2008 Pikesville Men's Softball League Regular Season
Champions
Kings
The Kings won the 2008 Regular Season with an amazing record of 26-2. The 2 losses came in back-to-back weeks in May to the Havana Club Cannons and NEK Entertainment. The team proceeded to go onto a 21 game winning streak, with the steak ending in Round 3 of the Playoffs to the Cannons. Unfortunately, the Kings dream season came to an end in Round 6 of the Playoffs, dropping a 9-4 decision again to the Cannons.
The Kings were celebrating their 20th anniversary in the Pikesville Men's Softball League. The Regular Season title was just their 2nd, with the other time occurring way back in 1993. Of the 14 Kings players that qualified for the 2008 Playoffs, 11 were returning players from the 2007 (and also the 2006) season. The 3 'new' players included Jeff Slutzker, who was really not a new player on the Kings. Slutzker played as a regular from 1993-2002 and has now played a total of 264 games in a Kings uniform. Slutzker finished 2nd on the team in average at .507 and remains dangerously close to a lifetime average of .500 (381-for-763-.499). He has hit over .500 in 6 different seasons, a Kings best. A leg injury in June kept him out of the outfield for much of the last 6 weeks. He recovered enough to return to the starting lineup for the opening week of the playoffs. The real new players were Arin Gelletly and Koby Sarubin. Gelletly was a standout in his Kings rookie season, leading the team with a .570 average, 49 hits, 8 2B, 8 3B, 5 HR, and 42 RBI's. His strong throwing arm in LCF kept many baserunners going station to station. The other newcomer was 18 year old Koby Sarubin, nephew of Kings manager Mike Herr. Sarubin made his Kings debut May 11th against NEK on an emergency basis when Troy Hendricks assumed the game was getting postponed. Sarubin went 4-for-4 in his debut, becoming the first Kings player in history to get 4 hits in his first 4 at bats. Sarubin hit .385 in 13 games and played solid defense at second base and the centerfield outfield positions.
The Kings are a team of veterans and numerous milestones were established during the enjoyable 2008 campaign. From a team standpoint the 30-4 record was the best in team history, surpassing the 1993 Regular Season and Tournament Championship of 30-5. The team went over the 400 career wins total, finishing the season with a lifetime record of 410-218-.653.
Among the Kings veteran returnees:
Chuck Grant (P) established team records for pitching wins in a season 25 and he also became the first Kings pitcher to surpass the 100 wins level. He missed just 2 weeks the entire season and started all 28 games that he attended (the Kings won 1 week by forfeit). He gave up an opportunity to attend the Virgin Fest concert that occurred during Round 3 and 4 of the Playoffs.
Mike Herr (C/1B) returned to the .400+ average club for the 15th time. He also picked up his 400th career managerial win in Round 2 of the Playoffs. Moreover, in Round 5 of the Playoffs, he picked up win the 402, surpassing Attman's Deli manager Paul Bell (401-99) for #1 on the Pikesville Men's Softball League managerial win list. He played in all Kings games in 2008 and has missed just 15 of the Kings 628 games in 20 seasons.
Keegan Rettaliata (1B/C) played in his 5th season with the Kings. He recorded his 200th career hit on July 20th against the Cannons, tying him with Shilo Merwitz in the quickest to reach 200 hits-- 144 games. He also went over the 150 RBI level.
Kenny Salzman (2B) continued to shine as a Gold Glove level second baseman. His range and steady hands helped the Kings to win a few close games against the top 3 teams. He did a fine job offensively as the Kings leadoff hitter, reaching base 56% of time. His keen eye pushed him to the lead in all-time walks for the Kings with 130.
Shilo Merwitz (SS) anchored the Kings defense at shortstop. Despite a sore arm late in the season, Merwitz committed just 5 errors the entire season. He tied Alan Varhaftik for the team lead in runs scored with 38. He reached the 300 career hit milestone on June 29 against Northwest Corridor. He led the team in fielding doubleplays with 8.
Jan Katzen (3B) reached the 200 career hit level early in the season. In his 8th season with the Kings, he hit over .500 for the 2nd year in a row. He was 2nd on the team in SF's with 8. Katzen became a member of the 200 hit club on June 29, the same inning that Shilo Merwitz reached 300. He also celebrated his engagement early in the season and will be married to Jennifer Sukenick on August 31st.
Robbie Ressin (2B) opted for a lessened role in 2008, his 3rd season with the Kings. He came out everytime the Kings were below the 11 player level and also came out to help out the team in the Finals. His reached base percentage was above .520 for the 3rd straight season. The Kings have made it to the final Sunday in each of Ressin's 3 seasons with the team.
Alan Varhaftik (LF) completed his 15th season with the Kings. He led the team in 3B's with 6, was tied for the team lead in runs scored (38), and was 2nd on the team in slugging percentage (.758), homeruns (2), RBI (39). He finished the 2008 campaign 2nd in team history with 430 games and 493 hits. Varhaftik played in all 34 Kings games in 2008.
Troy Hendricks (RCF), in his 5th season, recovered well enough from off season shoulder surgery in his throwing arm to play in the outfield in week #1. His arm strength improved throughout the season, much better than he could throw in 2007 with a torn labrum. He drew 9 walks for the 3rd year in a row. He missed just 1 week of play to participate in a coed tournament.
Dave Sandler (RF), in his 12th season with the Kings, was 1 of 3 players to play each week. He led the team in walks (22) and plate appearances (115). He is 4th on the Kings all-time games played list, 2 ahead of Kenny Salzman with 327. He recorded his 400th career Kings hit in April, sitting now 3rd on the list with 434.
Rob Barrow (1B/RF) completed his 3rd season with the club. He drove back from Massachussets on Saturday night before Round 1 to help the Kings in their opening Playoffs week wins. Driving from Annapolis each Sunday morning, Barrow played in a career high 23 games. He was the 2nd largest sponsor of the Kings in 2008.
Steve Levy (1B), Scott Katzen (3B), Jeff Webster (2B), Chris Zoeller (3B/OF) and Brooks Sandler (PH) were the only other players to dress for the Kings in 2008. The use of just 19 players over a full season was an all time low for the Kings-- a good thing. Levy, in his first appearance in 8 years was a perfect 6-for-6 against the Stingers and his 351 career hits are good for 5th on the all time list.