PMS Week 15 / July 20, 2003 Highlights

Pikesville Middle School Field #1
Palmgard vs NEK Entertainment
Game 1
Palmgard 11   NEK Entertainment 4
Well its about time, Palmgard !!!! With only 9 players showing up and almost a forfeit, Palmgard played like veterans, with Archie starting off the first inning with a BB, Jim Davis crushing a screaming homerun into center field and a Bob Hansen triple followed by a Mark Benjamin single, drove 3 runs across the plate. By the third inning NEK made it a 3-2 ball game. At the bottom of the third, Palmgard came alive with both Bob Hansen, Little Gabe (our new second baseman), and Mickey Golden each taking walks. With bases loaded and Dave Kopel batting in the 9th position, opened up the game with a triple into right center field, clearing the bases. In the 5th inning, the top of the line up added 3 more runs with Archie popping in a single, Glen Ackman a double (he learned how to hit again?@!) and Jim Davis and Bob Hansen hitting back to back homeruns. Great team effort from all players.

Game 2
Palmgard 11   NEK Entertainment 1
Palmgard started off game two a little quieter only scoring 2 runs in the first and 2 runs in the third innings. Contributions in the first inning with walks by Jim Davis and Little Gabe set the table for timely hits from Glen Ackman and Mark Benjamin. In the third inning, Little Gabe hit a sharp single up the middle, followed by a towering homerun to center field by Mark Benjamin, ending the score 4-0 in Palmgard's favor. In the fifth inning, it was all over, Palmgard was putting on a hitting clinic spraying 8 singles and 1 double, sending 12 players to the plate scoring 7 more runs. Palmgard's defense was unstoppable, with excellent plays at third base by Mickey Golden, Archie catching, Marty Ellis for getting off the mound and backing up all the plays and Golden Glove Bob Hansen at first base and Little Gabe at second base (Jeff Sacks), who scooped up a 7th inning ground ball up the middle touching second base and throwing to first base for the game ending double play.

Thanks to Archie for catching both games and doing a superb job painting the plate for a very quiet Marty Ellis. This time Marty let his actions speak louder than his words. Bob Hansen was honored with the Golden Glove award for spectacular plays at first base, but he had to hand it back in when he hit a pop up in game two between shortstop and second base with the ball bouncing in between the NEK players,,,,, and forgot to run to first.


Pikesville Middle School Field #2
City Crab Turtles vs Eastern Savings Bank
Game 1
ESB 10  Turtles 8
With a golden opportunity to move up in the standings, City Crab faced 2nd place Eastern Savings Bank on field 2. A doubleheader sweep could have moved them into 3rd place, but a split in this see saw twin-bill has them looking up at four teams with only one-week to go.

In game one the tone was set for an old fashioned pitchers duel as Eisey and Winner went at it. After a single run in the 2nd and 3rd from ESB, The Crabs started boiling and took the lead with three in their end of the 3rd. Rbi's from Bruce Eisenberg, Robbie Ressin (3-4, 1 run, 1 rbi) and Rick Farley (2-3, HR, 3B, 2 runs and 3 rbi's). The lead didn't last long as ESB scored three of their own to take a 5-3 lead in the 4th. In the bottom of the 4th, the Crabs clawed back in front. Warren Scudder reached on an error...then Detour Dave promptly singled up the middle to plate run #4...after a Rob Gould single, Reggie Ellis tied the game with an rbi single. Teddy got tough at this point...he got Michaelson looking and got Eisey to bounce-out to 3rd to end the threat...game tied 5-5 after four. ESB went scoreless in the top of the 5th, but the Crabs regained the lead with a two-spot. Robby Ressin flared a leadoff single...Farley hit a gapper for a two run homer to make it 7-5 after five. A series of bloops and misplays on the part of the cracked Crabs opened the flood gates for ESB in the sixth...after the dust had cleared, it was five big runs and a 10-7 lead. The Crabs were cooked...they could only muster an RBI single from Donnie Weinapple (3-4, RBI) in the bottom of the 7th...Game over: 10-8.

Game 2
Turtles 9  ESB 6
In Game two the Crabs were steamed after losing their third straight! They vowed to get the split and got off to a good start en route to victory. In the top of the 1st, the Crabs counted on the same top two hitters as game one. Ressin singled...then Farley went high, long and gone over the right field fence. After a Weinapple fly-out, Lee Eidelberg, back from a European Vacation and a trip to Camp Airy, got the smooth stroke going...he found the seam in right-center for a solo blast. It was 3-1 after one. Solo runs in the third, fourth and two in the 5th, put City Crab in nice position, 7-1, going to the bottom of the 5th. But, ESB was not finished yet! They put up a four spot in the 6th, that tightened the game, 7-5. The Crabs wanted this one more, however, getting two in the 7th winning 9-6, clinging to 5th place. With one week remaining, the Crabs play 1st-place Quizno's. ESB and the Cannons square-off as well. And only one team will squeeze-out the #8 seed, as the expansion Cougars face NEK. It proves to be a very interesting Final Sunday of the regular season!
 


Pikesville Middle School Field #3
Havana Club Cannons vs Kings
Game 1
Kings 18  Cannons 8
Sunday's doubleheader was a re-match pitting rivals that met twice in last year's playoffs, with the Kings coming out ahead with 2 playoff wins. Today's doubleheader was another tightly contested match despite the final scores. With Mark Yokel away for the week, Cannons Tom Paulshock was forced to pitch both games in the heat against the hot Kings offense.

It was the Cannons who drew first blood in game 1, scoring 5 runs in the b-1st. With 2 on and 2 out, Mike Dubansky (game 2-4,1 R,2 RBI,HR) hit a 3-run HR that just eluded Kings LCF Dave Mize. Mike Stellar (game 2-4, 1 R,1 RBI) and Jeff Kurland (game 1-2,1 RBI,W) later hit RBI singles to put Cannons up 5-0. Kings loaded the bases with 0 outs in t-2nd, but managed just 2 runs via RBI single by Mike Herr (2-3,3 R,2 RBI,W) and RBI fielder's choice by Richard Wong (1-2,2 R,3 RBI). Cannons scored 3 more times in b-2nd to take an 8-2 lead on RBI single by Johnny Edelman (game 2-3,2 R,1 RBI,W) and SF by Brian Forthofer. Kings sent 13 batters to the plate in t-3rd pounding out 8 hits and scoring 8 runs to take the lead 10-8. Following RBI hits by Dave Mize, Chuck Grant (2-5,2 R,1 RBI), Jan Katzen (1-2,2 R,1 RBI,2B,3 W), Mike Herr, Richard Wong, and Marc Goldstein (2-2,2 R,3 RBI,2 W); Ken Zalis' (3-4,1 R,3 RBI,W) RBI single put the Kings ahead to stay. After getting 8 hits in their first 2 at-bats against Kings starter Chuck Grant, the Cannons managed just 7 hits over the final 5 innings and were held scoreless. Meanwhile the Kings put up 4 spots in t-5th and again in t-6th. RBI hits by Goldstein and Zalis bringing in 2 more runs each.

Game Notes: 2 players coming out for the doubleheader, Cannons Gerry Edelman and Kings Kenny Salzman, were injured and unable to finish out the game. Edelman was pitching batting-practice and took a line drive off of his finger against the first batter he faced. Gerry did not play at all in either game because of the injury. Salzman was injured yesterday in a freak accident while playing with his daughter. He fell off of a swing and twisted his ankle. Despite getting a start as EH, Salzman grounded out in his only at bat in the t-1st of game 1, and did not return to play in either game. Salzman is listed as a probable for next week, unless he tries out the jungle gym.

Game 2
 Kings 10  Cannons 4
Kings starter Dan Frignito limited the usually potent Cannons offense to just 8 hits en route to a Kings sweep and a 10-4 win in game 2. Chuck Easter (3-3,3 R,1 RBI,3B,HR) began his perfect game 2 with a leadoff HR to LF. The Cannons did load the bases in the t-1st, but Frignito was able to get the 3rd out on a flyout to RCF. In b-2nd, after Tom Paulshock retired the first 2 Kings batters, Chuck Grant walked, Jan Katzen (3-3,2 R) singled, and both Mike Herr (1-2,1 R,1 RBI,W) and Josh Frederick (2-2,2 R,2 RBI,W) hit 2 out RBI singles, giving Kings 2-1 lead. In t-3rd, Easter tripled to start the inning and scored on Mike Dubansky's SF to RCF, tying score 2-2. In bottom half of the inning, Marc Goldstein (2-4,2 R,1 RBI) and Ken Zalis (3-4,1 R) began the inning with singles, and following a lineout, Frignito and Alan Varhaftik (2-3,1 R,1 RBI,3B) came through with RBI singles, putting Kings ahead 4-2. Kings put together another rally in the b-4th. Katzen singled, Herr walked, Frederick singled (RBI), and Goldstein singled (RBI), plus a throwing error from the outfield gave the Kings 7-2 lead. Kings made it 8-2 in b-5th when Alan Varhaftik hit a 1 out triple and scored on a SF to LF by Dave Mize. Cannons rallied to begin the t-6th with singles by Easter and Dubansky, but Mike Stellar's hard shot up-the-middle was deflected by pitcher Frignito right to secondbaseman Dave Roogow. Roogow moving towards 2B flipped to SS Jan Katzen for the force of Dubansky and Katzen's throw to 1B Frederick just beat Stellar for a possibly game-changing doubleplay. The Cannons did score a run on the play, but avoided a huge inning on the part of the Cannons. The Cannons did score 1 more run later that inning, but the Kings matched that with 2 runs of their own in b-6th.

Game Notes: Kings offensive stars on the day were Marc Goldstein (4-6,4 R,4 RBI,2 W), Ken Zalis (6-8,2 R,3 RBI,W), Alan Varhaftik (4-7,4 R,1 RBI,3B), Jan Katzen (4-4,4 R,1 RBI,2B,3 W), Mike Herr (3-5,4 R,3 RBI,2 W), and Josh Frederick (3-6,3 R,3 RBI,W). Despite the 6 weeks of rainouts, with 3 hits in the doubleheader, Mike Herr now has 497 hits in a Kings uniform (15 seasons) and hopes to get the #500 milestone next week in the regular season finale against Marty Ellis and Palmgard. For the Cannons, Chuck Easter (4-7,3 R,1 RBI,3B,HR), Mike Dubansky (3-7, 1R,3 RBI,HR,SF), Mike Ginsberg (4-7,1 R,1 RBI,2B), and Johnny Edelman (3-6,2 R,1 RBI,W).



 Pikesville Middle School Field #4
Sky & Sky Inc. vs Cougars
Game 1
Sky & Sky 20  Cougars 6  (5 Innings)
Sky & Sky faced the Cougars while the Newman clan featured a player on opposing teams for the second straight year. During the games, the son gained the slight upper hand, but could his father win the important battle...gaining the wins? The visitors started off hot sending all 11 men to the plate in the t-1st, jumping ahead 6-0. Sky & Sky added three more in the second inning with Brian Kowitz's line drive home run thru the box. The Cougars put three up in their half of the inning with the help of a fielding error and a mental blunder to pull within 6 runs. From there it was a few spot runs for the Sky & Sky offense, as they put the finishing touches on the W with a 7th inning, 7-run rally. The final was 20-4 as Newman got the win. Hitting stars were Steve Truitt going 4-4(4 2B,4 runs,2 RBI) and Alan smith (3-3,SF,4 RBI).

The Cougars did what they could with Sky and Sky. It took them a little time to put in their bets for the day of who will hit and then Newman vs. Newman categories. Cougars took to the bats first, but they did not awake till the top of the second. Eddie Feinstein took a little poke and the next 6 batters did the same to score 3 runs. Darron Tabatznik and Adam Fishbine were able to contribute a combined 1 RBI each, as well as, the young Newman with an RBI. Between the 3rd and 5th inning the Cougars bats went cold again. Although some extra hustle and great fielding by Newman kept the Cougars with hope. Rich Schneider challenged the Kowitz brothers and several other Sky players with some dandy pitches around the corners. Top of the 6th brought some hope for the Cougars sending 6 batter to the plate, but even with an RBI shot from Tabatznik, the Cougars were left to only regroup for the second half of the morning.

Cougars Game notes:
Tabatznik game 1 3-3, 2 RBI
Newman game 1 3-1, 1 RBI
Fishbine game1 2-1, 1 RBI

Game 2
 Sky & Sky 6  Cougars 3
The Cougars played much better defense in game two limiting Sky & Sky's offense to 2 runs through three innings. Sky & Sky then took advantage of some walks and poor defensive decisions to add three more runs. The Cougars went into the b-7th down 6-0, but not out. They clawed their way back to cut the lead in half, but couldn’t extend the rally to forge a tie.The final was 6-3 with Newman again the winner and Darren Tabatznik the loser. Very quiet bats for both teams in the night cap.

Game 2 brought some interesting features in it. Newman and Newman coninued to battle the day out for pride with flashy glove work and some hitting. Sky took only one run in in each of the 2nd and 3rd inning with extra effort coming from Mike Basoco and Kory Rosenberg. Somehow Rosenberg fought off all the aches and pains to flash some foot work and timely throws. Darron Tabatznik had his stuff as usual, keeping the Cougars close with his second lowest runs scored game of the year. The seventh brought the gambling back into play. I think there was a decent size bet on Rosenberg vs. the left outfield of Sky. Instead of a SAC fly, Rosenberg led off with a double to have Sky running backwards to get the ball back into play. The left outfield couldn't figure out who needed to pay up, but it was settled later. Eddie Feinstein got on with an E5 and then Matt Friedman helped out with a SAC fly to score Rosenberg. A monstrous shot followed from Nick Cheseldine for a hope to close the gap with a triple came thereafter. Unfortunately it was too little too late. The Cougars fell to Sky and Sky for Game 2.

Cougars Game notes:
Friedman game 2 3-, 1 RBI
Cheseldine game 2 3-1, 3B, 1 RBI
 

Pikesville Senior High Field #5
Quizno's  vs Northwest Corridor
Game 1
Quizno's 18  NWC 6 (5 Innings)
The defending champions got off to a 5-0 lead after two innings. They were led by a towering homerun by Russ Dlin and timely hits by Todd, Bobby and Mark. NWC battled back in the third inning with a bases loaded single by David Stein, which drove in two runs. NWC ended the inning with four runs. Quiznos was shut down in their half of the the third inning, and NWC took a two run lead in the top of the fourth hightlighted by an Aaron Birenbaum triple. But then it all turned to hell in the bottom of the fourth when Quiznos scored seven runs. The NWC's pitiful defense continued allowing Quiznos to score six runs in the fifth to close out the game.

Quizno's Owings Mills continued to mash the softball for the 2nd straight week by defeating a pesky NWC team by the score of 18-6. The "Blue Wave" pounded out 19 hits in 5 innings and got off to a quick start by scoring 2 runs in the 1st inning off of a 2-run H.R. by Russ Dlin. Quizno's Owings Mills scored 3 more in the 2nd inning off of 4 more hits to take a 5-0 lead. Todd Poblitz and Bobby Morrow started the inning with back-to-back singles and were knocked in by a 2-RBI Double by Mark Rosenstein to extend the lead to 5-0. NWC added 2 Runs in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 5-2.After Quizno's Owings Mills went scoreless in the 3rd, NWC came back to score 4 runs off of 3 errors by the defending champions to take a 6-5 lead. The lead wouldn't last long as the "Blue Wave" scored 13 unanswered runs including a 7 Run 4th inning as Craig Dlin, Larry Henderson, Tony Luna, Russ Dlin, Joel Koman, Andrew Rosenstein, and Todd Poblitz all reached base before the first out was recorded. The "Blue Wave" added 5 more runs in the 5th to put the game out of reach.

Notes for Quizno's Owings Mills:


Game 2
Quizno's 17  NWC 2 (5 Innings)
Game Two picked up where game one left off with NWC's putrid defense helping Quiznos jump out to a 12-1 lead after two innings. Feeling an urgency to eat brunch, Quiznos finished off the game quickly, winning the game 18-2 in five innings.

The defending champions continued to roll as they closed the door early on N.W.C. by scoring 9 Runs in the top of the first inning to cruise to a 17-2 victory. Craig Dlin and Larry Henderson started the inning with back-to-back-walks. Tony Luna then smashed a 2B to scored C. Dlin. After a Russ Dlin walk, Joel Koman came up to smash a 2B of his own to score Henderson and Luna to make the score 3-0. After a Andrew Rosenstein sac fly to score R.Dlin from third and a Todd Pobliz Walk, the bleeding continued as Jon Koman smashed a crushing 3-Run H.R. to extend the lead to 7-0. Quizno's added 2 more runs in the innning thanks to RBI singles by Larry Henderson and Tony Luna- his 3rd RBI of the inning. The bats continued to stay hot as the "Blue Wave" pounded out 10 more hits over the next 4 innings including a surprising HR by Bobby Morrow in the 5th inning hitting left handed for the first time in 3 yrs. By sweeping the double header, Quizno's Owings Mills can win the regular season title outright with 1 win over the City Crab Turtles next week.

        Notes in Game #2: