranded as the Express, who had another sweep on their minds, fall 1 run short to the dirty birds.

Top Hitters for the Day:

Brandon Strull:                 5 for 7, BB, SAC, 2B, 4RS, 1 RBI

Bill Giudice:                       5 for 9, BB, 3B, HR, 2RS, 4 RBI

John Banta:                       6 for 7, 2BB, 4RS, 3B, HR, 4 RBI

Jeff Radanof (ROW):       6 for 8, BB, 2RS, 3RBI

On the first cold weekend of the fall season, Reds management was concerned that the team may not be as prepared for its two opponents as it should be, especially after a weekend postponed by rain. The possibility of looking past the 5 combined wins of the struggling Mudcats and the Volcanoes toward the rematch with the Rockies on October 14^th was real. After a sluggish start, the Reds put those fears to rest and swept the weekend series.

The Reds pulled out in front of Barth’s Mudcats in Game 1 with single runs in the 1^st and 3^rd before a 4 run bottom of the 3^rd gave the Mudcats a 4-2 lead. The Reds quickly answered with 2 runs in the top of the 4^th lead by a Clint Hauck double and a Ron Roberts triple. The team then posted a 4-spot of its own in the 5^th to put the game out of reach. 2 runs for each ballclub over the final 2 innings concluded the 10-6 Reds victory.

Game 2 saw the first three Reds batters cross the plate in the top of the 1^st and Eusay’s Volcanoes answer with 2 runs in the bottom of the frame. Two scoreless innings later, the scoreboard still read 3-2 after 3. The Reds then sent 10 batters to the plate in the 4^th sparked by a Sean Greeley triple (yes, you read that correctly) while pushing 6 across the pay station. They added another 5 in over the final two innings, allowing only a single unearned run, and won it going away, 14-3.

The Reds management couldn’t have been more pleased with the team’s consistent, unselfish play on both sides of the lines. Each of 11 players on the roster scored at least one run and had at least two hits over the course of the double dip.Although a comparison with the parent club’s Big Red Machine of the mid-70s seems a bit premature, it is obvious to anyone following this squad that there is something special about it. The 2^nd place Reds (8-2) would like nothing better than to show the 3^rd place Express (5-5)and the league leading Rockies (9-1) how special on Sunday.

Reds Hot Hitters:

Sean Greeley: 5-7, 3B, R, 4 RBI

Everyone... Reds balanced attack: 38/77 for a .494 Team Batting Average!

In game 1, us MudCats garnered a respectable 15 hits, but we stranded 10 of our runners and only ended up scoring 6 runs, which was not enough to the Reds' 10.  When running from 1B to 2B in the 3rd inning, I had a strange feeling that I couldn't quite place my finger on, until the next inning when Zane pointed out that 2B was in the wrong spot.  He correctly repositioned it several feet away, but then it felt like the pitching rubber was in the wrong spot.  It was very discombobulating.  (Greeley's Eeyore hat and pajamas were not.)

In game 2 we exploded with 25 hits and 23 runs for an easy victory over the River Dogs.  The very bad news was that Gregg Fleisher broke his ankle sliding into 3B.  We wish him a full and easy recovery!

Today's MudCats +.500 hitters
Dan Feldman 6 for 10
Michael Barth 5 for 8, BB, 5 runs
Travis Massey (sub) 7 for 8, SF
Joel Cerefice 4 for 7, SF, 6 RBI

In the battle of bottom-dwellers, the Volcs put 2 up in the first against the Bats then add 2 more in the 3rd and stage a furious rally to pull out the win in the 7th.  We scored two in the first on RBI's by JJ Eusay and Scott Sulzer.  In the 3rd, Sulzer smacked a 2 run single to reclaim the lead for the Volcs.  Going into the 7th, we trailed 6-4 with the bottom of the order coming up.  Mike Weber began the rally with a single and after an out was followed by back to back hits from Steve Blum and Pat Fitzgerald pulling us to within 1.  David Tennyson grounded into a fielder choice and with two outs John Chung singled to tie the game at 6.  The Bats chose to pitch to JJ Eusay with runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs.  JJ singled to right with what would prove to be the game winning RBI.  Sulzer and John Miller follwed with RBI singles to add two more insurance runs.  After shutting down the Bats in the bottom of the 7th, the rally was complete.  9-6 Victory.

The second game proved to be much tougher against Zanes Reds.  Down 3-0 in the bottom of the first, John Chung smacked a HR between RF and RCF and was followed by a single by JJ Eusay and RBI triple from John Miller.  It looked promising, however that would be all of the scoring we could muster off of ace Sean Greeley.  Final score 14-2.

Hitting Stars:

JJ Eusay  4-6 3 RBI (GWRBI), 4 Runs

Scott Sulzer  4-7 4 RBI

John Miller  4-6 3B, 2 RBI

Game one on Field one vs Banta's Express. The Thunder take a 7-3 lead thru three innings thanks to rbi's from Jon Simonson, Todd LeCocq, John Unell, Bryan Roth and Lewis Zwick. The pesky Express comeback to edge the Thunder 8-7 after it seemed "over" to Team Thunder. Kudos to Brian Strull who played hurt for the victors so they could field 10 players.

Game two versus "The gang from Glee" Reed's 1st place Rockies. Not much of a contest here as the Rockies took a 10-0 lead and coasted to a 14-7 win.

Player of the week candidate was Todd LeCocq who went 5 for 6 had a bb, 2B, 3B and four rbi's!

Other Thunder sluggers with 3 hits were Daniel Roth, John Unell, Jon Simonson and Bryan Roth.

Next week we promise better results and a much improved article from the Thunder Captain...

Game 1 Vs Riverdogs

Game 1 featured a new but familiar face at shortstop in Larry Taub. Also the Rocky pitching debut of Art Rothenburg who was as close to perfect on the mound as we could ask making great defensive plays. The Rockies only scored 1 in the first and both sides were silent in the second until in the third when Larry Taub blasted an inside the park homerun to kickstart the Rockies offense. The Rockies busted things open in the 6th with homeruns by Jason Murray and POW nominee Nick Milton sealing the deal for the Rockies.

Game 2 Vs Thunder

Game 2 was a considerably easier battle against the Thunder then the previous meeting. The Rockies scored a combined 10 runs in the first two innings being more then enough to win the game. Michael Hickey looked like a vacuum today at third base seemingly like the great wall of china not letting anything past him. The game was fairly silent for the most part until Nick Milton made an ESPN highlight reel catch in RCF saving the Rockies from a massive Thunder rally.

Hitting Stars were all of the Rockies today however there were some standouts

Nick Milton 5 for 7 with 4 singles, BB a HR and 3 RBI amazing RCF defense

Mike Hickey 8 for 9 with 7 singles a double and an RBI

Larry Taub 6 for 7 with a sac, BB, a HR, 4 singles, a double and 6 RBI

Art Rothenburg (tough as Nails) 6 for 8 with 6 singles 2 RBI, toughing out an injury and great pitching all day.

What is Wayne thinking? That he can keep our star player a secret?

9:37 don’t even bring a bat – intentional walk in five run game

9:25 three pitches nowhere close - walk to lead off sixth inning

9:11 call 911 at 9:11; another three run blast over LCF fence

9:02 single to lead off third inning

8:48 first swing by any batter goes over fence; Riverdogs lead 3-0

Let’s look at Randy Ransom’s first game.

Here’s an idea. I’ll do it like the backwards Seinfeld episode.

I need to write an article, but keep putting it off.

Game 1:               Express – 8         Volcanos – 5

The 1^st game of the day had the Express taking on JJ Eusay’s Dormant Volcano’s………….on field 5. After spotting the ash spitters a couple of cheapies in the 1^st inning, the Express evened it up in the bottom half of the inning with hits from Brandon Strull and John Banta, a walk by Bill Giudice and an RBI from Patrick Sanchez. The rubber warriors (vulcanized rubber…OK, it was a reach) were no match as they were shut down over the next 4 innings while the steam engines churned out a 10 batter, 6 run 3^rd inning to send a message early. Back to back doubles by Strull and Giudice, followed by 3 straight hits from Banta, Sanchez and Senior League Superstar, Alan Gohlke and a SAC fly by Jeff Lewin, accounted for 5 straight runs to start the inning. Super Sub Veteran Steve Enda (1 for 1, 2BB’s) walked and scored while Bruce Lewin and Jim Kawahigashi (2 for 3, 2 RBI’s) had RBI hits before the mud bumps could stop the bleeding. Too little too late as the Express get back on track with a game 1 win. Many guys had multiple hits but special mention to the following top hitters:

Brandon Strull: 3 for 4, 2 Runs Scored, 2B – Could play in a 2-man outfield the kid is so good.

Bill Giudice:       3 for 3, BB, 2 Runs Scored, 2B, 3B, RBI – Fantastic defense all day.

Game 2:               Express – 13       MudKitties – 5

The second game had the Express amped up for a sweep as well as some revenge against Michael Barth’s Jim “Mudcat” Grant’s. Unfortunately, the kitties were tamed very early only getting 2 tender vittles through 6 innings while the Express opened up a can of Purina whoop-ass plating 13 runs over the same 6 innings. HR’s by Patrick Sanchez and Jim Kawahigashi lead the way for this 19 hit attack. Great defense all day long as well as a number of guys contributing offensively:

Bill Giudice:                       2 for 3, BB, 2RS **ROW Stats for the day: 5 for 6, 4RS, 2BB, 2RBI’s

Patrick Sanchez:               2 for 3, HR, 4 RBI’s, RS

Jeff Lewin:                          2 for 3, RBI, RS

Jim Kawahigashi:             2 for 3, HR, 2 RBI’s, RS

Steve Enda:                        2 for 3 ***Stats for the day: 3 for 4, 2BB, RS

Big thanks to Steve and Alan Gohlke for coming out and playing solid ball!

In what many believe might be a preview of the Shalom League Fall Championship Game, the Reds allowed the Rockies to slip through their hands (and gloves) before striking back against the River Dogs to settle into the runner-up position in the standings.

The Reds eased into Game 1 by recording a single run in the top of the 1^st inning against Reed’s Rockies. Unfortunately, the defense betrayed the Reds in the bottom of the 1^st allowing 3 unearned runs to cross the plate. A Rockies homer to deep right center field and two more unearned runs found the Reds trailing 6-2 after 3 innings. The pitching and defense shut the Rocks down the rest of the way and the offense crept back but fell just short, 6-5. Interestingly, Robbie Franklin scored 4 of the 5 Reds runs.

Although Game 2 was a close one, the outcome of the rematch with Garber’s River Dogs was never in any real doubt. The Reds’ bats were practically silent, batting only .375 and leaving 13 men on base in six innings, but the defense, behind All-Everything Catcher, Bruce Ackerman, minimized the opportunities for River Dogs runs. In an interesting inning that brought to light a rule regarding the difference between foul tips and foul balls, Ackerman caught two foul balls and Sean Greeley struck out another batter to post the goose egg. For those interested in the ASA rule regarding the difference between a foul tip and a foul ball, please see below. Somehow the Reds scored 3 more than the equally unimpressive Dogs (both teams were offensive without being offensive), and won 8-5.

Foul Tip or Foul Ball?
A "foul tip" is a batted ball that goes sharply and directly from the bat to the catcher's hand(s) or glove and is legally caught by the catcher. The key phrase is "sharply and directly". If it's not sharp and direct to the catcher's hand or glove it is a “foul ball” and, if caught by the catcher, an out. The ball no longer must go above the batter's head to be considered a “foul ball.”

Reds Hot Hitters: None... Reds batted 24/68 for a .353 Team Batting Average!

The Volcanoes came into this week desperately needing a sweep.  Instead, they left empyhanded.  Game one against Banta's Express started promising with 2 runs in the top of the first.  However Banta's troops responded with 2 of their own and added 6 in an error filled bottom of the 3rd.  That is all the ace hurler needed to secure the 8-5 win.  In game 2 against the first place Rockies, another quick start made things look good with a 2 run first.  But, following the usual script the bats went cold for a long stretch and the defense made some errors to reward the opposition with some gifts.  Trailing 11-3 going into the last at bat, the Volcs staged a furious rally eventually bringing the tying run to the plate.  I final fly out to SS ended the game and a rough day for Eusay's squad.

Bright spots:

David Tennyson continues his torrid hitting despite several POW snubs this season.  He went 6/7 with 2 RBI and scored twice.

Alan London was nearly perfect, going 5/6 and playing some great 2B defense.

Scott Sulzer was solid going 4/7 with 2 RBI and scoring twice while also continuing to mentor his rookie skipper who can't seem to figure out how to get on base.

In game 1 the MudCats got 18 hits but only scored 7 runs, as we stranded 8 runners.  No worries, we were able to win it with excellent defense all around, keeping Farin's Thunder to just 6 runs. Twas a well-played, exciting, and enjoyable comeback, with David Bamberger knocking in the go-ahead run!

Game 2 was a different story, as we only managed 12 hits and had several costly errors and some unfortunate trouble with injuries. Congratulations to Banta's Express on their 13-5 victory.

Today's MudCats +.500 hitters
Chase Berg 4 for 7, HR
Michael Barth 4 for 6, 2B
Jacob Schnitzer (sub) 5 for 6
Larry Lachman 3 for 4, 2B, BB, SA

Unfortunately the Rockies are losing one of their stars. Jeremy Pease our shortstop had a job opportunity that he couldn't turn down, not even for the Shalom League.

So eager to send Jeremy out on a win streak the Rockies came out in a head to head match against the other number one seed Zanes Reds. With not much offense to speak of for either side the Rockies tight defense kept the Reds to 4 runs going into the 6th. With some amazing catches by Travis Levay and Phillip Kim it was Nick Milton Laying out for a ball that he nearly had however his quick reaction was able to throw out the runner at second quite possibly being the saving run, that combined with a massive home run from Travis Levay (off of Poppa in law Greeley) to seal the deal.

The Second game against Eusay's Volcanoes was a much more comedic opportunity lead by quite possibly the greatest run down in history between Scott Sulzer and Brian Elliott, with Scotty S coming out on top of that battle. But not to be out done Brian fielded tons of shots up the middle today (one off of his cup in game 1) fielded a shot by Captain Eusay and to show his team how to run the bases walked to the dugout immediately allowing Brian to gingerly walk to first and hand Art (I can pick any ball) Rothenburg the ball. With a new strategy in affect of fouling off a hundred balls over the right field fence the Rockies offense was lead by Jeremy Pease going 3 for 3 almost hitting for the cycle for the second straight weekend. Travis Levay made an outstanding rundown catch in RF, and with Nick Milton diving all over the field however it was Jason Murray who made a spectacular catch in LCF while their captain observed from the bench. With an ugly 7th inning giving up a record 5 runs the Rockies ended the game not needing their final at bats and improving to 7 and 1 allowing Jeremy to leave ontop.

Hitting stars

Jeremy Pease 4 - 5 with a Sac Fly 9 RBI's

Jason Murray 4 - 5 with a Sac Fly 3 RBI's

Mike Hickey  3 - 6 with phenomenal 3rd base all day

Game one on big field one vs Barth's Muddy cats. Thunder scores four in the first and then believing the game was over early fell asleep in the litter box.- Cats purred out a 7-6 victory. Hitting stars for game one were Daniel Roth and James Lee each with three big hits.

Game two vs Buhrow's pesky Bats. Bats take a 7-5 lead into the top of the 7th but then the Thunder exploder for 6 runs. Huge hits by Lewis Zwick, Daniel Roth's double, John Burke's homer (with help from Buhrow's brothers collission in right), Kelly Alexander's triple, super sub Bill Walter's single and other safeties from Bryan Roth and James Lee.

Our POW candidate for the week was Daniel Roth who went 5 for 8 was a terrific sportsman and even funny on the bench.

Thunder is now 5-3 thru four weeks looking to make up ground on the Reds and Rockies in the next three weeks!

The Riverdogs continued their streak of sweeps, losing two ugly games in the rain Sunday. The Dogs blew leads of 4-0 and 7-2 in literally dropping the first game to nice guy Michael Barth and his Mudcats, 9-8. Tim Williams went 4 for 4 and Barry Epstein went 3 for 4 with a triple, his fifth straight game with an extra-base hit!

Game 2 was ugly from the start as the rain stopped but the Thunder rolled, 9-1. Randy Ransom had two doubles and scored the lone run for the Riverdogs.

GM Larry Goldstein, reached by telephone in Santa Fe, while still expressing confidence in the coaching staff, exclaimed “I take my wife on one trip in 25 years and you call me to talk softball. I expect that from Schnitzer or Unell or Epstein, but not you. Get another Wlliams, send the rookie down, and see if that shakes things up. And where’s Uman?” In an unrelated note, Goldstein asked for Fabian Sandler’s phone number.

Game 1 stars: Williams, Epstein, Ben Rakofsky (2-3), Barry Hersh (2-4, run, RBI)

Game 2 star: Ransom

Dog bones: thanks to subs Barry Hersh, Robert Lefkovits, and Jaime Aron…Epstein has an RBI in six straight games…Riverdogs continue their longest road trip of the season next week visiting Bats and Reds 

Game 1:               Express – 11       Bats – 3

Game 1 had the “Joker” Express taking on David “Baby Jesus” Buhrow’s winged mammals of the order Chiroptera, AKA the Bats. Sporting their highly potent yet questionable substitution strategy, Baby J’s crew looked more like the Kitti hog-nosed specie, coming up “small” in this affair. The Express jumped out early with a couple runs in the 1^st – a double by Bill Guidice, single by John Banta and another single by Patrick Sanchez accounted for the initial scoring. The rabies infested blood suckers scored 3 in the bottom of the 2^nd but the Express answered with 3 of their own in the top of the 3^rd as Edward Jameson led off with a base hit, followed by a Brandon Strull base hit. Banta doubled driving in a run, Patrick Sanchez drove in a run, and Jeff Radanof singled to bring in the final run of the frame. Next Inning had Bruce Lewin starting things with a double, followed by singles from Brian Strull and Robert Santiago. Edward Jameson drove in the final run in the 4^th inning. The 5^th inning was much of the same as the Express kept taking Bat Pitcher, Treasurer and Sub-List Chairman, John Hauf, to the wood shed for some garlic and holy water treatment just in case, popping him and his Lost Boys defense for another 4 runs. Hits by Banta, Sanchez (RBI), Radanof (RBI) and Tom Cross (RBI) and a SAC fly from Bruce Lewin completed the scoring in the 5^th while our own Batman and Robin, Sanchez and Radanof had hits in the 7^th, their 3^rd hit each of the game. Great defense all around as the Bats were shut out over the final 5 innings.

Top Hitters:

Patrick Sanchez                 3 for 4, 1 run scored, 2 RBI’s

Jeff Radanof                      3 for 4, 1 run scored, 3 RBi’s, Double

John Banta                        3 for 4, 3 runs scored, 2 RBI’s, 2 Doubles

Game 2:               Express – 7         Reds – 11

The second game started off well against Captain Rob Zane’s Cincinnati Reds as the Express jumped out to a 5-0 lead after 3 innings with hits from Brandon Strull, Bill Guidice, John Banta, Jeff Radanof, Jim Kawahigashi, Tom Cross, Robert Santiago and Edward Jameson. Late hits by Bruce Lewin and Patrick Sanchez added a couple more runs but Rob’s Red-Necks kept chipping away eventually taking their first lead in the final inning as we went to 1 pitch only. Sean “Slim Shady” Greely made no mistakes down the stretch and Super Sub Judah Epstein, who doubled as Tom Hank’s Forrest Gump character for the running scenes, hit well and played great defense. As a result, The Johnny Cash I-Hear-A-Train-A-Comin’ Folsom Prison Express win streak was halted at 2. We look forward to starting over next Sunday against JJ Eusay’s “of-course-we’re-on-field-1” Volcanos and then exacting sweet revenge on Michael Barth’s Mud Kitties. Congrats to Captain Rob! Big Thanks to Tom Cross for coming out and subbing!

Top Hitters:

Jeff Radanof:     3 for 3, 1 Run Scored, 2 RBI’s – **ROW/POW Stats for the day: 6 for 7, 5 RBI’s, 2 RS

Bruce Lewin:      3 for 3, 2 RBI’s -- **POW Stats for the day: 4 for 5, 3RBI’s, 1RS   

The Reds defense held its water in soggy conditions and the offense sprinkled in enough hits to sweep its second straight weekend series. Tony Macaluso’s career best game along with big contributions by sub Judah Epstein paced the ball club and kept the Reds tied for first place heading into its midseason showdown with co-leader Reed’s Rockies.

Game 1, began with a bang as the undermanned Eusay’s Volcanos tallied four runs in the top of the 1^st. Taking advantage of the vacant real estate in the outfield, the Reds answered by sending 14 batters to the plate in the bottom of the frame while posting a 9 spot. The Volcanos oozed back over the next three innings to take the lead but Macaluso’s second HR of the game along with Epstein’s triple to compliment his earlier HR gave the Reds a lead it would not relinquish on the way to the 13-11 win.

In stark contrast, it took the Reds 3+ innings to send its 14^th batter to the plate in Game 2 against Banta’s Express. John Banta’s impressive pitching and fielding skills shut down the Reds offense and the Express held a 5-0 lead going into the 4^th. Epstein’s second three bagger of the day started the scoring for the Reds as they plated 11 runs over the final 4 innings while Sean Greeley’s stingy pitching relinquished only 2 over that same stretch as the Reds capped the morning with an 11-7 victory.

Reds Hot Hitters:

Tony Macaluso: 5-7, 3 HR, BB, 5 R, 8 RBI

Judah Epstein: 6-7, HR, 2 3B, 2B, 5 R, 5 RBI

Thats rights sports fans.  The BATS are sad, Chuck Norris is sad, and America is sad.  The Canadian not only beat the BATS but destroyed them.  Is this our punishment for playing in the rain (maybe).  Is this our punishment for playing on a holiday (I think so).  One thing is without question and that is God loves to make Canadians lose and they won 24-9.  What the Crap.  

On a possitive note, many BATS had great days even if the team did not.  Sanjay went 4-7 with 1 RBI and great D, Jeff Roberts went 3-5 with 2 RBIs coming back from an injury, Mark Rappaport caught the ball at first (never thought I'd see it happen :), Mary Sarah Tennyson recorded her first out as a pitcher and was to no ones suprise hit in the ankle but was able to restrain her vocabulary to everyones suprise.  Way to go Mary!  

Seeking New Job

The BAT Captain

P.S.  go to www.batsagainstcanadians.com to stop the threat of Canadian world domination unless you like canadian bacon, running shoes made of tennis rackets, or signs in 10 diffrent languages

In game 1 vs the Thunder both squads seemed to be a bit off by the rain and only managed a combined 9 runs for the game.Jeremy Pease made some great plays at SS to keep the game close, and a clutch double play by Mike Hickey to help seal the deal. The Rockies offense was lack luster until the 3rd inning when ROW nominee Jay Swank blasted a triple to give the Rockies a chance. After making it to a 1 run lead the Rockies defense took over to hold onto the lead.

Game 2 was an entirely different offensive story. The Bats jumped out to an early lead scoring 3 in the first all due to an error by a player to be nameless (El Capitan). however in the 3rd the Rockies rallied to score 6 to tie the game and eventually pull away in the 5th scoring 10 lead largely in part to POW nominee Jeremy Pease hitting for the cycle going an amazing 5 for 5 with 4 RBI.

Hitting stars

Jeremy Pease 6 - 8 hitting for the cycle and 2 singles and 5 RBI
Jay Swank 3 - 6   2 RBI    Best utility man in the League
Travis Levay 3 - 6   1 RBI, Great base running and solid RF all day
Nick Milton 4 - 7  3 RBI
Rick Rosen 3 - 6  1 RBI Amazing base running and slide into home

If management can figure out a way to get all players to the field on time, this team might make some noise.  However, for the second consecutive week, the team started game 1 with 9 players against the first place Reds.  In contrast to previous weeks, the bats came out smokin with 4 runs in the first inning capped by a 2 run triple by newly acquired John Chung.  In the bottom of the first, Zane's squad took advantage of the three man outfield on a big Field 1 and plated 9.  Another big inning in the 3rd scoring 5 to tie it up at 10.  The Reds answered with 3 more in the next two innings and despite a late rally we came up short dropping this one 13-11.

Game 2 was vs Barth's Mudcats who came out hot with back to back homeruns to take an early 2-0 lead.  Ace hurler John Miller shut them down after that, only allowing 4 more runs over the next 6 innings.  The defense was solid and showed that the team is starting to gel defensively. 

Hitting Stars:

David Tennyson  6-8 3 RBI, 2-2B, HR, 5 R
John Chung  6-8 3 RBI, 2-3B, 4 R
Brent Collins  5-7, RBI, 3B, R
Greg Oetzmann  3-5, 2 RBI, 2 R, Great 3B Defense
Scott Sulzer  4-8, 3 RBI, 3B, 3 R

Rainy tight first game vs Reed's Rockies. Brian Elliott baffled the Thunder and somehow the Rockies escaped with a 5-4 victory. Jon Simonson was a perfect 3-3 at the plate and supersub Chuck Williams had two hits.

In our second tilt, the Thunder scored two in the first and second then putting up a 4 spot in the 3rd to win a 9-1 battle with Garber's Riverdogs. Kelly Alexander was 3-3, sub Chuck Williams was 4-4 and Simonson, sub Matthew Ladin and Bryan Roth contributed two hits each. Lewis Zwick's blast over the left fielder's head earned him a double and two huge rbi's for the Thundering Herd!

John Unell pitched two gems and deserved to be 2-0 on the day...

POW Candidate Jon Simonson was 5 for 6 and turned several double plays in the mud.

Mudcats Offense:
Dan Feldman 6 for 8, HR, 2B, 4 runs
Chase Berg 6 for 7, 2HRs, 4 RBI
Greg Fleisher 4 for 6, BB, 2 RBI
Larry Lachman 4 for 6, HR, 2 RBI

Mudcats Defense:
2 diving stops by sub Doug Storm at 3rd
couple of difficult catches by Greg Fleisher in LF
crazy catch by Kyle Casper in RCF

Game 1 notables:
Bottom of 6th, Larry Lachman hit a 2 run HR to put us up 8-7.
Top of 7th, Barth walks Wayne with the bases loaded to tie the game - yikes!
Bottom of 7th, 2 outs, bases loaded, Barth hits a hard line drive at the left fielder, but the wet ball slicks off his glove, and Dan Feldman crosses the plate for the 9-8 win!

Game 2 notables:
MudCats got off to a great start with consecutive HRs by Dan Feldman and Chase Berg, but we could only score 6 total runs off of John Miller, as we popped up way to much!  Congratulations to JJ's Volcanos for their 11-6 win.

Game 1:               Express – 1         River Dogs – 9

The Express fielded a full and semi healthy team in week 2 by welcoming Jeff Lewin and Brian Strull to the club to face Abbey Garber’s River Rats in a battle of the winless. Enthusiasm was tempered as a couple of early errors helped give the River Moccasins a quick 8-0 lead after 2 innings. The Express settled down defensively getting out of a bases loaded no out situation as Brian Strull fielded a Randy Ransom grounder at third, stepped on the bag and threw home to Edward Jameson who applied the tag for 2 quick outs. Next batter was current triple-crown leader Kevin Hancock who promptly made the last out of the inning. The defense continued to progress as the game went on shutting out the River Monkeys over the final 4 innings including another double play from Strull to Guidice to Radanof (4-6-3) and a highlight snag by Brandon Strull in LCF. Unfortunately, ageless jizz balling ace pitcher, Wayne “The Commish” Casper was giving nothing nice to swing at. The Express obliged by scattering 9 hits and only scoring 1 run, thus giving Skipper Garber his 1^st win of the fall season. Congrats Abbey!

Top hitters for the game:

• Bill Guidice:         2 for 3, 1 run scored, 2B, great defensive plays at SS
• Jeff Radanof:      2 for 3 and playing on 1 leg
• Brian Strull:        1 for 2, 2B – played solid defense; started 2 double plays

Game 2:               Express – 13       Thunder – 1

The late game looked like it would have disaster written all over it as the undefeated AC/DC “Thunder” managed by TSSL Legend Larry Farin rolled over to field 5 to take on the winless Express. Farin’s squad easily a favorite to take the fall crown with key John veterans: Unell, Burke and Simonson. Throw in super solid contributors Kelly Alexander (still might be traded to the Express) and Todd LeCocq, sprinkle in the three headed Roth Monster – Brian, Matt and Daniel and the HGH power of Lewis Zwick and they looked to have the makings of a championship team.

However, the odds makers took a beating on this game as the Express unleashed a 13 run, 20 hit attack on the Thunder Punks, jumping out to 5-0 lead after 1 and 9-1 lead after 2. 7 of the first 8 batters reached base safely to start the game. Singles by Brandon Strull, Bill Guidice and Patrick Sanchez (2RBI), doubles by John Banta and Jeff Lewin, SAC fly from Jim Kawahigashi and RBI’s from Bruce Lewin and Brian Strull completed the scoring in the first inning. The 2^nd inning started off with an Edward Jameson double followed by a Brandon Strull walk. Unell, sensing this might not be the Thunder’s game, served up a “here you go” pitch that Banta promptly put over the right field fence for a 3-run homer and an 8-0 lead. The game was marred by a controversial call as Farin tried to calm his troops down. Unfortunately, the umpires had the final say, leaving the Thunder with one less player. Nevertheless, the Express continued their quest to “get off the schneid” with great defense highlighted by 2 Jim Kawahigashi catches in RCF, one, a bases loaded, inning ender off the shoe top. The good guys concluded the game over the final couple of innings with base hits from Robert Santiago, Edward Jamison, Jeff Radanof, Jeff Lewin and a big 2B from Brian Strull (his 2^nd triple that he turned into a 2B thanks in part to a cranky calf). The capping blow was a towering 2-run homer by Bill Guidice over the LCF fence.

 Hitting Stars:

• John Banta                  3 for 4, 3 runs scored, 5 RBI’s, 2B, 3-run fence shot
• Bill Guidice                   2 for 4, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI’s, 2-run fence shot
• Jeff Radanof                3 for 4, 1 RBI – all with a bad wheel!
• Brandon Strull             2 for 3, 3 runs scored, BB
• Edward Jameson        2 for 3, 2 runs scored, 2B
• Jeff Lewin                   2 for 4, 1 runs scored, 2B

That BATS came out this sunday a little banged up with four subs and no defense.  Game one against Zane's Reds was a BAT massacre as they easily won 13-5.  Even though the BAT team was down, a few BAT heroes stepped up and saved game two to give the BATS a split for the day.  

Game 2 was against Eusay's (whats his team this week????) and the BAT heroes fought all game to take a 17-15 win.  Hero 1 was sub Tom (Alfred) Cross who went 6-7 on the day with 3 RBIs and a triple.  Hero 2 was Taylor (Bat Boy) Cross who went 3-3 in game 2 with a game sealing 2 run hr.  Hero 3 was Nancy Elizabeth Tennyson who went 4-6 with 5 RBIs on the day.  Last but not least is our unsung hero Gregory "Badger" Hurst who's 3rd basecoaching ability led to the waving around of 17 BAT runners.  He totally took one for the team since he has a injured shoulder and all.  Great day BATS and look forward to next week when we play the "Canadian Rockies" and "Why's the pitcher pitching at second base express" which should be two easy wins for the BATS.

Thanks,

The BAT Captain

After a few emails with Shalom League Commissioner’s Office personnel, the Reds Rookie Captain began the relatively simple process of finding a replacement for the team’s single known member who would not be available from its active 11 man roster. An emergency appendectomy and late ticket availability to Texas A&M’s SEC debut kicked off a week and a half ordeal of emails and phone calls that concluded on the eve of the week’s games with the original missing member being available after all. With the lineup finally set, Rob Zane enjoyed a well-deserved night’s sleep.

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”… as one of the Reds replacements was a no show at game time! It took a few innings before settling the team’s defensive alignment and the Reds responded with their first ever doubleheader sweep.

Game 1, against Buhrow's Bats, began with goose eggs for each team in the 1^st inning. The Reds started the bottom of the 2^nd with 4 consecutive singles and held a 4-0 lead after two. Three unearned runs in the top of the 3^rd brought the Bats to within one run before a 6 run bottom of the 3^rd gave the Reds a comfortable cushion at 10-3. Neither team hit the pay station over the next two innings but during the drought, we learned that the only thing Clint Hauck is committed to is dinner (and he has difficulty concentrating at the plate if he’s thinking about food). The Bats swarmed for 2 runs in the top of the 6^th and the Reds answered with 3 of their own in the bottom half of the frame to cap off the scoring in the 13-5 win.

Game 2 saw Barth’s Mudcats post 5 runs in the top of the first. The Reds were undeterred and responded with 4 runs in their half of the inning capped off with a bases clearing three bagger by super sub, Steve Enda. Sean Greeley's ptiching, backed by the Reds defense, allowed only one more Mudcat to cross the plate over the final six innings on the way to an impressive 11-6 victory.

When the dust of the weekend cleared, Zane’s Reds found themselves at the top of the standings as they prepare to face Eusay’s Volcanos and Banta’s Express. Let the emails and phone calls begin!

Reds Hot Hitters:

Darren Kammer: 7-7, BB, 3B, 4 R, 2 RBI

Robbie Franklin: 6-8, 2 R, 2 RBI

Steve Enda: 5-8, 3B, 3 R, 3 RBI

Game one vs Eusay's Volcanoes- The game began in a blinding sun on field five but you wouldn't know it as the first 8 batters reached base to score 8 in the visitor's first. 23 hits led to a 16-5 win over JJ's squad. Daniel Roth and dad Bryan combined for 7 for nine and hurler John Unell had 3 huge hits too after returning from Paris where he ran suicides with Lance Armstrong near the Arch de Triumph.

Game two was a tough battle up against Banta's Express. The Thunder was a little overconfident and couldn't hit JB's tough knucklecurves etc... as the Express prevailed 13-1.

Thunder stars-

John Uness four hits and 4 rbi's- POW nominee

John Burke, Bryan Roth, Kelly Alexander all with 3 hits.

The Thunder are happy to be tied for first place after two weeks in the Fall League. Time to start another winning streak next Sunday!

After two weeks of play, one thing is becoming very apparent. This team is NOT a morning team. In the first matchup on the "sun" field against the Thunder, the Volcanoe sticks were silent for about 6 innings. By that time, Farin's squad had built a 16-2 lead and were coasting. We mounted a rally in the bottom of the 7th scoring 3 before surrendering. Management was overheard threatening 7 am practices every Sunday to get the team going. This proved to be some motivation going into Game 2.

In game 2 vs. the Bats of Buhrow, the bats of the Volcanoes woke up. In the first three innings we scored 3, 6 and 4 respectively to build a 13-8 lead. Buhrow's squad fought back with 6 in the top of the 4th to take a one run lead. In the bottom of the 4th David Tennyson singled home Greg Oetzmann to tie it all up at 14. After a scoreless 5th inning by both teams, the Bats plated 3 runs on a Taylor Cross homer. In the bottom of the 6th, the home team mounted a big threat. After two quick outs, Oetzmann singled, Michael Weber reached on an error, and ace John Hauf walked two consecutive batters plating one and putting the winning run on 1st. Super Sub Brian Levine needed to find base to get JJ Eusay to the plate with a chance to win it but grounded into a fielders choice to end the game.

Hitting Stars:

David Tennyson 5-6, 4 Runs, 3 BB's, 3 RBI, Great SS play (Player of the Week Nom)
JJ Eusay 5-8, 5 Runs, 5 RBI, 2 2B's, 3 great catches in LCF
John Miller 5-8, 2 Runs, 4 RBI, 3B
Pat Fitzgerald 2-6, 2 Runs, BB, RBI (Rookie of the Week Nom)

The Riverdogs won two games Sunday, beating the Express 9-1 and the Rockies 11-10. In a matchup of 0-2 teams, the dogs jumped on Express captain and starting pitcher Jon Banta for three runs in the first and five in the second to take an 8-0 lead. Banta must have taken his boys to the woodshed after that, because they turned three double plays in the next four innings, but could only muster a run in the seventh off of winning pitcher Wayne Casper to avoid the shutout. Tim Williams was the lead dog with three hits, two runs, two RBI, and his usual fine play at shortstop.

Game two was more exciting but not in a good way at first. The Rockies took a 6-0 lead on the combination of nice hitting, sloppy fielding, and never stop running, and scored in nearly every inning to lead 10-7 going to the bottom of the sixth with time expired. As Kevin Hancock caught Justin Reed’s blast at the fence, Coach Garber decided to inspire his troops. As they ran in from the outfield, he told Hancock he would score the winning run and told Barry Epstein he would get the game-winning RBI. Following the script, Garber, Williams, and Randy Ransom got on in front of Hancock’s double, tying the game. Super sub Mike Sheppard, who had injured himself earlier (only to be told that we were all injured) advanced the winning run to third by hitting to the right side for the first time in his 29 year career. That left it up to Epstein, who plated the winner by grounding the ball hard to the first baseman, whose throw home had no chance to get Hancock. Hancock had another fine game, going 4-4 with 2 runs and 4 RBI.

GM Larry Goldstein, while still expressing confidence in the coaching staff, not only attended both games, but played rightfield, where, he said, he "could keep an eye on things." In an unrelated note, Goldstein asked for Barry Brodsky’s phone number.

Game 1 stars: Williams, Gene Reister (2-3)

Game 2 stars: Hancock, Garber (3-4, 3 runs), Goldstein (2-2, bases-loaded walk)

Dog bones: Ransom has four straight multi-hit games.  Epstein had two more doubles (one even got out of the infield). Epstein watches his stats as much as his idol Pete Rose, so we were all surprised that he chose the 0 for 1 grounder RBI over the 0 for 0 sacrifice fly. Perhaps Dr C gave him better odds on the ground ball. Tim Williams had a 47 foot single (he said it is a line drive in the box score; maybe so, Tim, but not in the Dog bones). Riverdogs go on the road next week to play Barth and Farin. Nice guys …

First I would like to thank the Warriors that came out and played today despite their injuries. Phillip Kim had no business playing with his knee in the shape it was, Nevermind playing a strong outfield all day.

The first game was against Barths Mudcats. The Rockies came out hitting strong most of the game. The game was close until the third when the Rockies scored 7 large in part to a massive base clearing triple hit by Jay Swank. From there the Rockies strong defense held off the mudcats to a score of 13 - 8

Game 2 was against Garbers River Dogs. The game was close all throughout. Despite some incredible defensive plays from Mike Hickey and Jay Swank the Rockies were unable to hold their 3 run lead going into the final inning giving the Rockies their first taste of defeat.

Hitting stars

Art Rothenburg despite his injuries was a perfect 5 for 5 a BB and 4 RBI's is easily our POW

Jason Murray was 4 - 5 with a Sac Fly and 4 RBI's

Brian Elliot despite his injuries was 3 - 5 with BB and 2 RBI's

In game 1 the MudCats got 16 hits, but only 8 runs, as we stranded 10 runners.  Dan Feldman went 2 for 3 with a BB and scored 3 runs, Chase Berg went 3 for 4 with a 2B, and Aaron Zweig had a clutch 2-out 2-RBI single.  Barth felt bad to have walked Rockies at inopportune times, and they took advantage with several in-the-gap blasts.  Final score: 8 to 13.  Congratulations to Justin Reed on his team's win and his fence HR.

In game 2 Joel Cerefice went 2 for 3 with a 3B, 2 runs, and 2 RBI, and got down and dirty playing 2nd base with several putouts from his knees.  Aaron Zweig and Larry Lachman also went 2 for 3, but our 6 run game total was not enough, as the Reds had 8 runs after the first 2 innings.  Final score: 6 to 11.  Congratulations to Rob Zane on his team's win, even though our guy was clearly safe at 2nd on the bobble!

P.S.  I don't remember which game they were in, but some defensive gems today:  Dan Feldman on a very tough drift-back fly out behind the SS spot, Gregg Fleisher on a quick-sinking fly in LF, Aaron Zweig with some serious hangtime on a high liner nab at 3rd, and Chris Musquiz on the run near the RF line, turning a certain RBI-triple into an out.

Game 1:               Express – 12       Mudkittys – 14

The 2012 version of the Round Rock Express started out with late news that Jeff Lewin was going to have to sit out another week due to viral meningitis. The good guys were ready to roll with 9 players and started off hot, jumping out to a 10-2 lead. However, injuries took down Jeff Radanof (1-4, 3 RBI’s) and Robert Santiago (2-4, 2B, 1 RBI) forcing the Express into some stationary defense. The Kitty’s chipped away over the last 3 innings to take the opener 14-12. Congrats to skipper Michael Barth.

Hitting Stars:

Brandon Strull:                 2 for 3, 3 runs scored, BB and outstanding CF defense in a 3 man outfield

Bill Guidice:                       2 for 3, 3 runs scored, 2B, BB, 1 RBI, outstanding play at SS all day

John Banta:                        3 for 4, 3 runs scored, 2B, 4 RBI’s

Patrick Sanchez:               2 for 2, 2BB, 2B, 2 RBI’s

Bruce Lewin:                      2 for 4, 2 runs scored, 2B, 1 RBI

Game 2:               Express-3            Rockies-6

The injury depleted Express took the field with 7 healthy bodies against Justin Bieber Reed’s Canadian Rockies who had to observe this defensive battle after having snip snip surgery due to a NAFTA kid import limit. The Express were able to keep the Rockies in check most of the game but could only put up 3 runs to go with 12 hits and fall short against the Canuck kids. Congrats to the Beebs! Extremely proud of the way these 9 guys hung in there all day and played competitively even though the team was short handed and injured.

Hitting Stars:

Brandon Strull:                 2 for 4, 2 runs scored

John Banta:                        2 for 4

Patrick Sanchez:               3 for 4, 2 RBI’s

Bruce Lewin:                      2 for 3

Jim Kawahigashi:             2 for 3, 1 run scored

Edward Jamison:              1 for 3

*POW Nominee: Patrick Sanchez – 5 for 6, 2BB, 2B, 4 RBI’s        

By the early looks of it, the manager of the Volcanoes drafted a team thatseems to prefer later starts. The first game was against Reed's Rockies and the offense resembled something very similar to dormant volcanoe in scoring a whopping total of ZERO runs getting blanked 15-0. The Volc's mustered 5 hits and proved that the only way to go from there was up.

In the second game against Garber's squad, it looked to be a near repeat of lackluster offense until John Miller led off the 3rd inning with an impressive triple to right center and Alan London had a triple plating 2 runs and completing a 4 run rally that narrowed the deficit to 7-5. After giving up 3 more runs in the top of the 4th, the Volc's came back with an 8 spot in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. Pat Fitzgerald, who was 2 for 2 in the game led off the inning with a single and was followed by a David Tennyson single and John Miller walk. JJ Eusay hit a 2 run single and was followed by 4 straight singles to finish the scoring. Scott Sulzer came on the get the save and salvage a split on the day with a 14-10 victory.

Stars of the Day:

David Tennyson 5 for 8, 2B, RBI
JJ Eusay 3 for 5, 3 RBI, BB, Sac Fly
Greg Oetzmann 4 for 7
Alan London 4 for 7, 3B, 2 Runs, 2 RBI

Why yes it is sports fans.  The BATS took the field today marking the begining of the Shalom League Fallball season.  The BATS came out looking to find a KAPOW of wins but only found a BOOM.

Game 1 was against Farins Thunder (not Yankees...very confusing) who stole the show in extra innings winning 10-9.  It was tough fought came with the lead changing almost every inning.  The big stars for the BATS were Esmerelda Tennyson who went 4-4 with 3 RBI, Jeff Roberts who went 2-4 with 1 RBI and great D at 2nd, and Salley Struthers who went 3-5 with 1 RBI and great D in LF.  

Game 2 was against Barths Mudcats (do Mudcats grunt???) who ran into a BAT team that started clicking.  The BAT signial could be found all over the field and the end result was BATS 11 and Mudcats 1.  Big stars of the game where: Sanjay (3-4), Salley Struthers (4-4 with 4 RBIs), John Hauf (3-4 with great d at 3rd), Back 2 Back Silverman (2-3 great pitiching and hustle), Greg "Badger" Hurst (fantastic bench warming buddy)

Thanks to all the BATS for a great effort and see you after the holiday.

-The Bat Captain     

Yes, mudcats grunt in late September when biting the heads off of baby bats! -MB  ;-)

With the fall season lacking a week of practice games, Rob Zane, the Reds Rookie Captain, took an interesting approach to his defensive positioning in order to gain knowledge of the players provided him by the ballclub's front office in the fall draft. Throughout both games this week, Zane juggled his defense almost as often as his defense juggled the softball. Unearned runs were the specialty of the day but the Reds bats woke up late in both games to earn the split.

Game 1, against Garber's River Dogs, began well for the Reds tallying 4 in the top of the 1st. Unfortunately, the defense gave all of them back plus one in the bottom of the inning. The Reds trailed 11-5 after 4 innings before outscoring the River Dogs 10-2 over the final 3 frames to take the opener by a final score of 15-13.

The Reds seemed lethargic at the plate at the beginning of the morningcap against Farin's Thunder and the defense continued to unimpress. The Reds managed to advance only one runner as far as third base and found themselves in a hole of their own making, down 8-0 at the start of the 5th. Jett Serrett's fence dinger leading off that inning sparked the Reds' offense. Bruce Ackerman's single off the second base bag helped the Reds pull within 3. The deficit proved to be too much, as the Thunder emerged victorious, 9-7.

Reds Hot Hitters:

Jett Serrett: 7-7, HR, 4 R, 3 RBI

Rob Zane: 5-6, HR, 4 RBI

Tony Macaluso: 5-7, 4 RBI

Coach Garber's Riverdogs got off to a sloppy start, losing 15-13 to the Reds and 14-10 to the Volcanos.  The dogs hit well, with Tim Williams going 6 for 8, Randy Ransom 5 for 7, and early Rookie of the Year candidate Kevin Hancock 6 for 6 with a doubleheader cycle plus a sac fly and an intentional walk (BOO!).  GM Larry Goldstein did not attend Opening Day, but when informed of the events, expressed confidence in the coaching staff.  In an  unrelated note, Goldstein asked for Skipper Bob Weinfeld's phone number.

game 1 stars:  Tim Williams (5-5, 3 runs), Kevin Hancock (4-4, 2 runs, 4 RBI, 3B, SF), Larry Schnitzer (2-4, 3 RBI, nifty double play), Barry Epstein (2-3, 2 runs, RBI, 2B, 3B, BB)

game 2 stars:  Randy Ransom (3-3, 2 runs, RBI, 2B), Hancock (2-2, 2 runs, 4 RBI, HR, 2B, IBB), Ben Rakofksy (2-3, run, 3B)

Dog Bones:  Williams hit safely in his first 6 at bats.  Barry Epstein had a double, triple, and homer, so he probably leads in isolated power (look it up, seamheads).  Wayne Casper only walked one batter all day.  Riverdogs play Express next, with the loser having inside track for first draft pick.

There is something very special about the fall season where the Champions of Autumn play. Today the Thunder got off too a great start by edging David Buhrow's Bat's 10-9 in extras. After John Burke and Jon Simonson started the rallthe Thunder  in the eighth inning Todd Lecocq, Bryan Roth, Matthew Roth and super rookie James Lee coaxed walks for the huge victory!

In game two vs Rob Zane's Reds the bats came alive in the first two innings with 7 runs scored. Todd Lecocq turned two double plays at short and the Thunder held on for a 9-7 win.

Thunder crackers for Sunday:

John Burke 7 for 8 and 4 runs scored

Jon Simonson 5 for 8 and 4 rbi's

Kelly Alexander 4 hits and 4 rbi's

Super sub Rick Leon 4 hits 3 rbi's and two expertly pitched games

Bryan Roth 4 for 6 and two big rbi's

Daniel Roth 4 hits and super defense in left center

In quite possibly the best coaching decision the rookie captain could make. Reed picked up super sub Andrew Williams to fill in for himself.

In Game 1 against the Volcanoes the rockies fired on all cylinders. The outfield looked like an allstar cast of ball players not letting anything drop. And with the mighty Art Rothenburg at first base our infield could have thrown it just about anywhere (and sometimes did) was still able to come up with the plays. Jay Swank played a stud second base with Pease and Hickey playing great. The Rockies were able to keep the shut out for our hurler Brian Elliott winning the game 15-0.

Game 2 was more of a defensive game facing Bantas Express. Unable to crack the code of Jon Banta the Rockies only managed 6 runs all game but it was enough to beat the beat up express, who were only playing with 9. Our defense was solid all around again only allowing 3 runs all game. And with Jason Murray rushing back to aid us in the second game the rockies were able to even rest some of our allstars for a couple innings. A big thanks to the subs Andrew Williams and Preston Stover who were both key in todays victories.

Key hitters

Phillip Kim 7-8 scoring 6 times

Andrew Williams 7-8 6 Rbi's, 2 Doubles, and scoring 5 times

Jeremy Pease and Mike Hickey both 4-8 on the day

In game 1, the Mudcats got 17 hits against the shorthanded Express for a nice 14-12 come-from-behind victory. Sub Nicholas Anderson hit an inside the park HR in the 1st inning, then was walked by Banta on his next 3 at bats. Dan Feldman gunned a runner down at home, with sub Adam DeLise making the nice tag for a key out. Chris Musquiz had a 2 RBI triple. Sub Rob Sosebee caught everything in RCF despite the tricky wind. 

In game 2, the Mudcats couldn't get their offense going, only getting 6 hits and 1 run. Sub Jamey Newberg got 2 hits and scored our only run on an Aaron Zweig sac fly.  The Bats team scored 11 for the win.

first i wish to congratulate the rangers for a great come from behind win today...second i need to apologize to the the rangers...the league and most importantly to my team the blue claws for how i acted...i was classless and wrong in my reaction to the loss today.  the blue claws played with heart and character all year and in the end made me proud to be their captain but i didn't show that.  i am deeply sorry for my actions for walking off the field and i am embarrassed for it. i hope you the rangers...the league and especially my team will accept my humble apology.

Sean Greeley

Ranger Rap

Magic again!!!! The Gers down 12-7 to a tough and determined Thresher squad found a way to make an improbable 7th inning rally scoring 6 and winning an amazing game 13-12. Troy Tenyson started the 7th inning magic with a lead off single. Tony Mac followed with a rip double and then BUC hit a Sac. Now down 4 with 1 out super sub B Carter hit a pop up in front of the SS which turned into a hit. Ken "Ocean" Sprague and Larry Sil both had solid singles bring up Ed J who also stroked a single-his 3rd hit of the game from the 10 hole!!! CWill then hit what could have been a game ending DP ball but he was able to beat the throw by 4 inches. Now the Gers were down by 1 with two outs and Hershy got a clutch single to tie up the contest. Up comes JJ who had two doubles and a 1B in his previous ab's-he hit a fould fly that was dropped by the R Fielder (Ranger Magic!!!) and with a 2nd chance came through with a hit that scored CWill with the winning run.

Wow what a fantastic comeback for the boys

Many Stars: JJ-4/5, 3 Runs, 3RBI's, 2 2B's and GWH

Tenny-3/4. 1 run and 2 rbi's

Hershy-3 Hits, 2 RBI's

Mac-3 hits, 2 RBI's, 2B, and brilliant relief pitching

Ocean-a big double and 1B in the rally

Sil-3 hits and a hit in big rally

Jamey-3 hits and hit in big rally

The Rivercat's coach decided to go with a bit of a gamble and only play with nine players on Sunday. It seemed like a pretty boneheaded move when the Rivercats started the day with only eight players because their star Andrew Williams was stuck in traffic. Amazingly though they only gave up one run to the absent Eddie Tann's Tigers, and managed to get that run back immediately in the bottom of the first after Coach Casper reached first on a 30 foot single and advanced to second on a throwing error. Steve Barker singled him in to tie the game. The Tigers got 2 in the top of the second and another 1 in the top of the third. After an unfortunate hard hit ball by Austin Barker in the bottom of the second was turned into a double play, the Rivercats strung together 7 runs in the bottom of the third, with Steve Barker and Bob Davis each getting 2 hits in the inning. The Tigers managed only one more run in the top of the 4th, and were shut down in the top of the 5th to end the game. Great job by Steve Barker, 3-3, 2 R, RBI; Bob Davis, 2-3, R, Great SS defense; Andrew Williams for his fantastic CF defense; Tom Cross, 2-2, BB, RBI, and all with a new bat...;Taylor Cross, 2-3, R, RBI.

As the Rivercats moved on to field 1 to enjoy the to commentary of coaches Larry Silverman and John Unell, coach Casper was to face pitcher Casper of the Muckdogs, who had advanced in an impressive 14-9 win over the all-star Owls. The Muckdogs got off to a fast start with 5 runs in the top of the first. The Rivercats managed to answer with 2 runs in the bottom of the first. The Muckdogs got one back in the top of the second to make it 6-2 dogs. The Rivercats' Taylor Cross answered that run with a signature field 1 homerun, bringing the score to 6-3. Austin Barker tripled, but was called out on a tag after reaching third. John Chung tripled, Steve Barker doubled, Bob Davis singled, and Andrew Williams sacced Barker in on a deep fly ball. Manny Madrigal tied the game with an RBI single, bringing the score to 6-6. The Muckdogs were quiet in the top of the third, and Taylor Cross found a way to score to bring the score to 7-6 cats. The Muckdogs were quiet again in the 4th, and the Rivercats tacked on another 2 runs on a big RBI triple by Manny Madrigal, who later scored. The Muckdogs managed only 1 run in the top of the 5th, and were shut down in the top of the 6th to end the game 9-7 Rivercats. John Chung was 2-3, BB, 3B, 2 R; Andrew Williams was 2-2, SF, R, 2 RBI; Manny Madrigal was 2-3, 3B, R; Taylor Cross was 2-3, HR, 2 R, RBI; Austin Barker was 2-3, 3B.

Needing a sweep of the Mets and the Yankees/Pirates winner in the Division 2 Mini-playoffs, the Royals came ready to play as they took both ends of the playoff doubleheader, defeating Schnitzer’s Mets, 8 – 5, and Farin’s Yankees in a thrilling come-from-behind victory, 11 – 6. The Royals parlayed one big inning in both ends of the doubleheader, two quality starts from pitcher Michael Barth, and stellar defense to fuel the triumphs. The mini-playoff sweep gives the Royals the Division 2 fifth and final slot in the TSSL 2012 Playoffs; they will play the fourth seed Bees next Sunday in the opening round. The playoff appearance marks the third consecutive year that the Royals will head to postseason play.

In the opener, the Mets scored a run in the top of the first to take the early lead. They Royals avoided a big inning when Royals’ left centerfielder, Rob Sosebee, threw out a runner at home plate, when catcher Brian Conn caught the ball, blocked the plate, and tagged the runner to record the final out of the inning.

After a 1–2–3 bottom of the first, the Royals’ bats came alive in the bottom of the second as they sent nine batters to the plate; scoring six of them. Barth, who tossed five innings of shut-out ball, singled to lead off the inning. Fred Clausen followed with another single, and Joel Cerefice laced a double to score Barth and knot the game at 1 – 1. With runners on second and third, Sosebee and Larry Lachman each followed with RBI singles to make it 3 – 1. Mets ace, Jon Banta, bore down and recorded two consecutive outs, while not allowing the runners to advance. Up stepped the Royals leadoff hitter, Jett Serrett. Serrett only had one hit in the game, but boy oh boy, was it a doozy. With two on and two out, and the Royals’ season on the line, Serrett worked the count to 2 – 2, and then delivered what was the biggest hit of his rookie season; launching a towering 3-run homerun that cleared the fence to straightaway centerfield, bringing the Royals’ faithful and the Royals’ bench to their feet.

Leading 6 – 1, the Royals added one more in the bottom of the third when Barth tripled with one out, and scored on Clausen’s RBI single.

After the Mets rallied for four runs in the top of the fourth, the Royals were clinging to a precarious 7 – 5 lead. In the bottom of the frame, singles by Lachman, Bennett Robinson, and Bill Walter padded the lead to 8 – 5. In a game where virtually every Royal made at least one terrific defensive play, that was all Barth needed as he shut the Mets down the rest of the way. 

Mini playoff game 1 offensive stars

Jett Serrett  1 – 3, 1 Run, 3 RBI, 3-Run Fence Homerun
Michael Barth  2 – 3, 2 Runs, 3B
Fred Clausen  2 – 3, 1 Run, 1 RBI
Larry Lachman  2 – 2, 1 Run, 1 RBI, BB

The nightcap featured the Yankees, victorious over the Pirates, visiting the Royals in the game that would decide which team would advance to the postseason. After both teams scored three runs in the first inning, the Yankees scored two in the top of the third to take a 5 – 3 lead. With one run in, and runners on first and second and only one out, David Tennyson lined a double to right centerfield. The runner on second scored, and the runner on first rounded third and attempted to score. Walter ran down the ball and threw to Cerefice, who made a perfect relay to the plate, and Conn tagged out the runner for the second out of the inning.

The Royals scored unearned runs in the third and fourth to knot the score at 5 – 5, but the Yankees retook the lead with one in the top of the fifth. To that point in the game, Yankees ace, John Burke, had frustrated the Royals, inducing them to hit into three double plays.

The Yanks owned a 6 – 5 lead heading to the bottom of the fifth when the Royals’ offense erupted for six runs as they sent 11 batters to the plate. Serrett singled to lead off the inning. Walter promptly tripled to tie the game at 6 – 6. One out later, Barth’s single brought home Walter to give the Royals their first lead of the game. Singles by Clausen and Cerefice loaded the bases. With two outs Lachman stepped up to the plate.

Lachman worked the count full before delivering the clutch, two out, two-run double to score Barth and Clausen, and give the Royals some breathing room at 9 – 6. Robinson followed with a clutch two-run double of his own. The back-to-back doubles expanded the lead to 11 – 6.

After the first two Yankees reached base to start the top of the sixth, Barth recorded two quick outs. The next batter lined a sure extra base hit into the centerfield gap. On a day where the Royals’ defense played a near flawless doubleheader, it was only fitting that left centerfielder, Sosebee, made a spectacular, diving catch to end the inning and clinch the Royals’ playoff berth. 

Mini playoff game 2 offensive stars

Bill Walter  3 – 3, 3 Runs, 1 RBI, 3B
Larry Lachman  3 – 3, 2 Runs, 2 RBI, 2 2B
Michael Barth  2 – 3, 2 Runs, 2 RBI
Bennett Robinson  2 – 3, 2 RBI, 2B
Fred Clausen  2 – 3, 1 Run, 1 RBI
Joel Cerefice  2 – 3, 1 Run, 1 RBI
Randy Ransom  2 – 3, 1 Run

The Mets won a pair of 1 run games in dramatic fashion to close out the regular season. In game 1 vs the Muckdogs, the Mets scored 2 in the top of the 1^st to take an early lead only to give it up by allowing 4 runs in the bottom. The Mets scored 4 in the 4^th, and added 2 more in the 5^th and 7^th plating 10 total runs. Jon Banta was stellar at the plate going 4 for 4 with a 2B and Phillip Kim, Darren Dickson, Mark Elfenbein, Alan Gohelke, and Larry Schnitzer all added 2 hits of their own. With the potential winning runs on base, the game ended with a dandy 4-6-3 double play by Gohelke to Dickson to Elfenbein. Mets 10, Muckys 9.

In game 2, the Mets hosted the Threshers who were in much need of a win for their playoff seeding. The Threshers had sent scouts to observe the upstart Mets earlier in the day. Sanjay Pant went 3 for 4 with a 2B, to lead off for the Mets. The Mets scored 3 in the 1^st. After an intentional walk for Banta, Elfenbein came through with a key hit as the Mets scored 2 more in the 3^rd. Inning 5 proved to be the big inning as the Mets sprayed 7 hits in 8 batters with RBIs gathered in by Banta, Elfenbein and Schnitzer. As time expired, the Mets were up and held on to a 9-8 victory.

The Red Sox entered the final weekend of the regular season in the enviable position of having cinched the number 1 seed for the playoffs. The goal was to continue to generate momentum while facing a 4 week layoff prior to the playoffs.

Game 1 against the Yankees saw the Red Sox fall behind 7-1 after 3 innings. The Red Sox tied it at 7 in the 4^th thanks to a 2 run homer by Nick Anderson, a triple by Rony Batagower and a 2 run double by Chris Moucka. Three more in the fifth inning gave the Red Sox the lead for good as they held on for a 12-9 win.

Game 2 against the resurgent Giants was a pitcher’s duel even though the wind was blowing out. The Red Sox took a 3-0 after 4 before the Giants rallied to tie it at 3 in the 5^th. Michael Hickey led off the bottom of the 6^th with a hustling double before an error on a throw to first allowed him to score from second with what proved to be the winning run in a 4-3 win.

Hitting was led by sub John Chung with 4-5, John Miller 3-4 and Michael Hickey and Robbie Franklin 4-7. The Red Sox end a spectacular regular season at 18-6 leading the league in scoring with the Blue Claws with 260 runs (11 per game) and giving up one run more than the Scrappers (167) (7 per game) to have the best point differential in the league with a plus 93.

It’s been a magical season thus far and the Red Sox hope to continue the magic in the playoffs.

Ranger Rap

Ger's dropped a dip looking lethargic in doing so. Luckily they backed into 3rd place and will start the new season with a new lease on life. Not many highlights in the opener getting drubbed 21-6..... T Will played well going 3/3 and Buc, Larry Williams, and Ed Jameson all had 2 hits. Shus had a hustle triple as well unfortunately hurting his hand. Second game saw a better effort against the Farinless Yanks losin a tough 10-9 decision. Clint " Buc" had two doubles and another hit with 2 RBI's. T Will had 3 more hits as did Tenny. Hershy had a two run double and super sub Joe Baz had 3 hits as well. Just not enough to overcome the determined Yanks whose Jamie Aaron played brilliant D.

Ranger Ruby's:

Tim Williams-6/7, 2 runs, 2 rbi's, and a 2B

Buc Hauck-5/7, 3runs, 3 rbi's, and 2 doubles

It was a tale of two completely different games for the Royals on Sunday, but the outcomes were the same in their doubleheader sweep. In the opener, the Royals used a balanced offensive attack, timely hitting, and solid defense to upend the heavily favored, Division 2 Champion Greeley’s Blue Claws, 24 – 11. In the nightcap, All-star Randy Ransom put the Royals on his back, belting two, 2-run homeruns, and Michael Barth emerged victorious in a pitchers’ duel, as the Royals defeated Farin’s Yankees, 6 – 4.

Against the Blue Claws, Jeremy Pease’s RBI triple in the first inning gave the Royals a short-lived lead, as the Blue Claws promptly scored three in the bottom of the frame. Leading 3 – 1, the Blue Claws quickly recorded two outs in what appeared to be an uneventful top of the second inning. With the bases empty, Rob Sosebee lined a single to left, the first of his four hits in the game. The next 12 Royals followed suit with 11 hits and one walk as the Royals set a TSSL record, scoring 12 runs after the first two outs of the inning had been recorded. In the inning, Brian Conn, Jett Serrett, and Barth, each delivered clutch two out hits that drove in two runs apiece, and Sosebee, who was the catalyst for the huge rally, went 2 – 2.

The Blue Claws scored one run in the second and were threatening to score more when the Royals turned a 6–4–3 double play to end the inning. Leading 13 – 4, the red-hot Royals’ encore was an 8-run third inning that saw 10 consecutive Royals reach base (via 9 hits and one walk), as eight different Royals had an RBI. Bennett Robinson capped the scoring in the sixth with a 2-run triple.

The Royals pounded out 28 hits, as every Royal had at least one hit, and 11 of the 12 Royals had at least one RBI. Serrett, Pease, and Barth led the Royals with three RBIs apiece.

A week after Pease returned from the IR, the doubleheader marked the return of Joel Cerefice and Sosebee from the IR. After scoring 20 runs in two consecutive innings, Ransom said wistfully, “Imagine what we could have done all season had we been able to field our entire team.” It was the second time this season the Royals scored 20 or more runs in two consecutive innings; April 22 was the first, which coincidentally, was the last time Pease, Cerefice, and Sosebee played together with the rest of the Royals’ regular players. The Royals’ 28 hits in the game also set a season high.

Game 1 offensive stars

Rob Sosebee  4 – 4, 2 Runs, 2 RBI
Jeremy Pease  3 – 4, 2 Runs, 3 RBI, 3B
Jett Serrett  3 – 4, 2 Runs, 3 RBI, 2B
Michael Barth  3 – 4, 2 Runs, 3 RBI
Bill Walter  2 – 3, 3 Runs, 1 RBI, BB
Bennett Robinson  2 – 4, 2 Runs, 2 RBI, 3B
Joel Cerefice  2 – 4, 2 Runs, 2 RBI, 2B
Randy Ransom  2 – 4, 2 Runs, 2 RBI
Brian Conn  2 – 4, 2 Runs, 2 RBI
Fred Clausen  2 – 4, 2 Runs, 2 RBI
Rob Rosenberg  2 – 4, 1 Run, 1 RBI

In the nightcap, Barth outdueled Yankee’s ace, John Burke in a low-scoring affair. The rematch of last week’s high scoring game couldn’t have been more different, except in one respect.

The last time Burke faced Ransom, Ransom hammered a 3-run homerun to give the Royals a 16 – 11 come-from behind victory in last week’s Game of the Week. The power surge continued this week as Ransom blasted two more fence homeruns in his first two at-bats, giving him three consecutive homeruns against Yankee pitching, over two games.

All-star Bill Walter’s one out single in the first preceded Ransom’s first homerun, a tape measure shot to straightaway left field. Before the inning was over, the Royals scored two more, with Cerefice delivering the key hit on an RBI double.

Walter was the catalyst again as his one out single in the third preceded Ransom’s second homerun, an outside, almost unhittable pitch that Ransom got a hold of, and hit to almost the exact same location as his first round tripper.

To the Yankees’ credit, they did pitch to Ransom when he led off the bottom of the sixth. In that at-bat, Ransom hit a mere single up the middle. After Ransom’s second homerun in the third, Burke bore down and held the Royals scoreless the rest of the way.

Ransom did it with his glove, too, turning multiple hot smashes headed for left field into force outs at second base. After a number of sparkling defensive gems by the Royals’ third baseman, it was overheard in the exasperated Yankee dugout, “You mean he can play defense, too!”

The other story of the game was Barth, as he dominated Yankees hitters, scattering nine hits, and working out of two bases loaded jams. With the Royals leading 6 – 2, the Yankees loaded the bases with only one out in the top of the fifth. Barth kept the Yanks off the board by inducing a popup and then striking out the next batter.

Heading to the top of the seventh with a 6 – 3 lead, the Royals saw the bottom of the Yankees’ lineup chip away, scoring one more run, and loading the bases again with two outs. Up stepped up their dangerous leadoff hitter, Chase Berg, who had walked and tripled in his three previous at-bats. With the tying run in scoring position, Barth showed excellent poise and played Houdini one more time as he induced Berg to fly out to deep right centerfield where Walter settled under to make the catch.

Game 2 offensive stars

Randy Ransom  3 – 3, 2 Runs, 4 RBI, 2 2-run Fence Homeruns
Joel Cerefice  2 – 2, 1 RBI, 2B
Bill Walter  2 – 3, 2 Runs

Game 1 featured my Giants against Greeley’s 1^st place Blue Claws in a must game to keep our playoff hopes alive. Greeley’s team was depleted, but we knew they would give us all we could handle. The game started slow with each team only managing one run a piece in the first inning. We got our bats going in the 2^nd by plating 6 featured by extra base hits by captain John Hauf (triple) and a double by super sub Jason Hall. Quick to answer the Blue Claws battled back with 4 runs of their own. Showing some resilience we kept up the hot bats by scoring 5 more in the 3^rd which the scoring was capped off by a over the fence 3 run bomb by Justin Reed. With what seemed to be a comfortable 12-5 lead, the pitching took over as the next 2 frames remained scoreless. Things got interesting as the Blue Claws made one final assault as they scored 6 to close the gap to one heading into what looked like it would be the final inning. Greeley remained sharp as we were shutout in the 6^th and the Blue Claws looked poised for the comeback with their 2,3 and 4 hitters coming to the plate. Greg “Ben Delgadillo” Hurst lead off with a single to put further pressure on the Giants. Sean Greeley then sent a fly ball to left field which Darren Kammer handled and then made our defensive play of the game as he gunned down Hurst trying to get into scoring position getting doubled at 2^nd. The Blue Claws opted on taking the automatic out to extend the game into an extra frame. The Giants the ERUPTED for 15 runs that featured 15 hits and every Giant scoring at least 1 run in the inning. Greeley obviously shouldn’t have pushed his pitch count. Big victory and kept our playoff dreams alive going into the feature game against Fein-less Bee’s.

This game was more of a pitchers duel as neither offense got much going. The Bee’s started the scoring with a single run in the 1^st that held up until the 3^rd when we found our stroke again as we jumped to a 5-1 lead featured by triples by both Darren Kammer and Michael Zientz. We added 4 more in the 5th again highlighted by another Michael Zientz triple. The Bee’s only managed to score one more run in the final frame as the Giants completed the sweep.

Offensive stars on the day:

Michael Zientz 6 hits, 2 triples 6 runs 3 rbi’s

Scott Ulick 5 hits, 4 runs 5 rbi’s

Jeff Berman 6 hits 4 runs 3 rbi’s

Darren Kammer 5 hits 1 triple 2 runs 3 rbi’s

Justin Reed 4 hits 1 HR 1 double 2 runs 6 rbi’s

David Buhrow 6 hits, 5 runs , 2 rbi’s

Jason Murray 7 hits, 5 runs, 3 rbi’s

Jason Hall 3 hits, 2 doubles 1 run 6 rbi’s

Daniel Buhrow with 2 key walks in 2^nd game to ignite rallys

 Our biggest star of the week is Justin and his wife’s new child who was born today at 4:51PM weighing 6 pounds 2 ounces. The Giants would like to welcome our newest fan Jessa Lynn. She will hopefully witness a Giants Championship in the near future.

Faced with losing two games and assuring themselves a place in the minis, Sulzer’ s Indians came out with passion and determination not seen since week 5. In the first game the Indians went up against Casper’s Rivercats. The Rivercats got things started with 3 runs in the first only to see the Indians respond with 4 runs in their half. The Indians then tacked on 3 more in the second to make it a 7-3 score. In the 4^th, Rolando Tellez led off with a single to open the flood gates to a 7 run inning. Now up 14-4 the Indians were on cruise control to a 16-5 win.

In the second game it was a rematch of last week’s closely fought lost to the Owlz. This week game was not nearly as close as the Indians open with 4 runs in their half of the 1^st led by Mark Winnie 1 out bases clearly triple. In the second inning the Owlz thought they were going to have an easy inning getting the first two men out only to see Marc Biesman hit a single followed by Daniel Klevanosky single and a single by Dan Feldman in route to another 3 runs. Up 7-2 the Indians for once played great defensive all the way around with two stellar plays by Michael Weber to send the Indians to an easy 10-3 win.

Indians stars of the week

ROW Candidate – Daniel Klevanosky – 6-8 with 3 singles and 3 doubles

POW Candidate – Dan Feldman – 4-6 with 6 runs scored and 2 BB’s

Scott Sulzer – 6-8 with 7 RBI’s

Marc Biesman – 4-6 with 6 runs scored, 3 singles, a double and 2 BB’s

The first place Red Sox were battling a 4 game losing streak coming into Sunday’s games. Game 1 against the hard hitting Tigers proved to be quite the pitcher’s duel. The Red Sox scored 2 on 3 singles in the first before the Tigers countered with 1. That was it for the Tigers as the Red Sox defense shut them down for the next 6 innings to squeak out a 4-1 win.

Game 2 was a rematch of the previous week’s game against the second place Threshers. Early production boosted the Red Sox to an 11-3 lead after 3 innings thanks to a balanced attack. From that point we were able to coast to a 12-4 win as we wrapped up the #1 seed for the tournament.

POW candidate Michael Hickey led the way with 7-7 and superb defense for the day. Matt Rakofsky was 3-5, Robbie Franklin 4-7 while Eli Gershenson and Dustin Madlock were both 3-6. Team defense was terrific for the day giving up only 5 runs but Michael Hickey and Dustin Madlock were particularly outstanding.

The regular season comes to an end next week with the Yanks and Giants providing the competition.

Ranger Rap

The Gers finally broke out on Sunday with an important sweep to move into second place in Div 1. The Gers broke out the sticks slugging 25 hits including 4 3 baggers and two doubles in route to a convincing 19-4 victory over the Owls. Hershy, JJ, and Tenny were a combined 11/12 with 2 2B's and 2 3B's and 10 RBI's. Ken "Ocean" Sprague chipped in with a 2 run triple and Coach even had 4 hits. Eddy Jameson came through in the last spot with two important hits to help fuel the offense. Defense was also solid.

In the nightcap, a gamely Muckdog squad was looking for revenge and played with a sense of urgency. The game remained close for several innings until the Gers plated 3 in the 3rd and fifth to take a 8-0 lead. The Mucks came back with three and ran out of gas with the Gers earning a hard fought 8-3 victory. The Gers once again rained doubles with 5 for the game. Clint "BUC" Hauck had a big 3B in the 5 run 5th to help seal the deal. Ed had another hit and an RBI from the 10 hole. Defense was once again solid with a few leaks.

Ranger Ruby's

JJ-7/8 3 Runs, 4 RBI's, 3 2B's, 2 3B's

Hershy-6/8, 5 Runs, 3 RBI's, 2B

Tenny-5/8, 3 Runs, 5 RBI's, 2B

Sil-5/6 and BB

Sprague and Buc with triples

Two tough losses for the Pinstripers 7-3 against London's Scrappers and 6-4 versus Lachman's Royals. Excellent pitching by John Burke but offense only had 9 hits in each game and left 18 runners on base in the doubleheader. 

Gregg Fleisher was the hitting star for the day going 4 for 6.

The Steinbrenner's made a coaching change for next week as Adam DeLisse will coach the final regular season games as their current Captain was sent packing over the pond.

Two tough losses for the Pinstripers 7-3 against London's Scrappers and 6-4 versus Lachman's Royals. Excellent pitching by John Burke but offense only had 9 hits in each game and left 18 runners on base in the doubleheader. 

Gregg Fleisher was the hitting star for the day going 4 for 6.

The Steinbrenner's made a coaching change for next week as Adam DeLisse will coach the final regular season games as their current Captain was sent packing over the pond.

Early Sunday afternoon, Randy Ransom rewarded the Royals’ faithful, who had come out to watch the Game of the Week, with a towering 3-run, fence-clearing homerun to left centerfield off Yankees ace, John Burke. The homer gave the Royals an improbable 16 – 11 come-from-behind victory over Farin’s Yankees. The Royals connected on two fence homeruns, four doubles, and two triples, as they rode a seven-run, seventh inning to the win.

The Royals started the scoring in an exciting first inning, as the first five batters reached via a base hit and scored. The Yankees wasted no time in rallying for four runs in their half of the first.

After the Royals went scoreless in the second inning, the Yankees put runners at first and third with only one out. But the Royals ended the threat by turning a nifty 1–6–3 double play.

Evan Saks started the power display with a third inning solo homerun to put the Royals up 6 – 4, but the Yanks tied it with two in the bottom of the frame.

After a scoreless fourth inning, Jeremy Pease’s 2-run double highlighted a three-run fifth inning that allowed the Royals to retake the lead. However, the Yankees scored five runs in the bottom half against a patchwork Royals’ defense, to take their first lead of the game, 11 – 9. Adam DeLisse provided the RBI single that drove in the go-ahead run.

Things looked bleak for the Royals when they failed to score in the top of the sixth, and the Yankees came to bat in the bottom half, still leading 11 – 9 with 3:13 remaining in the game, and the dangerous top of their order due up. Royals’ pitcher Brian Carter was able to record two quick outs, but a two-out single by David Tennyson brought Burke, the reigning TSSL Player of the Week, to the plate with just over a minute left. All Burke had done to that point was single and homer, and drive in three to lead the Yankees.   After getting two strikes on Burke, Carter induced a deep fly ball to right field that Brian Conn caught with 43 seconds left on the clock.

With half of their regular players missing, that was the lifeline the Royals needed.

Steve Gadol led off the top of the seventh by blasting a triple to deep left field. Jett Serrett walked, and Bill Walter’s single brought home Gadol. 11 – 10. Up stepped Ransom. With Serrett on second and Walter on first, Ransom became the hero as he hammered his electrifying, game-winning homerun over the left centerfield fence. The Royals’ dugout went nuts as Ransom circled the bases to put the Royals back on top 13 – 11. But the Royals weren’t done. Pease followed with his second double of the game. Saks singled him to third, and then Carter helped his own cause with a 2-run triple to deep right. Carter’s triple was the knockout punch as it expanded the lead to 15 – 11, and marked the seventh straight Royal to reach base (still with nobody out). Carter later scored on a one-out single by David Phillips to conclude the scoring.

With a 5-run lead, Carter took the mound and pitched a very efficient bottom half of the seventh to end the thriller. Final score: Royals 16, Yankees 11.

The numbers 2 through 5 hitters – Walter, Ransom, Pease, and Saks – were a combined 14 – 15, with 11 runs, 10 RBIs, four doubles, and two homers.

The Game of the Week marked Pease’s return from the injured reserve list (he last played on April 22^nd), and provided a huge spark to the Royals. In two weeks, two more Royals will return from the IR as well.

Ranger Rap

Ger's continued their inconsistant play splitting a dip once again-still sleeping in the opener against those mighty Rivercats the Ger's lose 9-6-hangovers, injuries, bad defense, lack of timely hitting, and poor management was a recipe to insure the loss. JJ had a perfect game and played well despite his prior evening's jocularity. Tenny and Shues also played well and had some offensive output......Elf chipped in as well. All other players chipped in with a whopping 3 hits and two BB's-not the O the Gers were expecting.

They did elevate play in the second tilt against a depleted Muckdog squad who only had 9 of which 3-4 were banged up....none the less the Ger's were able to score 20 in a goodvictory to bring them back to 500 and only one game out of second. Hitting stars abounded-JJ kept his perfect day going with 3 hits and 2 BB's in his 5 plate appearances including a 2B and 3 RBI's. Tim "wee" Willy Williams had 4 hits and scored 4 times while plaing a solid SS. Hershy and Tenny chipped in with more his and 5 RBI's. Ken "Ocean" Sprague had a triple scoring 2 Runs and another hit and BB. Edward 'Bill" Jameison had his best offensive game with 2 hits a BB and 3 runs scored. None though were as spectacular as Mark "Golden" Shuback with 4 hits including 3 triples (More than I have in 35 years) and 6RBI's-the three clouts were to LCF, RCF, and LF!!!! Wow!!!

Ranger Ruby's:

T Will-5/8, 5Runs, 2RBI's

Ocean Sprague-3/4, 2BB's, 3B, 2 RBI's

JJ-6/6, 5 Runs, 4 RBI's, 2BB's, and 2 2B's

Shues-6/8, 8RBI's, 3 3B's, 1 2B

After a week in which the Red Sox were missing 6 of their regular players and had their 8 game winning streak ended, they were ready to resume where they left off. Game 1 against the Indians started with a 6-5 explosion as the Indians took the lead and built it to 10-7 after 4. The BoSox pecked away to close the gap to 12-11 heading to the 7^th. After holding the Indians scoreless, we had our chance after a leadoff single by Chris Moucka. Back to back liners up the middle were promising but opposing hurler Sulzer did his best ballerina impression snagging them both to send the Red Sox down to their first one run defeat of the season.

Game 2 was against the second place Threshers looking to gain some ground. The Threshers scored 5 in the third to take a 5-1 lead. Once again the Red Sox fought back with 3 in the 4^th and 3 in the sixth to tie it at 7. The big hit was a triple by Nick Anderson. A scoreless 7^th sent it to extra innings. After scoring 1 in the top, the Red Sox pitcher lost his composure battling the smallest strike zone in Shalom history sending the Red Sox down to another 1 run defeat 9-8.

Heading into the off week for Father’s Day leaves the Red Sox in the enviable position of having a 4 game lead with 4 games left. In golf I believe they call that having your opponent “dormie”.

Leading hitters were Matt Rakofsky (POW candidate) 5-7, Chris Moucka 4-6 and Michael Hickey 5-8. A hats off to Ben Rakofsky for stellar play in right field for the Threshers in game 2.

  The Tigers welcomed back Capt. Eddie Tann, and his new California water bottle by winning an exciting extra inning opener to run their winning streak to 5 before losing the nightcap. The Tigers opened up vs. the Muckdog 9-literally-trailing  by 4 going into the bottom of the first. The Tigers scored 7 on singles by Leon Solimani ,Sam Struthers, 2 rbi hit by Rick Leon, single by Mark Phares, 2 rbi hit by Travis Massey, single by Robert Lefkovits, HUGE 2 rbi triple by Ron Roberts and rbi single by Dennis Shaw. The Tigers increased the lead to 9-6 on singles by Solimani, Andy Goodman, sac fly by Struthers, rbi single by David Shaw. Then made it 11-7 on a double by Lefkovits, single by Roberts, rbi singles by Dennis Shaw and Solimani. The dogs tied it at 11 and the game went into extra innings, the Tigers 3rd extra inning game in 3 weeks!! The first inning ended scoreless as Ron Roberts threw out a runner at the plate but the dogs scored 2 next inning to take the lead 13-11.The Tigers came back on a double by Struthers, rbi triple off the fence by David Shaw, game tying single by Rick Leon, double by Phares, another league leading intentional walk to Massey, then Robert Lefkovits delivered the game winning single to left!!! 

Final Tigers 14, Muckdogs 13 in 2 extra innings. Solimani 3-4 rbi; Struthers 2-3,rbi sf; David Shaw 3-4,3b,2 rbi; Rick Leon 3-4,2 rbi; Phares 3-4,rbi;Massey 2-4,2 rbi;Robert Lefkovits,3-4,2b,game winning rbi;RRoberts,2-3,3b,2 rbi; Dennis Shaw 2-3,2 rbi; Eddie Tann singled and led us to the win.

 Game 2 vs. the Rivercats was not one of our better games, the defense was not good and we seemed to run out of gas, losing 14-7 to end our 5 game winning streak.  Sam Struthers  2-3,2b;David Shaw, 2-3,3b,2 rbi; Rick Leon 2-3,rbi;Mark Phares 2-3,2b,3 rbi; Solimani, Lefkovits, Roberts and Dennis Shaw each had 1 hit.

 HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 For the week=Solimani 4-7,3 r, rbi; Struthers 4-6,2b,sf,rbi;David Shaw 5-7,2 3b,4 rbi; Rick Leon 5-7,3 rbi; Phares 5-7,2b,3 rbi; Lefkovits 4-6,2b,gw rbi; Roberts 3-5,3b.2 rbi; Dennis Shaw 3-5,3 rbi

 written by Dennis Shaw

The Blue Claws continued their winning ways with another weekend sweep…scrapping the scrappers and shrinking the giants. In game 1 against the scrappers we jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead opening with 5 straight hits to start the game…the scrappers came back with 2 in the 2^nd and 1 more in the 3^rd to tie it up 3-3…but in the bottom of the 5^th the claws opened it up with 5 runs taking a 9-4 lead…but the scrappers were true to their name getting another run in the 5^th and 3 more in the 7^th to close the gap to 10-8 but solid defense all around by the home team stopped the rally and the we held on for the 10-8 victory. Greg Aymond led the charge going 4-4 with 2 runs a homer and 3 rbi.

Game 2 had the claws visiting the giants in their first meeting of the year in another important division showdown…the claws opened with only 1 in the first while the giants plated 2…in the 3^rd the reverse happened and after 3 it was 3-3…but in the top of the 4^th the claws sent 11 batters to the plate scoring 6 with clutch hitting from both the top and the bottom of the lineup. The claws scored 2 more in the 5^th and the defense tightened up and didn’t allow another run after the 3^rd for the division clinching 12-3 win. Todd Lecocq was solid as always…batting in the lead off this weekend and went 4-4 this game with 3 runs and 2 rbi with a triple. Greg Aymond went 2-2 batting 1.000 for the day. Every player had at least 2 hits in this one with the bottom really coming thru.

Big Hitters for the day:
Todd Lecocq: 7-8, 6 runs, 1-3B, 2 rbi (ROW nominee)
Greg Aymond: 6-6, 3 runs, 1-HR, 4 rbi (POW nominee)
Jeff Roberts: 4-7, 3 rbi…great defense at 3B

In dramatic fashion, the Mets won a pair of games.  In Game 1, the Mets hosted the Bees.  It was a tight game throughout with dandy outfield play by both squads.  The Mets had a 1 run lead going in the bottom of the 6th, but couldn't kill the clock to end the game since the scoreboard wasn't working so it was on to a 7th and final inning.  The Bees scored 1 and took a 6-5 lead.  Stuart Rosenfield and Lewis Zwick each had singles to start the inning. The winning run was scored on a stand by double by Jon Banta that sent the Bees outfield to the fence.  Final score, Mets 7, Bees 6.

In game 2, the Mets hosted the Yanks.  Solid defense by Chris Coffman at 3B, Larry Schnitzer at 2B, and Mark Elfenbein at 1B kept the Yanks off the base pass early on.  Banta added an opo field blast to his All Star bid.  Marc Kramen, anchoring the outfield in RF made 3 great catches to hold off rallies in the middle innings.  After taking a 9-5 lead going into the last inning, the Yanks scored 3 to close the gap 9-8.  With a man on 3rd and 1 out, the Yanks hit a medium depth fly to left field that was snagged by Jacob Schnitzer and relayed home to Jon Banta who was covering the plate for double play eliminating the Yankee rally and sac fly chance.

Offensive Stats:

Greg Hurst  3 hits

Jon Banta  3 hits (HR, 2B) 5 rbis

Mark Elfenbein 3 hits, 2 runs scored

Sanjay Pant 5 hits (2 2Bs)

Mark Kramen  5-6  (2 3Bs)  POW nominee

Lewis Zwick 4-6 (3 for 3 in game 2, 2B)

The Yanks were in kind of a giving mood today so they gave several extra outs to the Mets in Game one and Schnitzer's squad took advantage. Down 9-5 in the top of the 7th the Yankee bats came alive- hits from Gregg Fleisher and Jamie Aron along with an Adam DeLisse walk loaded the basis. James Lee hit a sac fly to get the Yanks within one. Allan Chernoff's potential sac fly tuned into a dp as rookie Jacob Schnitzer gunned down Aron to end the game 9-8.

In the game of the week on field one the Yanks faced Lachman's Royals and his five subs. It was seesaw throughout until the Yanks got five in the fifth thanks to hits from Chase Berg, David Tennyson, John Burke, sub Steven Uman, Fleisher, DeLisse and Aron. The Yanks had the game in hand with an 11-9 lead with 43 ticks left on the clock but a fly ball gave the Royals life. They took advantage by scoring 7 runs and the Royals won the GOW 16-11.

Happy Father's Day and good luck to all the veterans playing next week! 

Game One vs Fein's Killer Bees. Yanks take a 10-3 lead into the top of the seventh and the pesky stingers score 5 but the Bombers hang onto a 10-8 victory. Top hitters were David Tennyson 3-3 with two doubles and a SF, John Burke 3-4 with 5 huge rbi's, Doc Levy and Jaime Aron with two safeties each.

Game two vs Hauf's Red hot Giants. San Fran takes a 7-4 lead into the top of the last inning. James Lee and Allan Chernoff get hits as do Chase Berg, Tennyson, Burke, Barry Epstein, Alan Taper and Rick Levy. Yanks score 7 and upset the Giants 11-7. Epstein was 4 for 4 and Lee and Chernoff had two huge hits apiece. Yanks improve to 9-9 with six big games left in the regular season...

The Tigers swept a weekend for the first time all season, running their winning streak to 4.The first game was vs the Rangers, and the Silvermanians scored 2 in the top of the first. The Tigers tied it in the bottom on double by Steve Uman, rbi singles by Sam Struthers and Mark Phares. The Tigers took a 5-2 with 3 in the 3rd,added a run in the 5th to lead 6-3 going into the 7th,when the Rangers loaded the bases with lots of help from the Tigers but Ron Roberts threw out the last runner for a final score of 6-4 Tigers, avenging a prior loss.  

Struthers 2-2,2 rbi; Rick Leon 2-3 rbi; Phares 1-3,2b,great defense at ss,saved a lot of runs with many spectacular plays; Travis Massey now leads the league with 2 intentional walks; Loren Jaffe, David Shaw, Teddy Garber, Eddie Cohen and Dennis Shaw each had 1 hit. 

  Game 2 saw the Owls fly in, each team scored a run in the first-the Tigers on a leadoff double by Steve Uman and rbi double by Sam Struthers-then the game was scoreless until the 6th.The Tigers scored 4 to lead 5-1 on singles by Eddie Cohen and Dennis Shaw, rbi singles by Loren Jaffe, Sam Struthers, and 2 run single by Mark Phares. Unfortunately, the Owls immediately tied it up, and it stayed that way so we went into extra innings. Dennis Shaw led off with a single ,then a controversial call by the umpires turned first and second no outs into 2 outs ,no one on-but Loren Jaffe doubled then scored the winning run on a hit by Sam Struthers, diving face forward across the plate, beating the tag!!! Rick Leon held the Owls scoreless, and the Tigers had a hard fought 6-5 extra inning win for the sweep!!!

Loren Jaffe 3-4 rbi, clutch 2 out 2b;Sam Struthers 3-4,3 rbi, the game winner!!!;Mark Phares 2-3,2 rbi,2b;Dennis Shaw 2-2; Eddie Cohen, Rick Leon and Steve Uman also had hits. Special thanks to our subs, Steve Uman, Eddie Cohen and Teddy Garber!!!  Capt. Eddie will return next week.

Rangers Rap

The Rangers continued their losing ways in the opener falling 6-4 to the Kitty Cats minus their fearless leader Ed Tann. Another display of shoddy defense coupled with punchless offense was the perfect recipe for the Gers 4th strait loss. Highlights were 2 hits each for T Will, Mac Attack, Shubes, and Buc.

The losing streak finally came to an end in the second tilt as the dormant bats awoke for a convincing 11-9 victory over the Red Sox-Gers second win over the division leader. Game was 11-6 into Sox last Ab when they scored 3 to make it interesting. Many hitting stars including T Will with 3 bingos, 2 each from Mac, JJ, Hershy Bar, Shubes again, and Ken "Ocean" Sprague. Buc legged out a triple as well bringing the crowd to a frenzy!!!!

The Gers prepare for the stretch run with a bit of momentum and look forward to acension to the top.

Game 1 had the Binghamton Boys playing spoilers to the Royals.  Led by great pitching by Jon Banta, the Mets plated 15 runs before giving up a meaningless 2 in the end.  Super Sub Greg Hurst made plays all over the field on defense, while the 10/11 hitters Larry Schnitzer and Stuart Rosenfield kept the offensive lineup turning over by going 6 for 8, scoring 6 runs and being on base 8 for 8 times. 

In Game 2, the Mets were held scoreless until they were able to score 6 in the bottom of the last closing the score to 8-6 in favor of the Blue Claws. 

On the day, offensive stars were:

Phillip Kim- 4 hits

Jon Banta 6-8, 6 rbis, 4 runs scored

Mark Elfenbein- 5 hits, 1 BB (intentional)

Alan Gohelke- 3 hits, 1 SF, 1BB

Sanjay Pant- 4 hits, 1 2B

Larry Schnitzer- 4-7

Stuart Rosenfield- 3 hits

The Muckdogs lost the opener 9-1 to the Rivercats and won the nightcap against the Indians 14-12. 

The Muckdogs were never able to get things going in game 1 against Rivercats' ace Steve Barker. The Muckdogs hit much better in game 2 against the Indians with the wind blowing out to left, getting 25 hits in game 2, to go along with fine pitching from Wayne Casper. 

Leading hitters on the day included Player of the Week nominee Aaron Weintraub, 6-7  4 runs, 1 RBI; Larry Taub 5-7, 4 runs, 1 RBI; Doug Storm 4-6, 2 runs, 3 RBIs; Larry Goldstein 4-6, 2 RBIs; Newly signed Bob Gibson 4-7; and Al Valenti 4-6.

The Tigers started their tripleheader on the outskirts of the universe on field 9 vs the Blue Claws. The Claws scored 2 in the top of the first, the Tigers scored 6 in the bottom of the first on singles by Jaffe and Struthers and a massive opposite field over the fence home run by David Shaw.3 more scored on single by Rick Leon, double by Mark Phares, Sac fly by Travis Massey and rbi single by Andy Goodman. The Claws took the lead 13-7,then the Tigers scored 3 in the 5th on singles by Loren Jaffe, Sam Struthers, rbi double by David Shaw and 2 rbi single by Rick Leon. The Tigers trailing13-10 loaded the bases in the last inning but could get no closer.  

Sub Steve Uman 3-4, Loren Jaffe 3-4 rbi, Sam Struthers 3-4,David Shaw 2-3,2b,otf HR,4 rbi; Rick Leon 3-3,3rbi; Mark Phares 3-3,2b;Robert Lefkovits 2-3 2b. 

The Tigers moved closer to earth on field 4 vs the Threshers as they looked to avenge an earlier loss. Unellmen scored 3 in the first, Tigers came right back with 5 on singles by Jaffe,Struthers,2 rbi double by David Shaw, rbi single by Rick Leon, single by Travis Massey, rbi double by Robert Lefkovits and rbi single by Ron Roberts. The Unellmen scored 8 in the second to lead 11-5-however,they would not score again for 8 consecutive innings, including overtime as Rick Leon was masterful on the mound,even picking up a few more strikeouts. Mark Phares turned 4 dps!!! Tigers chipped away with 2 in the 3rd on single by Jaffe,double by Struthers, long sac fly by Shaw,rbi single by Leon, then tied it with 4 in the 4th on singles by Roberts, Goodman,captain Eddie Tann and bases clearing triple by super sub Steve Uman,Jaffes double scored Uman to make it 11-11. There it stood, an incredible scoreless battle until the bottom of the 9th when Ron Roberts doubled, and with 2 outs the game finally ended on an rbi single by Uman!!

Steve Uman 2-5,3b,game winning single; Loren Jaffe 4-4,2b,rbi;Sam Struthers 4-4;David Shaw 1-3,2b,sf,3 rbi; Rick Leon 2-4,2 rbi;Mark Phares 1-3 rbi; Travis Massey 2-4;Robert Lefkovits 1-4,2b rbi; Ron Roberts 3-4,clutch overtime double, rbi.

  After winning the second game, the Tigers went to the center of the universe, THE GAME OF THE WEEK ON FIELD 1,trying to do something they had not done all season, win 2 games in a week!!! The Tigers continued their hot hitting, jumping on the Mets for 7 in the top of the first on singles by Uman, Jaffe, rbi double by Struthers,2 rbi triple off the fence by Shaw, rbi single by Leon, single by Phares, rbi single by Massey, sf by Goodman. Tigers scored 3 more in the 2nd on singles by Jaffe,Struthers,2 rbi double by Shaw, rbi single by Leon and led 10-6 after 2.Tigers blew it open with 5 in the 4th on leadoff inside the park homer by Andy Goodman, walk to Eddie Tann, single by Uman, sf by Jaffe, single by Struthers, 2 rbi double for Shaw and  rbi single by Leon. The Tigers held the lead helped by great defense at first base by Travis Massey. A fabulous play at 2b by Ron Roberts drew cheers from the crowd in the stands, as well.

Steve Uman 3-4;Loren Jaffe 3-3,sf,rbi,10-11 on the day; Sam Struthers 4-4,rbi,11-12 on the day; David Shaw3-4, 2 2b,3b,6 rbi,6-10,otf HR,13 rbi for the day; Rick Leon3-3,4 rbi,8-10,9 rbi on the day; Andy Goodman 2-2,HR,2 rbi. Mark Phares and Travis Massey had 5 hits on the day, Robert Lefkovits, Ron Roberts,Andy Goodman had 4 hits on the day.

Tigers finally won 2 games in a week!!!! Special thanks to subs Eddie Cohen and Steve Uman.

Special writing contribution by Tiger “Rookie: David Shaw

The Royals got back on track Sunday with two thrilling, come-from-behind performances against Roth’s Owls and London’s Scrappers.

The tripleheader began with the Royals visiting the Owls for their first meeting this season. Jett Serrett, as he has done all season, singled to lead off the game. An RBI double by Bill Walter and RBI single by Michael Barth gave the Royals a 2 – 0 lead. The Owls quickly responded by scoring four in the bottom of the first to take a 4 – 2 lead. In the top of the second, the Royals sent 10 batters to the plate, scoring six of them. RBI doubles by Bennett Robinson, Danny Chartrand, and John Hunter were the key hits. The Owls chipped away with two in the bottom of the third, but three more Royal runs in the top of the fourth extended their lead to 11 – 6. Then the game took a dramatic turn in the bottom of the fifth.

The Royals lost their left centerfielder for the day when Rob Sosebee suffered a serious leg injury. Sosebee joins shortstop, Jeremy Pease, and second baseman, Joel Cerefice, on the 21-day disabled list. Playing with a patchwork defense that would eventually be reduced to nine players before the day was over, the Royals saw the Owls score five to even the score at 11. That’s when the Royals flashed glimpses of brilliance that have marked their injury-riddled 2012 season.

With time running out, the Royals headed to the top of the sixth knowing this was most likely their last at-bat. Serrett doubled leading off. A sharp single by Walter was followed by an intentional walk to Randy Ransom to load the bases, and get to Chartrand. With nobody out, Chartrand rifled a triple to deep center, clearing the bases. Hunter followed with an RBI single to conclude the scoring. Afterward, Barth shut the Owls down for the 15 – 11 victory. Chartrand and Hunter were outstanding as they accounted for 12 of the 15 Royal runs.

Game 1 offensive stars

Bill Walter  3 – 3, 4 Runs, 1 RBI, BB, 2B
Danny Chartrand  3 – 4, 2 Runs, 6 RBI, 3B
John Hunter  3 – 4, 4 RBI, 2B
Randy Ransom  2 – 3, 3 Runs, 1 RBI, BB, 2B
Jett Serrett  2 – 4, 3 Runs, 1 RBI, 2B
Michael Barth  2 – 4, 1 RBI
Fred Clausen  2 – 4, 2B

Emotionally spent from their victory over the Owls, the Royals didn’t put up much of a fight against the Division 1 leading Miller’s Red Sox, losing 16 – 6. John Miller held the Royals to one run through the first four innings, while the Red Sox scored in every inning. Ransom led the Royals with two hits and 3 RBIs.

The Royals regrouped for a huge Division 2 rematch against the Scrappers. The Royals were out to avenge a tough loss to the Scrappers three weeks ago, when the Scrappers won in a rout, 28 – 2. Coming into their rematch with the Royals, the Scrappers’ high-powered offense had already scored 28 runs in their first two games of the tripleheader. But Barth was unflustered as he outdueled the Scrappers' Paul Rakofsky in a game the Royals won in their final at-bat, 5 – 4.

The visiting Scrappers quickly jumped out to a 2 – 0 lead in the top of the first. Rakofsky was masterful for the first five innings, as the Royals could only manage four hits and one run. After the third inning, the Royals were down to nine players; a fact that did not go unnoticed by the Scrappers. Two unearned runs in the top of the fifth increased the Scrappers' lead to 4 – 1. That’s when the Royals caught lightning in a bottle for the second time that day.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Walter tripled. A Scrappers' error on a rocket hit by Ransom (scoring Walter) was followed by singles by Chartrand and Hunter to load the bases. One out later, Fred Clausen delivered the clutch, two out, two-run single to tie the game. With runners on first and second, the next batter was Larry Lachman. Lachman, who had yet to solve Rakofsky that day, lined an RBI single to left field to bring home Hunter for the game-winning RBI.

Barth took the mound in the top of the seventh and quickly recorded two outs. After a two out single, he retired the next batter on a deep fly to right field, where Walter settled under to make the catch. With only three outfielders, the Royals breathed a huge sigh of relief as Walter squeezed it for the game’s final out.

The Royals are looking forward to the return of their three starters on June 24.

Game 3 offensive stars

Fred Clausen  2 – 3, 2 RBI
Bill Walter  2 – 3, 2 Runs, 3B
John Hunter  2 – 3, 1 Run, 1 RBI
Larry Lachman  1 – 3, GWRBI

The Rivercats have had a rough streak, losing 8 games in a row, including one in which they had a walk off hit! Though their offense wasn't as flat as it has been in the first two games, (they managed to put up 19 runs), things still didn't go smoothly and they dropped both games (despite an impressive offensive revitalization from Jeff Derdiger). In their final game against the Owls, the Rivercats decided to shake things up, and played an unusual defensive set up, and managed to actually enjoy themselves for the first time in quite a while, and grabbed their first win of the month.

Giants opened this week of triple headers with Unell’s Threshers.  Unell quickly fired up his team as they quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead to start the game.  My Giants woke up from the early start time in the 2nd inning as 5 of the first 6 batters in the inning had singles as we scored 3 to take the lead 3-2.  Our defense took charge mainly highlighted by Todd Alsup’s multiple catches in RCF.  We continued our hot hitting in the 3rd adding 5 more runs featuring a 7 hit inning highlighted by a David Buhrow double.  There wasn’t much scoring the rest of the way as the Giants comfortably won this game 9-4.  Hitting stars included 2 hit performances by Justin Reed, David Buhrow, Aaron Zweig, Darren Kammer, Teddy Garber, Michael Zientz and Scott Ulick.  The number 2 hitter was 0-3 (I won’t mention his name)

Game 2 brought Caspers Rivercats to our field.  We knew we had to jump out with early runs to hold off these sluggers.  Todd Alsup got us started with a leadoff double and we managed to tally 4 runs to start the game.  The Rivercats responded with 2 of their own to close the gap to 4-2.  Our bats continued in the 2nd inning plating 2 more featuring a key 2 rbi single by Justin Reed.  The Rivercats continued countering with a couple more of their own in the bottom half and adding a 5th run in the 4th.  With a close game 6-5 entering the 5th we need to get our bats back in gear.  No better player than Alan Laffer to get us started as he lead off the inning with a single.  Todd Alsup and Justin Reed quickly followed with doubles and before the inning was over we gained back the momentum and we extended our lead to 10-5.  We added another 3 in the 6th which included a Darren Kammer triple.  Defense again was fantastic as we won 13-6 and for the first time in 2012 the Giants were over .500.  Hitting stars included a 4 hit game from Justin Reed including a 2b a 5RBI’s, Darren Kammer 3 hits with a triple and 3 rbi’s, David Buhrow who had 3 hits and 2 rbi’s, Todd Alsup with 4 hits including a 2b and scored 4 runs and Michael Zientz with 2 hits and an rbi.

Game 3 a tired Giants squad took to field 9 to face one of the toughest pitchers in the league John Banta.  We quickly jumped out with 3 in the top half of the first which included 4 singles including a 2 rbi single from the light hitting pitcher.  The Mets answered with authority as they made it 5-3 after the 1st.  What looked like a hitting battle quickly turned into a pitchers dual the remainder of the game.  The score didn't change until 5th when the Giants finally got something going.  It again started with the bottom half of the order as Teddy Garber, Daniel Buhrow and Alan Laffer all singled and Darren Kammer capped it off with a clutch 2 rbi single which gave us a 6-5 lead.  David Buhrow and Aaron Zweig opened the 6th with doubles as we added 3 more which appeared to give us a comfortable 9-5 lead heading into the bottom half of the 7th with the bottom half of the order for the Mets coming up.  The Mets didn’t go down quietly as they strung together multiple hits and closed the gap to 9-8 with the tying run on 3rd with two outs as fittingly Todd Alsup made the final out on a deep fly to RCF to complete the sweep of the day for the Giants.    Hitting stars included a 3 hit game by Aaron Zweig,  2 hit games by Darren Kammer, David Buhrow, John Hauf, Teddy Garber and Alan Laffer.

The Blue Claws came up big again with a 3 game sweep to keep their lead in the division…today was a true team effort as player after player made contributions for the wins.

Game 1 was against the defending league champion Rangers…who after their stellar season last year have a target on their back and this game was no different. The game started slow for both teams with no runs in the first then all that changed in the top of the 2^nd as we sent 15 players to the plate scoring 10 runs…we added another in the 4^th and 5^th and the rangers showing heart came back with 5 in the 5^th. But we plated 4 more in the top of the 6^th putting the game away for a 16-7 win. Several people had great games…Andy Smith 4-4…Greg Aymond 3-3…Todd Lecocq and Doug Baer both 3-4. 10 of our 11 players had a hit

Game 2 against the Tigers saw us come out quick with 2 in the top of the first only to see the Tigers roar back with 6 in their half of the inning…but the Claws showed what they are made of scoring at least 1 run in every inning with a big 6 run 3^rd and went on to a 13-10 victory. 10 of our 11 batters had a hit again in this one. Glenn Mendelsohn paced the way 4-4 with 4 runs…Tommy Apligian 3-3 with several outstanding plays in the outfield…Sean Greeley 4-4 with 2-2B and 5 RBI…Jeff Roberts, Travis Levay and Andy again each 2-3

The final tilt was against the Yankees and the Claws wanted some revenge…our last lost was a lackluster affair against them and the captain wanted to get that bitter taste out of his mouth…both team kept pace with each other and were tied after 3 inning then the Yankees scored 3 in the 4^th and 6^th and had a 4 run lead going into the bottom of the 6^th…but as we have all year we showed our heart and scored 5 in the bottom of the 6^th…with the bottom of the order coming thru HUGE once again…Preston Stover had an absolutely clutch hit with 2 outs to get it to the top and they did what they do best…hit…hit…hit with a single by Irv Munn and back to back doubles by Glenn and Tommy to tie the game and Sean came thru in the clutch with the winning rbi bringing Tommy in…the defense held them in the top of the 7^th for an 11-10 win. Greg Aymond was big again with 2-3B and 3 rbi and Jeff Roberts went 3-3.

Big Hitters for the day:
Tommy Apligian: 8-11, 5 runs, 4 RBI, 2-2B…outstanding OF play all day
Greg Aymond: 7-9, 1-BB, 5 runs, 5 RBI, 1-2B, 2-3B
Glenn Mendelsohn: 9-13, 8 runs, 2 RBI, 2-2B, 1-3B

“The Iron Men” Red Sox must like these triple headers as they swept their second consecutive week of triple headers! Game 1 against the Pirates saw the BoSox down 3-1 after 2 before we batted around in both the 3^rd and 4^th innings putting up 9 spots in each. We coasted to a 19-6 win as Chris Moucka came in for the save and went 3-3 at bat.

Game 2 against the high scoring Royals saw the Red Sox jump out fast again to a 10-1 lead after 4 on the way to another victory 15-6. Michael Hickey and Robbie Franklin had perfect 4-4 games as did Chris Moucka 3-3 and Gene Reister 2-2.

Game 3 was against the short handed Muckdogs, missing their top 2 outfielders. It showed as the revamped outfield had a couple of “oopsies” as the Red Sox scored in every inning on the way to a 16-11 win. Perfect 3-3 efforts by Gene Reister and Eli

Gershenson paced the attack with Nick Anderson going 2 HR’s for 2.

A long list of hitting stars on the day as the Red Sox erupted for 19, 15 and 16 runs. Gene “The Hitting Machine” Reister is our Player of the Week candidate with 7-8 and a double. Robbie Franklin went 10-12, Eli Gershenson 8-10, Chris Moucka 6-8, Rookie of the Week candidate Rony Batagower 6-10 with 2 triples and a HR. Nick Anderson went 5-9 with a double, triple and 2 HR’s. Matt Rakofsky went 5-9 and Michael Hickey 7-12. The league leading defense was not as crisp as it has been except for Michael Hickey who was spectacular today including a fantastic play on a foul ball that would have hit 10 feet high off the 3^rd base fence. Running toward the fence, Michael propelled himself up the fence to snatch the ball 10 feet off the ground just before it hit the fence.

The Red Sox winning streak has reached 8 games. It will be in jeopardy in 2 weeks as we are missing 5 players. Subs to the Rescue!

The Tigers opened the tripleheader with 2 home games, a rarity for them. In game 1,the Giants scored 2 in the top of the first, Tigers scored 1 in the 2nd on an rbi single by David Shaw, then did not score until the 7th! Trailing 3-1,Loren Jaffe tripled and was driven in by Sam Struthers, but that's as close as it got-final score Giants 3,Tigers 2. Struthers had 2 hits, Loren Jaffe, Rick Leon, David Shaw, Ron Roberts and Eddie Tann had 1 each. 

     Game 2 saw the Pirates come to town, Tigers actually jumped out to lead 5-1 only to see the Bucs close it to 5-3.The Tigers then scored 4 in 5th, highlighted by a huge 2 run inside the park home run by Slamming Sammy Struthers, double by Mark Phares and singles by David Shaw and pitcher Rick Leon, who was masterful on the mound, striking out 3 Pirates. Tigers closed out their scoring with a triple by super sub David Philips and rbi single by Andy Goodman-final score Tigers 10,Pirates 5. Rick Leon was 3-3,3 rbi, and a triple; Mark Phares 2-3,Loren Jaffe 2-3,2 rbi, David Philips 2-3,Andy Goodman 2-3,rbi,David Shaw 1-3,2 rbi, Sam Struthers 1-3,HR,2 rbi. 

   For the finale, the Tigers walked across the universe, had a "discussion" about who should have which dugout, then faced the Rangers. Rangers scored 4 in the bottom of the first; Tigers came right back with 4 on a leadoff triple by David Shaw, singles by Travis Massey and Andy Goodman and double by David Philips. Trailing 5-4, Tigers took back the lead next inning on leadoff single by sub Eddie Cohen, walk to Phares, a single by Jaffe and a massive over the centerfield wall grand slam by David Shaw to go ahead 8-5.Tied at 8-8, Tigers scored 3 in the 5th on single by Struthers, rbi double by Phares, walk, sac fly by Shaw and rbi single by Travis Massey. Unfortunately the Rangers scored 7 and left 16 seconds on the clock. Robert Lefkovits and Ron Roberts started the rally with singles, Struthers drove in 2 but the rally fell short, another tough loss for the Tigers, final Rangers 15,Tigers 13.Sam Struthers 2-4,2rbi;Mark Phares 1-3,2b, rbi;Loren Jaffe 1-3;David Shaw 2-2,sac fly,3b,grand slam,5 rbi;Travis Massey 3-3,rbi;David Philips 2-3,2 rbi;Eddie Cohen 2-3;Robert Lefkovits 1-3;Ron Roberts 2-3 rbi

Tiger contributing writer - "Rookie" David Shaw

If the 2012 Temple Shalom League Threshers live up to the preseason predictions, one will only need to look at the games played on May 6th to see where the season pivoted from promise to providence. And one will only need to look to Jack Borenstein to find the player who inspired the Threshers to the threshold of triumph.

At the tender age of 75, and in his 38th year in the League (out of 38), Jack “Pinch running Rule” Borenstein had endured a rough start to the season. Facing the cruelty of an ASA mandated additional 5 feet to first, Jack’s only weakness in his 5-tool skill set, his speed, was magnified. Several promising line drive hits on to the outfield green resulted in putouts at first as Jack struggled to make it down the line. But Jack didn’t complain (well, not about the extra 5 feet) and he sure didn’t give up.

So Sunday arrived, sporting a tripleheader in the brutal Texas heat. Other septuagenarians may have wilted under those conditions or even opted out of playing altogether. But Jack showed up to play the game and teach his teammates a thing or two about leading by example.

The Threshers first game was against the Weinfeld “Down and can’t get up” Pirates. With the game still very much in doubt, Jack broke out his boomstick in the bottom of the 4th, knocking in Mr. Triple, Steve “Hammering” Hankin, with an RBI single. Jack added his second RBI single in the bottom of the 5th as the Threshers cruised to a 14-3 dismantling of the Bucs. And Jack was just getting started.

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R
Threshers 4 0 0 6 4 0 0 14
Pirates 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 3

Next up were the Fein “Don’t Trust the” Bees “in Apartment 23.” Jack switched from using brute strength to using brain power to take down the Bees. Down 5-2 in the bottom of the 3rd, Jack led off the inning by working a walk, which turned into a run as Jamey "Why hasn't John written an article yet" Newberg followed up with a 2-run dinger. Jack then tied a Temple Shalom Softball record by getting free passes in each of the next two innings as well. Three walks in three innings tied the mark set by Howard Klahr when he was with the 1994 Barry Epstein last-place Cardinals. But I digress. All three walks issued to Jack resulted in runs scored. The last of the three came with the bases loaded, giving Jack 3 RBI on the day. That broke the record for RBI by a player 75 or older, a record formerly held by Larry Silverman (with 2). The Threshers came-from-behind (if you know what I mean) for a 17-6 victory.

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R
Bees 4 1 0 0 1 0 X 6
Threshers 1 0 2 6 8 X X 17

Last up were the suddenly struggling Sulzer Water Indians. Jack closed out his “Back to the Future” day with a key single in the top of the 7th, as the bottom of the order set the table by loading the bases with none out. The Threshers prevailed, completing the three-sweep, 9-5.

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R
Threshers 2 0 1 0 0 2 4 9
Indians 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 5

The shorthanded Blue Claws showed lots of heart and character for a weekend 3 game sweep. Playing without their 1-2-3 hitters the team showed their true grit with clutch play up and down the lineup…game 1 against the tribe saw the claw down early…then with a couple runs in the second and a big 8 run 3^rd sparked by 3 run HR by Greg Aymond and capped with a huge 2 out 2 run double by Preston Stover we took control of the game…adding 1 more in the 4^th to hold on to an 11-8 victory. Big hitters for the game were Greg Aymond 2-4, 1-2b, 1-hr…Jeff Roberts 3-3, 2 runs, 2 rbi…Andy smith 2-3 1 run, 2 rbi and Preston Stover 1-3, 1-2B 2 rbi.

 Game 2 saw the Owls fly in and take control of the game early…the claws got 1 in the 1^st and 3^rd and were down going into the late innings where they the bats got hot with 2 in the 4^th…3 in the 5^th and put away the game with 6 in the 6^th…Todd Lecocq was huge in the game both at the plate going 3-4 and just as impressive with his glove making play after play. Doug Baer went 4-4…Greg Aymond 2-3…Jeff Roberts 2-4 and Jeremy Crum 2-4 with a big 2 out 2 rbi double in the 5^th. Again with the late charge the claws pull away for a 13-10 victory clipping the owls wings.

 Game 3 of the weekend had the bucs trying to derail the claws and this was a see-saw battle from the get go. The claws opened with 3 in the first and 1 in the second but the pirates kept battling back and even took the lead. But once again the team showed their heart and character (they had to be tired from carrying their captain all day…) and scored 5 in the 4^th and 4 in the 5^th…but the pirates kept pushing and wouldn’t go away till the claws were able to sink their ship and hold on for a big 13-12 win. Greg Aymond was big again going 4-5…Todd Lecocq 3-5, 4 RBI…Doug Baer 2-4, 3 RBI…Jeff Roberts 2-3, 2 RBI…Travis Levay 2-4, 1 RBI

 BIG HITTERS FOR THE DAY:
Greg Aymond: 8-12, 1-BB, 6 Runs, 5 RBI, 2-2B, 1-HR
Todd Lecocq: 8-13, 6 Runs, 5 RBI, 1-2B
Doug Baer: 8-11, 3 Runs, 6-RBI
Jeff Roberts: 7-10, 5 Runs, 6 RBI, 1-3
Andy Smith: 6-10, 3 Runs, 2-RBI

Triple header action this week! Don’t get no better than that (unless you can sweep 3). The Red Sox opened with the Yankees. The Yankees started with a 3 run homer in the first, had a lot of hits the rest of the way but only 1 more run as the Red Sox defense kept them at bay on the way to a 7-4 win. A home run by Nick Anderson and a triple by Rony Batagower paced the attack.

Game 2 against the Mets had a quick start after 2 by the Mets as 2 run triples by Rony Batagower and Dustin Madlock opened a 6-2 lead after 1. The Mets closed it to 8-7 before a bases loaded single by Chris Moucka propelled the Red Sox to an 11-7 win.

Game 3 was against the Owls. The Red Sox started with 15 consecutive base hits until an intentional walk and two more hits gave them 18 runs in the first and took the suspense out early. A 3 run double by Matt Rakofsky and a 2 run triple by Chris Moucka were the big hits. Matt Rakofsky and Robbie Franklin both went 4-4 that game.

The hitting was paced by Nick Anderson and Matt Rakofsky 7-9, Eli Gershenson and Dustin Madlock went 6-9, John Miller 4-7, Rony Batagower 6-10, and Chris Moucka 5-9. It was a big day for the Red Sox bats and the defense only gave up 15 runs on the day.

Ranger Rap up

1st game saw a lifeless offense go down to the Scrappers 9-7. Hitting and D were sporadic as the Hyde of the Gers showed his ugly mug. Super sub J Chung did have 3 hits including a 3 bag blast as did the previously slumbering Coach Sil who went 3/3.

In the middler, the Gers took on a formidable Royal squad and scored often in route to a 19-9 explosion victory over the unsuspectong Lachman squad. This was the Jekyl Rangers who played well on D and erupted for 24 hits......Tony Mac had 3 hits including a triple. JJ had a sac and 3 hits including a double. Tenny also smacked 3 hits. T Williams had 3 hits, a double and 4 RBI's. BUC aka Clint Hauck had 4 Ribby's on two well timed bingos. Coach Sil kept awake for 3 more hits and 4 RIB's. Hershy, Ken "Ocean" Sprague, and Ed Jamison also had 2 hits each in a wonderful Ger erruption!!!

Game 3 saw a see-saw battle with the Kitty Kat Tigers who led by 3 into the late innings. The Gers once again got the sticks going in the next to last plating 7 runs including a Mac attack HR. Ocean had a big double in an 8 hit barrage. Tony Mac also had a 2b and BB completeing a one day cycle. Hershy found his groove with 4 hits including a 3 bagger. JJ also had a 2b, BB, and 2 RBI's. Tenny had a fine outing with 3 more hits. Super subs Roth and Chung had 5 hits to aid the cause.

A good day for the boys, but not a great one. See you in two and for all of you muther's enjoy your day!!!

The Mets opened the day hosting the Muckdogs. The ever shifiting defensive package put together by Goldstein had more moves then John Travolta in the 70's, and the Mets could only muster up 4 runs.  Final score, Muckies 12- Mets 4.

In game 2, the Mets visited the league leading Red Sox.  The major league team easily handled the AA squad in an 11-7 victory.

In game 3, the Mets hosted the Royals.  The Mets scored 3 in the 1st, 1 in the 2nd, and 3 in the 3rd while holding the Royals at bay.  The Mets broke it open in the 4th with a 2 out rally that featured 10 consecutive hits bringing in 7 runs.  Final score Mets 14, Royals 4.

The Elfenbein combo of Mark and Tanner led the way on offense by combining to go 16 for 18 on the day with Tanner collecting 9 hits in 9 at bats.

Jon Banta added 6 of his own including 2 2Bs and 2 3Bs.

Phillip Kim had 6 hits and 1 SF

Marc Kramen had 5 hits

The Mets look forward to the week off and await their feature game on the 20th vs the Tigers.

Game one vs Miller's Red Sox- Yanks offense consisted of Jaime Aron and Doc Levy going three for three and Chase Berg's two hits. Super sub Doug Stayman hit a three run blast as well! The Yanks had 16 hits but could muster only 4 runs against the Sox's tight d. Final Sox 7 Yanks 4

Game two had a different feel as the Yanks pounded out 30 hits in winning 23-3. the 17 run 2nd was the difference as all Yankees had hits and runs scored. Chase Berg (5 for 5), Greg Fleisher (4 for 4), Adam DeLisse (4 for 4) and John Burke (3 for 3 and a bb) were the hitting stars among many Yankee heroes.

Yanks lost a 9-8 killer to Fein's Bees in a well played game with timely hitting by both teams. The Bees scored two with two outs in the bottom of the seventh for th win. Burke and Stayman collected three hits each in the contest.

The Yanks will take next weekend off before another tripleheader on the 20th.

Happy Mother's Day!

With two important division games the Indians look to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.  

In the first game against the powerful Casper’s Rivercats the Indians jumped out to a 3-0 only to see the Rivercats answer with 4 of their own in the bottom of the first. In the top of the 3^rd and the score now 5-4 the Indians answer once again with 3 runs led by Rookie of the Week winner Daniel Klevanosky double and Dan Feldman’s single. The score now tied 6-6 the Indians and Rivercats head to extra innings. The Indians quickly jumped on the Rivercats with a leadoff double by Marc Biesman, followed a single by Dan Feldman and a double by Mark Rappaport for a 3 run top of the 7^th. In the bottom of the 7^th the Rivercats went 1-2-3 for an Indians 10-7 victory.

In the night cap the Indians took on Silvermanless Rangers. Coming off an emotional victory against the Rivercats, the Indians look to keep the momentum going. Sulzer’s Indians quickly jumped out 2-0 lead on the defending champion Rangers. The Rangers showing the Championship pedigree answer with 3 runs in the top of the 2^nd. The Indians then tied the game in the bottom of the 4^th with a leadoff single by Dan Feldman followed by a RBI double by Mark Rappaport. With the Indians leading 6-5 heading into the top of the 7^th, the Rangers had bases loaded with no outs. The Indians were able to out of the inning with only 1 run scored thanks to a great throw by Daniel Klevanosky and tag at home plate by Scott Sulzer to keep the game tied. In the bottom of the 7^th the Indians got things started with Michael Weber leadoff single, followed by Rolando Tellez single and Daniel Klevanosky single to load the bases. With one out and the bases still loaded Dan Feldman delivered a deep sac fly to score the winning run in a 7-6 Indians victory.

Still early in the season the home team Giants found themselves in basically a must win situation against 2 division rivals if they hope to have any hopes of contending for a playoff spot.  Two things have killed the fan favorite Giants-  slow starts by their bats and allowing the other team to get off to quick leads.  We thought it might be a great day when the opposite happened as the Bee's quietly went in the first and we struck for an early 4-0 lead by some patient hitting as 2 of the first 3 batters drew walks and 4 timely singles helped plate the early runs.  We added another 3 spot in the 3rd, 5 in the 4th and capped off the scoring with 5 in the final inning as we held their bats in check all day as John's defense was stellar behind him.  The two main hitting stars of this game were David Buhrow 2-3 with 3 runs and 4 rbi including a bb and Aaron Zweig who blasted 2 doubles off the fence and pitching in 5 rbi's of his own.  Our main - NON HITTING STAR was Justin Reed who managed 3 BB's (shocked me also) before blasting a 3 Run bomb in the final inning.  

Game 2 brought the Schnitzer-less Mets into our stadium as we took over the main field #1.  It looked like our old formula might reassert itself as the Mets jumped on us for 4 runs in the top of the 1st inning.  We did manage to scrape 2 across in the bottom half of the inning as our super-subs Paul Malloy and Jason Hall each lead off with singles and David Buhrow and Aaron Zweig managed to manufacture the runs home  We added one in the 2nd before the Mets plated two more of their own in the 3rd.  Down 6-3 going to the bottom of the 4th we managed to tie the game on four consecutive hits to lead off the inning.  More good D in the top half of the frame and the Giants iced the game with a 5 run 5th.  This game had good consistant hitting up and down the line-up with 6 players collecting at least 2 hits (Jason Hall, Justin Reed, Aaron Zweig, Darren Kammer and Jeff Berman)

Our defensive star of the day was David "Baby J" Buhrow who played flawless D at SS.

The Scrappers showed up Sunday morning with one goal in mind - to win two.  That goal was met by everyone contributing on the field both offensively and defensively.  Captain London started the morning with a pep talk and got his guys thinking of what was ahead.  It worked!

In the first game there was some amazing pitching by Paul Rakofsky and some great defense to go along with it.  The Nutt duo turned 4 double plays and led the defense for the Scrappers.  It took 4 innings for the Yankee line-up to make a full circle.  Rarely does a shut-out happen, but the Scrappers held the opposing Yankees to zero runs.

With the Scrappers on a high note after the first game, the second game started and the hitting continued.  16 runs were scored by the Scrappers in the first inning and Michael Barth was all flustered on the mound representing the Royals of Larry Lachman.  Every Scrapper had multiple hits throughout the game which lead to the huge win of 28-2.  Again some great defense aided the Scrappers in this game.

It is hard to recoginize just one member of the Scrappers team for their performance on Sunday morning so the entire team gets the game ball!!  Great job Scrappers!!

The Red Sox entered week 5 with a league leading 6-2 record and ready to face the Tigers. Two errors in the bottom of the first gifted the Red Sox 2 runs before the Tigers tied it. Two more on 4 singles gave us a 4-3 lead. Two more in the fifth due to a two run bases loaded single by Chris Moucka gave the Red Sox their final margin of 6-3 as the Tigers could not mount an offensive threat.

Game 2 against the Muckdogs started fast with 4 runs on six singles for the BoSox. The Muckdogs battled back to close it to 4-3 after 3 before they broke loose for 4 in the bottom of the fourth as the bottom of their order came through. The Red Sox scored 1 in the fifth and two in the sixth to tie it at 7 heading to the seventh. A two out rally started with singles by Chris Moucka and Eli Gershenson before Jason Murray singled home what proved to be the winning run as the Muckdogs failed to score giving the Red Sox an 8-7 come from behind win, their 4^th one run victory and a sweep on the day.

Leading the Red Sox attack was Robbie Franklin with 5-6, a walk and a triple and Eli Gershenson 5-7 (including 4-4 in game 2). Michael Hickey, Jason Murray and John Miller all went 4-7. The Red Sox league leading defense again proved to be the difference giving up 10 runs for the day in improving their season average to 6.6 runs per game given up. Matt Rakofsky had another great day at shortstop

Paul Rakofsky was masterful as the Scrappers shut out the Yankees 13-0. Six hits and four double plays allowed the Scrappers to pitch to just two over the minimum.

In game two the Yanks rebounded and edged the Blue Claws 10-6. Our 2-5 in the lineup was 10 for 12 as Chase Berg and John Burke were 3-3 and David Tennyson/Rick Levy were each 2 for 3 with 5 rbi's. Chase Berg had two outfied assists and pegged out a runner at the plate as Allan Chernoff made an excellent tag. The offensive running gem was when Levy was dead at home but his "shake and bake" allowed him to score.

The Muckdogs lost two, an 8-7 squeaker against the 1st place Red Sox, and then 24-16 in the Game of the Week to the Threshers. 

The opener featured solid pitching and defense from both teams, with the Red Sox getting more timely hitting at the end. The Muckdogs continued their solid play in first half of the second game, but the Threshers relentless hitting wore down the Muckdogs fielders, who sufferred numerous misplays and miscues. Hopefully the strategy of getting all the bad fielding out of the way in one game pays off. 

Leading Muckdog hitters on the day included Player of the Week finalist Al Valenti 5-6, 4 runs, 2 RBIs; Rookie of the Week Finalist Larry Treece 4-8, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Larry Taub 6-8, 5 runs, 4 RBIs; Brock Treece 4-8, 3 runs, 2 RBIs; Mike Sheppard 5-8, 2 2Bs, 2 runs, 7 RBIs; Larry Goldstein 3-6, 2B, 2 runs, 1 RBI; and Bruce Ackerman 4-6 3 runs, 1 RBI.

In game 1, the Mets hosted the Pirates.  Jon Banta pitched 6 scoreless innings as defensive gems were abundant including plays from outfielders Chris Coffman, Philip Kim, Larry Schnitzer, and even a "tip of the hat" catch by Marc Kramen.  The infield was steady with several key plays by 3B Jacob Schnitzer and a dandy double play from Banta to Mark Elfenbein.  Final score, Mets 6 Pirates 3.

In game 2, the Mets were the visitors against the Giants.  After taking an early, the Mets couldn't hold on as the Giants defeated the road warriors 11-6.

On the day, hitting stars were:

Philip Kim- 4 hits

Jon Banta- 5 hits including 2 2Bs

Jacob Schnitzer- 3 hits

Chris Coffman- 3 hits with a 3B

Lewis Zwick- 2 hits in game 2

Despite hitting almost .500 for the day, the Muckdogs could only score 12 runs on the day and lost to the Owls and Indians in the April 22 doubleheader. 

Leading hitters on the day were Player of the Week finalist Larry Taub 5-6, 3 runs, 1 RBI; Rookie of the Week Finalist Larry Treece, 5-6, 2 runs; Mike Sheppard 4-6, 2B, 1 run, 2 RBIs; Doug Storm 3-5, 4 RBIs, 1 run; and Brock Treece, 3-6, 1 run, 1 RBI.

The motto for the 2012 Sulzer Indians is we never our going to give up. With this philosophy in mind the Indians took on the Tann’s Tigers. With the Tigers still upset from their 15-1 earlier defeat to the Indians, Tann’s team jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead. In
the bottom of the first Sulzer’s Indians match the 4 runs with the first four Indians
each scoring. In the next inning Tann’s Tigers erupted for 6 more runs to quickly make the score 10-4. With Indians down 5 runs going into the 5^th inning, the Indians decided to not give up. With the first 5 batters again scoring, the Indians were able to erased
the Tigers lead and add three more runs to make it an 8 run 5^th. In the top of the 6^th the Tigers answered the Indians 8 run 5^th with 3 of their own to tie the game
at 14-14. Heading into the bottom of the 6^th, the Indians had the top of their order up. Led by Shiller’s single and Klevanosky’s walk, the Indians were able to get their first two men on. Now with two outs and a man on third, Tigers decided to walk Dan Feldman was already 3-3 on the day to pitch to Mark Rappaport. Mark launched a fly ball over the right fielder for a game winning single. The Indians again came back for a 15-14 win.

In the night cap the Indians took on Goldstein’s Muckdogs. After walking was seemed like an eternity from one side of the park to the other. The Indians jumped on the Muckdogs for 2 in the first and 6 in the second. Not to look back in a 9-4 victory. The Indians were led by Dan Feldman who continue is hot hitting from the first game with 3
hits in the night cap and Marc Biesman who was 3-3. Also contributing was Rolando Tellez who was 2-2 and Mark Winnie who played some great defensive at 3B and RF.

Rookie of the Week, Joel Cerefice, had a huge day for the Royals, driving in nine runs, and leading the team to victories over Hauf’s Giants, 23 – 10, and Weinfeld’s Pirates, 16 – 11. The doubleheader sweep saw the Royals score 39 runs and pound out 46 hits, including 14 extra base hits (11 doubles, 1 triple and 2 fence-clearing homeruns). The Royals’ high-powered offense scored 10 or more runs in a single inning in both games of the twin bill, and extended their streak of 20 or more hits to four consecutive games.

Randy Ransom also had an impressive day, going 7 – 8, while driving in six runs and scoring five. Together, Cerefice and Ransom accounted for an astounding 59 percent of the Royals’ 39 runs.

In the opener against the Giants, the Royals scored in every inning. Larry Lachman, Rob Sosebee, and Michael Barth each went 4 – 4. After both teams scored three runs in the first inning, the Royals pulled ahead by putting up a single run in the second, seven in the third, two in the fourth, and 10 in the fifth.

With the outcome still in doubt, Cerefice came to bat in the top of the third with the bases loaded, one out, and the Royals leading 5 – 3. He promptly rifled a bases-clearing double into the left centerfield gap to break the game open. The Giants avoided further damage when Justin Reed made another outstanding, diving catch off of a line shot into the gap by Jeremy Pease. Down 11 – 3, heading to the bottom of the third, the Giants didn’t fold. After scoring two in the third, Reed smashed his second homerun of the season, and first off Barth, to help pull the Giants to within three heading to the top of the fifth.

With home-field advantage, and having scored seven runs in the previous two innings, it appeared that the momentum had swung in the Giants’ favor. But in the top of the fifth, the Royals answered the Giants’ charge. The first 10 batters reached base via a hit or a walk, and scored as eight different Royals had RBIs in the inning to put the game away. 

Game 1 offensive stars

Joel Cerefice  3 – 4, 2 Runs, 5 RBI, 2B
Larry Lachman  4 – 4, 3 Runs, 3 RBI
Rob Sosebee  4 – 4, 3 Runs, 2 RBI, 2 2B
Michael Barth  4 – 4, 4 Runs, 2 RBI
Randy Ransom  3 – 4, 3 Runs, 2 RBI
Fred Clausen  3 – 4, 2 Runs, 3 RBI
Jeremy Pease  2 – 4, 2 Runs, 1 RBI
Jett Serrett  2 – 5, 1 Run, 1 RBI, 2 2B

After scoring 23 runs against the Giants, the red-hot Royals’ encore was an 11-run first inning against the Pirates. With the wind blowing out hard to straightaway centerfield, the first eight batters reached base via a hit. Jett Serrett and Bill Walter sparked the Royals’ eruption by each going 2 – 2 in the inning. Serrett doubled to lead off the game; his third of four doubles on the day. RBI singles by Ransom, Barth, Lachman, and super-sub, Fred Clausen, set the stage again for Cerefice. After going 3 – 4 with 5 RBIs in game 1, Cerefice smashed his first homerun of the season; a 3-run towering blast that cleared the centerfield fence. Leading 8 – 1, the Royals weren’t done. Brian Conn drew a walk and scored on Serrett’s second double of the inning. Walter completed the scoring by blasting his first homerun of the season over the right centerfield fence. The ball was hit so hard that it had not yet reached the top of its trajectory when it cleared the fence.

Ransom’s two-run single in the bottom of the third, and Cerefice’s sacrifice fly (and ninth RBI on the day) in the fourth padded the lead, and proved to be key runs in the game. Heading to the top of the fourth with a seemingly insurmountable 13 – 1 lead, it appeared the game was going to be a rout. The Pirates, however, had other plans. The heart of the Pirates batting order (Jon Simonson, Zane Belyea, and Bandon Strull) went a combined 7 – 9 with four doubles and a triple, and drove in six runs as the Pirates roared from behind, scoring 10 runs to make it a 14 – 11 game.

The Royals turned two double plays in the game. In the top of the third, Pease and Cerefice turned a smooth 6–4–3 double play to spoil a Pirates’ threat. But the huge double play came in the fifth, with the Royals clinging to a 14 – 11 lead, one out, and bases loaded with Pirates. Ransom fielded a soft roller up the third base line, stepped on the bag and threw to first to complete the 5–3 double play.

After holding the Royals scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, it appeared that the Pirates were ready to pull off a comeback for the ages, especially when the first two Pirates reached base leading off the top of the sixth, bringing the tying run to the plate. Barth quickly recorded two outs, but up stepped Jeff Lewin who had hit the ball hard all day and scored two runs. There was no working around him as Simonson, who has worn out Royals pitching for the past two seasons, waited on deck (with Belyea and Strull following him). On a 3 – 2 count, with the outcome of the game hanging in the balance, Lewin lifted a soft liner to left centerfield. Sosebee, who had been playing Lewin deep, made a spectacular, game-saving, full-speed running catch with his glove barely a foot off the ground.

Game 2 offensive stars

Joel Cerefice  1 – 2, 1 Run, 4 RBI, 3-Run Fence HR
Randy Ransom  4 – 4, 2 Runs, 4 RBI, 2 2B
Fred Clausen  3 – 3, 1 Run, 1 RBI, 2B
Jeremy Pease  3 – 4, 1 Run, 2 RBI, 2B, 3B
Jett Serrett  3 – 4, 3 Runs, 1 RBI, 2 2B
Bill Walter  2 – 2, 3 Runs, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2-Run Fence HR
Michael Barth  2 – 3, 2 Runs, 1 RBI

With 3 weeks off, the Red Sox played the Rivercats in danger of having lost their timing. That wasn’t a concern as we batted around and scored 6 in the first and 5 in the second on 13 hits. The hit parade didn’t stop there as 2 in the third and 10 in the 4^th built the lead to a 23-0 margin before the Rivercats finally showed some signs of life, closing the final margin to 23-4.

Between all of the base running in scoring 23 runs and a trans continental hike from field 6 to field 9, the Red Sox showed up to play the Rangers exhausted. The game was a close pitchers duel tied at 2 after 1 and 2, tied at 4 after 3, 4 and 5 before the Rangers edged ahead 5-4 after 6. They added 4 more in the top of the 7^th to win 9-4 as the Red Sox couldn’t resurrect their hitting power from game 1.

Player of the Week candidate Matt Rakofsky went 6-7 with two triples and 6 ribbies. ROW candidate Rony Batagower went 5-7 with a double and 8 rbi’s. Gene Reister had a break out game with 4-7 and a double.

The Rivercats started their first game the way they have started every first game since the second Sunday of play- By getting their first 2 men on, and then creating an out on the basepath, and turning a promising start into disapointment. Then, true to form, the Rivercats were disheartened and proceeded to play a very flat game, with uninspired defense and lackluster hitting. Playing on the treacherous field 6, the Rivercats also enjoyed having a plethora of hits right back at their pitchers-- Kudos to Manny Madrigal and Steve Barker for surviving into game 2. Taylor Cross quietly had a good game, getting a hit in each of his at bats.

Then, as in each of their previous 2 weekends, after their loss, the Rivercats loosened up and decided to have fun. After losing 23-4 to the Red Sox, they won 23-9 against the Threshers. Andrew Williams was 4-4 with a trio of doubles and scored every time he got on. Bob Davis was 3-3 with 3 RBIs. Manny Madrigal hit 2 over the fence and knocked in 5. Taylor Cross was 3-4 and reached on every plate appearance. Steve Barker pitched a solid game and had a pair of walks. Mitch Zimmerman broke out of his slump with 2 hits and played a great second base. Alan London was 3-4 and reached on every plate appearance. Austin Barker broke out of his slump, going 3-4, including a blasted triple and 4 RBIs.

The Rivercats are hiring a team to come out and play a pretend game with them at 7:30 next Sunday so that they can get their mandatory loss out of their system and go ahead and win 2.

Ranger Rap

Rangers had a tough split on Sunday falling to the Threshers in the opener 15-13. The Gers opened up a 10-3 lead into the bottom of the 3rd only to see the Thresh rally for 12 in their half-the inning was a comedy and or tragedy of Ranger miscues sprinkled around timely hitting of the opposition. Rangers rallied a bit but came up short in what has to be labeled as their worst defensive effort of the season.

The nightcap showed the teams resiliency as they were able to keep their heads up in a 9-4 gut check win over the first place Bosox The hitting was adequate in spite of the fact that J Miller decided that we play fast pitch-his change up was eveidently not working and the ump took the day off as well.

Ranger Rappers:

Barry Hersh who has help carry the offense all year-6/8 4Runs, 4RBI's, two 2B's, and a Ding Dong

Tony Mac-5/8 4R's, 3RBI's and a 3 bagger

Troy Tennison-5/8 3R's and 4RBI's

JJ-4/8 4R's, 4RBI's, 3B, and a HR

In game one against the bees the claws did what they have done all season and jumped out early with 3 in the first...but the bees stung right back with a big first inning with 6. They got 1 more in the 2nd...but then we came back with 7 runs for a 10-7 lead...they got 1 more then finished with 3 in the bottom of the 6th for an 11-10 lead...unfortunately the claws didn't score in the final 3 innings and that was the final.

Game 2 was against 1/2 the mets and 1/2 of the sublist...again the claws came out hot with 3 in the first...the mets scored the next 5 runs and took a 5-3 lead...we got 1 in the bottom of the 3rd then 6 in the bottom of the  5th for a 10-5 lead...the mets came back with 4 in the top of the 6th...but the wiley claws worked the clock well...scored 2 more in the top of the 6th as the time ran out for a solid 12-9 win.

Big Hitters for the day:
Tommy Apligian-6-8, 5 runs, 4 RBI, 2-2B, 2-3B
Sean Greeley-4-6, 3 runs, 6 RBI, 1-HR
Todd Lecocq-5-6, 4 runs, 1 RBI
Travis Levay-2 triples

Game One vs Skipper Bob's Pirates a special 10:30am start. Pirates take a 10-3 lead into the bottom of the 7th inning. Yanks scratch and claw back with hits and walks (may have had a catcher's interference too) and David Tennyson ties it up with a bases loaded double. Pirates score two in extras and Yankees' Bambino Epstein triples to start the 8th but after a sac fly by Gregg Fleisher the Yanks come up just short 12-11.

In game two on short field seven the Giants sluggers played pin ball with the left field wall hitting two over and denting several links. Yanks got to 10 thanks to Jaime Aron's 3 for 3 and Adam DeLisse's 2 for 3 and three runs scored. Final Hauf's Giants (Captained by 1-0 Justin Reed) 16-10 over the Bronx UniBombers.

No joy in the Bronx. Captain is not answering phone calls from anyone named Hank or Brian this week.

The Muckdogs split their April Fools Day doubleheader, even without star players Aaron Weintraub, Larry Taub and Al Valenti, losing to the Pirates in the opener 11-6 and beating the Royals in the nightcap. 

Despite greater fielding at SS by supersub Steven McNeill, the Muckdogs batters could not get a good hitting rhythm off of Pirates ace pitcher Jon Solov. Rookies Strull and Rosenzweig played outstanding outfield defense for the Pirates. 

The game against the Royals was a back and forth thriller. Tied after 5, it was clear the 6th would be the last inning. The Royals scored 2 in the top of the 6th, and likely would have scored more if Rookie of the Week Brock Treece had not thrown out a runner at 3rd from LCF. In the bottom of the 6th, Jeff Berkowitz, McNeill and Mike Sheppard started the inning with consecutive singles. With one out and down one Wayne Casper hit into a force out to knock in the tying run and then on a real hustle play advanced the winning run to second. Now the big decision for Royals -- face rookie Brock Treece who was 6 for 6 on the day or walk Treece and face the light hitting and aging Captain Goldstein. Intentional walk to Treece following by a winning single to RF by the wiley veteran. Muckdogs win 10-9.

Leading hitters on the day were Jeff Berkowitz 4-7, 3 runs, 1 RBI; Steven McNeill 5-8 2Bs; Mike Sheppard 4-8, 2 runs, 4 RBIs; Rookie of the Week Brock Treece 6-6, 3 runs, 1 RBI; Larry Goldstein, 3-6, 1 run , 4 RBIs.

The Perfect Giants (0-4) entered this weekend minus two of their key players (Mele and Zweig).  Initially it looked like we would be off to the same results of the two previous weeks.  Opening against Rookie Captain Roth's Owls we had hoped to take advantage of his inexperience.  The opposite happened as we did our usual slow hitting start coupled with some fielding issues and we dug ourselves into a 7-2 deficit after 2 innings.  After that Darren Kammer (making his 1st start of the year) only allowed 1 run the final 4 innings.  Our bats started to emerge as we plated a total of 5 in the 5th and 6th innnings to close the gap to 8-7 leading into the final and decisive 7th inning.  With our lead off hitters coming up things were looking bright for our Giants.  3 up and 3 down quickly flamed out the excitment.  I want to congratulate new Captain Matt Roth on shutting us down when it matter most.

Giants now 0-5 heading into nightcap.

Excited to play last season's Champion Rangers it seemed to fire up the squad.  Initially it looked like it would be all Rangers as they exploded for 3 in the first.  We answered with 4 in the bottom of the frame highlighted by a David Buhrow 2 RBI triple.  Defense and pitching took over the next two innings until the 4th when the Rangers tallied 3 more runs to take a 7-4 lead into the bottom of the frame.  Determined to not go down without a fight my Giants answered with 4 of our own to again take a 1 run lead.  The inning featured runs scoring doubles by both Darren Kammer and David Buhrow.  With the top of their order coming up in the 5th we needed a big defensive inning.  Again we responded with 3 up and 3 down highlighted by a brilliant catch by David Buhrow.  We tacked on a big insurance run in the bottom frame and again our defense was stellar as Jeff Berman made a tough catch to end the game.  VICTORY!!!!  - finally.

Hitting Stars of the Day-

Scott Ulick   5-5 1-R  1-RBI and a SF

Jeff Berman  3-5 3-R  1-BB

David Buhrow  4-6 2-2b  1-3b  1-R and 4-RBI

Donnie Allen  5-8  3-R  2-RBI

Darren Kammer  3 hits  2-2b 4-R 3-RBI  Excellent pitching in game 1

Game one vs Fast Eddie Tann's Tigers. Yanks get 4 in the first thanks to David Tennyson's triple.

Tigers knot it a 4 thru one.

Yanks score three in the second as James Lee doubles, Jaime Aron singles, Allan Chernoff and Captain Jeter coax walks, two sac flies by Chase Berg and Tennyson end the Yanks scoring for the game.

Tigers get 3 in the bottom of two to tie it at seven. Tiggers get six in the 4th and win 14-7 in more Like a Lions-Giants score.

Game two versus Matthew Roth's Owls. Matt played the role of Brooks Robinson in this game but Barry Epstein played the Bambino to perfection.

Yanks score 3 in the first with singles from Rick Levy, John Burke and a two run triple by The Bambino Epstein.

Yankees get 5 in the 3rd on 7 hits with rbi's from Tennyson, Levy, The Bambino Epstein, Gregg Fleisher and Alan Taper (5 for 5 in the twin bill).

Bombers get three in the 3rd as Tennyson triples and Barry Bambino homers to deep right center. The Bambino was 3 for 3 with 4 rbi's and 8 total bases! Can you say game changer? I knew you could. Yanks win 12-3.

4 biggest Yankee heroes:

Barry the Bambino who ate an entire cherry pie in between games before having a game for the ages.

Alan Taper 5 for 5 and even brother Howard is jealous

John Burke who took an errant throw in the cheekbone while racing to first in game one and finished both games somehow.

Jamie Aron who made the single greatest catch by a catcher in Shalom League history. Ask Eddie Tann when you see him.

Not much to say this week per team's request. Won opener against the Bees 12-2 on strength of continued offensive wrecking man Barry Hersh with a 3B and HR. JJ chipped in with two Ribs and Tenny-Shus had 5 hits, 4 runs and 3 RBI's including Shus 2B. D was solid. 2nd game saw an uninspired sleep walk falling to Giants 9-7-Gers defense was rather leaky giving up 5 unearned runs. JJ continued his strong offense with a 2B and 2 more RBI's. Tenny also continues his hot hitting with 2 hits and 2 RBI's as well. TWill had a HR and Ken "Ocean" Sprague a 3 bagger-Sctt Elf had a double as well. TMac had 2 hits as well-unfortunately it all added up to an ugly loss.  Stay loose to my Yiddish buds and have a great Easter to my Goy Boys....see ya in two.

The Royals settled for a split Sunday, taking the opening game 13 – 3 over Unell’s Threshers behind another solid defensive effort, but falling in the nightcap to Goldstein’s Muckdogs, 10 – 9.

In the opener, Bill Walter paced the 20-hit offensive attack with three hits and scored three runs, while Randy Ransom and Michael Barth each drove in three. Former Royal, Brian Levine, led off the game for the undermanned Threshers with an inside-the-park homerun. After both teams scored two in the first inning, the Royals pulled ahead by putting up a single run in the second, four in the third, five in the fifth, and one in the sixth.

Ransom’s RBI triple in the first started the Royals’ scoring, and his RBI single in the sixth completed it. Barth, who recorded his third straight quality start, did it with his glove and his bat. In the top of the second, with the Threshers threatening, Barth turned a comebacker to the mound into a 1–6–3 double play, and he keyed the four-run third with a two-run single. The reigning Rookie of the Week, Jett Serrett, led off the bottom of the fifth with his first homerun of the season.

Game 1 big hitters

Bill Walter  3 – 3, 3 Runs, 1 RBI, BB, 3B
Joel Cerefice  2 – 2, 2 RBI, 2B
Michael Barth  2 – 3, 1 Run, 3 RBI
Randy Ransom  2 – 3, 1 Run, 3 RBI, 3B
Jeremy Pease  2 – 3, 2 Runs, 2 RBI
Rob Sosebee  2 – 3, 1 Run, 1 RBI
Jett Serrett  2 – 4, 2 Runs, 1 RBI, 2B, HR
Doug Stayman  2 – 4, 1 Run
Steve Gadol  1 – 2, 2 Runs, BB

The Royals’ inability to close out the nightcap prevented them from sweeping their doubleheader. Heading to the bottom of the sixth with a 9 – 7 lead, the Royals saw the Muckdogs come from behind to win the game 10 – 9. The second game was a case of numerous missed opportunities for the Royals as they again collected 20 hits, but stranded a total of 12 runners in the contest. Muckdogs’ pitcher, Wayne Casper, was able to work out of bases-loaded jams in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. With the score tied at seven, singles by Walter and Steve Gadol gave the Royals the two-run lead heading to the bottom of the sixth. Doug Stayman led the Royals with three RBIs, while Walter and Gadol collected three hits apiece.

Game 2 big hitters

Steve Gadol  3 – 3, 1 Run, 1 RBI, 2B
Bill Walter  3 – 4, 3 Runs, 1 RBI
Randy Ransom  3 – 4, 1 Run, 2 RBI
Jett Serrett  2 – 4, 1 Run
Joel Cerefice  2 – 3
Doug Stayman  1 – 2, 3 RBI, 2B

The Blueclaws played stellar defense and the bottom of the lineup carries them to a weekend sweep. In game 1 against the power hitting River Cats it was a back and forth struggle with the cats taking a 3 run lead in the top of the 6th but we clawed our way back scoring 6 runs in the bottom of the 6th sending 10 people to the plate. The bottom of the lineup carried the team in this one with batters 6-12 going a combined 15-21 with 7 runs and 10 rbi...Irv Munn made several great plays at 1B and the entire team was stellar on the whole to hold on for the 12-9 victory

Game 2 was against the undermanned Threshers but they still had their leader John Unell and he has been a mainstay and leader in the league for a half century so we knew it would be a battle.  The Claws jumped out quick with 3 in the first off a Greg Aymond 3 run bomb clearing the left field fence...then the defense took over from there. The Claws didn't allow even a base runner until the 5th inning...and only 5 hits total for the game enroute to a 5-2 win.

Big Hitters for the day:
Todd LeCocq-3-6, 2 runs, 1-2B, 3 rbi
Doug Baer (POW nominee)-4-6, 1 run, 2 rbi
Jeff Roberts (game 1), 3-3, 2 runs, 1-3B, 1 rbi
Travis Levay (game 1), 2-3, 2 runs, 2 rbi
Jeremy Crum (ROW nominee) 4-5, 1 run, 2 rbi

A sick-out called by the players’ union left the Threshers undermanned and outgunned in Week Three of the 2012 Temple Shalom Softball League Season. Co-conspirators Jack Borenstein, Harlan Davis, Jamey Newberg and Eric Singer all feigned issues preventing them from performing under their contracts with the team. Although a few brave scabs, I mean subs, did fill in, team chemistry was lacking.

In the Opener, the Lachman Lachmen watched the Threshers jump out to a 2-run lead in the top of the first, sparked by Brian Levine’s solo homer to start the game. From then on, the Royals outscored the Threshers 13-1 en route to a 13-3 pounding. Levine’s 3 for 3 was the highlight of the game.

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R
Threshers 2 0 0 1 3 0 0 3
Royals 2 1 4 0 5 1 X 13

Next up were the Greeley Blue Claws. The Threshers didn’t get their first RUNNER until the fifth inning. Limited to 5 hits over 7 innings, the Threshers just couldn’t solve the BC’s ever-shrinking hurler.

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R
Blue Claws 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 5
Threshers 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2

Surely better days are ahead for the Threshers as it appears a labor agreement was reached late on Sunday ending all talk of a work stoppage.

No Thresher:
1) Brian Levine – 6/1/4/1 – Leadoff HR
2) Eddie Davis – Scored both games (in the scorebook)
3) Colleen Lutz & Jodie Rodenberg – Gutted out watching the debacle

The Red Sox got to sleep in Sunday due to playing in the 11:00 game. Apparently an extra hour wasn’t enough extra sleep as the bats slumbered through the first game against the Bees. Fortunately the defense was tight in this pitchers duel. The Red Sox were issued 5 free passes concentrated in the second and fourth innings that created 5 runs and a 5-4 lead after 4 innings. Each team failed to generate any runs over the last three innings to give the Red Sox a 5-4 win.

Game 2 was the featured game against the Scrappers this time with the wind blowing out. The Red Sox jumped out to a 7-4 lead after 2 innings already surpassing their game 1 hit total. The scrappy Scrappers rallied to tie it at 9 after 4. A double by Chris Moucka put the Red Sox ahead 10-9 heading to the sixth. The Scrappers rallied on a bases loaded triple to score 5, leaving the Red Sox with one last opportunity and their biggest deficit of the day. An error and single brought a struggling Robbie Franklin to the plate who lofted a fly ball to right that was misplayed into a two run triple. Successive singles by Matt Rakofsky, Rony Batagower and John Miller tied the score at 14 and brought Eli Gershenson to the plate. Eli delivered a game winning single up the middle to celebrate his young son’s birthday cheering in the stands. The Red Sox with two one run victories move to 5-1 and the league lead, confounding the league prognosticators who have picked the Red Sox to lose 5 of 6 games.

Hitting stars for the day were Dustin Madlock, Chris Moucka and John Miller all 4-5, Michael Hickey 4-8, Matt Rakofsky and Eli Gershenson 3-6.

Game 1 had the Mets playing at home against the Indians. After spotting 2 in the 1st, the Mets never looked back as they built an early lead and then held on for a 10-8 win thanks to several dandy plays at 1B by Chris Coffman and stellar pitching by Jon Banta.

Game 2 had the Mets playing on the road to the Rivercats.  The Mets built an early lead, but gave up 6 in the bottom of the 5th and found themselves behind.  The Mets clawed back to within 1 but faltered in the last for an 11-10 loss.

Hitting stars for the day include:

Tanner Elfenbein  3 hits, 1 SF

Sanjay Pant 3 hits, 1 SF, 1 2B, 1 3B

Jon Banta 4-6, 2 BB, 2 2Bs

Alan Gohelke 3 hits

Aaron Bransky 4 hits, 1 BB, 2 2Bs

Chris Coffman  4 hits, 1 SF

Stuart Rosenfield  3 hits, 1 BB

Larry Schnitzer 4-6, 1 BB

Week Two of the 2012 Temple Shalom Softball League Season found the Threshers on the road against the winless Scrappers and the undefeated Defending Champion Rangers. The full squad was available save for Jack Borenstein, who was celebrating his 50th Wedding Anniversary. No word yet on if Jack needed a pinch runner.

In the Opener, the Threshers came calling on the London Scrappers – a team which dropped each game last week by a single run. Although this game featured one of the most outstanding defensive plays ever recorded in TSSL history by Scrapper skipper Brad London, it was the leather flashed time and again by Jamey Newberg that made the ultimate difference. First, London’s play: with the Scrappers clinging to a 5-2 lead in the top of the fourth, the bases were swimming with Sharks and Steve “Hammering” Hankin sent a drive to deep leftfield. Brad London, with his back to home plate and in a dead sprint, snared the blast out of the blue Texas sky to deny the sure-to-be bases clearing bomb. The Scrappers then pushed their advantage to 7-3 by scratching together run-scoring rallies in each of the first four innings. It was at that point that the USS Scrappers hit a Newberg. First, Jamey’s single ignited a 3-run uprising in the top of the 5th to cut the lead to 7-6. Jamey’s “got a glove” helped shut down the home team in the bottom of the 5th. He leadoff the 7th with his third hit of the game and the Threshers completed the comeback by plating 5 to take an 11-7 lead in the bottom of the frame. The Scrappers quickly loaded the bases with none out to start the 7th, but Newberg shut the door with two more web gems to preserve the 11-8 victory.

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R
Threshers 2 0 0 1 3 0 5 11
Scrappers 2 1 2 2 0 0 1 8

Next up were the Silver“tongued”man’s Defending Champs Rangers and their 3-0 record. Captain Larry Silverman and his sidekick/man-crush J.J. Eusay entered the game having won a mere 27 of their 28 regular season games together over the last year and change. The Threshers cobbled together a run in the top of the first on a Harlan”quin” Davis sac fly. In the third, the visits used smoke and mirrors to add a 5 spot as Eric “Opera” Singer only added to his one-man wrecking crew reputation, earned in last year’s Championship Series for the now-defunct TSSL Knights, by delivering a two-out RBI single to cap the scoring. The defense did the rest of the work, shutting down the potent Rangers offense, even limiting them to a single run in the 7th after the Rangers loaded the bases with none out. Newberg was exceptional again and shortstop Brad Epstein sported a barehanded grab look a couple of times to close out the Rangers, 6-2.

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R
Threshers 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 6
Rangers 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2

The Threshers now find themselves atop the leadership board in Division I as they prepare for next week’s tilts against the Lachman Royals and Greeley Blue Claws. April Fools Day, indeed.

Thresher Cookers:
1) Jamey Newberg – 8/5/6/0 – Sublime in the field – at both 2B & 3B
2) Harlan Davis – 5/2/4/5 – 2B, BB
3) Rob Shiller – 7/3/4/0 – Patrols where fly balls go to die

After a weekend of offensive competence despite missed opportunities, this week's Rivercats still came up short when opportunities presented themselves, but also were a bit impotent in getting to those opportunities. Despite not getting many chances and not doing much with them, the cats only lost their first game by 3, and managed to win their second by 2. Big kudos to Mitch Zimmerman and Bob Davis. Together, they got on as many times as the team scored runs. Now if only the cats could figure out a way to bring them home...

The Gers continued their winning ways in the opener surviving a furious Met rally 11-10. It was a sloppy game defensively for both sides including several unintentional walks-of course because of the ump!!! The Gers jumped out to an early 5-0 lead highlighted by a true team effort of 5 hits and 3 BB's in the frame. Tenny had a double in the 3rd which created run 6. In the 4th big bad Barry Hersh clouted another Ding Dong plating 3 more and a fourth had scored just before his smash. 1 very necessary run scored in the 5th courtesy of Mark "Shoes". In the bottom 7 Schnitzes boys came up with 4 before the book was finally closed. Clint "Buc" Hauk has to be mentioned for his brilliant play at 3B including a double play using both guile and skill....he was also fab in our previous weeks games as well and was unfortunately overlooked-CRS for me!!!!

Second game was an effort of futility as the bats went silent against the mighty Thrashers. The defense once again was a bit leaky giving up 3 unearned runs but it was a moot point because we only scored 2 which also was short of their 3 earned runs. JJ and yours truly had 2 hits to lead the inept offense which had a total of 11 hits.....yuck!!! Luckily the game only counted as one loss and the Boys will move forward to tackle new challenges that await. 

Thanks to a pair of big first innings, two quality starts from pitcher Michael Barth, and stellar defense, the Royals swept their doubleheader over Tann’s Tigers and Hauf’s Giants on Sunday. Barth finished the doubleheader with a 4.0 ERA, scored 4 runs, and drove in 6.

The Royals defeated the Tigers 12 – 3 in the opener. In the top of the first, Barth was able to get out of a bases loaded jam, yielding only one run. In the bottom of the frame, Larry Lachman keyed a seven-run first inning with a two-run double.   Jett Serrett and Bill Walter led off the bottom of the first with back-to-back doubles. RBI singles by Jeremy Pease and Barth, and Joel Cerefice’s first of two RBI doubles capped the scoring.

With the Tigers threatening in the top of the second, Pease (who played outstanding at shortstop in the doubleheader) fielded a hard smash headed for center field, and turned a nifty 6 – 3 double play.

The Tigers scored two in the third to make it a 7 – 3 game, and threatened again in the fourth. After crushing two extra base hits in his first two at-bats, the reigning Rookie of the Week, Sam Struthers, came to the plate in the top of the fourth with runners on first and third and two out. With a base open, the Royals had a conference on the mound to discuss whether to walk Struthers. They decided to pitch to him…carefully, and Barth escaped unscathed when Struthers lined a rocket to left center, but right at the Royals’ left centerfielder, Rob Sosebee.

Barth shut them down the rest of the way.

The Royals wrapped up their scoring in the game by plating one in the fourth (courtesy of Serrett’s lead off triple to left center), and four in the fifth. Lachman, Serrett, Cerefice, and Steve Gadol drove in one run apiece, with Lachman finishing the game with 3 RBIs to lead the Royals.

Game 1 offensive stars

Michael Barth 2 – 2, 2 Runs, 1 RBI, BB
Jett Serrett 3 – 4, 2 Runs, 1 RBI, 2B, 3B
Joel Cerefice 2 – 3, 2 Runs, 2 RBI, 2 2B
Larry Lachman 1 – 2, 3 RBI, 2B

The nightcap saw the Royals victorious, 14 – 5 over the Giants. As they did in the first game, the Royals started off strong. In what was almost a mirror image of the first inning of game 1, Serrett and Walter led off the bottom of the first with back-to-back doubles. RBI singles by Randy Ransom and Pease plated the first two runs. The big hit of the 6-run inning then came on Barth’s two-run single. Lachman and Cerefice drove in the final two runs. The Giants avoided further damage when their left centerfielder, Justin Reed, made a spectacular catch, stretched out almost horizontally just inches off the ground, on a line shot into the gap by Doug Stayman.

Heading to the bottom of the second, still leading 6 – 0, Ransom crushed his first homerun of the year; a mammoth 2-run, fence clearing shot to left centerfield, to extend the lead to 8 – 0.

After being held scoreless for three innings, the Giants finally solved Barth and scored three runs in the top of the fourth. The Royals answered with three of their own in the bottom half, with the key hit coming on Barth’s huge 2-run triple. Barth capped his stellar day with one more RBI in the sixth, giving him five in the second game, and six for the day. Stayman paced the Royals attack with three hits in game 2.

Game 2 offensive stars

Doug Stayman  3 – 4, 1 Run, 1 RBI
Michael Barth  2 – 4, 2 Runs, 5 RBI, 3B
Randy Ransom  2 – 4, 3 Runs, 2 RBI, 2-Run Fence Homerun
Jett Serrett  2 – 4, 2 Runs, 2 2B
Bill Walter  2 – 4, 1 Run, 1 RBI, 2B
Jeremy Pease  2 – 4, 3 Runs, 1 RBI, 2B
Rob Sosebee  2 – 4, 1 Run, 1 RBI, 2B
Larry Lachman  2 – 4, 1 Run, 1 RBI

In game one the Blueclaws hit the ball well but had nothing to show for it unfortunately…we jumped out quickly with 5 in the first then went 5 innings with nothing…hitting several line drives for outs on both some good plays by the red sox and some that were catch it or die. Irv Munn was his usual self going 4-4 with a triple and Glenn Mendelsohn made his 2012 Shalom debut with his first swing of the year going for a Home Run…and going 3-4 in the game.

Game 2 worked out better for the Claws with a 12-7 victory taking the sting out of the previously undefeated Bees…We again jumped out quick with 3 in the first and added more in the 3^rd, 5^th and 6^th. This time the line drives were finding the holes…Triples were the theme for game 2 with the Claws hitting 6 of them…along with 2 doubles and another HR by Travis Levay…Glenn Mendelsohn continued his torrid start going 4-4 with 3 triples…Rookie Tommy Apligian went 3-4 with a 2B and 3B and 3 RBI for a great opening weekend to his Shalom career. 10 of our 11 players had at least 1 hit to contribute to the win.

Big Hitters:
Irv Munn-5-8, 3 runs, 2 RBI, 1-3B
Glenn Mendelsohn-7-8, 5 runs, 4 RBI, 3-3B, 1-HR
Tommy Apligian-5-8, 3 runs, 3 RBI, 1-2B, 1-3B
Jeremy Crum-3-6, 1 run, 1-2B, 1-3B

Another tough day for the Giants.  We opened against the Royals who exploded out of the gate with 6 runs in the first.  Again our offense started slow and even though our bats began to show some life by the end we dug ourselves in too deep of hole resulting in a 14-5 loss.  Hitting star of the game was Justin Reed who did collect 3 hits in the defeat while also making a spectacular catch in LCF.

In the feature game we started off quickly taking a 5-1 lead after one inning highlighted by David Buhrow's triple.  We continued our hot hitting in the second with a Dan Mele HR and a Justin Reed triple while plating 2 more in the inning and raising our lead to 7-1.  Things were looking good as we steadily hit the remainder of the game, but unfortunately some untimely errors gave the Indians life as they began to steadily close the gap leading to a 1 run lead for the Giants entering the 6th inning.  The Indians had a monster 6th resulting in a 8 run lead for them leading to the bottom half of our inning.  We did manage to close the gap to 4, but the lead proved too great.   I want to tip my cap to Jeff Berman who pitched a great game when forced into action on the mound due to Zweig's injury in game #1.

Key hitters-

Justin Reed-   5-6  5 runs  3  rbi  1-2b  1-3b  1-SF and great defense in LCF

David Buhrow-  5-7  3 runs,  5 rbi 1-2b  1-3b

Dan Mele-   3 hits including 1- 3b 1-hr

Darren Kammer-  4 hits

The Red Sox played the Blue Claws in a game of unbeaten teams on a very tough sun field. The Blue Claws opened with 5 in the bottom of the first before the Red Sox started their comeback. 2 in the second and 2 in the third left the score at 5-4 after 4. A 3 run homer to right field by Nick Anderson in the sixth, gave the Red Sox the lead. Six more the next inning paced by Chris Moucka’s double put the game away as the Blue Claw’s broke their 5 inning scoreless streak with 2 in the bottom of the seventh to close the final gap to 13-7.

Game 2 against the Rivercats was a low scoring affair with the Red Sox holding a 5-3 lead after 5 innings. The Rivercats rallied for 4 in the top of the sixth to take a 7-5 lead. The Red Sox couldn’t score as the Rivercats emptied their bullpen running three different pitchers at them. Only 9 hits couldn’t provide enough runs as the Red Sox went down to their first loss of the season.

Hitting stars on the day were Michael Hickey and Nick Anderson 5-7 and Matt Rakofsky 4-7. Chris Moucka and Dustin Madlock went 3-6.

After winning 2 to start the season last week, the Mets played 2 at home on Sun., dropping both in lightly contested matches.  In game 1 vs the Rangers, the Mets trailed 11-5 but put together a last inning rally that left the tieing run on 3B.  A fielder's choice to the SS left the Mets thinking "what if" as several timely errors and untimely hitting led to their loss.

In game 2, the Mets hosted the Scrappers.  The Mets were not able to string together enough hits to mount a challenge to this veteran club.  Reminicent of the late John McKay of the Tampa Bay Bucs, Schnitzer responded, "yes, that's a good idea" when asked about the Mets offensive execution................

Bright spots on the day:

Tanner Elfenbein  3 hits

Phillip Kim 3 hits

Sanjay Pant 4 hits, webgem DBL play in game 1

Jon Banta 4 hits, 1 BB

Marc Kramen 4 hits, 1 3B

Chris Coffman 2 hits

Stuart Rosenfield 3 hits

In the opener, the Muckdogs played the Yankees, the first team in league history with a higher average player IQ than batting average. Immediately upon receiving the Muckdogs lineup card, Captain Farin immediately huddled with Alan Taper, Adam Delisse and Barry Epstein to formulate the Yankees gameplan. The initial facet of the gameplan paid dividends immediately. The first three Yankees batters took aim at Muckdogs RF Captain Goldstein and the Yankees took a 2-0 lead. Ace Yankees pitcher John Burke took it from there, allowing the Muckdogs only 3 runs. The Yankees loaded up their defense with all their top defensive on the left side (not coincidentally all the Yankees other than the IQ triumvirate Captain Farin initially consulted with). Burke pitched everyone inside, causing an amazing percentage of those he did not strike out to hit to SS Farin and CF David Tennyson. The Muckdogs lost 5-3. Highlights for the Muckdogs in game 1 included no injuries, Brock Treece’s diving catch, Mike Sheppard’s BB, and 7 Muckdogs fans in the stands.

As the Muckdogs were shaking hands with Yankees on the mound after the game, Captain Goldstein tried to draw on the highlights of game 1 for inspiration for game 2. He lifted his left hand and then pointed to the stands at legendary OF and Hall of Famer Les Taub, who immediately began stretching. Each of the Muckdogs fearing he would be the player sent down to the minors if Les was signed to the roster and the players responded by turning it around game 2.

In game 2, the Muckdogs beat the Owls 17-2, with great pitching by Muckdogs Player of the Week candidate Wayne Casper, great defense, and hitting up and down the line-up. Leading hitters on the day included Jeff Berkowitz 4-7, 4 runs; Aaron Weintraub 6-7, 3 runs, 1 RBI; Mike Sheppard, 3-4, 2B, 2 SFs, 1 run, 4 RBIs; Doug Storm 4-6, 2B, 2 runs, 3 RBIs; Larry Goldstein, 3-5, 2B, 2 runs, 3 RBIs; Muckdogs Rookie of the Week candidate Larry Treece 3-6, 2B, 2 runs, 3 RBIs; Muckdogs Player of the Week candidate Wayne Casper 4-6, 3B, 2B, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; and Ron Banat 3-4, 1 run.

In our first game the 0-2 Yanks played Goldstein's 0-2 Muckdogs. Something had to give here and the Yanks carried David Tennyson's two run triple to a 5-3 victory. David T was 3 for 3 while teammates John Burke and Chase Berg were 2 for 3. Burke's pitching and defensive gems were the difference in this tilt as the Yanks got off the Scheide for their first win of the 2012 camaign.

Game two vs Skipper Bob's pesky Pirates. Yanks opened up a 5-0 lead thru two before the Buccos scored 6 in the 2nd inning. With the score tied 6-6, the Yanks had five straight hits with two outs in the sixth to plate three runs. The big hits were delivered by Berg, Tennyson, Burke's two rbi single and Barry Epstein's clutch base knocker.

Yankee heroes:

David Tennyson 6 for 7 with 4 rbi's and defensive gems in center.

Chase Berg 5 for 8 with 4 runs scored (is he fast or what?)

John Burke 4 for 7 with an ERA of just 5 today.

Gregg Fleisher (just out of ER last night) delivered three key hits and solid d at 3rd

Adam DeLisse two big hits in the nightcap as did Allan Chernoff who belted one over the left fielder's head.

Yanks back to 2-2 and the Boss hasn't called the Yankee dugout in hours...

The day would have been better if there had been no injuries, but unfortunately there were more injuries than victories. Get well rookie Larry Treece.

In the limited plate appearances, a few Muckdogs performed well, if in vain.

Larry Taub, 4-6, 4 runs, BB ; Aaron Weintraub 4-5, BB, 3 runs, 3 rbis; sub  Mark Winnie 5-7, 3 runs; Doug Storm 4-6, 3 runs, 4 rbis; Before injury Larry Treece 2-4, SF. Welcoming their captain should help the Muckdogs overcome a league worst - 37 run differential.

“Smoke and Mirrors”, the “Wounded Tiger” theory or a “Vodoo Magic”, however you want to describe it, the Red Sox did it on Opening Sunday. Missing their top two players without a corresponding sub, the Red Sox were playing very shorthanded.

Game 1 against the Indians opened slowly as the Red Sox scratched out a run on 1 hit to lead 1-0 after 3. In the fourth with two on, John Miller got his annual home run of the season out of the way early over a close outfield to spark the Red Sox to a 4-0 lead. 3 hits and an error in the fifth scored 3 more to extend the lead to 7-0. The Indians mounted a big rally in the sixth with base hit after base hit to close the gap to 7-6. The Red Sox were unable to score in the top of the seventh bringing the Indians to bat with a chance to win. A beautiful catch by Dustin Madlock on a wind blown ball blunted the Indian attack and allowed the Red Sox to escape with a 7-6 win.

Game 2 against the hard hitting Giants also started slowly at 1-1 after 3. The Red Sox scored 5 in the fourth with a two run double by Dennis Eichelbaum the big hit. Extending the lead to 8-4, the Red Sox came up in the seventh and strung three hits and 2 walks to produce 3 more runs as the game ended 11-5 and the Red Sox had their opening day sweep under trying circumstances.

Hitting stars for the day were Rony Batagower and John Miller 4-6, and Dustin Madlock and Michael Hickey 4-7. Defensively the whole team played well in giving up only 11 runs on the day but a special shout out to Michael Hickey at ss and Dustin Madlock in the outfield.

The 2012 Temple Shalom Softball League Threshers broke Spring Training sporting nary a rookie in sight. This was clearly a WYSIWYG veteran-laced team. Even being saddled with the Curse of the Monger was taken in stride. With both Opening Day games scheduled for the Shark Tank, the Threshers could smell blood in the water.

The Threshers broke the seal on the season facing Rookie Manager of the Year Matthew Roth in his debut at the helm of the Owls. With his proud papa Bryan Roth present to lend his support and owlish wisdom, the theory of relatively was going to be put to the test. Was an Eddie Davis on the bench worth two Roths in the dugouts? At least on this day, it was.

The Owls went meekly the first and the Sharks went on a feeding frenzy – plating 5 runs in the first, 4 more in the second and 3 more in the third before cruising to a 12-6 victory. Jamey “Lobster” Newberg, fresh off a rehab assignment in Surprise, AZ, has a perfect game at the plate, going 3 for 3 with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI as his 3-run blast in the third cemented the game. Other notables included emergency-shortstop and newlywed Harlan “Globetrotter” Davis (2 for 3 with 3 RBI) and Matthew “D.B.” Kuperstein, still celebrating his son’s Bar Mitzvah (2 for 2 with 2 RBI).

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R
Owls 0 0 2 2 2 0 0 6
Threshers 5 4 3 0 0 0 X 12

Next up were the DeSchnitzered Mets. The Threshers became the Threshees as Mets twirler Jon Banta, backed by two double plays, scattered 10 hits and 2 walks over 7 innings to tame the Sharks. Only Eric “Jazz” Singer was able to survive the Banta Death March by collecting two hits and knocking in both Thresher runs.

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R
B. Mets 0 3 0 0 0 3 2 8
Threshers 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2

All in all, it was an acceptable start to the season as the Threshers survived the week without their starting shortstop and still found themselves in the hunt in Division I.

It was the Mayor's Trophy Game on Field 8 vs the Schnitzerless Mets. The Mets used stellar pitching from John Banta to handcuff the Yanks and win 7-2. Alan Taper was two for three including a triple. David Tennyson and Barry Epstein also hit triples as the Yankees could only muster seven hits. John Burke pitched great but three errors in the first inning led to six Mets runs.

Game two was vs defending chumps Silverman's Rangers. Larry S scattered 12 Yankees hits as the Bombers stranded 12 runners in another 7-2 defeat. The only real Yankee highlight was David T turning two double plays by himself.

The Yankee Captain will not take any incoming calls this week for fear that Hank S might be on the other line.

No where to go but up for the Bronx Bombers!

Yankee candidate for player of the week was Alan Taper 3 for 6 with a triple and some outstanding outfield work.

Indians fans welcome to another year of Teepee Talk.

In the first game, Miller’s Red Sox took advantage of Sulzer’s Indians that were still recovering from seeing all their brackets go by the wayside in their 7-6 lost. With the Red Sox up 7-0 in the 6^th the Indians fought back for 6 runs led by Marc Biesman and Mark Rappaport. In the 7^th, Dan Feldman leadoff with a single only to have the crafty veteran retired the next 3 batters.

In the second game Lachman’s Royals coming off a tough extra inning lost came ready to play against Sulzer’s Indians scoring 2 runs in the top of the first. In their half the Indians led by Steven Shiller, Daniel Klevanosky and a big 2 run triple by Dan Feldman helped the Indians get out to a 4-2. With the score now tied at 4, the Indians scored 2 more in the 5^th led by hard hitting Rolando Tellez. In the 6^th inning the Indians erupted for 8 runs led by Steve Corder leadoff single followed by again hard hitting Rolando Tellez 2- run double. The Indians were able to come away with a 14-4 victory for the first of the season.

The Blueclaws started the opening week a little short handed missing 5 players but with grit and determination we came out on top for an opening sweep...game one was against the Scrappers and the name is fitting...after jumping out to an 10-2 lead the scrappers kept inching their way back...we got 1 in the first then broke it open in the 3rd sending 13 batters to the plate and scoring 9 runs, we then added 1 more in the 4th...then held on for an 11-10 win.  Every player had at least 1 hit and 9 of our 10 scored a run. Travis Levay, HOF Irv Munn and Rookie Greg Aymond lead the way each going 2-3

Game 2 was against the Muckdogs and the Claws put a pinch on them early and often scoring at least 2 runs in every inning. We got 4 in the first and second...6 in the third and 8 in the 4th which was highlighted by Todd LeCocq hitting a stiff line drive for an inside the park grand slam and like game 1 we again sent 13 batters to the plate in that inning. Everyone had at least 2 hits and we again had 9 of our 10 players score a run. Big hitters for game 2 were Greg Aymond again going 4-4...Todd 3-4 with a 2b and hr and 7 rbi...Doug Baer 3-4 with 3 rbi and my subs going 11-14.

Hitting standouts:
Irv Munn-5-8 2-BB, 1-2B, 5 runs, 2 RBI
Greg Aymond-6-7, 1-BB, 5 runs, 2-RBI
Todd LeCocq-4-8, 1-2B, 1-HR (grand slam), 4 runs, 7 RBI
Travis Levay-4-8, 1-2B, 2 runs, 3 RBI

Ranger Rap

The Rangers started the defense of their title in splendid fashion sweeping a dip at the hands of the Yanks and Cats. In the opener the Gers battled a determined Yank club to a 7-2 rather defensive encounter. The defense was quite stellar including a dazzling grab by Super -Sub Larry "Andy" Williams who song a beautiful tune with the catch and perfect throw to 1B to nab a startled runner. The offense was energized by "Man' of Troy Tennyson who had a double and triple and scored twice and drove in 1. JJ had his usual strong offensive performance plating two on 2 hits and a Sac fly. League newcomer "tiny" Tim Williams was golden at 3b and had a 4/4 day at the plate and driving home 2. Elf chipped in with two hits including a double.

The game of the week featured a barn burner extra inning nail biter with the Rangers eeking out a hard fought 13-12 victory over the Rivercats. The game featured several lead changes and lots of extra base knocks. The Cats were particularly charitable issuing 6 BB's as the Rangers Silver tongued hurler had a clean slate on the free pass ledger. Barry Hersh "y bar" was particularly sweet going 5/5 with a double, 3rbi's and 3 runs scored. JJ was again an RBI machine with 4 more on 3 hits including a two run clout over the RCF wall and possibly one or two more if he had remembered that extra innings are 1 pitch affairs!!! Yes the game went extras after the Cats hit two HR's and scored 4 runs in the bottom 7 to send us into more action. The Gers made 1 run stand up scored on a solo shot by BIG BAD Jason Murray in the top half. Troy kicked in two hits along with BUC Hauck and the Elf man. Sil had two BB's based on his reputation at age 24!!! Rookie Tim Williams was terrific at SS. What a great start!!!

It was a late start for the Cats against Weinfeld's Pirates, but their lengthy practice session with the Rangers beforehand paid off and they jumped to a quick 6-1 lead in the first, where their first six batters all scored after each getting a single. The Pirates and cats traded runs in the second, and then a solid fourth inning and sixth inning got the Cats another 4 runs each, and brought their total to 15. The Pirates battled, scoring in each inning, but were unable to match the Cat's firepower. Manny Madrigal was 4-4 with a double, and Bob Davis scored all three times he reached first. Both Bob Davis and Andrew Williams were studs in the field.

In the game of the week, the Cats got off to a lazy start in the first inning, but the bottom of their lineup showed up in the second and got them a 4-2 lead. The Cats and Rangers traded runs, and at one point the Cats had bases loaded with an 8-4 lead and a chance to blow the game open, but didn't capitalize. After going down 8-10 in the sixth and being forced to take an out to go to the seventh, the Cats responded with four runs to tie the game after back to back homeruns from Andrew Williams and Manny Madrigal, and a chance to end the game with runners on 1st and 2nd and only one out, but again were unable to capitalize. The Rangers got only one run in the eighth, but it was sufficient to get them the win after an exciting game of the week. Kudos to Manny Madrigal and Andrew Williams for blasting the ball over the fence, to Taylor Cross beating the outfield for an inside the park HR, and to Brian Rubenstein, going 4-7 despite being forced to take an intentional out. Williams was pretty good in the field, too.

We'll see how the Cats fare next week; if they manage to capitalize on their opportunities, they will be a fearsome team.

This is my first impression of the draft which will be more thouroughly evaluated and updated after practice games:

Division 1

1. Unell Threshers
2. Silverman Rangers
3. Tann Tigers
4. Casper Rivercats
5. Sulzer Indians
6. Goldstein Muckdogs
7. Miller Red Sox
8. Roth Owls

Division 2

1. Farin Yankees
2. Hauf Giants
3. Schnitzer Mets
4. Fein Bees
5. London Scrappers
6. Greely Blue Claws
7. Lachman Royals
8. Weinfeld Pirates

Good luck to all and let's have a great season!!!!

Express 21                           Hooks 9

The Express relished in the time off by wrapping up the regular season with a sweep starting with Barker’s Captain Hooks as we put up our highest scoring production of the season – 23 hits and 21 runs. Huge game for Jamey Newberg who went 4 for 4 with 4 runs scored and an RBI and Jeremy Pease who went 3 for 4 with 2 HR’s, a 2B, 4 runs scored and 8 RBI’s. Nic Anderson (3 for 4, HR, 3 RBI, 3 Runs), John Banta (3 for 3, 3 RBI, 2 Runs) and Scott Sulzer (3 for 4, 2 RBI, 1 Run) also had big days at the plate. Steve Uman (2 for 4, 2 Runs, RBI), Clint Hauck (2 for 4, RBI) and Alan London (2 for 3, BB, 2B, 2 Runs, 2 RBI) each contributed solidly with a couple hits while Lewis Zwick chipped in with a hit and 2 runs scored.
 

Express 10                           Rangers 7

Seeking revenge, the minor leaguers took on the parent club in a rematch from October 2^nd . The mighty Rangers, still sulking from their World Series defeat, were dazzled by big lefty Scott Sulzer on the mound as they were only able to plate 7 runs for the game. The good guys did most of their damage early on as we scored 8 runs in the first two innings and added 2 more in the 5^th to complete the scoring. John Banta continued his perfect day by going 3 for 3 including 2 opposite field doubles against the shift, 3 RBI’s and 2 runs scored. Jamey Newberg (2 for 3, BB, 2 Runs), Jeremy Pease (2 for 4, Run), Nic Anderson (2 for 3, 2 RBI’s, 2 Runs), Scott Sulzer (2 for 2, Sac, 2 RBI’s, Run), Clint Hauck (2 for 3, RBI, Run), Mike Sheppard (2 for 3), Steve Uman (1 for 3 RBI, Run)and Alan London (1 for 2, Sac, RBI) all came up with timely hits that either drove in a run or scored a run. Overall, a great team effort in both games as the 2 wins moved the Express up from 6^th place to a #4 seed in the playoffs. 

Top Hitting Statistics for the day:

Jamey Newberg:              6/7, BB, RBI, 6 Runs Scored
Jeremy Pease:                  5/8, 2HR, 8 RBI’s, 5 Runs Scored
Nic Anaderson:                 5/7, HR, 5 RBI’s, 5 Runs Scored
John Banta:                        6/6, 3 Doubles, 6 RBI’s, 4 Runs Scored
Scott Sulzer:                       5/6, Sac, 3 RBI’s, 2 Runs Scored