2006 PMS at Northwest Regional Park
Week 7:  May 14, 2006

Northwest Regional Park Field 1:
Game 1: Kings 14 (WP-Chuck Grant 4-1)  DC Dental 6 (LP-Meir Zoller 2-2) 

The Kings offense featured a balanced attack as 10 of the Kings 11 starters scored at least 1 run and 8 players had at least 1 RBI. The Kings beat DC Dental 14-6 in their first league match-up. Benji Engelhart (1-2,2 R,1 RBI,W) started the game for DCD with a lead-off HR to RF, but Kings Shilo Merwitz (2-4,1 R,3 RBI,2B) singled home Kenny Salzman (4-4,2 R,2 RBI,3B) in b-1st to tie game 1-1 and Keegan Rettaliata's (3-4,2 R,3 RBI,HR) 2 out single scored Merwitz, giving the Kings a lead they would maintain the rest of the way. A 6 run b-3rd gave the Kings a comfortable cushion for Kings starting pitcher Chuck Grant. Uncharacteristic sloppy defense by the Kings led to 4 runs in t-4th as DCD pulled to within 9-5, but Kings offense continued with fence-clearing HR's by Jan Katzen (1-1,2 R,1 RBI,HR,3 W) in the 5th and Rettaliata in the 6th.

DC Dental came up empty this week against the defending league champion Kings squad. DCD managed to hang in competitively against the Kings in game 1 until giving up 5 unanswered runs in the late innings landing them a 14-6 defeat. Unfortunately for DCD, game 2 was all Kings all the time, well at least for 5 innings at which point the game was called for reasons other than the ominous clouds overhead.
Game 1 highlights feature a leadoff homerun by Engelhart. Several innings later DCD added some runs with a rally capped by a 2 run triple by Orshan who also reached base on an error and had a yogurt.


Game 2:  Kings 19 (WP-Chuck Grant 5-1)  DC Dental  2 (LP-Tzvi Friedman 0-2)    5 Innings

The Kings scored runs in just 3 of their 5 at-bats, but those 3 innings were huge scores of 8 runs in t-1st, 4 runs t-4th, and 6 runs t-5th. The Kings cruised in the nightcap 19-2 in 5 innings. Kings starting pitcher Chuck Grant was able to hold off his Mother's Day plans long enough to stick around and lead the Kings again to victory. Since he was sticking around to pitch, Grant decided to also contribute offensively, 3-4,1 R,1 RBI. Russ Dlin (2-4,3 R,3 RBI,3B,HR) went deep for his first Kings career HR. Matt Zenitz (2-4,3 RBI,3B), making his league debut, contributed with a bases loaded 3B in t-1st for his first league hit. In addition to Grant, Detour Dave Sandler (3-4,2 R,2B) and Shilo Merwitz (3-3,3 R,5 RBI,W) also had 3 hit games.

Kings Notes:
The 2005 Tournament Champion Kings meet the 2005 Regular Season Champion Havana Club Cannons next week. Kings LF Alan Varhaftik, who has been out with a broken rib since breaking-up a doubleplay opening week against Sky & Sky, hopes to be back on the field. His 348 lifetime Kings games ranks 3rd on the all-time list, trailing Joel Gordon's 376 for 2nd place. The Kings are within 2 Regular Season wins of 300 (298-168) entering next week's games. Mike Herr has now played in 498 Kings games and as long as he doesn't miss the Saturday night team curfew, hopes to reach #500 against the Cannons.

Northwest Regional Park Field 2:
Game 1: Chalmers Pants Company 25 (WP-Sam Sidh 1-0)  L.O.F.T. 15 (LP-Andy Peksa 0-2) 

Team L.O.F.T. got it going offensively after only scoring 2 runs total last week and managed to play all 7 innings, for the first time this season. Brandon Mabry provided much needed power with 2 Triples and a Double with 3 RBIs. Ryan Mente also provided some power driving in 3 runs on 3 hits. The fielding for L.O.F.T. saw major improvements yielding less extra bases off of errors then the previous week. Andy Peksa pitched the entire game and recorded a big strikeout early in the game, but it was not enough to overcome the big offensive day by Chalmers Pants Company.

Due to illness of one player, Chalmers Pants Co. was forced to play a man down with 9 players. Even with the disadvantage, CPC only found itself in trouble only for one inning over the course of the doubleheader. Solid offense and only a few lapses in defense allowed the shorthanded Pants Co. to pick up two wins on the day and gain some valuable time on the field together as they began getting comfortable playing with one another. Sam Sidh picked up both wins and was very accurate in his first attempts on the hill, only allowing 2 walks over 12 innings.

Offensive Stars Chalmers Pants Company:
JC Beattie- 5 for 5: 5R, 4 RBI
Rory Cernik- 5 for 6: 4R, 2B 3B, 3 RBI
Jordan Glick: 4 for 6, 2B, 4R

Offensive Stars L.O.F.T.:
Brandon Mabry: 3-4, 3 RBI, 2 Triples, 1 Double, 2 Runs
Ryan Mente: 3-4, 3 RBI, 1 Double
Kevin White: 4-5, 1 RBI, 2 Runs

Game 2: Chalmers Pants Company 19 (WP-Sam Sidh 2-0)  L.O.F.T. 7 (LP-Andy Peksa 0-3) 5 Innings

After a strong offensive first game by L.O.F.T. the bats cooled off in the second game of the doubleheader. L.O.F.T. took their first lead of the season scoring 2 runs in the top of the first, but it was all downhill from there, as they got beat in 5 innings. Mike Delonge ripped a triple down the left field line in the first to drive in a run, he then doubled in 2 more runs in the 4th inning.

Offensive Stars L.O.F.T.:
Mike Delonge: 2-3, 3 RBI, Triple, Double, 2 Runs
Brandon Mabry: 2-3, 2 Doubles, 2 Runs

Offensive Stars Chalmers Pants Company:
Sam Sidh: 4 for 5, 2b 4R
JC Beattie: 3 for 3, 2BB, 4R
Nate Barker: 3 for 4, HR, 2B, 6RBI

Northwest Regional Park Field 3:
Game 1:Sky & Sky Inc. 6 (WP-Larry Newman 3-6)  NEK Entertainment 2 (LP-Dave Pridgen 1-6)

Defense seemed to be the name of the game in the opener between NEK and Sky & Sky. Two leadoff singles and an error allowed Sky & Sky to push 1 across in the b-1st. Three more singles upped the lead to 3 runs. NEK got 1 back in the t-4th, but Sky & Sky answered with 2 in the b-5th on 4 signles. The two teams
traded late runs for a 6-2 final--Newman over Pridgen. Steve Truitt went 3-4

Game 2: Sky & Sky Inc. 17 (WP-Larry Newman 4-6)  NEK Entertainment 12 (LP-Dave Pridgen 1-7)

Game 2 was a polar opposite, high-scoring affair. Andy Bloom went yard with a two-run shot while Sky &
Sky played small ball to push across 4 more opening up the first. A Brian Sky 3B started off a potentially big inning, but Dave Pridgen pitched his way out of a based loaded jam to limit the damage. NEK's bats seemed to find some empty spots in the Sky & Sky defense as they climbed back in the contest in the b-2nd with 5 runs. Jason Tolbert led off the t-3rd with a triple, and his teammates added 5 hits and four runs to push out in front by five. Not content to stay behind, NEK added 3 in their half of the inning, pulling within two. The offense continued for the remainder of the game. Final score of 17-12, with Newman again getting the win over Pridgen. Andy Bloom swung the big stick for Sky & Sky, going 4-5(2HR, 2 1B, BB, 4 RBI, 5 runs). Brian Sky also contributed mightily, going 5-6 ( 3B, 2 2B, 2 1B, 3 runs).  Special thanks to Derrick Spencer who cheerfully answered a 9:30 wake-up call, allowing Sky & Sky to avert a forfeit in the nightcap. He even chipped in with three singles, including a "monster shot" which came to rest 7 feet in front of home plate.

NEK's Gene (BOP) was carried off the field with a knee injury after a collision with another NEK fielder. Our well wishes go out to Gene for a very speedy recovery.

Northwest Regional Park Field 4:
Game 1: Havana Club Cannons 20 (WP-Mark Yokel 5-0) Northwest Corridor 7 (LP-Howard Goldberg 5-3) 5 Innings

The Cannons needed some help fielding a 9th player, and new team LOFT was helpful in getting game one started by lending Dennis Rishel to be the Cannons 9th until Steve Hayes arrived. This did not slow down teh Cannons bats at all though, as they pushed 6 across in the 1st inning.

Taking advantage of the 3 outfielders, NWC had the game 9-8 going into the bottom of the 5th, and the Cannons bats erupted for 11 runs and a 5 inning victory.

Game 1 almost resulted in a forfeit but the cannons were able to pluck a L.O.F.T hitter out of the his lineup to use as their 9th player. Both teams were battling back and forth until the 5th inning when Havana Club expanded on their 9-7 lead. The cannons pushed 11 runs across the plate on 8 consecutive hits. They had 10 hits total in the inning as each Cannons batter did his best to conflict pain on Howard Goldberg pitches.

Hitting Stars for NWC:
John Herbst 3-3 2r 3b 2rbi
Scott Sweren 2-3 2r 23b rbi
David Stein 2-3 2rbi

Hitting stars for the Cannons in game 1:
Chuck Easter: 5-5 2 hr's 4 runs scored, 5 rbis
Lou Falcon: 2-4 HR 3 rbis, 3 runs
Mark Yokel: 3-4 3 rbis

Game 2: Havana Club Cannons 18 (WP-Tom Paulshock 5-0) Northwest Corridor 7 (LP-Howard Goldberg 5-4)

After the Cannons leadoff and cleanup hitters had to leave due to familial obligations, the Cannons lead off with 4 runs in the top of the 1st. NWC came back with 1 run in the bottom half, but Tommy was on today and didn't give up another run until the 5th inning. The Cannons put up 7 runs in the 3rd inning, and the game was never in doubt after that point.

The Cannons built an early 11-1 lead in a game that was never close. NWC hung tough going the full 7innings and putting up 6 of their 7 runs in the last 3 innings. Jon Goldman played a very good and busy shortstop for NWC earning 6 putouts, 4 assists and 2 over the shoulder catches. Adam Silverman also played a solid 3rd base. Jason Ott came in to pitch the final 4 innings further sharpening his arsenal in anticipation of his first start. NWC hopes to get back into the win column next week against Eastern Savings Bank

Hitting Stars For NWC:
Scott Sweren 3-4 2b r 2rbi
Howard Goldberg 3-4 r k
Adam Silverman 3-4 2b r

Game 2 hitting stars of the Cannons:
Chuck Easter 3-4, BB, 2 hr's 5 rbis
Lou Falcon: 3-5 4 runs, 3 rbis
Shawn Warner: 4-4, sac fly, 5 rbis

Deer Park Middle School:
Game 1: Eastern Savings Bank 31 (WP-Ted Winner 4-1) Stingers 4 (LP-Brad Starobin 0-1)

Stingers opened the Deer Park field with muddy fields and a dilemma for a plate, which was MacGyvered using a rubber little league pad. Brad Starobin took the hill for his first start of the year. He had no walks in the first inning to limit ESB to only five runs. A weird call of the umpire calling Starobin out from his at bat because he turned too far evidently from the bag into foul territory for an out did not help his cause. Maybe the umpire was wiping his eyes on the dreary cold morning. Stingers did all they could to get back into the game with runs scoring in the 3rd and 4rth inning with multi hit games coming from Tim Palo( 2-2), Joe Wantz (2-2, 1RBI), Matt Stregowski (2-2, 2RBIs) and a smacked triple from Mike Beverly (2-1, 3b), but they were not to enough as ESB continued to send runners around the bases.

Thanks to a tremendous offensive onslaught and a couple of key defensive miscues by the Stingers, ESB was able to score early and often en route to a 31-4 victory. Leading the way for ESB was Chris Zoeller with a ridonkulous 9 RBI's and a well-pitched game by Teddy Winner.

Offensive stars for ESB:
Chris Zoeller – 5-5, 2HR, 2 3B, 9 RBI
Alan Lazerow – 5-5, RBI
Mark Loeb – 2-2, HR, 3RBI

Game 2: Eastern Savings Bank 8 (WP-Jeff Harris 4-1) Stingers 4 (LP-Darron Tabatznik 1-5)

ESB's offensive fell asleep in the second game, perhaps flexing their muscles a bit too much in the first game. Great pitching by Jeff Harris kept ESB in the game early. ESB trailed going into the bottom half of the 3 rd, where they were able to regain the lead with a 2-spot. After a couple scoreless half-innings, ESB tacked on 3 more in the bottom of the 5th and held on for an all-around well played 8-4 victory.

The buzz started in game 2 as the Stingers jumped out in the first from a blast by Bill Jessmer and an RBI following to bring Jessmer by Starobin. Daren Tabatznik was on his game now and held ESB to only 1 run. The 2nd inning came with more buzzing from the Stingers, as they got a few shots to have Matt Friedman poke a hit and get an RBI out of the inning to take the lead. Third inning got more hits from Sean Murphy (3-1, 2B), Beverly (3-2), Tabatznik (2-1) and an RBI coming from a poke by Wantz (3-2, 1RBI) to add another run to their scoring. ESB would fight back into the 5th and take the lead and hold on from a swarming Stingers.

Stingers look forward to ending the first half of their inaugural season against Chalmers Pants on a high note and getting back into the standings.


Offensive stars for ESB:
Jim Davis – 2-2, RBI
Glenn Ackerman – 2-3, RBI
Jeff Harris – 2-2