Round 2 -- July 31, 2011

Northwest Regional Park Field 1:    Umpire-Reggie Grant
Round 2: Northwest Corridor (4) 5 (WP-Howard Goldberg 4-7) Sky & Sky Inc. (1) 3 (LP- Jeff Harris 12-1) 

NWC became the visiting team versus 1st seeded Sky&Sky. Last weekend Sky&Sky swept NWC in two games at Deer Park Middle School alternate fields. NWC struck first to start the game. Adam Silverman hit a triple to right centerfield to score Goldberg & Snyder and take an early 2-0 lead. Sky&Sky matched those 2 runs in the bottom half of the inning. Eric Radom and Steve Truitt both scored on sac flies off of the bats of Scott Felton & Andy VanLandingham. The score would stay 2-2 for the next 2 innings. Jeff Harris seemed to be in control of the NWC offense and Goldberg went unscathed by the Sky&Sky offense as well. In the 4th inning both teams took advantage of an error to score their team’s 3rd run. NWC loaded the bases but got just one run out of it. A Jon Herbst sac fly that scored Scott Snyder. Brain Sky knocked an rbi hit to the outfield to score Pat Wilcox and even the score. Sky&Sky also had 3 base runners in the 4th inning but only score the one run to even the score at 3-3. Jon Goldman started the 5th inning with a blast to the left field warning track enjoying a leadoff triple. Lee Pollak roped a line drive to centerfield scoring Goldman and giving NWC a 4-3 lead. Jeff Kurland followed with another hit and with 2 men on Scott Snyder knocked in Pollak to give NWC a 5-3 lead. Sky&Sky threatened in the 6th inning putting 2 men on base but Jeff Kurland made a nice running grab to end the inning and the rally. Earlier in the game Kurland made an over the shoulder running catch at the warning track on a well hit Scott Felton ball. That also killed a rally and prevented at least 2 runs from scoring. Brad Rosenberg also played great defense stealing a couple hits away and NWC pulled off the upset 5-3.

With NWC just recently playing Sky & Sky the final week of the regular season and losing 2, NWC had a little fire in the tank with 4 starters back in their lineup. NWC opened up the scoring with 2 in the 1st with a 2 run double from Silverman. Sky & Sky answered right back with 2 runs in the 1st with two sac flys. Score 2-2. NWC took the lead in the 4th with a sac fly from Herbst. Sky would match that with an RBI single from Sky. Score 3-3 after 4. NWC would open up the 5th with a 3b from Goldman followed up by two singles from Pollack and Kurland. Snyder would make the game 5-2 with a single two run, plating Pollack. Goldberg would hold the Sky & Sky bats in check the rest of the way, staging his best pitching performance in the playoffs! He held Sky & Sky to just 4 hits! Hats off to NWC!

Sky offensive leaders:
Radom 1-3
Truitt 1-2, run
Sky 1-2 rbi
Felton 1-3

Hitting Highlights NWC:
Jeff Kurland 3-4 2B
Lee Pollak 2-3 r rbi
Matt Silverman 2-3
Brad Rosenberg 2-3

Pitching Lines:
Howard Goldberg 7 IP, 32 AB, 6 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 W, 0 K
Jeff Harris 7 IP, 37 AB, 13 H, 1 2B, 2 3B, 0 HR, 5 R, 3 ER, 0 W, 1 K

NWC Playoff Notes:
► Last season NWC upset the 2nd seeded Bombers in the 1st round playoff game. This season they knocked off the 1st seeded Sky&Sky in the 2nd round playoff game
► Mark Yokel who has pitched in many PMSL championship finals stepped it up in a notch in the 1st round playoff matchup. Goldberg who has pitched in countless XBOX baseball game finals…..also brought his “A” to the mound in the 2nd round
► NWC’s walking wounded played anyway, sucked it up and didn’t let their injuries get the best of them. Led by Snyder (quad) & Marcus (shoulder) even a slightly wounded NWC squad has the ability to win games.
►NWC’s win put their career playoff record versus Sky&Sky at 3-2. The only losses were a 19-7 pounding in 2006 and an 8-7 extra inning thriller in 2008
►For the 1st time in franchise history NWC will enter the round #2 winner’s bracket at 2-0

Northwest Regional Park Field 3:    Umpire-Kory Rosenberg
Round 2: Kings (2) 3 (WP- Chuck Grant 9-2)  Bombers (3) 1  (LP-Tzvi Friedman 2-3) 

Kings Chuck Grant and Bombers Tzvi Friedman were both outstanding on the mound. The team defenses behind both pitchers were spectacular. The Kings came away with an exciting 3-1 win in the well played game from both squads.

After retiring the Bombers in order in t-1st, the Kings took the lead in b-1st. Loading the bases on a leadoff 1B by Kenny Salzman, a 1 out walk by Shilo Merwitz, and infield 1B by Arin Gelletly, Alan Varhaftik came to the plate. Varhaftik got an RBI on a fielder's choice groundout to SS. Now with 2 outs, Jan Katzen and Chuck Grant both came thru with clutch RBI singles, giving the Kings a 3-0 lead. In t-3rd, leading off the Bombers inning Shulie Hochman singled and Tony Wiggs hit a deep RBI 3B. With Wiggs on thirdbase and 0 outs, the Kings were able to escape the inning on a shallow flyout to LCF, a lineout to medium LF, and a groundout to SS. The Kings 3-1 lead would hold up the rest of the way.

Along the way, Bombers SS Dan Gutman made several great picks at SS and also turned a doubleplay. Kings 2B Kenny Salzman preserved the win for the Kings in t-7th on a diving play. In the Bombers t-7th, Marc Loeb and Steve Georgie singled both singled with 1 out. Friedman was next at the plate and hit a sharp grounder towards the middle. Salzman made a diving stop and flipped to SS Shilo Merwitz for a forceout of Georgie at 2B. With the tie runs still on base, Grant was able to retire Jason Gardner on a flyout to RCF.

In game 2 Tzvi Friedman and Chuck Grant battled and both pitched great games. After giving up 3 runs to the Kings in the first Friedman shut them down the rest of the way. The Bombers outhit the Kings but wasted 2 excellent scoring chances. Additionally, the Kings 2B Salzman made the defensive play of the game to preserve the Kings 3-1 victory.

Pitching lines:
Bombers Tzvi Friedman 7 IP, 24 AB,7 H,0 2B,0 3B,0 HR,3 R,3 ER,1 W,0 K
Kings Chuck Grant          7 IP, 29 AB,9 H,0 2B,1 3B,0 HR,1 R,1 ER,0 W,0 K

Bombers offensive leaders:
Marc Loeb (2-3)
Stephen 'Mikey' Georgie (2-3)
Tony Wiggs (1-2,1 RBI,3B)

Kings offensive leaders:
Arin Gelletly (2-3,1 R)
Mike Herr (2-2)

Kings game notes:
►Kings improved their lifetime Round 2 record to 17-6 (.739)
►Kings advance to the Round 3 winner's bracket game for the 7th straight season and 11th time in 23 seasons.
►Kings lifetime are 15-7 (.682) in Round 3 Playoffs, including an impressive 9-1 (.900) Round 3 record out of the winner's bracket.

Bombers game notes:
►The Bombers outhit both of their first-round foes and didn’t make an error on the day.

Northwest Regional Park Field 4:      Umpire- Lane Gordon
Round 2: Stingers (6) 11 (WP- Larry Newman 7-13)  Hammerheads (7)  2 (LP- RJ Seabeck 1-7)

In the nightcap of the playoff, the Stingers net with the Hammerheads and looked for redemption back into the playoff hunt. Newman would take the mound again and did so with gust not letting the hammerheads anything through 2 innings of play. In the b-3rd, Stingers came alive with their bats Stuart Sheridan drove in Friedman and Tom Bahn cleaned house with a 3 run in the park homer. The Hammerheads still had no answer for Newman. The Stingers did continue on with extending their lead when Friedman sliced on into right for another rbi, followed by Nick Serkes’ SAC and Sheridan’s and Bahne’s rbi doubles to take a 8-0 lead after 4 innings of play. In the t-6th the Hammerheads try their best and got a little from the Stingers as they would find little holes in the Stingers to plate 2 runs, but it would be the Stingers on the nightcap and back in the hunt as they extended their lead and took the nightcap back into the second round of the playoffs.

Round 3 -- August 7, 2011

Northwest Regional Park Field 1:    Umpire-Reggie Grant
Round 3: Kings (2) 4 (WP-Chuck Grant 10-2)  Northwest Corridor (4) 3 (LP-Mark Yokel  7-5) 

Shilo Merwitz hit a 2 out bases loaded RBI 1B in b-7th scoring Koby Sarubin and giving the Kings a Round 3 win 4-3. Kings Chuck Grant and NWC Mark Yokel each allowed just 11 hits and 1 walk in a well pitched game from both hurlers.

Both teams went 3 up 3 down in 1st. In t-2nd, NWC's Adam Silverman singled with 1 out. With 2 outs, Matt Silverman brought him home with a 3B to the gap in RCF. In b-3rd, Kings tied score on leadoff 3B by Rob Barrow and SF by Kenny Salzman. The game remained 1-1 thru 4 innings.

In t-5th, Jon Herbst reached on an infield hit with 1 out. 1 out later, Yokel singled to CF. Lee Pollak delivered a clutch 2 out RBI 1B scoring Herbst. With 2 on and still 2 on, Jeff Kurland singled to RCF. Yokel was cut down at the plate on a perfect relay throw from RCF Koby Sarubin to 2B Kenny Salzman to C Mike Herr. Nevertheless, NWC held a 2-1 lead.

In b-5th, with 2 out and 0 on, Barrow singled, Mike Herr hit an RBI 2B to RCF, and Salzman hit an RBI 1B to CF. The Kings had their first lead of the game 3-2. Neither team scored in the 6th inning.

In t-7th, Adama Silverman led off the inning with a 1B to LF. Following an infield popout, Matt Silverman grounded out to second base, with Adam moving into scoring position on the groundout. With 2 outs, Jon Herbst hit a solid RBI 1B to LCF. Adam Silverman easily scored the game tying run as the ball got by King LCF Troy Hendricks. Grant was able to retire Matt Bell on an infield popout to end inning.

In b-7th, Koby Sarubin and Barrow led off the inning with singles. With 1 out, Salzman drew a walk to load bases and bring the winning run to within 65 feet. With the infield and outfield playing shallow, Yokel retired Hendricks on an infield popout. Now with 2 outs, Merwitz came through with a clutch game winning single to CF.

Kings game notes:
►Entering play today, the Kings and NWC had only met 3 times previously in the Playoffs, all Round 2 appearances. The Kings were 3-0 in those previous match-ups (2004, 2008, 2010).
►Kings veterans Steve Levy (1B) and Detour Dave Sandler (3B) served as the base coaches.
►Rob Barrow's 1B in b-5th was his 100th Kings career hit.
►Kings lifetime Round 3 record improved to 16-7 (.696) , including a 10-1 (.909) Round 3 record out of the winner's bracket.

Northwest Regional Park Field 3:    Umpire-Keith Brown
Round 3: Sky & Sky Inc. (1) 16 (WP- Ken Zalis  )  Stingers (6) 6 (LP- Larry Newman 7-14)

Sky & Sky opened the scoring with 6 runs in the bottom of the 1st. Sky & Sky thought this game would go rather easily now; however, the Stingers thought differently. They scored 6 of their own in the 2nd. Sky & Sky would take the lead for good with 1 in 2nd and opened up the game with 6 more in the 3rd. Final score would be 16-6.

Stingers cam into round 3 of the playoffs against Sky & Sky.  They would have difficulty getting acclimated to KZ’s pitching style.  On the other hand, Sky took advantage of their 1 seed and plated 6 against the Stingers in the b-1^st.  Stingers would battle back in the 2-nd as Friedman would drive in 2 runs with a shot in the left gap of Sky’s infield.  Tim Palo would drive in two more with his shot down the right field line.  Nick Serkes would add Tom Bahne in as well followed by Joe Chambers single for another run to tie things at 6 a piece.  Sky would come back with another in the b-2^nd and add on with towering shot to the fence for a 14-6  game after 6 innings.  Stinger would try to claw back in the t-7^th, but could only add another run for a shortened day.

Sky Round 3 Playoffs offensive stars:
Radom 4-5 rbi, 4 runs, BB
Truitt 3-5, 3 rbi, 3b, 2 runs
Vanlandingham 3-4 rbi, run
Felton 3-4, 2 rbi, 2 runs, 2b, 3b

Northwest Regional Park Field 4:      Umpire- Ken Seaman
Round 3: Bombers (3)  (WP-  )  Cobras (6)    (LP- Rick Winepol 7-11)

Highlights pending.

Round 4 -- August 7, 2011

Northwest Regional Park Field 1:    Umpires- Reggie Grant (HP), Keith Brown (bases)
Round 4: Kings (2) 6 (WP-Chuck Grant  11-2)  Northwest Corridor (4) 0 (LP-Howard Goldberg 4-8) 

Chuck Grant tossed a 5 hit shutout leading the Kings to a 6-0 Round 4 victory over NWC. Koby Sarubin, Jan Katzen, and Rob Barrow each had 3 hits in leading the Kings 12 hit offensive attack.

The Kings matched their entire game 1 run production with a 4 run b-1st. 5 singles, a sacrifice fly, and 2 out infield error led to the runs. The 1 out SF was hit by Arin Gelletly, while the RBI singles were 2 out hits by Katzen and Barrow. The Kings added another run in b-3rd on walk to Alan Varhaftik, 1B by Katzen, and 2 out RBI 1B by Barrow. The Kings other run came in b-5th on a leadoff walk to Gelletly, followed by a Varhaftik 1B and Katzen RBI 1B. With 2 outs in the inning, Barrow singled for the 3rd time in the game, but LCF Jeff Kurland made a great throw to home plate to Lee Pollak, nailing Katzen at the plate for the final out of the inning. Grant was able to retire NWC in order in t-7th to preserve the shutout.

Kings game notes:
►The previous Kings Playoffs shutout was thrown by Grant against DC Dental 14-0 (5 innings) in Round 4, August 13, 2006. Grant is now 4-0 lifetime against NWC in Playoffs.
►Kings for the 2nd week in-a-row played with a 10 man roster as out were Keegan Rettliata (knee injury), Glenn Savage (honeymoon), JeanCarlos Sologuren (vacation), and Brooks Sandler (baseball tournament).
►King lifetime Round 4 record improved to 8-9 (.471), but 4-3 (.571) since 2005. The Kings Round 5 record is 6-4 (.600).

Northwest Regional Park Field 3:    Umpire-Ken Seaman
Round 4: Sky & Sky Inc. (1) 7 (WP- Jeff Harris 13-1)  Bombers (3) 5 (LP-Tzvi Friedman  )

This round would match up 2 teams that split twice during the regular season! Sky & Sky opened up the scoring in the bottom of the 2nd. The game would remain 2-0 until the top of the 4th. The Bombers offense exploded for 5 runs, taking a 5-2 lead and taking Sky & Sky’s spirit right out of the game. However, Sky & Sky was just not finished yet! In the bottom of the 6th, Sky & Sky led off with two singles from Blank & Vanlandingham followed up by an RBI single from SKY to right. With men on 1st & 2nd, Bloom would hit a ball off the pitcher leaving him with only a play at 3b, but the throw sailed high leaving the bases load. Wilcox would tie the game with a 2 run single. With men on 1st & 2nd, Holley would smack a HR over the RCF head, but was called out for missing 3b. The score was 7-5 in favor of Sky, heading in to the 7th. Harris got Ben to fly out to LC. Tony would then single to right. Chaim would then hit a hard line out up the middle to Sky, who was able to double Tony off at 1b. Game over! Sky & Sky will now face the Kings which has been a very competitive battle through the years.

Sky Round 4 offensive leaders:
Wilcox 3-3, 3rbi, 3b, run
Radom 2-3
Vanlandingham 2-3
Holley 1-2, 3b, 2rbi, 1 missed base
Pavsner 0-1, 1 thrown bat

Round 5 -- August 21, 2011

Northwest Regional Park Field 1:    Umpires- Kory Rosenberg (HP), Reggie Grant (bases)
Round 5: Sky & Sky Inc. (1) 5  (WP-Jeff Harris 14-1) Kings (2) 4 (LP-Chuck Grant  11-3) 

The Kings came into Championship Weekend needing just one win to obtain yet another Playoff Championship as they faced the regular season winners Sky & Sky. Pat Wilcox tripled in the first run of the game. Koby Sarubin answered by leading off the b-1st with an Ichiroesque dribbler to the short left side of the infield and eventually tied things up after one. Sky & Sky seemed to play catch-up from that point on, popping up numerous change-of-speed pitches as Chuck Grant kept ‘em guessing at the plate. Ken Salzman had a SF in the b-3rd, but Scott Felton tied the score by beating out a throw from the second baseman to plate Andy Bloom after his 2-out triple. Ken Salzman and Shilo Merwitz each singled home one in the b-5th to take a 2-run lead. In the t-6th Brian Sky implemented his own sage advice to teammates, “move up in the damn box, and stop popping out!” This coaching nugget preceded his triple to RCF, anticipating Grant’s offering perfectly, and knotted things at 4. Momentum switched on that rope to the fence, as Sky & Sky added their go-ahead run in the t-7th with Ken Zalis delivering the pinch hit, game winning, SF down the LF line. Meanwhile Jeff Harris retired 7 of the last 8 hitters he faced and even induced a game ending 6-4-3 double play. Troy Hendricks collected 3 of the 10 singles Harris allowed and scored half of The Kings runs. Sky & Sky truly epitomized team play as 10 of 11 hitters scored a run, produced an rbi, or chipped in with a hit.

Round 6 -- August 21, 2011

Northwest Regional Park Field 1:    Umpires- Reggie Grant (HP), Kory Rosenberg (bases)
Round 6: Sky & Sky Inc. (1) 9  (WP-Jeff Harris 15-1) Kings (2) 4 (LP-Chuck Grant  11-4) 

In game 2, The Kings would recapture momentum right out away, taking advantage of two throwing errors to skate out to an early 2-run lead. Shortly thereafter Sky & Sky’s bats began to talk almost as loudly as their in-game commentary--both of which appeared to rile up Grant following two lingering close calls against The Kings from game 1. In the b-2nd, 4 of the first five batters reached base and when the dust cleared Sky & Sky enjoyed their own 2-run lead. In the b-3rd, Grant retired the first two hitters, but then surrendered 5 straight singles, and The Kings were now facing a 4-run deficit, the largest of the day by either team. The Kings immediately responded with their best offensive production of the day, but could not adequately capitalize on a bases loaded opportunity. With the score now 6-4, Sky & Sky answered with a 2-rbi single from Andy Bloom, and Eric Radom added one for good measure in the b-5th. Jeff Harris allowed only one hit amongst the last 12 hitters he faced and Pat Wilcox came diving in from LCF on a shallow pop-up to secure the last out and first championship for Sky & Sky in it’s 13 year history. Pat Wilcox and Eric Radom each went 3-4, Andy Bloom went 2-3, BB, 2 runs, 2 rbi, while Matt Holley bested that performance going 3-3, 2B, 2 runs, 2 rbi.

Harris notched his fifth win against The Kings in as many attempts this season with the 9-4 final, scattering 7 hits and not allowing an extra base hit all day.