2008 Pikesville Men's Softball League
Week 16:  July 20, 2008

Northwest Regional Park Field 2:
Game 1: NEK Entertainment 17 (WP-Ted Winner 5-2)  Stingers 7 (LP-Albert Hoffman 0-5) 

Stingers Albert Hoffman got things started off on the right foot shutting down NEK through two innings of play as the Stingers strung together singles in the b-2nd to take a two run lead. Stingers would allow NEK to battle back with balls batted to take the lead from the Stingers 5-2 in the t-3rd. Stingers’ Greg Cooper would provide another run from smart base running and taking advantage of a wild NEK infield to bring the Stingers within 2 after 3 innings of play. In the t-5th, Hoffman started feeling the heat and the balls batted began as NEK would add 9 more runs and extend their lead. Stingers would claw their way to get back the inning with Sean Murphy getting things going and Mike Beverly rocketing a shot over the in playing NEK outfield to plate one. Stuart Sheridan would skip one through the NEK outfield to draw the Stingers a little closer in the morning, but it would be NEK with the upper hand in the morning.

NEK hitting stars game 1:
JEFF HARRIS 3 FOR 3 3RBI
NEAL  2 FOR 3 2 RBI
BRIAN JACKSON 3 FOR 3 1RBI
PETE GRIFFIN 3 FOR 4   5RBI

Game 2: NEK Entertainment 13 (WP-Jeff Harris 5-2)  Stingers 10 (LP-Mike Beverly 0-4) 

With the Stingers dropping another in the morning, they would try to get things going. Stingers’ top of the order would get things going from Mike Beverly (1b), Stuart Sheridan (1b) and Aaron Shifrin (2b) driving in runs to take the early lead again in the late game. In the t-2nd the Stingers would drive in Jamal with team singles again and errors by NEK. Mike Beverly worked the mound to keep the Stingers in the late game along with some flashy glove and foot work by the Stingers’ infield. In the t-5th, Stingers came oh so close to their 2nd win of the year as they strung 5 singles again to plate five and extend their lead to 10-4 and hold the lead through the 6th inning. The heat got the better of Shifrin even with continuous consumption of water, play was halted as medical attention was required. After both teams recommenced play, NEK was able to gain the upper hand though as the strike zone was all over the place with the umpire beginning to guess at pitches for balls and strikes. Unfortunately, NEK would take back the games and keep the Stingers to only one win this season to date.

Shifrin was release from medical care after half an hour in some air conditioning and fluids.

NEK hitting stars game 2:
NEAL   2 FOR 2 1WALK
KEVIN PURNELL 2 FOR 4 4RBI
JEFF HARRIS 2 FOR 3 2RBI

Northwest Regional Park Field 3:
Game 1: Kings 11 (WP-Chuck Grant 18-1) Havana Club Cannons 9 (LP-Mark Yokel 8-5) 

Kings scored 3 runs in b-6th to come from behind with a game 1 win 11-9. Cannons Mark Yokel battled Kings Chuck Grant in a familiar game 1 match-up. The Kings defense had a lapse in t-5th, committing 3 infield errors, allowing Cannons to take a brief lead. The Kings bats then went to work in the 5th and 6th innings to re-take the lead and come out ahead.

RBI 1B's by Keegan Rettaliata and Chuck Grant put Kings ahead 2-0 in b-2nd. Kings extended lead 5-0 in b-3rd on RBI 1B by Shilo Merwitz, SF by Jan Katzen, and 2 out RBI 1B by Alan Varhaftik. In t-4th, Chuck Easter and Neal Charkatz singled, and with 2 outs, Steve Hayes cranked a Chuck Grant pitch over the fence in LCF making the score 5-3. The homerun was the first allowed by Grant at NWRP all season.

The Kings got 1 run back in b-4th on consecutive singles by Troy Hendricks, Grant, and Mike Herr (RBI). The Cannons then went to work in t-5th trailing 6-3. Dan Kassel led off with a walk. Mark Yokel and Jeff Kurland then both reached base on infield errors. Still with nobody out, Tim Grap hit an RBI single to score a run and keep the bases loaded bases for Chuck Easter. Easter was able to extend his arms on a pitch and hit a warning track flyout to RCF-- the sacrifice fly was deep enough that both Yokel and Kurland were able to score for a 2 RBI SF. Grap moved over to 3B when the cutoff throw from the outfield was mishandled. The Cannons took advantage with Shawn Warner following with another SF, putting the Cannons ahead 7-6.

In b-5th, Arin Gelletly reached on an infield error with 1 out. Consecutive singles by Katzen and Varhaftik (RBI) tied score, with Rettaliata following with a SF to put Kings back ahead 8-7. Troy Hendricks reached on a fielder's choice and Chuck Grant's ground ball could not be handled cleanly by the Cannons, allowing Varhaftik to score the 9th run. Kings added 2 more runs in b-6th on 2 out RBI singles by Gelletly and Katzen, taking a 11-7 lead into 7th inning.

The t-7th started with the first 3 batters reaching base on a Jeff Kurland 1B, Grap 1B, and Chuck Easter reaching on the Kings 5th error of the game. Shawn Warner came to the plate representing the tie run. He flew out to deep RCF, a SF scoring Kurland. Johnny Edelman grounded out to plate another run, but Grant was able to retire Neal Charkatz on a flyout to seal the win for the Kings 11-9.

Havana Club Cannons offensive stars:
Jeff Kurland (3-4,2 R)
Tim Grap (2-4,2 R.1 RBI)
Chuck Easter (2-3,1 R,2 RBI, SF)
Steve Hayes (1-3,1 R,3 RBI,HR)

Kings game 1 offensive leaders:
Dave Sandler (2-4,1 R)
Arin Gelletly (2-4,2 R,1 RBI,2B)
Jan Katzen (2-3,1 R,2 RBI,SF)
Alan Varhaftik (2-3,2 R,2 RBI,W)
Chuck Grant (2-3,1 RBI)
Mike Herr (2-3,1 RBI) 

Game 2: Kings 6 (WP-Chuck Grant 19-1) Havana Club Cannons 2 (LP-Mark Yokel 8-6)  8 Innings

The nightcap was a game of missed opportunities for both squads. On 3 occasions, the Kings had runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out and could not score-- hitting into groundout doubleplays on 2 of the occasions and a strikeout on the other. The Cannons had a chance to win the game in b-7th, loading bases with 1 out, but they did not score either. However it was also a game of milestones as Keegan Rettaliata hit his 200th Kings hit (and 150th RBI) in the t-8th knocking in 2 runs and Chuck Grant won his 100th game in a Kings uniform. The Kings won the nightcap 6-2 in 8 innings.

Vying for his 100th Kings pitching win, Grant went to the mound for the Kings against the Cannons Tom Paulshock. Grant was very strong early allowing just 1 1B through the first 2 innings, while the Kings had 2 1B's in each of the first 2 innings, but could not get a clutch hit to score a run. The Kings did get on the board in t-3rd on a 1 out walk to Dave Sandler and 2 out RBI bad hop 1B by Arin Gelletly. Chuck Easter homered inside the park down the RF line to begin b-4th, knotting game 1-1.

The Kings had runners on the corners with 1 out in innings 4 and 5, but 6-4-3 doubleplays started by Jeff Kurland and turned by Dan Kassell at 2B to Neal Charkatz at 1B got the Cannons out of both innings without yielding a run. With the score still 1-1 into the t-6th, Arin Gelletly hit a 2B and Alan Varhaftik hit an RBI 1B, putting Kings in the lead 2-1. Varhaftik's 1B was followed by another groundout doubleplay, the 3rd in 3 innings for the Cannons defense.

In b-6th, pinch-hitter Mark Yokel led off with a 1B. Grant was able to retire the next 2 hitters, bringing Chuck Easter to the plate with 2 outs. The Kings were glad to see him hit a groundball, but the flip to second base was high, allowing the Cannons to extend the inning with 2 on and 2 out. Shawn Warner took advantage of the Kings miscue with an RBI 1B to RF, tying score 2-2.

The Kings threatened again in t-7th as Troy Hendricks singled and pinch-hitter Jeff Slutzker singled putting runners on the corners once more with 1 out. Paulshock was able to get a called strikeout and a flyout to get out of a crucial jam.

The Cannons had a great opportunity of their own get away in b-7th. Steve Hayes led off with an infield 1B. Following a flyout, Drew McLean singled to LCF getting Hayes to 3B with McLean taking 2B on the throw towards third. The Kings elected to intentionally walk Dan Kassell to load the bases and set up a force play at the plate. Evan Kreitzer came in to pinch-hit for Paulshock and popped out to SS. Grant then got Kurland on a flyout to leave the bases loaded and send the game into overtime.

With Paulshock lifted a second time for a pinch-hitter, Mark Yokel was re-entered to pitch the t-8th. Shilo Merwitz drew a leadoff walk. Arin Gelletly hit a 2B to LCF with Merwitz holding up at 3B. Jan Katzen was intentionally walked to load bases. Alan Varhaftik delivered a 2 RBI 2B just in front of the warning track in LCF. Keegan Rettaliata then hit a 2 RBI 1B, putting the Kings ahead 6-2. For Rettaliata, the key hit was his 200th in the league, all in a Kings uniform.

Grant was able to retire the Cannons 1-2-3 in the b-8th to complete the sweep for the Kings-- game 2 final 6-2 in 8 innings. For Grant, it was an 8 inning 8 hitter and the win was hit 100th with the Kings.

Havana Club Cannons offensive stars:
Chuck Easter (1-4,1 R,1 RBI,HR)
No Cannons player had more than 1 hit.

Kings game 1 offensive leaders:
Arin Gelletly (3-4,2 R,1 RBI,2B)
Alan Varhaftik (3-4,1 R,3 RBI,2B,K)
Keegan Rettaliata (3-4,2 RBI) -- Kings hit #200, Kings RBI #150.
No Kings players, other than the 3 above, had more than 1 hit.

Game 2 notes:
► The win for the Kings was their 24th of the season, putting them just 1 behind their previous best season in 1993 when they went 25-5 in the Regular Season.
► Jeff Slutzker re-injured a leg muscle in game 1 and was relegated to a pinch-hitting role in game 2.
► Grant's 19th win of the season surpassed his previous high of 18 (2007). He is just 1 win shy of the Kings record held by Larry Newman 20-1 in 1993.
► The Kings wrap up the Regular Season with a doubleheader against NEK. The last Kings loss was against NEK on May 11, 2008.
► The Cannons had just 2 extrabasehits on the day, both HR's. The Kings had just 4 extrabasehits on the day, all 2B's.
► In the quickest to 200 hits for the Kings, Keegan Rettaliata reached the milestone in his 144th game, tying him with Shilo Merwitz. Merwitz reached his 200th hit also in his 144th game on May 14, 2006 against Tzvi Friedman (DC Dental). It took Jeff Slutzker 149 games to reach Kings hit #200 on July 20, 1997 vs. Palmgard (Marty Ellis).
► In the race for hit #300, Shilo Merwitz had his 300th hit in his 211th game on June 29, 2008 vs. Northwest Corridor (Howard Goldberg). This was the 2nd fastest in team history. The fastest was Jeff Slutzker who reached hit #300 in his 210th game with a single against the Cannons Mark Yokel on May 13, 2001.

Northwest Regional Park Field 4:
Game 1: LOFT 4 (WP-Andy Peksa 6-11) Northwest Corridor 2 (LP-Howard Goldberg 8-15)  

L.O.F.T. came into the day knowing at the very least they needed to win 1 game to keep their hopes alive at the 5th seed in the playoffs. L.O.F.T. continued to struggle with the bats as they had been doing the past weeks, but made up for it with excellent pitching and defense. L.O.F.T. welcomed back Dan Mabry to the lineup after a 5 week absence from the team and he immediately helped making several great defensive plays at first base. L.O.F.T. started the game 1-2-3 in the top of the 1st and NWC was able to muster 2 runs with 2 outs off a couple bloop doubles. L.O.F.T. came right back in the top of the 2nd with 2 runs of their own from with RBI single from Bob Santos and a RBI ground out from Ryan Mente. Peksa was able to work a scorless bottom half of the 2nd, but did get into some trouble in the 3rd as NWC was able to load the bases with 0 outs, but Peksa was able to work out of the jam, by retiring the next 3 batters on 2 line drives to infield and a pop out to hold NWC scoreless in the inning. In the top of the 4th inning L.O.F.T. took a 3-2 lead off a 2 out RBI single from Adam Crothers. In the top half of the 5th L.O.F.T. added another run off a RBI single from Matt Montos, extending the lead to 4-2. L.O.F.T. was unable to score the rest of the game, but didn't need to as Peksa continued to baffle the NWC hitters and hold them scoreless as well the rest of the game giving L.O.F.T. the 4-2 win in game 1 of the double header.

NWC and LOFT met for the 2nd time this season after splitting the doubleheader the first time around. NWC was hoping to put an end to the game #1 jinx their hitters had been going through the past month. LOFT came up first but was sent back to the dugout quickly going down 1-2-3. NWC struck first in the bottom of the 1st. Adam Silverman started a 2 out rally with a double followed by back to back doubles from Howard Goldberg and David Stein, The two 1st inning runs would be all NWC's anemic offense could muster for the entire game. Andy Peska threw consistent strikes for the entire game and killed every NWC rally. LOFT tied the score in the 2nd inning and took the lead in the 4th inning. Taking advantage of a leadoff walk that runner advanced home after two LOFT singles. LOFT took advantage of a NWC infield error in the 5th inning to score one more insurance run. Both squads played great team defense and LOFT was able to escape with the tight 4-2 victory. NWC left 11 men on base including leaving the bases loaded without any runs in the 3rd and 7th innings. Down by two runs in the bottom of the 7th NWC was able to lead a 2 out rally to load the bases but Peska was able to get out of the jam once again to seal the victory.

NWC Highlights:
David Stein 2-3 2B RBI
Lee Pollak 2-3
Aaron Birenbaum 1-1 2BB

NWC allowed 4 runs but just 7 hits in 7 innings, all singles.

Offensive Stars for LOFT:
Bob Santos: 2-2; 2 1B, BB, RBI
Matt Montos: 2-2; 2 1B, BB, 2 R, RBI

Game 2:  Northwest Corridor 13 (WP-Howard Goldberg 9-15)   LOFT 3 (LP-Andy Peksa 6-12) 

In the 2nd game NWC played the same strong combination of good pitching and defense but their bats decided to awaken for the nightcap. NWC began the top of the 1st with a strong 4 run outburst. Jon Herbst lead off with a single to right field and Adam Silverman advanced him over to 3rd on a single to left field. Goldberg tripled to deep left field to drive both runners home and Dave Stein roped a liner to centerfield to knock Goldberg in. Chris Canosa sliced a triple down the right field line to plate Stein and give NWC an early 4-0 lead. LOFT went down in order in their half of the 1st and NWC went down in order in the 2nd inning. It would be the only inning that NWC failed to score a run in. Both teams traded runs in the 3rd inning. NWC getting theirs after an Adam Silverman double. NWC increased their lead to 8-1 in the 4th inning. The LOFT outfielders were a little out of position and stopped communicating and NWC took full advantage. Brad Rosenberg drilled a triple to the wall over the left centerfield's head. Gabe Unterman knocked him home with another triple blasted into the gap between right center and rightfield. Matt Bell hit a sac fly to send Unterman home and Aaron Birenbaum continued the rally with a single to center. Matt Silverman doubled him home and NWC had a very comfortable 8-1 lead. LOFT's hitters went down relatively easy in the 5th and 6th innings getting just one single. NWC added an insurance run in the 5th after a Chris Canosa sac fly and 2 runs in both the 6th and 7th innings. Aaron Birenbaum started another 2 out rally in the 5th with a line drive single to left center. Matt Silverman followed with a blast to centerfield that hit the warning track after both LOFT outfielders stood and watched. Silverman raced home for the 2run inside the park homer while the two outfielders admired the hit. The NWC rally was cut short with the bases loaded when Jon Herbst moved out of the way to avoid a tag near 3rd base and was called out for going out of the base path. The controversial call ended the potential huge inning for NWC with thier 4-5-6 batters coming up with the bases loaded. Two more insurance runs were put up in the 6th inning. Stein drew NWC's 1st walk of the game and Canosa hit a triple to the wall in right center to knock him home. Brad Rosenberg's sac fly brought Canosa home and NWC took a 13-1 lead into the bottom of the 7th. LOFT managed to score 2 runs before the game was closed out with the final score 13-3.

L.O.F.T. came out in game 2 looking to earn the sweep, but NWC came out with intensity and fire as they hung up 4 runs early and continued to have the bats working the rest of the game. L.O.F.T. couldn't match the intensity of NWC as their bats continued to struggle and NWC was able to cruise to an easy victory.

Hitting Highlights NWC:
Matt Silverman 2-3 R HR 2B 3RBI
Chris Canosa 2-3 R 2-3B 3RBI SAC
Jon Herbst and Adam Silverman both enjoyed 3 hit games
Scott Sweren, Goldberg, Stein and Aaron Birenbaum also had multi-hit games.