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Northwest Regional Park Field 1:
Round 1: Havana Club Cannons (1) 12 (WP-Mark Yokel 15-0) L.O.F.T.(8) 10 (LP-Andy Peksa 4-12)

The 1st round of the playoffs opened up with the Cannons taking on 8th seed Loft. Loft jumped on the board early to take a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The Cannons came right back to take the lead in the bottom of the 1st scoring 6 runs of their own. With one out Johnny Edelman singled. Shawn Warner followed with a single. After an error by LOFT shortstop scored the first run Steve Henneman lined a double to left to score another run. Evan Krietzer then doubled to left to plate two more runs. The Cannons sent 12 men to plate in the inning to take a 6-3 lead after one inning. After Yokel held Loft scorless in the 2nd the Cannons came back
with 5 more runs. Warner, Steller, Henneman, Krietzer and Hayes all scored to give the Cannons an 11-3 lead after two. It looked like a blowout was on the way. Loft battled back with 3 in the 3rd, 2 in the 4th and 2 in the 6th to close the gap to 11-10. A Neal Charkatz Sacrifice fly gave the Cannons an insurance run going to the top of the 7th. With one out Kory Rosenberg doubled to left. The next batter grounded the ball up the middle where Mike Steller used his long arms to snag the ball. His throw was a little high
pulling Charkatz off the base. Rosenberg for whatever reason tried to score from second on the play was promptly thrown out by Charkatz at the plate to end the rally. LOFT battled but came out on the short end of the stick 12-10.

Northwest Regional Park Field 2:
Round 1: Kings (2) 7 (WP-Chuck Grant 16-7) NEK Entertainment (7) 2 (LP-Jeff Harris 4-13)

The Kings met NEK Entertainment in the opening round for the 3rd consecutive season. The Kings had won the previous 2 affairs 9-3. Today's game was again a very close game throughout with the Kings coming out the victors in a low scoring game 7-2. Chuck Grant allowed just 9 hits (all singles) and 0 walks in pitching the Kings to the win. NEK wasted little time in taking the lead in t-1st. Marqui Garrett singled home Dave Pridgen (1B) with the 2 out 1st inning run. In Kings b-2nd, Keegan Rettaliata doubled with 1 out and scored on Nate Barker's RBI single. Grant followed with a 2B to put 2 runners in scoring position. Troy Hendricks hit a SF to put Kings ahead 2-1, and Mike Herr followed with a 1B to put Kings ahead 3-1. Jeff Harris matched Chuck Grant with a strong pitching effort and the score remained 3-1 into the b-5th. Kings broke open the scoring with Troy Hendricks hitting a leadoff single proceeding Kenny Salzman and Rob Ressin drawing 1 out walks to load bases. Dave Sandler hit a SF ball to RCF that was dropped scoring 2 runs. Shilo Merwitz made the error hurt with a 2 RBI single, putting the Kings ahead 7-1. NEK added a single run in t-7th on Marqui Garrett's aggressive base-running, but NEK fell short 7-2.

Multi-hit players for NEK (9-30,2 R,1 RBI,0 2B,0 3B,0 HR,0 W,0 K,0 SF):
Dave Pridgen (2-3)
Jason Gardner (2-3)
Marqui Garrett (2-3,1 R,1 RBI)

Multi-hit players for the Kings (11-27, 7 R,6 RBI,2 2B,0 3B,0 HR,4 W,0 K,2 SF):
Troy Hendricks (2-2,1 RBI,SF)
Mike Herr (2-3,1 R,1 RBI)

Northwest Regional Park Field 3:
Round 1: Sky & Sky Inc. (3) 18 (WP-Zach Scherr 5-5) Stingers(6) 7 (LP-Randy Rivera 4-6)

The Stingers came out early with the bats using a leadoff walk and three hits to open up the early 3-0 lead. Sky & Sky bats came roaring back as they scored 6 runs in the bottom half of the frame. Five consecutive hits, all with two outs, made that rally work. The Stingers then added two, punctuated by a triple to RCF, to bring them within 1 run. A solo shot by Scott Felton, and a triple by the slower Alex Newman, allowed Sky & Sky to go up by 4 after two. The Stingers fight seemed to dwindle after the t-3rd inning as they pulled to within 3, but that was as close as they would get. Sky & Sky added 4 in the b-4th with two SF and three hits, and finsihed the b-6th by adding 5 more meaningless runs including Todd Tennenbaum's 3-rbi triple. Zack Scherr got the well supported victory over Randy Rivera 18-7. Steve Truitt went 3-4 with a 2B and 3 runs, Brian Sky added 3 hits, 3 runs and 2 rbi, while Alex Newman swung the big bat with 3 extra base hits, 2 runs and 2 rbi.

Stingers entered the playoffs with redemption against Sky. Stingers started off on the right foot as they went to their M.O. with singles to plate 3. Sky would come back and take the lead in the b-1st to have a 3 run advantage. Stingers got back into the fight and worked the bases along with Jeb Buchman’s laser triple to plate 2 more. Sky continued their resilience and plated 3 more in the b-2nd. Going into the b-3rd. Stinger put another run on the board with key hitting from the middle of their line-up. Randy Rivera settled in and cooled off Sky’s bats, but it would be the t-5th where Sky would open up and not look back plating 5 and consequentially taking the lead for the game.

Northwest Regional Park Field 4:
Round 1: Northwest Corridor (5) 7 (WP-Howard Goldberg 8-9) DC Dental (4) 2 (LP-Dave Finkelstein 2-2)

DC Dental and NWC squared off in the 5 vs. 4 game. DC Dental swept the season series with an impressive runs scored margin of 52-33. NWC led off the top of the first against DC Dental pitcher David Finkelstein looking to jump out to a fast lead. The first 2 batters were taken care of quickly but NWC staged a 2 out rally with back to back hits from Mike Silverman and Howard Goldberg. Finkelstein was able to get Dave Stein to ground out to SS to end the inning. Goldberg did his best to shut down DC Dental in the bottom half of the inning. Two fly balls to left centerfield and a groundball to ss took care of the DC squad. NWC struck first blood in the top of the 2nd jumping out to a 4-0 lead. NWC loaded the bases with an Adam Silverman single, Gabe Unterman single and a Matt Bell walk. Lee Pollak and Brad Rosenberg both hit into fielder's choices that resulted in runs. Jon Herbst doubled to complete the 4run inning. Sam Luxemberg led off the top of the 2nd with a single for DC Dental. The next batter hit into a 5-4 fielder's choice and Joe Orshan followed with a flyball out to right centerfield. DC would get their first runner in scoring position after a Dan Gutman walk. With 2 out and 2 runners on Goldberg got Jon Minkove to fly out to right center to end the rally. Finkelstein made quick work of NWC in the 3rd allowing just a Dave Stein single. Back to the bottom of the 3rd DC Dental would finally put a run up on the scoreboard on a Joe Rombro double that scored Alan Lazerow. NWC wasted hits from Brad Rosenberg and Matt Bell in the 4th inning and DC Dental looked to add another run in the top of the 4th. David Pflaum came up with another leadoff single for DC but was stranded after 2 flyballs to right centerfield and 1 to right field. The NWC bats stayed very quiet in the 5th going down 1-2-3. DC Dental still with just 1 run managed to score 1 more in their half of the 5th. With just 2 innings left and the score 4-2 both teams felt it was time to step it up and win the game. Finkelstein easily handled Dave Stein and Adam Silverman but with 2 outs Gabe Unterman delivered an inside the park homer over the head of the DC Dental right fielder. Just 6 outs away from a round 1 victory Goldberg relied on his defense in the bottom of the 6th. They delivered just as they had all game sending DC down 1-2-3 in the 6th. Still a very close game NWC tried to tag on some insurance runs in the bottom of the 7th. Lee Pollak led the inning off with a line drive drilled to center field but right at the DC defender. Brad Rosenberg reached on a throwing error and Jon Herbst followed with a single up the middle. Back to back hits from Joey Liner and Scott Sweren gave NWC 2 more insurance runs and one step closer to a first round victory. Luxemberg led off the bottom of the 7th with a base hit to left field. Kivi Gross followed with a line drive drilled to 3rd baseman Adam Silverman. Silverman was solid at the hot corner all day and gave NWC out #1. Orshan followed with a flyball out to left field and Goldberg was able to get Dan Gutman to fly out to centerfield to end the game and capture the first round victory.

For the second year in a row, the playoff opener provided DC Dental with a great deal of frustration. The fifth seeded Northwest Corridor squad, a team DCD had beaten in all four regular season meetings, relied on strong pitching fielding and timely hitting to pull off the minor upset. Howard Goldberg held DCD to just 5 hits and DCD wasted a solidly pitched game by Dave Finkelstein as they lost the playoff opener 7-2.

Notes and Offensive Stars:

Northwest Regional Park Field 1:
Round 2: Havana Club Cannons (1) 14 (WP-Tom Paulshock 14-1) Northwest Corridor (5) 2 (LP-Howard Goldberg 8-10) 5 Innings

Game 2 the Cannons squared off against 5th seed NWC. This one was not as close a game as the first for the Cannons. NWC took a 2-0 first inning lead. In the bottom of the first after back to back walks by Kurland and Edelman, Shawn Warner hit an RBI single. Mike Steller then hit one of his 3 sacrifice flies in the game to tie the score at 2. Tom Paulshock shut the Corridor down the rest of the way. The Cannons added 6 in the 2nd, and two more in the 3rd, 4th and 5th to win in 5 14-2.

Hitting stars for HCC in game two:
Kurland 2-3 3 runs , BB
Warner 3-3, BB 3 RBI, 2 runs
Steller 1-1 4 RBI's
Hayes 3-3 3 runs, 3 RBI's and a dinger

Northwest Regional Park Field 2:
Round 2: Kings (2) 6 (WP-Chuck Grant 17-7) Sky & Sky Inc. (3) 5 (LP-Larry Newman 12-7)

The Kings scored 3 runs in b-7th to beat Sky & Sky Inc. in a thrilling battle 6-5. Kings Chuck Grant faced-off against former teammate Larry Newman, and both pitchers threw well and made game changing outstanding defensive plays. Sky started off with a bang as Scott Felton began the game with a 1B, Steve Truitt followed with a 1B, Glenn Ackman hit an RBI 2B, and Brian Sky hit an RBI SF. Sky led 2-0 and had a runner on thirdbase with just 1 out, but Grant was able to retire Alex Newman on a groundout to 3B and Justin Rodger on a flyout to LCF. In Kings b-1st, with 1 out, Rob Ressin singled, Dave Sandler walked, Shilo Merwitz singled to load bases. Jan Katzen hit an RBI groundout and Alan Varhaftik hitt a 2 out RBI single to tie score 2-2. In t-2nd, Sky's Paul Hayes hit a rare 3B. Eric Gertner proceeded to hit an RBI 1B to put Sky ahead 3-2. In b-3rd, with 2 out and 0 on, Shilo Merwitz hit a 1B to LCF that, with the hard grass, got past the outfielder allowing Merwitz to get to 3B. Jan Katzen hit a clutch RBI single to again tie the score, now 3-3. The pitching and defense remained strong for both teams and the score remained 3-3 into t-5th. Rich Puritz began the inning with a pinch-hit single and Scott Felton followed, 1 out later, with a 2B. A fielder's choice by Steve Truitt loaded the bases with just 1 out. Glen Ackman was next and hit an RBI 1B. Brian Sky hit a bases loaded soft grounder to 3B that was muffed, allowing Sky to go ahead 5-3. Still with the bases loaded and just 1 out, Grant was able to pitch out of trouble retiring Alex Newman on a infield force-out at the plate and Justin Rodger on an infield pop-up to 3B. Sky held the 5-3 lead into the t-7th when Larry Newman and Steve Truitt had hits putting 2 runners in scoring position with 2 outs. Glenn Ackman was the batter and Ackman lined a scorcher thru the middle of the pitcher's box that was snared by Chuck Grant, eliciting an emotional response from Grant and Ackman. The play fired up the Kings and kept their hopes alive heading into the b-7th. To start the b-7th, Keegan Rettaliata lined a 2B down the left field line, Nate Barker singled to put runners on the corner, and Chuck Grant drew a walk to load bases with 0 out. Troy Hendricks hit an RBI single to pull Kings to within 5-4, keeping the bases loaded with 0 out for Mike Herr. Herr hit a liner thru the middle that was grabbed at the shoe tops by Larry Newman. Newman's throw to 1B was low in an attempt to double off Hendricks. The Kings still had the bases loaded trailing by 1 run, now with Kenny Salzman at the plate. Salzman hit a hard grounder to Sky secondbaseman Brian Sky. Sky elected to try to turn the doubleplay, with the flip to SS Steve Truitt for the 2nd out of the innning, and Truitt fired to firstbaseman Paul Hayes to try to get Salzman. The play at first base was bang-bang, with Salzman just beating the relay throw to 1B as the Kings had now tied the score with Nate Barker crossing the plate. On the play, however, Grant, who had started the play on 2B (the go ahead run) over-ran thirdbase and 1B Hayes threw back to 3B Alex Newman in an effort to retire Grant. Grant broke towards home right away on Hayes' throw and Alex Newman threw a strike to home plate to catcher Eric Gertner. Gertner applied the tag to Grant, but the ball came loose from Gertner's glove and Grant was ruled safe, with the winning run. The Kings celebrated their victory, but only for a short time as they realize they have to face the Cannons in Round 3 next week.

Three straight hits led to two runs in the t-1st, as an eager Sky & Sky appeared ready to prove that their cellar-dwelling days of May were well behind them. The Kings were not that impressed, as they quickly tied things up playing small ball in the b-1st. Paul Hayes tripled and then sauntered home on Eric Gertner's single in the t-2nd. The Kings tied things on a single by Shiloh Merwitz in the b-3rd, which was misplayed by the LCF into "a triple". Rich Puritz started off the t-5th with a pinch hit single, which led to Sky & Sky loading the bases with 1 out. A single followed by Jan Katzen's fielding error at third allowed Sky & Sky to push ahead by two runs. The 7-th inning rolled around with the same 2-run lead, and Sky & Sky threatening with two runners in scoring position. Then old mo' changed on a face-saving catch by P Chuck Grant, who ended the scoring threat by snaring a line drive off the bat of Glenn Ackman. The Kings first three runners reached safely and Troy Hendricks singled home one. After a line drive out, Kenny Salzman hit a tailor made double play to short, but the batter was called safe at first tying the game momentarily. Chuck Grant, the runner from second base, rounded third base too far. The alert Sky & Sky first baseman, Paul Hayes, opted to throw across the diamond(behind the runner) leaving Chuck in no man's land. He immediately broke for home, and the catcher received the throw from the Alex Newman playing third. The ball was caught and the tag was applied, but the ball was jarred loose for a moment in a massive collision at the plate. Grant was ruled safe due to the dropped ball, and the game ended 6-5 in a cloud of dust. Grant's aggressive slide won him the game over Larry Newman. Hitting stars for Sky & Sky were Scott Felton 3-4(2B, 2runs) and Steve Truitt 3-4(3 hits,1run). Larry Newman yielded only one extra base hit all game, but allowed 3 free passes...two of whom scored. Of note were the 10 men left on base, 6 of whom were in scoring position.

Sky multi-hit players:
Scott Felton (2-4,2 R,2B)
Steve Truitt (2-4,1 R)
Glenn Ackman (2-4,2 RBI,2B)

Kings multi-hit players:
Shilo Merwitz (2-2,1 R,1 W)
Keegan Rettaliata (2-3,1 R,2B)
Nate Barker (3-3,1 R)
Troy Hendricks (2-3,1 RBI)

Northwest Regional Park Field 3:
Round 2: Stingers(6) 7 (WP-Randy Rivera 5-6) NEK Entertainment (7) 6 (LP-Jeff Harris 4-14)

The night cap gave the Stingers home advantage against NEK who looked to get something against the Stingers from being swept during the regular season. Brad Starobin got his first pitching assignment and blanked NEK in the b-1st. Stingers’ Mike Beverly would get his bat going with a double with mike Basoco on the bags. With runners on all the bags, Lee Densky drilled on into the outfield to plate Soco, followed by Shiffrin’s mirroring shot to bring in Beverly and Murphy. NEK would try to get back into the game but the Stingers won the inning again as they took a 4-2 lead into the t-4th Starobin allowed only 3 runs going into the t-5th, when NEK caught on and took the lead plating 3 for a 6-4 ball game heading into the t-6th. Randy Rivera would relieve Starobin thereafter and the Stingers would go to work in the 6th. Rivera would strike out the and fly out the side to retire and bring the Stingers’ bats up. As they have done all season, the Stingers strung a group of singles from Beverly, Murphy, Palo, Shiffrin, McGee and Engler to plate four and go 1 run into the top of the seventh. With a 1 run lead, Rivera took control along with hustle from the Stingers’ outfield to split the day and move to the second round of the playoff.

Northwest Regional Park Field 4:
Round 2: DC Dental (4) 16 (WP-David Flamm) L.O.F.T.(8) 14 (LP-Kory Rosenberg 0-13)

Facing elimination in the second game of the playoffs DCD faced an uphill battle as they fell behind LOFT in the early innings. DCD entered the bottom of the 4 th inning trailing 8-1 but for the first time they showed some life as the first 6 hitters reached base and 4 came to the plate on RBI hits by Luxemberg, Orshan and Minkove. After LOFT added a run in the top of the 5 th, DCD scored 3 more to pull within one at 9-8. The scored remained that way until the bottom of the 6th when DCD batted around and exploded for 8 runs to take a commanding 16-9 lead. However, they would need nearly all of those runs as LOFT stormed back for 5 of its own in the top of the 7 th to put another scare into the DCD faithful. The 16-14 win allowed the Dental Suppliers to survive and advance and it set up a rematch for next Sunday with Northwest Corridor.

Notes and Offensive Stars:

Here were the Esskay top offensive performance for DCD:
B. Gutman 3-4, 3 singles, 1 run, 1 RBI
Flamm 2-4, 2 doubles, 2 runs, 1 RBI
Luxenberg 3-3, 2 singles, 1 double, 1 bb, 3 runs, 2 RBI
Orshan 2-3, 1 single, 1 double, 1 SF, 1 run, 2 RBI
Minkove 2-4, 1 single, 1 double, 1 run, 4 RBI