2008 Pikesville Men's Softball League
Week 5:  May4, 2008

Northwest Regional Park Field 1:
Game 1: Stingers 10 (WP-Darron Tabatznik 1-2) LOFT 7 (LP-Andy Peksa 1-5) 

LOFT had 2 players making their LOFT debut today; Joe Freidman and Bob Santos. The Stingers got up early on LOFT scoring 3 in the top of the 1st and 2 in the top of the 2nd. LOFT answered with 3 in the bottom of 2nd on RBI singles by Bob Santos, Brett Henry and Adam Crothers. The Stingers added another run and LOFT answered in bottom of 5th with a run of their own on an RBI single by Kory Rosenberg to cut the lead to 7-4. The Stingers scored 3 more and LOFT was trailing 10-4 going into the bottom of the 7th when they scored 3 runs off RBI's from Brandon Mabry, Matt Boden and Dan Mabry. LOFT then loaded up the bases with 2 outs and Bob Santos at the plate who hit a grounder down third base line, but the runner at first reacted very late in advancing to 2nd and was thrown at by a half step to end the game.

Stingers came to play and get on the winning side of the season after a bruttle Mother Nature lost to the Cannons rained out five innings 1 run loss. With a ten man roster, the Stingers opened up plating 4 runs with a lead off 3B by Buchman. Buchman passed it down from him to Palo to Mike Beverly to Sheridan (2B) to McGee with all RBI singles skipping over the LOFT outfielder’s gloves. Tabaznik was on his game as a reconfigured infield backed him up and his usual outfield took care of business to shut down LOFT in the first going 1-2-3. Stingers would plate Tabaznik helping his own cause in the t-2nd with the top of the line-up to bring him home. LOFT would fight back and gain three in the b-2nd from sloppy play of the Stingers.

Mark Wienner would get thinks started in the t-3rd followed by singles from Friedman and Densky to plate Wienner as the only run for the inning. LOFT again tried getting into the mix of things with a few more mix ups in the Stingers’ fielding, but were held to only a run. T-6th was a mirror image of the first inning for the Stingers. Buchman crushed another 3B followed by Palo’s single and Beverly’s double, Sheridan got his shot in followed by McGee to plate 3 and pull farther away from LOFT. LOFT did what they could to get things done in the 7th along with costly positioning errors by the Stingers, but it would be the Stingers getting in the win column with a team effort and solid pitching from Tabaznik.

Offensive Highlights for LOFT:
Brett Henry: 3-4; 3 1B, RBI, R
Michael Bowen: 2-4; 2 1B, 2 R
Matt Boden: 2-4; 1B, 2B, RBI, R
Brandon Mabry: 2-4; 1B, 3B, RBI R

 Game 2: LOFT 14 (WP-Kory Rosenberg 1-0) Stingers 0 (LP-Darron Tabatznik 1-3)  6 Innings

LOFT after struggling to hit the ball in game 1 came out swinging in game 2 scoring 3 in the 1st inning highlighted by a Dan Mabry 2 RBI triple. LOFT blew it open in the top half of the 2nd inning scoring 6 runs highlighted by a 2 RBI single by Michael Bowen and a 2 RBI triple by Matt Boden. Kory Rosenberg who has only given up 1 earned run this season in 2 previous 3 inning outings started the game on the mound and once again did not give up a single run. LOFT finished up the scoring in the top of the 6th off a Brandon Mabry 2 RBI single and ended up running all the way around the bases on a 3 base error in the outfield. LOFT made some fielding adjustments in game 2 by moving the outfield in to take away the Stingers only offensive weapon, the "blooper." Kory Rosenberg pitched an absolute gem in game 2 shutting down the Stingers and limiting them to only 6 hits over 6 innings. Rosenberg also caught the Stingers looking at strike 3 twice in the game, once in bottom of 2nd on James and another time in bottom of 3rd on Mike B. In the bottom of the 6th with the shutout on the line the Stingers had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs until Adam Crothers and Dan Mabry hooked up on a 4-6-3 double play. Now with 2 outs and runner on third Kory chose to walk the hitter at the plate to setup the force at 2nd and the next batter grounded to Dan Mabry at short who flipped it to Adam Crothers at 2nd to end the game and secure the shut out. The Stingers had no answer for LOFT's incredible display of hitting as they couldn't even manage to put one run on the board. It was a great way to end the day and build momentum going into next week.

In game two of the day, Stingers fell asleep and apart. LOFT took advantage of a shrinking strike zone that was all over the place for the Stingers and as big as a mountain for LOFT pitching. Along with a few shots over the pulled in Stingers’ outfield, LOFT took the game for a split on the day.

Offensive Highlights for LOFT:
Dan Mabry: 2-4; 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, R
Matt Boden: 3-4; 2 1B, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 R
Brandon Mabry: 2-3; 2 1B, BB, 2 RBI, 2 R
Michael Bowen: 3-4; 3 1B, 2 RBI, 2 R
Bob Santos: 2-3; 2B, 3B, 2 R
Jeff Kapper: 2-2, 2 1B, BB, RBI, 2 R
Kory Rosenberg: 2-4; 2 1B, RBI, R
Andy Peksa: 2-4; 2 1B, RBI

Northwest Regional Park Field 2:
Game 1: Sky & Sky Inc. 14 (WP-Alex Newman 1-1)  Northwest Corridor 3 (LP-Howard Goldberg 2-3)

NWC and Sky&Sky battled for the 1st time in 2008 on the dreaded "sun" field. Sky&Sky batted 1st squaring off against Howard Goldberg. Sky&Sky used consecutive singles by Andy Bloom and Russ Dlin to score Eliott Blank and take a 1-0 lead. NWC started their attack in the bottom of the 1st with an opening walk from Joey Liner followed two batters later by a Howard Goldberg single to left field. With runners on 1st and 3rd Newman was able to get out of the jam without allowing a run. NWC struck back in the 2nd inning loading the bases off of Newman. Adam Silverman, Matt Bell and Eric Radom delivered consecutive singles but strong defense held the runners. With the bases loaded and no one out Newman managed to get out of the jam with an infield pop-up, line drive out to 3rd base and fly out to centerfield to end the inning. Sky used 4 straight base hits in their half of the 2nd to take a 4-0 lead and never have to look back. Constant pop-ups and flyouts killed rallies for NWC all game and sloppy defense coupled with timely hitting allowed Sky&Sky to continually add to their lead. It was actually a 4-3 ballgame going into the top of the 5th inning when Sky&Sky broke things open with an 8 run 5th. Sky&Sky took advantage of 2 NWC fielding errors and 1 throwing error. Doubles from Bloom and Hayes and a triple from Brian Sky led to the 8run inning. NWC's bats were lifeless over the last 3 innings managing only singles from Goldberg and Brad Rosenberg and a walk by Matt Bell. NWC ended the game with 5 baserunners via walk and 10 hits, all singles, just 3runs scored.

Hitting Highlights NWC Game #1:
Brad Rosenberg 2-3 r
Howard Goldberg 3-4 rbi

Game 2: Sky & Sky Inc. 9 (WP-Larry Newman 4-1)  Northwest Corridor 1 (LP-Howard Goldberg 2-4)

The second game had the same quality of play as the 1st game. Sky&Sky played great defense and Larry Newman made very few mistakes shutting down the NWC offense. NWC had several baserunning and throwing errors that resulted in sloppy play and another tough loss. NWC managed just 7 hits off of Newman scoring their only run in the top of the 5th inning. The lone run scored after basehits from Adam Silverman, Eric Radom and Jon Herbst.

Hitting Highlights NWC Game #2:
Adam Silverman 2-3 r
Eric Radom 2-3

Northwest Regional Park Field 3:
Game 1: NEK Entertainment 8 (WP- David Pridgen 1-4)  Eastern Savings Bank 7 (LP-Tzvi Friedman 0-1)  10 innings

N.E.K gets it's 1st win of the season in thrilling fashion. The North East Kings traded punches with ESB for 11 innings before sealing the win. David Pridgen pitched a good game to get his 1st win of the season.

Offensive Stars for NEK Entertainment:
David Pridgen, 4-5, 2 2b's, 2 rbi's
Marqui Garrett, 3-4, 1 HR, 2b, 3rs
Peter Griffin, 3-5, 2b

Game 2:  NEK Entertainment 5 (WP- Jeff Harris 1-1)  Eastern Savings Bank 3 (LP-David Finkelstein 1-1) 

N.E.K swept the double header with a great game pitched by Jeff Harris. Jeff's 1st win of the season was backed by a N.E.K defense that made several highlight plays. Left fielder Fred Neal and Second baseman
Rashaad Johnson made several spectacular plays in the field.

Offensive Stars for NEK Entertainment:
David Pridgen, 2-2
Marqui Garrett, 2-3, 3b, 2 rbi's
Jeff Harris, 2-3, 2b
John Frederick (aka 'Fred'), 2-3

Northwest Regional Park Field 4:
Game 1: Kings 10 (WP- Chuck Grant 6-0)  Havana Club Cannons 6 (LP-Mark Yokel 3-1)  

The Kings set their sight on the Cannons with hopes of moving into 1st place in the league standings. It was the Cannons, however, who established the lead early. Jeff Kurland reached on an infield error and Johnny Edelman drew a walk to start the game. Shawn Warner had an RBI 2B, Mike Steller had an RBI single, and 1 more run came home on a fielder's choice as the Cannons lead in t-1st was 3-0. The Kings in b-1st also got their first 2 batters on base as Dave Sandler singled and Shilo Merwitz doubled. Sacrifice flies by Jeff Slutzker and Alan Varhaftik made the score after 1 inning 3-2 Cannons. The Cannons got further ahead in t-3rd with a walk to Chuck Easter, single by Warner, 2 RBI 3B by Steller and RBI 1B by Evan Kreitzer. The Cannons lead was now 6-2. Kings got their 3rd run of the game in b-3rd on another SF, again by Slutzker scoring Sandler who had once more singled ahead of a Shilo Merwitz 2B.

Chuck Grant settled down on the mound and gave his Kings teammates opportunities to cut into the 6-3 Cannons lead after 3 innings. Arin Gelletly led off the b-4th with his 4th homerun of the young season. Entering the b-5th, Cannons led 6-4. Grant helped himself out at the plate to start b-5th with a double to LCF. After advancing on a deep flyout, Grant scored on Dave Sandler's RBI grounder that was mishandled in the Cannons infield. That was the only error the Cannons commited in game 1, but the Kings took advantage with consecutive singles by Merwitz, Slutzker (RBI), and Varhaftik (RBI) to take 7-6 lead. The Kings added 2 more runs in the inning when Jan Katzen delivered a 2 out 2 RBI 1B.

With the Kings now ahead 9-6, the Cannons threatened in t-6th, getting runners on 2nd and 3rd base with 2 outs, but Grant was able to retire Kurland on a comebacker to end the inning. The Kings added an insurance run in b-6th as Troy Hendricks hit a leadoff 2B and Rob Barrow followed with an RBI 1B. Grant kept the Cannons off the board again in t-7th, giving the Kings a 10-6 game 1 win.

Offensive stars for the Cannons in game 1:
Shawn Warner (4-4,1 R,3 RBI,3B)
Mike Steller (2-4,1 R,3 RBI,3B)

Offensive stars for the Kings in game 1:
Dave Sandler (2-4,3 R,1 RBI, reached on error)
Shilo Merwitz (3-3,2 R,2B)
Jeff Slutzker (1-1,1 R,3 RBI,2 SF)
Alan Varhaftik (1-2,1 R,2 RBI,SF)
Arin Gelletly (2-3,1 R,1 RBI,2B,HR)
Jan Katzen (2-3,2 RBI)
Troy Hendricks (2-3,1 R,2B)

Pitching Lines:
Mark Yokel (6 IP,10 R,7 ER, 31 AB,15 H,4 2B,0 3B,1 HR,0 W,0 K)
Chuck Grant (7 IP,6 R,5 ER,31 AB,9 H,1 2B,1 3B,0 HR,4 W,0 K)

Game 2:  Havana Club Cannons 13 (WP- Tom Paulshock 4-0)  Kings 7 (LP-Chuck Grant 6-1) 

The Kings hold of 1st place was over with the end of game 2 as the Cannons resumed their normal seasonal position with a 13-7 win in the nightcap. The Kings were the visitors and drew first blood as the Sandler through Katzen part of the Kings order remained hot in game 2. Sandler drew a 1 out walk, Merwitz reached on an infield error, Slutzker delivered an RBI 1B, Varhaftik an RBI SF, and Gelletly and RBI 1B. Kings t-1st lead was 3-0. The b-1st started off poorly for the Kings as Jeff Kurland reached on an error as Kings 1B Dave Sandler was ruled to have pulled his foot off the base early on a grounder to SS. Johnny Edelman singled, Chuck Easter singled (RBI), and Shawn Warner brought home Edelman on an RBI fielder's choice groundout. The Kings put another run across in t-3rd with Merwitz hitting a leadoff 3B and Slutzker hitting an RBI 1B. After 2 1/2 innings, Kings were ahead 4-2. The Cannons bats awoke mightily for game 2 and they put together a 1 out rally in b-3rd. Edelman doubled, Easter singled (RBI) and Warner singled to pull the Cannons to within 1 run of the Kings lead. With runners on the corners, Steller followed with a fielder's choice grounder to 3B, the throw to second base to forceout Warner was dropped, allowing the tie run to come home. With 2 outs, Neal Charkatz singled home Warner giving the Cannons the lead 5-4.

Although Cannons starter Tom Paulshock was wild on the mound, the Kings continued to stand runners on base during the middle innings, while the Cannons scored in each of the 3rd-7th innings. 4 more Cannons runs scored on a 2 out 0 on rally in b-4th. A walk to Kurland, single by Edelman and single to Easter loaded bases for Warner. Warner came through again, this time with a bases clearing 3 RBI 3B to RF. Steller hit a 2B bringing home Warner and the 9th Cannons run of the game. Another 2 out rally in b-5th brought home 2 more runs for the Cannons. McLean's 2 out RBI 3B and Kurland's RBI single gave Cannons 11-4 lead. While the Kings left the bases loaded in t-6th, Cannons produced yet again a 2 out rally. Kreitzer's 2 out RBI 2B and Charkatz' RBI 1B put the Cannons lead at 13-4.

Instead of hurrying home (or over to Troy Hendricks' house for post-game sandwiches), the Kings did battle in t-7th. Taking advantage of Paulshock's control issues, the Kings drew 4 walks in the inning, while getting just 2 hits, including an RBI single by Jan Katzen. Arin Gelletly hit the Kings 5th SF on the day in front of Katzen, but the Kings again left the bases loaded in the inning, scoring an insufficient 3 runs, and coming out behind in the game 13-7.

While the Cannons produced 9 2 out runs in the game, the Kings managed just 2 2 out runs. Moreover, despite drawing 9 walks and 10 hits in the game, the Kings stranded a season high 14 runners on base (3 times with the bases loaded), with the Cannons stranding just 7 runners.

Offensive stars for the Cannons in game 2:
Johnny Edelman (3-4,3 R,2B)
Chuck Easter (4-4,2 R,2 RBI)
Shawn Warner (2-4,3 R,4 RBI,2B)
Neal Charkatz (3-4,2 R)

Offensive stars for the Kings in game 2:
Jeff Slutzker (2-2,2 R,2 RBI,2 W)
Arin Gelletly (2-3,2 RBI,SF)
Jan Katzen (2-2,1 RBI,2 W)

Pitching lines for game 2:
Tom Paulshock (7 IP,7 R,4 ER,10 H,0 2B,1 3B,0 HR,9 W,1 K)
Chuck Grant (6 IP,13 R,9 ER,17 H,4 2B,1 3B,0 HR,1 W,0 K)

Post-game notes: