Pikesville Mens Softball League April 30, 2006

Northwest Regional Park Field 1:
Game 1: Eastern Savings Bank 15 (WP-Ted Winner 7-1) Chalmers Pants Company 3 (LP-Sam Sidh ) 6 Innings

The story of ESB this year has been pitching, pitching, and pitching. Ted Winner, Jeff Harris and manager David Finkelstein make up a potent one, two, three combination. Ted pitches game one. Jeff pitches game two and Finkelstein is called in to shut the door on visitors rallies when ESB is clinging to 10-20 run leads. As the script goes, Winner pitched game 1 and shut the door down on the expansion Chalmer's team. ESB scored 5 in the first, 2 in the second, 3 in the third, 2 in the fourth, 1 in the fifth and 2 in the sixth. (the game lasted only six innings). CPC only managed to score 2 in the first inning and 1 in the sixth. Big hitters for ESB were catcher Scott Snyder - 2 home runs and 2 doubles. Other major hitters of the day were Jason Schwartzberg - a mammoth 2 run homer and a 2 run RBI single, Sam Luxenberg who chipped in with a two run triple, a double and a single, Ben Guttman who had three hits and shortstop Gabe Silber 3 doubles.

Game 2: Eastern Savings Bank 22 (WP-Jeff Harris 5-1) Chalmers Pants Company 0 (LP-Sam Sidh 2-2) 4 Innings

In game 2 Jeff Harris pitched a no hitter until the bottom of the fourth and he shut the door on CPC as ESB won 22-0 (four inning victory). CPC finally got a hit when Scott Snyder dove but just missed a hit that would have preserved the no hitter (what do you expect from a catcher?) Everyone had a huge day hitting wise claimed another double header victory.

ESB put the game away by scoring 9 runs in the first inning off of 3 different pitchers. Manager Dave Finkelstein spent most of game 2 scouting our next week's rivals, the Kings, with revenge on their minds going into next week's major showdown. The major highlight of ESB's victory was Avi Finkelstein's first career hit, a line single over the shortstop's head.

Northwest Regional Park Field 2:
Game 1: DC Dental 6 (WP-Meyer Zoller 3-2) Havana Club Cannons 4 (LP-Mark Yokel 5-2)

DC Dental used solid pitching, great fielding, and a big clutch hit to upset the first place Cannons. Things didn't look good early for Dental as they fell behind 4-1 after 2 innings. But Meyer Zoller was lights out from that point on and didn't allow another run over the next 5 innings. After chipping away to tie the game in the game at 4, shortstop Benji Engelhart continued his hot hitting and laced (as he grunted like monica seles) a 2 out 2 run triple into right center. Earlier in the game Engelhart also made a rally killing basket catch on a bloop into no-man's in left and then doubled up a runner at second who assumed it was a sure hit. The Cannons though made it interesting in the bottom of the 7th as they brought the winning run to the plate with 2 outs. But Zoller induced a pop up to Jeremy Lasson to close out the comeback victory. Orshan showed much improved plate discipline as he took several first pitches. However, his new approach was largely a function of conversations that he was having with his own teamates on the bench during his at bats.

The Cannons started out game 1 on the right track, plating 2 runs in the first and second innings. But DC Dental tied the game at 4 in the 5th, and scored 2 in the top of the 7th inning to take a 6-4 lead. In the bottom of the seventh The Cannons had 2 on and two out, but were unable to muster another hit; and suffering a surprising loss to upstart DC Dental.

DC Dental made all the plays in the field, and one clutch hit in the top of the 7th was the difference.

DC Dental Offensive Stars:
Zoller- 7 IP 4 runs/ 1 for 3
Engelhart- 2 for 4 (single, triple) (2 rbi)
Friedman- 1 for 3 (triple)
Lasson- 2 for 3 (double) (1 rbi)
Minkove- 2 for 3 (2 singles) (1 rbi)
Ziffer- 2 for 3 (2 singles)

Game 2: Havana Club Cannons 16 (WP-Tom Paulshock 7-0) DC Dental 0 (LP-Meyer Zoller 3-3) 5 Innings

The Cannons bats were sleeping in game 1, but the night cap was a different story. Life was back in balance for the Cannons who scored 4, 4, 5, and 3 runs in the 4 innings it took to win this game. Tommy Paulshock was locked in, and after hip replacement surgery last August is back to throwing like he did in years past, locating pitches and striking batters out.

DC Dental's bid to pull off the Sunday sweep was quickly quashed with a 16-0 slugging in the nightcap. Zoller pitched only the first inning allowing 4 runs. Ronnie Rosenbluth then made his Dental debut and the Cannons gave him a nice tooth cleaning as they sprinkled line drives all over the field in the 4 inning shutout. Dental's offense was stymied the entire game by Tommy Satchell Paige Paulshock's nasty stuff.

Hitting Stars for Cannons Game 2

Jeff Kurland 2-4 3 runs 1 rbi
Chuck Easter 4-4 3 runs, 3 rbis
Neal Charkatz 2-2 2 runs, 3 rbis
Lou Falcon 3-3 1 run 2 rbis

Northwest Regional Park Field 3:
Game 1: Sky & Sky Inc 15 (WP-Larry Newman 5-8) L.O.F.T. 2 (LP-Andy Peksa 0-6) 5 Innings

Sky & Sky ran short on players so they welcomed back league veterans Aaron Shifrin and Mark Goldstein who promptly scraped off the rust and delivered several hits between them during the morning. Many batters picked their spots with line drive singles, while Scott Felton swung the big stick for Sky & Sky throughout the day. Up by 5 after 2 innings, Sky & Sky loaded the bases for Felton in the t-3rd who lined a shot which skipped past the RF for a grand slam. Sky & Sky tacked on another 4 in the t-4th to finish off L.O.F.T. in 5 innings 15-2 as Larry Newman got back to his winning ways. The aforementioned Scott Felton had 3HR,2 2B, 2 BB on the day

Game 2: Sky & Sky Inc 15 (WP-Alex Newman 1-0) L.O.F.T. 0 (LP- Dan Mabry 0-2) 4 Innings

In the second game Newman handed off the pitching duties to his son, Alex, who joined Sky & Sky after returning from a semester of studies in Puerto Rico. Despite the numerous L.O.F.T. screaming line drives, deep shots to be chased down by hustling outfielders, and infielder diving stops, not a single runner reached based in their 4 at-bats. Meanwhile Sky & Sky patiently waited through a walk-a-thon in the b-3rd, scoring 11 to give Sky & Sky a 15-0 win and Alex Newman the perfect game. Not bad for a college kid returning to league action, who also reached base safely in each of his 7 plate appearances.

Northwest Regional Park Field 4:
Game 1: Kings 4 (WP- Chuck Grant 7-2) Stingers 3 (LP-Darron Tabatznik 3-6)

Stingers came into this weeks games with drive to pick up from their sweep before the break. Darren Tabatznik took the hill with poise to have a great pitcher duel. Through 4 innings, both teams only managed several hits and the Kings were only able to manage a 1-0 lead from the 2nd till the fourth. Kings looked to get a little distance in the b-4th, but the Stingers came back with answers in the t-6th sending nine batters to the plate. Mike Beverly popped a triple to have Tabatznik, Bill Jesmer and Tim Palo crossed the plate. Following Beverly, came a poke from Sean Murphy to send Beverly across the plate for a rally. Stingers were unable to tie it up, but in the t-7th placed runners in scoring position with key hits from Matt Stregowski, and Tabatznik, but came up short.

The Kings scored just 4 runs for their second straight game (5-4 loss to Cannons 5/21), but this time came out on the winning side of a 1 run game, winning 4-3. Another outstanding pitching effort from Kings starter Chuck Grant was backed up by an errorless Kings defense. Darron Tabatznik pitched well for the Stingers, allowing just 8 hits and 2 walks, but he came out on the losing side. The Kings took a 1-0 lead in b-2nd on Alan Varhaftik's 2B and a Chuck Grant SF. A 3-run b-4th featuring leadoff extra-basehits by Shilo Merwitz(3B), Russ Dlin(3B), and Varhaftik(2B) put Kings ahead 4-0. In t-6th, a 2 RBI 3B by Mike Beverly and single by Sean Murphy pulled Stingers to within 4-3. Grant pitched out of a 2 out rally in t-7th to come away with his 7th win of the season and the Kings 300th Regular Season win.

Alan Varhaftik (2-3,2 R,1 RBI,2 2B) was the only Kings player with more than 1 hit.

Game 1 Stingers hitting stars:
Beverly: 3-1, 3b, 2 RBIs
Murphy: 3-1, 1 RBI
Friedman: 3-2
Tabatznik: 3-3

With the same pitching match-up in the nightcap, the offenses were significantly improved. The teams exchanged 2 runs in the 1st inning, with the Kings 2 runs coming from Shilo Merwitz's first HR of the season. A Troy Hendricks leadoff 3B and Chuck Grant SF gave Kings 3-2 lead in t-2nd. Stingers came back with 4 runs in their half inning, the key hit a Tim Palo 2 run HR. Kings regained lead with 5 runs in t-3rd. Clutch hits extra-basehits by Kenny Salzman(2B), Dave Sandler(3B) and Grant(2B) went along with 2 outfield errors. In b-5th, 4 singles by Tim Palo, Mike Beverly, Joe Wantz, and Matt Friedman produced just 1 run as the Kings escaped the inning still ahead 8-7. A 3 run t-7th keyed by Dave Sandler's 2B down the firstbase line seemed to give Kings a safe 11-7 lead heading into the bottom of the last inning, but the Stingers with 2 outs, Sean Murphy doubled and Joe Wantz reached on a muffed flyball. Matt Friedman's RBI single RBI and a walk to James Engler put the tie run a firstbase. However Grant was able to induce Rich Schneider into a game ending grounder.

After a tough loss in game one, Stingers were poised to work on a split. Murphy and Joe Wantz opened the Stinger’s line up after a 2 spot by the Kings with RBIs of their own to tie up the first 2 all. Second inning was where the Stingers opened up the game with a heads up in the park homerun from Tim Palo beating the throw into home for the Stingers to go up 3 over the Kings. Kings came back with an answer pushing 5 runs across the plate to take back the lead. Stingers would not go away though. Scratching away at a run deficit in the b-5th to add another run coming from timely hitting of Palo, Beverly, Wantz and Matt Friedman. Down in the b-7th, Stingers again tried scratching away at the King’s lead with a double from Murphy and single from Wantz, to have Friedman draw a full count single into right-center for 2 RBIs. Unfortunately, it was not enough and Stingers took another hard loss from a second close game this morning.

Great ball play around came from the Stingers this week.

Game 2 Stinger hitting stars:
Palo: 4-2, HR, 4 RBIs
Murphy: 4-2, 2B, SAC
Wantz:4-4, 2 RBIs
Friedman: 4-2, 2 RBIs
Tabatznik: 3-2, 2B

Kings game 2 offense was rather balanced, with multi-hits coming from:
Kenny Salzman (2-4,2 R,2B)
Dave Sandler (2-2,3 R,2 RBI,2B,3B,2 W)
Shilo Merwitz (2-3,2 R,3 RBI,HR,W)
Keegan Rettaliata (2-4,1 R)
Chuck Grant (2-2,2 RBI,2B,SF)
Mike Herr (2-3)

Kings Notes:
+ Alan Varhaftik's 3 hits on the day put his Kings total at 398.
+ Jan Katzen and Dan Frignito both took a vacation week, but are expected back next week in the Kings playoff re-match against ESB.
+ Troy Hendricks will be attending the Belmont Stakes (as a spectator, not a jockey) and is likely out next week unless he can work out a Saturday night ride back to Baltimore.
+ Kings defense turned 3 groundout doubleplays.

Deer Park Middle School:
Game 1: NEK Entertainment 19 (WP-Dave Pridgen 3-7) Northwest Corridor 10 (LP-Dave Stein 0-2)

After two innings of no runs by both teams NEK opened up the third with 6 runs Northwest Corridor fought back in the bottom of the inning with 4 runs. The fourth inning bought 3 more runs by NEK and Northwest Corridor followed with 2 of their own. In the top of the sixth inning NEK broke the levy, Neal Frederick came to bat with the bases loaded and kissed it good bye for a GRAND SLAM. Then in the same inning with 1 on Jason Gardner went yard for a 2 run shot. NEK would go on to put up 3 more in the seventh and the victory.

Hitting Stars for NEK
Stephen Georgie 3-4 2RBI 1RUN
Neal Frederick 3-4 8RBI 3RUNS 1HR
Jason Gardener 2-4 2RBI 1RUN 1HR
Fred 2-4 2RUNS
Damon Corbin 2-2 1RBI 2RUNS

Game 2: NEK Entertainment 13 (WP-Marqui Garrett 2-0) Northwest Corridor 12 (LPJason Ott 0-2)

With a rocky start by pitcher Marqui Garrett Northwest Corridor would put up 5 runs in the first inning and 2 more for a 7-0 lead. In the bottom of the second inning NEK woke up with a 11 run bottom of the 2nd inning capped with a 3run HR by Marcus Hayes. With good defense and pitching Northwest Corridor would hold NEK scoreless would scatter 5 more runs going into the seventh with a 12-11 lead. In the bottom of the seventh with 1 out and runners on 2nd and 3rd, Peter Griffin would hit a long fly ball over the head of the left fielder, driving in the tying and GWRBI for the NEK sweep.

Hitting stars for NEK
Jason Gardner 3-3 2RBI 2RUNS
Marqui Garrett 2-4 1RBI 2RUNS
Peter Griffin 3-4 3RBI 2RUNS GWRBI
Marcus Hayes 2-3 3RBI 2RUNS 1HR
Kevin Purnell 2-3 1RUN