2010 Pikesville Men's Softball League
Week 5:  May 2, 2010

Highlights submitted thus far by Cannons, Kings, Bombers

 


Northwest Regional Park Field 1:    Umpire- Reggie Grant
Game 1: Kings 9 (WP-Mike Herr 5-0) Sky & Sky Inc. 2 (LP-Alex Newman 2-4) 

Kings starter Mike Herr limited the Sky offense to 5 hits as the Kings took game 1, 9-2. The score was 1-1 thru 3 innings as the 2 teams exchanged sacrifice flies-- Sky's Pat Tobin in t-1st brought home Elliot Blank, Kings Shilo Merwitz in b-3rd scored Kenny Salzman.

The Kings put together a real rally in b-4th. Keegan Rettaliata began the inning with a 3B to LCF. Jan Katzen  singled home Rettaliata and Scott Katzen walked. Rob Barrow flew out to deep left field, with the Katzen brothers each moving up 1 base. Chuck Grant singled thru the hole at SS to score the Katzens and to give the Kings a 4-1 lead.

The Kings drew 4 walks in b-5th and Chuck Grant came thru again with a 2 RBI single as the Kings extended their lead to 8-1.

The teams traded single runs in the 6th inning, with the Kings coming out with the game 1 win 9-2.

Sky offensive leaders in game 1:
Andrew VanLandingham (2-3)
Brian Sky (2-3,2B)

Kings offensive leaders in game 1:
Troy Hendricks (2-3,1 R,W)
Keegan Rettaliata (3-4,2 R,1 RBI,3B)
Scott Katzen (1-2,2 R,1 RBI,W)
Chuck Grant (2-3,4 RBI)

Game 2: Kings 12 (WP-Chuck Grant 5-0)  Sky & Sky Inc. 5 (LP-Ken Zalis 1-3) 

The bats for both teams awoke in game 2, combining for 33 hits-- the 2 teams had combined for just 17 hits in the opener. The Kings completed the sweep with a 12-5 win in the nightcap.

Sky starter Ken Zalis and Kings starter Chuck Grant kept the offenses off the board thru the first 2 innnigs. The Kings exploded for 5 runs in t-3rd. The Kings loaded the bases with 1 out on a walk to Grant, 1B by Mike Herr, and 1B by Kenny Salzman. Troy Hendricks hit a SF to LCF to bring home the first run of the game. Jeff Slutzker followed with a 2 RBI 1B and Merwitz followed him with a 2 RBI HR. In t-4th, Mike Herr hit a 2 out RBI 1B to score Jan Katzen, extending the Kings lead 6-0.

Sky put together a rally in t-5th loading the bases with 1 out on an infield error and singles by Mike Rottenberg and Alex Newman. Matt Holley singled in a run with a hit to RF and the baserunners advanced an extra base when the hit was misplayed. With 2 runs in and runners on 2nd and 3rd base, Elliot Blank came to the plate. Blank hit a hard 1 hop grounder off the glove of pitcher Chuck Grant. The ball deflected towards SS where Kenny Salzman charged in to handle the ball. Matt Holley running from 2nd base towards 3rd base on the play made contact with Salzman and was ruled out on runner's interference. With the interference call, Alex Newman had to return to 3rd base, with Blank taking 1st base. Andrew VanLandingham brought home Newman for a 2nd time in the inning, this time counting for a run as Sky had cut the Kings lead to 6-3.

The Kings got all 3 runs back in their next turn at the plate in t-6th. The Kings loaded the bases with 0 outs via singles to Rettaliata and Jan Katzen, with a walk to Scott Katzen. Rob Barrow hit a SF, Grant singled to again load the bases, and Mike Herr hit an RBI 1B to CF. Kenny Salzman grounded into a fielder's choice, with the 3rd run of the inning coming home. The Kings held a safe 9-3 lead.

The Kings scored 3 more runs in t-7th on an Alan Varhaftik RBI 3B, Rettaliata RBI 2B, and Scott Katzen RBI 1B. Sky scored twice in the b-7th off Kings mop up man Shilo Merwitz. With 2 outs and nobody on, Sky got 5 straight hits including RBI singles by VanLandingham and Pat Tobin. The final score was Kings 12 Sky 5.

Sky multi-hit players in game 2:
Matt Holley (2-4,1 RBI)
Andrew VanLandingham (3-4,1 R,2 RBI)
Brian Sky (2-4)
Shaun Poulton (2-4)
Pat Tobin (2-4,RBI)
Alex Newman (2-3,1 R)

Kings multi-hit players in game 2:
Jeff Slutzker (204,2 R,2 RBI,3B)
Shilo Merwitz (2-4,1 R,2 RBI,HR)
Keegan Rettaliata (2-4,2 R,1 RBI,2B)
Jan Katzen (3-4,2 R)
Mike Herr (3-3,1 R,2 RBI)

Kings game notes:
►Keegan Rettaliata stopped game 2 in the t-6th inning to collect the game ball for his 250th Kings career hit.
►The Kings were without outfielders Arin Gelletly and Koby Sarubin. The Kings on Mother's Day will be without Sarubin, Keegan Rettaliata, Rob Barrow, and Scott Katzen.

Northwest Regional Park Field 2:    Umpire- Troy Long
Game 1: Cannons 16 (WP-Mark Yokel 2-2) LOFT 2 (LP-Rick Winepol 2-4) 

The Cannons picked up 2 wins today against LOFT. In game 1, Mark Yokel yielded just 2 unearned runs as the Cannons won 16-2.

Game 2: Cannons 9 (WP-Tom Paulshock 4-1) LOFT 3 (LP-Andy Peksa 1-1) 

In game 2, Tom Paulshock kept the LOFT bats silent as the Cannons won 9-3.

The Cannons were paced offensively by Michael Dubansky, Chuck Easter and Jason Schwartzberg.

Northwest Regional Park Field 3:      Umpire- Rick Simmons
Game 1:AR Bodies 11 (WP-Jeff Harris 5-2)   Northwest Corridor 2 (LP-Zach Scherr 1-2) 

Highlights pending.

Game 2: AR Bodies 8 (WP-Jeff Harris 6-2)   Northwest Corridor 4 (LP-Howard Goldberg 2-4)

Highlights pending.

Northwest Regional Park Field 4:      Umpire- Kory Rosenberg
Game 1: NEK/ESB Bombers 10 (WP-Tzvi Friedman 3-0) Stingers 6 (LP-Albert Hoffman 1-1) 

The Bombers move up to 4th place with a sweep of a very tough and improved Stingers ball club. Both games of the double header were highly contested and could have gone either way. In game 1 the Bombers jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a 3 run homer by Marc Loeb. Loeb was filling in at shortstop for Dan Guttman who was away with his brother for some family medical issues. Tzvi Friedman was on the mound for the Bombers and was pitching a great game. However, after their 2 outs in the 2nd, an infielder threw away a ground ball that would have been the 3rd out and held the Stingers scoreless but instead it led to 4 runs for a 4-3 Stinger lead. In the 3rd the Bombers regained the lead with a 2 run blast down the right field line by OF Tony Wiggs to make it 5-4. The Stingers fought back and tied it 5-5.

However in the 4th, Dave Pridgen walked and Eli Katz (2-2 and a run scored) singled. Rashaad Johnson who made several outstanding defensive plays in the outfield hit a 2 run single and the Bombers were up 7-5. In the bottom of the 4th the Stingers threatened but Mikey Georgie and Rashaad made great catches to hold the lead. The Stingers wouldn’t go away they scored a run in the bottom of the 6th to cut the lead to 7-6. In the top of the 7th NEK/ESB Bombers scored 3 runs to pad their lead to 10-6. Rashaad walked and Mikey singled him to 3rd. Flamm hit a sac fly and Friedman helped his own cause by hitting a 2 run triple. Friedman set down the Stingers in the bottom of the 7th finishing off the game by fielding a sharply hit ground ball and starting a double play.

Game 2: NEK/ESB Bombers 8 (WP-David Pridgen 1-0) Stingers 2 (LP-Larry Newman 1-7) 

Game 2 was all about Dave Pridgen. Pridge pitched a great game, walked 2 times, had a single and scored 2 runs and even made an outstanding defensive play to end a Stingers threat as the Bombers won 8-2. The game was tied until the 2nd when the Stingers pushed across 2 runs and led to 2-0 behind the stellar pitching of veteran Larry Newman. However, the Bombers made some adjustments at the plate and struck for 3 runs in the 4th to take a 3-2 lead which they never relinquished. Marquiex Garrett started the rally with the single and Loeb followed with a single. Wiggs hit an RBI single and then Jason Gardner, who was smoking the ball all day hit a 2 run double that rolled under the RCF fence. Umpire Corey Rosenberg held Gardner at 2nd and Flamm at 3rd. The Bombers didn’t score anymore runs that inning but still led 3-2. In the 5th the Bombers scored an important insurance run when Katz hit a sac fly to score Pridge.

The Stingers had been on 1st and 2nd and were threatening but pitcher Pridgen made the play of the game. The Stingers hit a slow roller down the 3rd baseline. Pridge jumped off the mound grabbed the ball and threw it blindly over his head to Flamm for the force-out which essentially thwarted the Stingers rally. In the 6th the Bombers put the game out of reach by tacking on 4 more runs. Gardner had a 2 run single and catcher Damon Corbin came through with a big RBI and then Pridge followed with an RBI single. This made the score 8-2 and the Bombers held on for the victory. Pidgen was dominant all day and the defense was the big difference for the Bombers.

The Bombers gained much needed momentum heading into next weeks battle against the first place Kings.