2004 PMS at Northwest Regional Park

Week 15:  July 11, 2004

Field 1:
Game 1: Kings 16 (WP-Chuck Grant 9-3) NEK Entertainment 3 (LP-David Pridgen 2-9)  6 Innings

Chuck Grant threw a solid 6 hitter (6 innings) in leading the Kings to a 16-3 win in the opener. The Kings defense was solid, committing just 1 error behind Grant. Grant was staked to a 6-0 lead before he even took the mound, as NEK starter David Pridgen struggled with his control in t-1st. Pridgen walked a total of 8 batters in inning 1, and with just 1 hit , 2 SF's, and no errors, the Kings went ahead 6-0. Keith Mayle relieved Pridgen to start the 2nd inning, but the Kings then had a chance to use their bats and pounded out 11 hits in their final 5 innings.

Kings with multi-hits in game one:
Alan Varhaftik (2-3,3 R,2 RBI,2 2B,W)
Joey Lloyd (2-3,2 R,3 RBI,2B,SF)
Keegan Rettaliata (2-3,3 R,RBI,W)

Kings game 1 notes:
►3B/SS Shilo Merwitz appeared in his 100th Kings game. Entering the doubleheader, Merwitz ranked #2 in lifetime batting average for Kings players appearing in 60 or more games (27 players). Here are the top 5 all-time Kings batting average leaders (60 or more games) prior to game 1.

Game 2:  NEK Entertainment 11 (WP-Keith Mayle 1-2) Kings 10 (LP-Mike Herr 4-1)

Game 2 was a seesaw battle with NEK holding on for an 11-10 win. Eugene Mattison's 2 out RBI single in t-7th broke a 10-10 tie, scoring Kenny Hyman with the go ahead run. Kings LCF Todd Katz reached base to start the b-7th, but Keith Mayle was able to retire the final 3 batters in order, preserving the 11-10 win. Kevin Purnell, Frederick Neal, David Pridgen, and Kenny Hyman paced the offensive attack for NEK.

Kings with multi-hits in game two:
Mike Herr(3-3,3 R,1 R)
Shilo Merwitz (2-3,2 R,RBI,2B,W)
Joey Lloyd (3-4,1 R,2 RBI,3B)
Ernie Stephenson (2-4,2 R,2 RBI)
Keegan Rettaliata (2-4,RBI,2B)

Kings game 2 notes:
►Ernie Stephenson almost started just 1 fight in game 2. Fortunately Keegan Rettaliata was there to assist Ernie. Unbeknownst to Ernie (but not to Keegan), these 2 teams were involved in a similar pushing episode at second base in their previous meeting this season, also on field #1.
►Chuck Grant's 2nd longest personal hitting streak of the season has been snapped at 4 games. Grant pinch-hit for Mike Herr in b-3rd and flew out deep to LF. His 2 prior hitting streaks this season were 4 games and 5 games.
►No HR's were hit by either team in the doubleheader.

Field 2:
Game 1: Havana Club Cannons 7 (WP-Mark Yokel 11-0)  Hops Hounds 2 (LP-Brad Starobin 0-2) 

Both teams looks sluggished as the day began with the Cannons taking a 1-0 lead into the 5th inning. The cannons added a 2nd run in the fifth with a RBI single by Chuck Easter. Hops got an unearned run back in the bottom of the fifth to make it a one run game again. In the sixth the Cannon bats seemed to wake up as Johnny Edelman opened the inning with a HR to right. RBI's by Dan Kassel and Tucci gave the Cannons a 5-1 lead. Two more were added in the seventh as The Cannons got the victory 7-2.

Yokel picks up the win and improves to 11-0 going 7 innings and allowing only 1 earned run.

The Hounds came back strong against the Cannons this week with a renewed fervor. With two solid pitchers in the artillery, the Hounds were ready to play. In game 1, although scored as a loss, Brad Starobin held the Cannons to 7 runs walking only 4 the entire game. Eddie Feinstein, Tim Palo, Skyler Newman, and Mike Beverly played a tight outfield the entire game. On offense, Tim Palo went 4 for 4 with two triples and scored one of the Hounds two runs along with Alex Newman.


Game 2: Havana Club Cannons 7 (WP-Tom Paulshock 7-2)  Hops Hounds 2 (LP-Rich Scneider 1-5) 

Great pitching by Rich Schneider in the second game walking merely three batters. Jed Maslow and Alex Newman turned a finesse double play up the middle. Offensively, Tim Palo batted 2 for 2 with a walk. Anthony Russel batted 2 for 3 and Rich Schneider walked twice at the plate. Runs were scored by Lee Braverman, Brad Starobin, and Eddie Feinstein.

Game two saw the Cannon jump out with two in the botom of the first. Walks to Easter and Edelman were followed by RBI base hits by Mike Stellar and Lou Falcon. Hops came back with 3 in the 2nd to take a 3-2 lead. The Cannons evened the score in the bottom half of the 2nd and took the lead for good in the 3rd with 4 runs. An Edelman walk followed by a two bagger by Falcon a single by Kassel and a HR by Tucci led to the four runs. Three more in the fourth, 2 in the fifth and two in the sixth lead to a 14-3 Cannons victory.

Tom Paulshock got stronger as the game went on and picked up the victory. He got encouragement from all three of his daughters as they came to watch daddy pitch. 

Field 3:
Game 1: Eastern Savings Bank 14 (WP-Russ Zapposcosta 4-0)  Quizno's Owings Mills 9 (LP-Jeff Harris 6-5)

Eastern Saving Bank cashed in on some terrific pitching by Russ Zapacosta to eliminate the defending champions from defending their regular season title by the score of 14-9. Quizno's Owings Mills battled back from a 5-0 hole in the top of the 1st- to eventually tie the game in the bottom of the 1st with 5 runs of their own. Ted Winner left the game in the bottom of the 1st after taking a Larry Henderson line drive off of his knee. Zapacosta took over for ESB and shut down the defending champions from the 3rd inning on. Quizno's Owings Mills added 4 more runs in the second inning thanks to hits by Craig Dlin, Larry Henderson, and a triple by Tony Luna- to take a 9-5 lead. That was it for the defending champs as they were outscored 9-0 after the 2nd inning. Quizno's Owings Mills had 11 hits in the first 2 innings- but managed only 4 hits over the last 5 innings.

Today’s first inning was quite interesting. ESB jumped on their opponents for five runs to take a 5-0 lead. With one out Ben Gutman hit a double and was brought home by Jim Davis’ RBI single. With two outs Sam Luxenberg beat out a slow roller to third and the bases were loaded when Jason Shwartzberg’s a slow roller to first was bobbled. Aaron Shiffren then came through with a two run single and then pitcher Ted Winner followed with a two run single to complete the scoring. Quizno’s came up to bat and that’s when things got interesting. With one on and no outs catcher Larry Henderson hit a shot up the middle that hit Ted and knocked him out of the game. Manager David Finkelstein came into pitch and got an out and gave up a walk to load the bases. ESB thought they were out of the inning with a potential double play ball hit to third but it went through the third basemans legs and two runs scored. Quizno’s then completed the scoring in the first by tacking on 3 more runs for a 5-5 tie. ESB came back in the top of the second and scored the go ahead run on a Gabe Silber single. Russ Zappocosta came into pitch and ‘ scored 4 runs to take a 9-6 lead. ESB came roaring back at the top of the fourth with 6 runs to take a 12-9 lead. Catcher Mark Loeb started the inning off with a single and Alan Lazerow followed with a single. Chris Zoeller knocked home Loeb with a single. Ben followed with a RBI double to leave runners at second and third and then Davis hit a sac fly to tie the score at 9. Then Gabe came through with another RBI single followed by RBI singles by Luxenberg and Shwartzberg. In the fifth ESB added to their lead. Russ hit a single and eventually came around to score for a 13-9 lead. The rest of the game belonged to Zappocosta who was dominant. He allowed no runs to score after the second and ESB defeated a tough foe 13-9.


Game 2: Eastern Savings Bank 3 (WP-Russ Zapposcosta 5-0)  Quizno's Owings Mills 2 (LP-Jeff Harris 6-6)

Game two was a nail bitter Zappocosta and Harris pitched great games but in the end ESB won for a sweep of their double header 3-2. Quizno’s struck first by scoring an unearned run in the top of the first for a 1-0 lead. ESB tied the score in the bottom of the first. Zoeller started things out with a single and Gutman followed with another single and Zoeller scored on a RBI single by clean-up hitter Gabe Silber. ESB went ahead 2-1 in the fourth. Jim hit a single followed by a single by Silber and Jim scored on a double play grounder. In the sixth ESB got a huge insurance run. Zoeller blooped in a double came around to score on an important sac fly by Jim. Quizno’s went out with a fight by scoring 1 run in the top of the seventh but it wasn’t enough as Zappocosta and ESB stellar defense held on for the victory to stay in second place.

Once Again- Russ Zapacosta shut down the defending champions by allowing only 5 hits over 7 innings to pick up his 2nd victory of the day to complete the sweep of Quizno's Owings Mills- 3-2. Quizno's Owings Mills could not get the bats rolling as the went a combined 5 for 26 (.193 avg) for the game. Larry Henderson was the lone bright spot for Quizno's Owings Mills scoring both runs and adding a pair of hits. The team once known as the "Blue Wave" has now turned into a "Blue Puddle" as the team continues to try to find answers as their team spirals downward in the standings.

Notes on Quizno's Owings Mills:
►Larry Henderson is 11 for his last 14 over the past 2 weeks- including going 7-7 last week vs NEK.
►Jeff Harris and Craig Dlin were a combined 7-7 in Game #1. They had 7 of the teams 17 total hits.
►In Game #1: 17 of Quizno's Owings Mills 21 outs- were Fly Ball Outs.
►Combined Both Games: First 2 Innings: 10 Runs on 14 hits, Innings 3-7: 1 Run on 7 hits.
►Quizno's Owings Mills is 2-6 in thier last 8 games. The team had only 2 Losses all of last season.
 

Field 4:
Game 1: Jilly's Under Armour  12 (WP-Kevin Oliner 5-4) Northwest Corridor 4 (LP-Dave Stein 3-8)

NWC came out strong in the first two innings. Great defense and pitching fueled to a 2-1 lead. That was almost all the offense they could muster as NWC's bats decided to crawl back into bed for the rest of the game. Jilly's took control in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring five runs. That would be all they would need to defeat a punchless NWC squad.


Game 2: Jilly's Under Armour  10 (WP-Kevin Oliner 6-4)  Northwest Corridor  8 (Howard Goldberg 2-9)

Jilly's started where they left off in game one by taking an early 5-0 lead after three. NWC started to come to life, scratching and crawling their way to a 5-3 deficit after four innings of play. An RBI triple by Howard Goldberg was followed by an RBI single from Jon Goldman in the fifth inning, matching the two runs Jilly's scored at the top half of the inning. NWC came from behind in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 7-7 after timely RBI singles from Eric Wingrat and Lee Pollak. Jilly's took the lead in the top of the 7th and NWC went into the bottom of the 7th with a chance to win. Matt Bell scored the tying run from a Jon Goldman RBI single. With two men on and a chance to win, NWC couldn't capitalize -- it's off to extra innings we go. Jilly's plated two runs in the top half of the eighth to take the 10-8 lead and gave NWC its final chance for a comeback win. Kevin Olliner shut down the NWC, allowing only a single to Eric Wingrat and closing out the hard fought battle in extra innings.

Hitting Stars for NWC:
Eric Wingrat -- 3-4 r 2rbi
Jason Ott -- 3-4 r 2B
Howard Goldberg -- 4-4 r 3rbi 2B 3B