2007 Pikesville Men's Softball League
Week 5:  May 6, 2007

Northwest Regional Park Field 1:
Game 1: Northwest Corridor 17 (WP-Ted Winner 2-1)  LOFT 2 (LP-Andy Peksa 0-3)  4 Innings

The first game on this windy cool Sunday afternoon started off interesting. Ted Winner arrived at gametime to find out he needed to take the mound in order for the game to start. Usual game 1 starter Howard Goldberg decided to leave the field at 8:35am to retrieve his forgotten knee brace. Without any warm-up pitches under his belt Winner walked the first LOFT batter and struck out the 2nd batter he faced. LOFT would manage one single in the 1st but nothing else. Winner had total control of the LOFT batters for most of the game ending with a pitching line of 4INN 5H 2ER 3BB 2SO W. NWC took advantage of LOFT's sometime sloppy defense and piled on 7 1st inning runs. Lee Pollak started the inning off with a walk. Adam Silverman and Jason Ott both delivered rbi doubles in the inning. Every NWC batter reached base in the bottom of the first except pitcher Ted Winner. The 2nd inning went pretty much like the first one. LOFT managed a walk and a single off of Winner but couldn't stage a rally. NWC scored 8 more times in the bottom of the second led by doubles from Scott Sweren, Chris Canosa and Ted Winner. The game would end after 4innings NWC 17 LOFT 2.

On a cold and windy day at NWRP, L.O.F.T. had some unforeseen setbacks for certain players not allowing them to make the game on time or make the game at all. L.O.F.T. had to take the field in game 1 with 8 guys and it really showed as they were out of sync and really never had a chance. L.O.F.T. was able to score 2 runs in the 7th inning to keep from getting shut out on triple by Pete Sclafani and a RBI double by Ryan Mente, but other than that there were no bright spots for L.O.F.T. in game 1.

Offensive Stars for L.O.F.T.:
Ryan Mente: 2-2; 1B, 2B, R, RBI
Pete Sclafani: 1-2; 3B, R

Game Notes For NWC:

• 8 of the 11 NWC batters all had multi-hit games
• David Stein led the way with 3 singles, 3-3 r
• Joey Liner had yet another outfield assist making a run at Scott Sweren's consecutive outfield assist games record.
• Scott Landsman made his second courtesy runner appearance
• Seeing Reggie back behind the plate umpiring brought back memories of Lee Pollak getting tossed from a game in the middle of an at bat 5 seasons ago.
   

Game 2:  Northwest Corridor 13 (WP-Howard Goldberg 2-1)  LOFT 6 (LP-Andy Peksa 0-4) 

NWC came to bat first in game 2. Lee Pollak started things off with a leadoff single. Andy Peska forced Scott Sweren into a groundball fielder's choice and David Stein to fly out to centerfield. Howard Goldberg would end the inning with another groundout. LOFT would get on the scoreboard first scoring their leadoff hitter after a single up the middle. Things would be quiet for LOFT for a while as Goldberg breezed through the next three innings getting most of the LOFT batters to fly out or pop up. Ted Winner singled in Chris Canosa in the 2nd inning and NWC added 4 more runs in the 3rd. Scott Sweren homered to right field scoring 2 and Howard Goldberg and Dave Stein both hustled to score on a Chris Canosa groundout. NWC's bats got quiet for the next few innings and LOFT climbed back into the game scoring 4 runs in the 5th inning. The game stayed close for one more inning but NWC broke it open scoring 6 runs in the top of the 7th. NWC's first 5 batters all delivered rbi's and the team used singles and heads up baserunning to take the victory.

Game 2 was a different game as the late arrivals made it and L.O.F.T. was able to field a full team for game 2. Andy Peksa came out giving all he had on the mound holding NWC to 7 runs over the first 6 innings. L.O.F.T. was only down 2 runs after 6 because of a 4 run 5th inning which saw a RBI single by Brett Henry, followed by a 2 RBI double by Dan Mabry and finished off with a sac fly by Brandon Mabry. L.O.F.T. cut the lead to 1 at that point and NWC added one in the top of the 6th, but L.O.F.T. was unable to score in the bottom of the 6th and NWC added 5 on in the top of the 7th. L.O.F.T. did score once in the bottom of the 7th, but it wasn't nearly enough to cut the deficit. Another game L.O.F.T. had a chance to win, but in the end couldn't keep the bats going to earn the victory.

Offensive Stars for L.O.F.T.:
Mike Bowen: 3-3; 3 1B, BB, 2R, 2RBI
Brett Henry: 2-3; 2 1B, R, RBI
Dan Mabry: 1-4; 2B, 2 RBI
Kevin White: 1-2; 1B, BB, 2R

Other Game Notes for L.O.F.T.:
- L.O.F.T. employed the seldom used left handed 2nd baseman for both games.
- Brett Henry bounced back with 2 errorless games after his dropped fly ball against NEK the week prior
- Andy Peksa pushed his career pitching record to an abysmal 1-17


NWC Game Notes:

• John Herbst made his season debut in game 2. His first game back since off season surgery to repair a torn labrum.
• NWC asked for a courtesy runner for Scott landsman who was at 2nd base in the top of the 7th inning. LOFT curiously chose NWC's fastest player Joey Liner to pinch run. He scored from 2nd base on a single up the middle the very next play.
• Lee Pollak, Chris Canosa and Joey Liner all enjoyed 3-4 games.

Northwest Regional Park Field 2:
Game 1: Kings 12 (WP-Chuck Grant 5-0)  Sky & Sky Inc. 2 (LP-Larry Newman 0-3) 

The Kings put forth another solid week of offense, defense, and pitching. Chuck Grant scattered 7 hits over 7 innings as the Kings won game one 12-2. The Kings scored 5 runs in b-1st. Kenny Salzman muscled up on a 3B to start the Kings rally and RBI hits by Dave Sandler, Alan Varhaftik, Keegan Rettaliata (2B), and Rob Barrow (2 RBI 3B) provided a solid lead for Grant and the Kings. In t-2nd, Sky got their only 2 runs on the entire day. Brian Sky led off the inning with a 3B to RF and scored on Eric Gertner's RBI 2B. Gertner later scored on an Alan Friedman RBI single. Kings got 3 more runs in b-2nd as Chuck Grant launched his 3rd HR of the season over the fence in LCF. The Kings added 2 runs in b-3rd and 2 more in b-6th to cruise to a 12-2 win.

Offensive stars for Sky:
Eric Gertner (2-3,1 R,1 RBI,2B, reached on infield error)
Alan Friedman (2-2,1 RBI)

Multi-hit Kings players were:
Kenny Salzman (2-4,2 R,3B,reached on infield error)
Shilo Merwitz (4-4,3 R)
Alan Varhaftik (3-4,2 R,2 RBI,2B)
Keegan Rettaliata (2-4,1 R,1 RBI,2B)
Jan Katzen (2-2,2 R,W)
Rob Barrow (2-3,1 R,2 RBI,3B)

Game one notes:

• Kings Nate Barker missed the start of the game when he overslept and then received a speeding ticket on 695 en-route to the game.
• Alan Varhaftik moved into 2nd place on the Kings all-time games played list with 377, surpassing Joel Gordon.
• Russ Dlin and Steve Truitt were out for Sky, while Robbie Ressin was out for the Kings.

Game 2: Kings 19 (WP-Chuck Grant 6-0)  Sky & Sky Inc. 0 (LP-Larry Newman 0-4)   6 Innings

The Kings, who pounded out 19 hits in the opener, pounded out 19 more hits in the nightcap, sweeping Sky 19-0 in 6 innings. Chuck Grant tossed a 7 hit, complete game shutout, improving his record to 6-0. Although the Sky leadoff batter reached safely in the first 3 innings, the Kings turned a doubleplay in each inning to keep Sky off the board. Actually Sky appeared to have scored a run in t-3rd when Neil Bingaam crossed the plate on a Mike Rottenberg 2B over the head of Kings LF Alan Varhaftik, but Bingaam was ruled out at 3rd base on appeal for missing the base on his route to home plate. While the Kings were again playing solid defense, committing just 1 error in the game, Sky was sloppy on defense and committed 7 errors.

In Kings t-2nd, consecutive 1 out singles by Jan Katzen, Nate Barker, and Rob Barrow loaded the bases. Troy Hendricks was credited with the GWRBI, drawing an RBI walk. Mike Herr followed with an RBI SF with the 3rd run of the inning coming in on an outfield throwing error on the play. Kenny Salzman singled with 2 outs to score Hendricks with the 4th run of the inning. The Kings added 2 runs in the t-3rd as Alan Varhaftik tripled, Keegan Rettaliata had an RBI 2B, and Jan Katzen had an RBI single. In t-4th, Dave Sandler's clutch 2 out 2 RBI single put the Kings ahead comfortably 8-0. While Grant was keeping the Sky bats quiet, Alex Newman relieved dad Larry to start the 5th inning. It looked like a genius move as Alex retired the Kings in order in the 5th. However, in the t-6th, Sky committed 4 errors behind Newman and the Kings scored 11 runs (only 5 earned) on just 7 hits and 3 walks.

Sky offensive star:
Mike Rottenberg (2-2,2B)

Multi-hit Kings players were:
Kenny Salzman (3-4,1 R,3 RBI,W,K)
Dave Sandler (2-5,1 R,4 RBI,3B)
Shilo Merwitz (3-4,1 R,1 RBI)
Jan Katzen (2-3,1 R,2 RBI,SF)
Troy Hendricks (3-3,3 R,2 RBI,W)
Mike Herr (2-3,2 R,2 RBI,SF)

Game notes:

• Kings Chuck Grant (6-0) allowed just 14 hits in 50 AB on the day (.280 average) with just 2 runs (both earned). His season ERA dropped to 3.08 (15 earned runs in 34 innings pitched). Shilo Merwitz is 2nd on the team in ERA with a 7.00 .
• Both left fielders, Kings Alan Varhaftik and Sky Zach Scherr battled a tough sun with a high sky, along with strong wind gusts, especially in game 1.
• Kings Shilo Merwitz and Kenny Salzman were each involved in 4 doubleplays on the day. Merwitz was part of all 4 Kings defensive doubleplays, while Salzman was involved in 3 defensive doubleplays and he grounded into a doubleplay.
   

Northwest Regional Park Field 3:
Game 1: DC Dental  14 (WP-Tzvi Friedman 3-2)  NEK Entertainment  2 (LP-Jeff Harris 1-2) (6 Innings)

The rivalry between NEK and DC Dental stems back to the 2006 season in which the two teams faced each other in the playoffs; a fierce battle, that left DC Dental with a upset victory. New faces on both teams did not diminish the intensity brought by both teams into the 3rd week of the 2007 season. The first game had DCD jumping out to an early lead and never turning back on route to 6 inning win. Tzvi Freidman showed that the cold weather only makes him stronger throwing a gem of a game, twice getting out of bases loaded no outs jams. After 5 ½ innings DCD found them selves in the drivers seat with a 11-2 lead, needing only 3 runs to end the game DCD came through with a 3 run 2 out rally capped by a Joe Rombro infield hit that scored the 14th and deicing run.

DC Dental offensive stars for game one:
Lazerow- 2 for 3 (single, double, BB, 2 RBIs, 1 Run)
B. Gutman- 2 for 3 (2 singles, BB, 2 Runs, 1 RBI)
Orshan- 3 for 4 (2 singles, double, 2 RBIs, 3 Runs)
D. Gutman- 1 for 2 (single, 2 BB, 2 Runs, 1 RBI)


Game 2: DC Dental 8 (WP-Meir Zoller 1-0)  NEK Entertainment  3 (LP-Jeff Harris 1-3) 

In contrast to the previous weeks DC Dental kept their intensity up after the game 1 win. In some part due to a new coach making his way back to the bench, but mainly sustained by stellar defense and timely hitting. DCD was led by Dan Gutman at Shortstop and Kivi Gross at second base who between them turned 4 double plays. When the hitting didn’t come early the defense kept DCD in the lead, and when the hitting did come it was too late for NEK to fight back. Jon Minkove found his stroke lifting DCD to sweep. With DCD leading 6-3 in the top of the 7th 2 clutch runs put a cap on the day, and knocked the wind out of NEK.

DC Dental offensive stars for game 2:
Minkove- 2 for 3 (single, double, 1 RBI, 1Run)
Ziffer- 1 for 3 (single, BB, 2 Runs)
Rombro- 1 for 3 (single, 1 RBI)
Friedman- 1 for 4 (single, 2 RBIs)


Northwest Regional Park Field 4:
Game 1:Havana Club Cannons 16  (WP-Mark Yokel 3-0)  Stingers 1 (LP-Darron Tabatznik 0-3)  5 Innings

The Cannons scored 3 runs in the top of the 1st inning, highlighted by a Lou Falcon 2 rbi double, but scoring didnt come frequent after that. Going into the 4th inning it was still 3-0 Cannons, but in the top of the 4th the Cannons pushed 3 more runs accross, and after 4 the score was 6-1. Seems the 4th inning was the awakening of the bats for the Cannons, scoring 3,2,5,3 to close out the game with a 16-2 victory, but in the full 7innings.

Week three brought some new faces to the Stingers field. With two starters out for the week, the Stingers tried pulling things together with the help of Mike McGee. The Cannons opened up against Tabaznik with three runs in the first and silenced the bats of the Stingers through much of the game. On a day where the cool breeze took over, a reminisce to last year’s wind game, the Stingers would only be able to put a string of bats together in the b-4th with Mike McGee’s single followed by a shot that the Cannon’s 3rd basemen would be unable to handle to plate McGee for the Stinger’s only run of the morning.


Stand out hitting for the Stingers:
Mike McGee – 2-3
James Engler – 2-3
Darron Tabatznik – 2-3

HItting stars for the Cannons in game 1:
Jeff Kurland 3-5 2 runs, 1 rbi
Chuck Easter 3-4 3 runs, 4 rbis
Shawn Warner 1-5; 2 Run Homerun.
Lou Falcon 4-5, 3 runs, 3 rbis
 

Game 2:

Havana Club Cannons 17  (WP-Tom Paulshock 3-0)  Stingers 12 (LP-Brad Starobin 0-2) 

The night cap brought a nail biter. Tom Paulshock had a rough day, but he never thought it would be this bad as he walked three of the first five Stingers. Mike McGee would start the plate crossing followed by James Engler’s watchful eye to take balls batted, soon followed by a two run shot by Mike Beverly. Two batters later Matt Friedman would shoot a double over the “in” playing right-center of the Cannons, to plate two more runs for the Stingers. The Stingers would bat through the line up in the first and plate six. Cannons came with an answer against Brad Starobin to plate two thereafter in the first. The fireworks didn’t get going again until the 4th for both teams. With an error by the Cannons’ fielders, the Stingers would get Beverly on the bags, followed by Friedman with a shot into right for a triple that plated Beverly. Brad Starobin helped his cause with a walk and Jeb Buchman hit a shot hard enough to plate Friedman for a Buchman RBI. Aaron Shifrin and Mike Basoco would keep things alive with their solid hitting, but it would fizzle out thereafter. This would put the Stingers up 9-3 going into the b-4th.

The Cannons did all they could, and then some, to put runs on the board. Brad Starobin took a line drive to his pitching side that would hold things up for a while. In the b-4th, the Cannons would plate five to come within one of the lead. Between the 5th and 6th innings, the Cannons came alive and cooled off the Stingers. It would not be until the top of the 7th, and down by eight that the Stingers tried rallying. Shifrin took his walk followed by Basoco’s walk. With runners on the bags Mike McGee came through with a double to plate Shifrin and Basoco to bring the Stingers within six. James Engler moved things along with his single to plate McGee to come within five now. Unfortunately, this was all the Stingers would be able to get across and took a tuff loss for week 3. Stingers look to take on L.O.F.T. and move in the standing next week.

The Stingers jumped out with 6 runs in the top of the first inning off a wild Tommy Paulshock. Tommy walked multiple batters, and when he didn't find the plate the Stingers batters were able to find the holes. The Cannons came back with 2 runs in teh bottom of the first inning. There was no scoring until the bottom of the third when Mike Steller doubled in a run.

Tommy's wildness continued in the top of the 4th, where he allowed 3 more runs to score, although the inning did include 2 uncharacteristic errors by the Cannons defense. In the bottom of the 4th, the Cannons bats finally awoke and scored 5 runs, to get with in 1 run at 9-8. The inning was keyed by a 2 rbi double by Easter, and an rbi triple by Warner.

In the bottom of the 5th, the Cannons pushed across the tying run after a leadoff triple by Steve Henneman, and a sac fly by Johnny Edelman. The Stingers defense to this point had been noting short of fantastic. Line shots to all spots on the field were fielded with ease. The gale winds blowing out to right field played havoc with fly balls, but the Stingers outfield only missed 1 ball all day that was taken by the winds.

In the bottom of the 6th, the Cannons came awake again for a late inning rally. starting at the top of the order, the first 8 batters reached base, and all scored on 8 consecutive hits ending with a sac fly by Neal Charkatz to plate the 8th run. At the end of the 6th, Cannons 17, Stingers 9.

In the top of the 7th, Tommy got wild again, and it finally became apparent that Tommy's blood sugar level was not right, and hadn't been the entire game. After 2 lead off walks, Yokel relieved Tommy, and was able to limit the Stingers damage to 3 runs, capping off a tightly contested game at 17-12, in favor of the Cannons.

Tommy was eventually fine, and able to ride his Harley home after the games.

Cannons Hitting stars for game 2:
Kurland 2-3, 3 runs scored, BB
Easter 3-5, 2 rbis and 3 runs scored
Warner 3-4, 3 rbis, ROE, 2 runs
Steller 3-4, 3 rbis
Edelman 2-3, 3 rbis, 1 run