2010 Pikesville Men's Softball League
Week 17:  July 25, 2010

Highlights submitted thus far by Kings, AR Bodies, LOFT, NWC, Sky

Regular Season Concludes at Alternate Fields
The Bombers benefited from a Cannons doubleheader forfeit.. The 2 wins for the Bombers put pressure on AR Bodies going into Sunday action. The Bodies needed to sweep the Kings over at Randallstown High School to claim 2nd place. The Bodies fought hard, but fell short to the Kings 8-7 in the opener. AR Bodies came back to take the nightcap in a game that was inconsequential to the standings.

Meanwhile, over at Deer Park Middle School, the 5th-7th seedings were at stake. Sky swept the Stingers to hold onto a 5th place seed. NWC needed a sweep over LOFT to move into 6th place. Their game 1 went into extra innings, with LOFT coming out victorious 7-5. NWC came back in the 2nd game with a 6-5 win.

The match-ups are now in place for the 3 week Playoffs tournament beginning next Sunday at Northwest Regional Park.

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Deer Park Middle School #1:    Umpire- Lane Gordon
Game 1: LOFT 7 (WP-Rick Winepol 10-13)  Northwest Corridor 5 (LP-Matt Silverman 4-8)   8 Innings

LOFT came out in game 1 looking to win the game and wrap up the 6th seed. The game moved along very slow as both pitchers were in long counts to almost every batter. LOFT scored 1 in the top of the 2nd off a Pete Sclafani sac fly and 2 more in the top of the 4th off a Rick Winepol single and Michael Bowen sac fly. NWC tied the game at 3 and then took the lead 5-3 and held that lead heading into the top half of the 7th. LOFT seemed to be lulled to sleep the entire game as the game moved slowly, but in the top of the 7th the LOFT bats came alive a little bit. With 1 out Matt Boden ripped a triple to the wall and then with 2 outs Andy Peksa had a RBI single and Jeff Kapper had himself a RBI single to tie the game at 5-5 going into the bottom of the 7th. NWC quickly got 2 runners on and only had 1 out. The next batter for NWC hit a routine fly to LCF and the runner from second decided to tag and try and advance to third, but Matt Boden threw a 1 hop strike to Peksa at 3rd who applied the tag in plenty of time to retire the runner trying to advance. LOFT took all that momentum and appeared to do nothing with it in the top of the 8th as their first 2 hitters were retired easily, but then Brandon Mabry drew his 4th walk of the game, Matt Boden singled, Mark Wienner singled to drive in Mabry and give LOFT the lead and then Andy Peksa singled to add a 2nd run giving LOFT a 7-5 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th inning. It was more then enough for Winepol as he retired the side without any threat of NWC trying to comeback in the bottom half. The victory wrapped up the 6th seed for LOFT.

Another extremely hot humid softball Sunday displayed NWC trying to sweep LOFT and pass them in the standings. Despite missing 4 regular starters from their lineup NWC was confident that they could still pull out the doubleheader sweep. Even though the game was rather long there was very little scoring in the 1st few innings. LOFT scored one run in the 2nd inning off of a sac fly and two more runs in the 4th inning while taking advantage of matt Silverman’s wildness on the mound. Consecutive base hits in the 4th inning from Gabe Unterman, John Brandt and Matt Bell gave NWC two runs. NWC took a lead after that scoring twice in the 5th and once in the 6th. Scott Sweren and Brad Rosenberg had rbi singles in the 5th inning. Matt Silverman hit a double to the left centerfield fence in the 6th inning and Jon Goldman singled him home. NWC had a chance to add to their lead in the 7th but a base running blunder led to a double play and two men left on base. LOFT took advantage forcing a two out rally in the bottom of the 7th and scoring two runs to tie the game and force extra innings. LOFT who scored the majority of their 7runs all game off of walks and errors scored twice more in the 8th inning to win game #1

Hitting Highlights NWC:
Scott Sweren 3-4 rbi
Matt Silverman 2-3 2b rbi r
Brad Marcus 2-4 r
Brad Rosenberg 2-4 rbi

Offensive Stars for LOFT:
Matt Boden: 2-4; 3B, 1B, BB, 2 R
Mark Wienner: 2-4; 2B, 1B, BB, RBI
Andy Peksa: 2-4; 2 1B, BB, 2 RBI, R
Nick Serkes: 2-4; 2 1B, BB, 2 R
Jeff Kapper: 3-4; 3 1B, RBI, R
Brandon Mabry: 0-1; 4 BB, R

Game 2: Northwest Corridor 6 (WP-Howard Goldberg 5-5)  LOFT 5 (LP-Rick Winepol 10-14) 

Game 2 was a meaningless game for LOFT as they had the 6th seed wrapped and it did not matter what they did. So in typical LOFT fashion they decided to do what they do better then any team in the league and that's to have fun; they moved their normal LF and LCF into the infield and move a couple infielders to the OF to mix it up a bit and play around. NWC did score 1 run in the top of the 1st and then 4 more in the top of the 4th to take a 5-0 lead. LOFT then scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 5th to tie the game highlighted by a 2 RBI single from Mark Wienner and 2 RBI single from Nick Serkes. NWC scored 1 in the top of the 6th, LOFT did threaten with a 2 out double by Wienner in bottom of the 7th, but they failed to score the run as Peksa flew out to deep LCF. Both teams seemed glad to finally be done with the games as they took forever to play, but both affairs were relatively low scoring for the amount of time spent playing.

The second game was much quicker but the heat and humidity was getting stronger. NWC scored in 3 of the 4 innings but left runners on base all game. They collected 15 hits, 3 of them extra base hits off of LOFT pitcher Rick Winepol but managed only 6 runs. Those 6 runs were enough to win the game as LOFT was completely shut down for 6 of the 7 innings by NWC pitcher Howard Goldberg. LOFT managed just 7 singles in 7 innings but put 5 runs on the board off of 2 walks and 2 errors in the 5th inning. Final score 6-5 for a two game split.

Hitting Highlights for NWC:
Scott Sweren, Howard Goldberg, Matt Bell and Matt Silverman all had multi-hit games in game #2.

Offensive Stars for LOFT:
Mark Wienner: 3-4; 2B, 2 1B, 2 RBI, R
Nick Serkes: 2-3; 2 1B, 2 RBI
Jeff Kapper: 2-3; 2 1B
Pete Sclafani: 2-3; 2 1B, R

Deer Park Middle School # 2:    Umpire- Reggie Grant
Game 1: Sky & Sky Inc. 9  (WP-Ken Zalis 6-7)  Stingers 3 (LP-Larry Newman 4-21) 

Sky won the game 9-3. Ken Zalis was the star of the game, allowing just 6 hits, and walking 1. He didn't allow a baserunner after the 3rd inning, thanks to a solid performance by Sky's defense. On offense, KZ went 5-5. Brian Sky also went 5-5 with a 2B and HR. Elliot Blank and Pat Wilcox contributed with 3 hits a piece.

Game 2:  Sky & Sky Inc. 4 (WP- Alex Newman 7-8)  Stingers 3 (LP-Larry Newman 4-22) 

Sky squeaked by with a 4-3 win. This was a pitching match up of Alex and Larry Newman. Both teams seemed exhausted from the heat and just wanted to get the game over with. Alex got the win over his father, but Larry has some bragging rights after striking out Alex, and going 2-2 at the plate. Pat Wilcox broke a 3-3 tie in the 6th with a deep HR to right center. Sky turned two double plays in the game.

Randallstown High School #1:      Umpire- Kory Rosenberg
Game 1: NEK/ESB Bombers 7  Cannons 0  FORFEIT  

Highlights pending.

Game 2: NEK/ESB Bombers 7  Cannons 0  FORFEIT  

Highlights pending.

Randallstown High School #2:      Umpire-Rick Simmons
Game 1: Kings 8 (WP-Mike Herr 12-3, Save- Chuck Grant (1) ) AR Bodies 7 (LP-Jeff Harris 15-8)

AR Bodies came out knowing that they needed a sweep to finish in 2nd place and anything less than that would result in a 3rd place finish. The Kings ended the 2nd place hopes of AR Bodies, hanging on to win the opener 8-7.

A sacrifice fly by Ryan Wilner and 2 out RBI 1B by Dave Doarnberger gave the Bodies a 2-0 lead in t-1st. The Kings came right back in the bottom of the inning with 4 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk. RBI singles by Arin Gelletly and Troy Hendricks; RBI 2B by Alan Varhaftik; and SF by Jan Katzen producing the 4 runs and Kings 4-2 lead. The lead for the Kings did not last long either as AR Bodies loaded bases with 0 outs in t-2nd on singles by Jason Weszka, Ryan Koch, and Jeff Harris. Scott Rogers came thru next with a 2 RBI bases loaded single. The score was tied 4-4 after 1 1/2 innings.

Bodies starting pitcher Jeff Harris was able to keep the Kings off the board in t-2nd and his team's offense went right back to work against Kings starter Mike Herr in t-3rd. Eric Radom started t-3rd with a single. Following a forceout to Wilner, Doarnberger also hit into a forceout, but the throw to first base attempting a doubleplay was thrown out of play, allowing Doarnberger to move into scoring position. AR Bodies took advantage of the error when Chris Canosa hit an RBI 1B to put Bodies ahead 5-4.

In b-4th, Alan Varhaftik singled and Jan Katzen walked to lead off inning. Following a flyout, Koby Sarubin hit an RBI 1B to tie game 5-5. Rob Barrow followed with a SF to LF and Chuck Grant followed with an RBI 1B. The Kings lead after 4 innings 7-5. Singles by Jon Mandras and Eric Radom, along with a SF by Ryan Wilner pulled the Bodies to within 1 run. Doarnberger hit a 2 out 1B to LF, but Alan Varhaftik gunned down Radom at the plate. Singles by Kenny Salzman and Shilo Merwitz, along with an RBI 2B by Arin Gelletly gave Kings 8-6 lead in b-5th.

AR Bodies left the bases loaded in t-6th and trailed by 2 runs heading into the 7th inning. The Kings brought Chuck Grant in to close out the game. Jon Singer led off t-7th with a 1B, but he was erased when Grant was able to start a 1-6-3 doubleplay on Mandras. The Bodies were not ready to concede. Radom drew a 2 out walk, Wilner singled, and Doarnberger hit an RBI 2B scoring Radom and putting runners on 2nd and 3rd base down by just 1 run. With an open base, the Kings decided against an intentional walk to Chris Canosa and were rewarded when Canosa grounded out to thirdbaseman Jan Katzen, closing out the ballgame to the Kings 8-7.

AR Bodies offensive leaders in game 1:
Jon Singer (2-4,1 R)
Eric Radom (2-3,1 R,W)
Ryan Wilner (1-2,2 RBI,2 SF)
Dave Doarnberger (3-4,1 R,2 RBI,2B)
Ryan Koch (2-4,1 R)
Jeff Harris (2-3)

Kings multi-hit players in game 1:
Shilo Merwitz (2-3,1 R)
Arin Gelletly (2-3,1 R,2 RBI,2B)
Alan Varhaftik (2-3,2 R,1 RBI,2B,K)
Troy Hendricks (2-3,1 RBI)

Game 1 Kings notes:
►Chuck Grant recorded his 1st career save. It was just the 7th save in Kings history and the first one in 16 years. Joel Gordon recorded the last save on May 15, 1994 vs. Team Mike Johnson, pitching  2 2/3 innings in relief of starter Steve Levy. Gordon entered the game in b-5th with the Kings ahead 9-7. The Kings got 5 insurance runs for Gordon in the latter innings and defeated Team Johnson 14-8. The offensive stars for the Kings on 5/15/94 included current Kings Detour Dave Sandler (2-2,2 R,2B), Jeff Slutzker (1-3,2 R,3 RBI,HR,SF), Alan Varhaftik (1-4,1 R,2 RBI), Steve Levy (3-4,2 R,2 RBI). Team Johnson losing pitcher was Sheldon Stein, while the EH for Team Johnson was Dave Stein, currently an alternate for Northwest Corridor.
►Larry Newman is the Kings all-time saves leader with 3, recording all 3 saves for Steve Levy-- 7/18/93 in 21-15 win over Team Salzman/Grant, 8/1/93 in 4-2 win vs. Team Rosenberg, and 6/4/95 in 9-8 win over Attman's Deli. Steve Levy recorded 2 saves in relief of Mike Herr during the 1991 season.

Game 2: AR Bodies 6 (WP-Eric Radom 2-3)  Kings 3 (LP-Chuck Grant 10-3)

In the b-1st, Jon Singer and Jon Mandras led off with back to back singles. Singer moved to third on a dropped popup by the King's second baseman, but the King's still got the out at second, leaving 1st and 3rd with one out. Dave Doarnberger scored Singer on a fielder's choice, and a throwing error by the King's moved Doarnberger to second. Chris Canosa capitalized on the mistake with an RBI single to make the score 3-2 Kings. The Bodies would take the lead in the 2nd, 5-3, with a 2 out, nobody on rally. Aaron Birenbaum doubled followed by a single from Singer and 3 RBI singles from Mandras, Eric Radom, and Doarnberger. The Bodies added another run in the 5th when Scott Rogers delivered a 2 out RBI single to score Canosa (1B).

Game 2 AR Bodies Hitting Stars:
Jon Singer - 3-4, 2 R
Eric Radom - 3-4, RBI
Jason Weszka - 3-4
Dave Doarnberger - 2-4, 2 RBI, R
Jon Mandras - 2-4, RBI, R
Chris Canosa - 2-4, RBI, R

Kings offensive stars:
No Kings player had more than 1 hit. The entire Kings offense was limited to an 8-for-26 performance with 0 extra base hits.

Kings game notes:
►The Kings reached the 20+ Regular Season wins level for the 7th time in franchise history. In 22 seasons, the Kings Regular Season record is 392-196 (.667). The Kings will next try to reach the 5 Playoffs wins level for the 4th time. The Kings all-time Playoffs record is 59-37 (.615).