Week #2 -- Apri 17 2016

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2016 Pikesville Men's Softball League Playoffs

Week #20 August 21, 2016 -- ROUND 1

Northwest Regional Park Field 1: Umpire- Reggie Grant
Round 1: Natty O's 13 (WP-RJ Seabeck 13-7) Sharks 1 (LP-Bob Mallonee 4-14)

Highlights pending

Northwest Regional Park Field 2: Umpire- Jeff Kurland
Round 1: Northwest Corriodr 7 (WP-Howard Goldberg 8-4) LOFT 3 (LP- Kenny Kreyling 6-7)

Highlights pendinging

Northwest Regional Park Field 3: Umpire- Scott Snyder
Round 1: Outlaws 10 (WP-Larry Newman 3-10) Kings 8 (LP-Jeff Harris 5-4)

The Kings came out flat offensively against Outlaws Larry Newman with just 1 hit thru the first 4 innings--a leadoff single by Steve Levy in b-1st. Meanwhile the Outlaws did manage to put up 3 run thru 5 innings against Kings starter Mike Herr and led after 5 innings 3-0. In t-6th, with 1 out, Josh Vaeth 3B, Reggie Molock RBI 1B, William Giles 1B, David Woods 2 RBI 3B, and Tony Wiggs SF extended Outlaws lead 7-0.

A light rain began midway thru the 6th inning and this seemed to wake up the Kings. In b-6th, leadoff singles by Sam Aydukovic and Brett Eisenberg, followed by 2 RBI 3B by pinch hitter Mark Lester got Kings into run column. Steve Levy RBI 1B, Shilo Merwitz walked, and following a flyout, Jan Katzen also walked to load bases with 1 out and bring tying run to plate. Alan Varhaftik came thru with 2 RBI 1B pulling Kings to within 7-5. Troy Hendricks hit 2 RBI 3B to fence in LF tying score 7-7. Following infield groundout for 2nd out, Larry Dechter delivered clutch 2 out RBI 1B to give Kings 8-7 lead after 6 innings.

Jeff Harris came in to relieve Mike Herr to start 7th inning. Darnell Maxwell led off t-7th with 1B and with 1 out, Larry Newman also singled with Maxwell getting to 2nd base. Harris was able to retire Nate Cox on a forceout at 2nd base, leaving runners on the corners with 2 outs and the Kings still ahead 8-7. Josh Vaeth reached on an infield throwing error, allowing the tie run to score. Molock and William Giles both followed with 2 out RBI singles, putting Outlaws ahead 10-8. Newman was able to retire the disheartened Kings in order in b-7th preserving Outlaws upset over Kings in Round 1, 10-8.

Playoffs 2016 kicks off on field 3. The defending champion, and #3 seed Kings, take on the #6 Outlaws. Mike Herr on the bump for the Kings, against Larry Newman for the Outlaws. Both teams go quietly in the 1st inning. In the top of the 2nd, Tony Wiggs leads it off with a laser into right center, and kicks it into fifth gear for a leadoff triple. 2 batters later, Theo Battle hits a deep pop up into right to score Wiggs from third, and give the Outlaws a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the 3rd, Mike Rottenberg finds a hole, for a leadoff single. 2 batters later, Reggie Molock returning off the 30 day DL, with a back injury, comes through with a single. The hot hitting William Giles delivers with a bomb into left center scoring Rotts, and the speedy Molock for a 2 RBI triple. 3-0 Outlaws after 2.

Both teams keep each other scoreless until the 6th inning. The Outlaws open it up with 4. Josh Vaeth starts up the rally with a 1 out triple. Reggie Molock brings in Vaeth with a RBI single. William Giles singles. David Woods hits a missile into center for a 2 RBI triple bringing in Molock, and Giles. Tony Wiggs hits a deep sac fly to bring Woods home. John Brader doubles, but is stranded after a pop out to right field. 7-0 Outlaws after the top of the 6th, when the sky opens up, and down comes the rain.

The Kings not going out easy, put up 3 before the umpire stops the game. After the rain delay the Kings keep on beating on the ball, batting around in the inning, and totaling 8 runs to take the lead 8-7 after 6.

The Outlaws knowing its now or never, keep their poise, and do what they have to do. Jeff Harris comes out of the bullpen to relieve Mike Herr, looking for the save. Darnell Maxwell leads off the top of the 7th with a single. Maurice Scott hits the ball to second, and uses his track speed to avoid getting doubled up, and makes it to first base. Larry Newman steps to the plate for the first time in the game, and singles up the middle. 19 year old Nate Cox, making his first playoff appearance, loads the bases with a single of his own. Josh Vaeth comes through in the clutch with an RBI single to score Scott, and tie the game at 8. Reggie Molock also clutch, comes through with an RBI single to score Battle who ran for Newman, and give the Outlaws a 9-8 lead. William Giles goes 4-4 with an insurance RBI single to bring in Vaeth, and make it 10-8. Larry Newman closes the door with 3 pop outs all caught by Vaeth in left field, to give the underdog Outlaws a 10-8 victory.

Outlaws Hitting Stars:
Josh Vaeth (1-3,2 R,3B,W,ROE)
Reggie Molock (3-4,2 R,2 RBI)
William Giles (3-4,1 R,3 RBI,3B)
Darnell Maxwell (3-3)

Kings offensive leaders in Round 1:
Steve Levy (2-4,1 R,1 RBI,ROE)
Alan Varhaftik (2-3,1 R,2RBI)
Troy Hendricks (1-3,1 R,2 RBI,3B)
Mark Lester (1-2,1 R,2 RBI,3B)

Kings Round 1 Playoffs Notes:
►Kings ended their 11 game Round 1 Playoffs winning streak. Kings last Round 1 loss prior was August 8, 2004 vs. Sky, a 15-2, 5 inning loss.
►With Koby Sarubin and Kenny Salzman both away, Steve Levy batted leadoff for the Kings. Levy was the first Kings player to bat leadoff in any Playoffs game since August 8, 2004 Round 2 vs. Northwest Corridor. On that 8/4/2004 occasion, it was Dan Frignito in the leadoff spot.

Northwest Regional Park Field 1: Umpire- Reggie Grant
Round 2: Natty O's 15 (WP-RJ Seabeck 14-7) Northwest Corridor 5 (LP-Ted Winner 5-7)

Northwest Regional Park Field 2: Umpire- Jeff Kurland
Round 2: LOFT 10 (WP-Andy Peksa 2-0) Sharks 6 (LP- Bob Mallonee 4-15)

Northwest Regional Park Field 3: Umpire- Scott Snyder
Round 2: Nationwide Bombers 15 (WP-Tzvi Friedman 15-3) Outlaws 3 (LP-Larry Newman 3-11) 5 Innings

The regular season champions, the Nationwide Insurance Bombers began the 2016 playoffs with a bye. Game 2 pitted the Outlaws who upset the Kings in the opening round vs the Bombers. The Bombers prevailed 15-3 in 5 innings behind the pitching of ace Tzvi Freidman , great defense and timely hitting. The Bombers scored 6 in the bottom of the 1st after the Outlaws threatened with 2 on in the 1st but got out of the inning on a pop up to 2nd. Gershon Y reached on an error, Yoyo hit into a force out and Ben Gutman reached on a n error. Flamm hit an RBI single to make it 1-0. Luxenberg’s routine grounder was turned into an error to make it 2-0. Loeb, Gardner and Dan Gutman followed with consecutive RBI singles. After Hochman walked, Freidman helped himself with a SF to make it 6-0.

The Outlaws got on the board in the 2nd on 3 hits but the Bombers got it back on Yoyo’s HR. in the 3rd, Loeb doubled off the CF fence and came home on Gardner’s RBI single. After Dan Gutman and Shuli singled, Tzvi , who monopolized all of Bomber’s coach Al Bumbry’s time before the game, showed his teacher’s lessons worked by scorching a 2 run single down the RF line. Chaim Finkelstein and Uri Rabinowitz walked to load the bases. Gershon hit a SF and Yoyo hit a 2 run single to make it 13-1. In the 4th with one out, Flamm singled and Luxenberg tripled him home. Dan G’s double made it 15-1. The Outlaws fought back with 2 in the 5th but Chaim Finkelstein’s great diving play up the middle to quiet the rally and to send the Bomber’s to the victory.

The #1 Bombers showed why they were the regular season champs put up 6 in the bottom of the 1st with timely hitting, and some Outlaws errors. The Outlaws clearly lost their mojo after their first round game against the Kings, and also the weather being a factor find their self in a 6-0 hole after the 1st. Outlaws get 1 back in the top of the 2nd, John Brader singles. Hector Medina singles. Darnell Maxwell RBI singles in Brader. Bombers get that run back in the bottom of the 2nd. 7-1 after 2. Bombers get 6 in the 3rd to open it up. 13-1 after 3. The rain poured for quite a while once again stopping the game. After play was resumed the Bombers score 2 more in the 4th. 15-1 after 4.

The Outlaws not dying easy, Hector Medina singles. Darnell Maxwell reaches on a fielders choice. Mike Rottenberg walks. Nate Cox with the boomstick smokes a triple near the fence to score Maxwell, and Rotts. But the Bombers keep the Outlaws from scoring anymore, and win in 5 innings 15-3.

Outlaws Hitting Stars:
Hector Medina 2-2
Nate Cox 1-2 3B, 2RBI
David Woods 1-2
John Brader 1-2 R
Darnell Maxwell 1-2 R, RBI

Northwest Regional Park Field 1: Umpire- Reggie Grant
Round 3: Kings (#3) 8 (WP-Jeff Harris 6-4) Outlaws (#6) 0 (LP-Larry Newman 3-11)

Round 3 was a re-match of Round 1 between the Kings and the Outlaws. #6 seeded Outlaws came from behind to defeat the #3 seeded Kings in Round 1. This time in Round 3, the game meant elimination for the loser. Kings starter Jeff Harris tossed a 3 hitter as the Kings eliminated Outlaws 8-0 in Round 3.

Both teams struggled offensively early on. The game remained scoreless thru 2 1/2 innings as Outlaws starter Larry Newman was doing his part on the mound. With 2 outs and 0 on in b-3rd, Kenny Salzman homered to RCF. In b-3rd, leading off inning Jan Katzen singled and Alan Varhaftik doubled. A SF by Troy Hendricks and fielder's choice RBI by Larry Dechter put Kings in front 3-0. The score remained the same into b-6th inning. Again leading off the inning, Jan Katzen singled, Varhaftik singled, and Hendricks hit RBI 2B. Larry Dechter grounded out, but got an RBI as Varhaftik scored. Sam Aydukovic followed with a 1B, putting runners on 1st and 3rd base with 1 out. Glenn Savage entered the game as a pinch hitter and did his job with an RBI SF to RCF, extending Kings lead further 6-0. The Kings were not yet done in the inning. With 2 outs, Harris singled and Salzman walked to load the bases. Steve Levy lined a 2 RBI 1B into RF, making the Kings lead 8-0. Harris was able to retired the Outlaws 3-up-3-down in t-7th to send Kings into the 4th Round with an 8-0 shutout over the Outlaws.

Kings offensive leaders in Round 3:
Kenny Salzman (2-3,1 R,1 RBI,HR,W)
Jan Katzen (2-3,2 R)
Alan Varhaftik (2-3,2 R,2B)
Troy Hendricks (1-2,1 R,2 RBI,2B,SF)
Larry Dechter (1-3,2 RBI)
Sam Aydukovic (2-3,1 R)

Northwest Regional Park Field 2: Umpire- Jeff Kurland
Round 3: Northwest Corridor (#4) 9 (WP-Howard Goldberg 9-4) LOFT (#5) 8 (LP- Andy Peksa 2-1) 8 Innings

Northwest Regional Park Field 3: Umpire- Scott Snyder
Round 2: Nationwide Bombers (#1) 8 (WP-Tzvi Friedman 16-3) Natty O's (#2) 7 (LP-RJ Seabeck 14-8)

Northwest Regional Park Field 1: Umpires- Jeff Kurland, Reggie Grant
Round 4: Kings (#3) 7 (WP-Jeff Harris 7-4) Natty O's (#2) 3 (LP-Rob Madoff 3-1)

Kings and Natty O's battled in a Round 4 elimination game for the right to advance to next week's Finals. The teams had only met 1 other time in PMSL, way back in Natty O's inaugaral season 2011, Round 1, when they were known as the Hammerheads. The picthing match-up in 2011 was Kings Mike Herr vs. Natty O's RJ Seabeck. Today's game instead featured Jeff Harris for the Kings and Rob Madoff for Natty O's. Both teams had 12 hits, but the Kings put 6 of their hits together in the 2nd inning leading to 6 runs, as the Kings won the Round 4 Playoffs game 7-3.

In t-1st, Kings Kenny Salzman reached on an infield error to lead off game. Singles by Steve Levy and Shilo Merwitz (RBI) gave Kings 1-0 lead. Following a groundout, Jan Katzen drew a walk to load bases with just 1 out. Madoff worked out of trouble snaring a linedrive up the middle and the final out of the inning on an infield popout, holding Kings to 1-0 lead.

In t-2nd, Glen Savage led off with 2B. With 1 out, Brett Eisenberg 1B, Jeff Harris RBI 1B, Kenny Salzman RBI 1B, Steve Levy ROE, and Shilo Merwitz 2 RBI 1B had Kings ahead 6-0. Then with 2 outs, Jan Katzen singled home Merwitz extending Kings lead 7-0. Natty O's picked away at Kings lead with RBI 1B in b-2nd by RJ Seabeck, RBI 1B in b-3d by Matt Holley, and RBI 1B in b-4th by Chris Stahle narrowing Kings lead 7-3.

RJ Seabeck in relief of Madoff in t-3rd held Kings scoreless the rest of the way. Meanwhile Harris limited Natty O's to just a single baserunner in innings 5-7 and the Kings closed it out with a 7-3 elimination game victory.

Natty O's offensive leaders in Round 4:
Matt Holley (3-4,1 RBI)
Frank Divincenzo (2-3,2 R,3B)
RJ Seabeck (3-3,1 RBI)
Jon Veditz (2-3,1 R)

Kings offensive leaders in Round 4:
Shilo Merwitz (2-4,1 R,3 RBI)
Glenn Savage (2-3,1 R,2B,W)
Brett Eisenberg (2-3,1 R)
Jeff Harris (2-2,1 R,1 RBI,W)

Natty O's offensive leaders in Round 4:
Matt Holley (3-4,1 RBI)
Frank Divincenzo (2-3,2 R,3B)
RJ Seabeck (3-3,1 RBI)
Jon Veditz (2-3,1 R)

Kings offensive leaders in Round 4:
Shilo Merwitz (2-4,1 R,3 RBI)
Glenn Savage (2-3,1 R,2B,W)
Brett Eisenberg (2-3,1 R)
Jeff Harris (2-2,1 R,1 RBI,W)

Kings Round 4 Playoffs Notes:
►Kings advance to their PMSL record 15th Finals appearance. They are 6-8 in the Finals. Nationwide Bombers will be making their 4th Finals appearance. The 2 teams have met previously in the 2005 and 2015 PMSL Finals.
►This will be the 4th season in a row that the Kings and Nationwide Bombers have met in an elimination game. 2013 Round 4, 2014 Round 4, 2015 Round 5 .
►Kings improved their all-time Playoffs record to 85-46 (.649 pct).

Northwest Regional Park Field 3: Umpire- Scott Snyder
Round 4: Nationwide Bombers (#1) 6 (WP-Tzvi Friedman 17-3) Northwest Corridor (#4) 5 (LP-Ted Winner 5-8)

Round 5: Nationwide Bombers (#1) (WP- Tzvi Friedman 18-3) Kings (#3) 2 (LP-Jeff Harris 7-5)

On Sunday, September 4th, the Nationwide Insurance Bombers finally won their 1st Pikesville Men’s League’s championship. It was only fitting that the Bombers had to defeat longtime foes, the Kings. The Kings knocked out the Bombers in last year’s championship round and the Bombers had a hard time getting that loss out of their system all winter. The Bombers who have always showed great resiliency rededicated themselves to come out in 2016 and give it another try to win the championship.

The Kings, a proud team who always have great chemistry were in no mood to hand over the reins to the Bombers.

After the Bombers scored 3 in the 1st , the Kings scored 2 in the top of the 2nd to cut the lead to 3-2. In the 1st, Gershon Yakobovich led off with an infield single and Yoyo Strauss followed with an “infield” double. Ben Gutman lined out and Jeff Harris pitched around Martiez Taz to load the bases. David Flamm’s SF made it 1-0 and Sam Luxenberg and Mark Loeb followed with RBI singles. The Kings catcher, Lester hit a 2 run triple to make it 3-2.

The rest of the day belonged to Kings pitcher Tzvi Freidman. Tzvi who has the most wins in the league over the past 5 years, shut down the Kings offense the rest of the way. A key contributor to the Bombers was long – time team member and star catcher Jason Gardner who kept Freidman steady all year and the defense properly positioned. The Bombers defense who played lights all year, saved their best performance for the championship. Shulie Hochman turned a great double play, SS Dan Gutman made a great play in short LCF and OF’s Taz and Luxenberg made tremendous catches.

The Bombers took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the 2nd. Dan Gutman singled to lead off and Tzvi singled him to 3rd. Uri Rabinowitz hit a SF to keep the Bombers offense rolling. The 3rd was a key inning with the Bombers scoring 3 more runs. It took the air out of the Kings. Ben Gutman led off with a double, and Taz hit an infield single. Flamm hit an RBI double, and Luxenberg hit a SF fly. You knew the Bombers were destined to win when Loeb hit a little blooper that was caught right behind 2nd base but Flamm was still able to score.

With 2 outs in the 4th Rabinowitz doubled over the 3rd base bag and Gershon Yakobovitch hit a pop up between 1st baseman Shiloh and 2nd baseman Saltzman but it dropped for an error and Rabinowitz ran hard the whole way and scored to make it 8-2. Yoyo the tripled to deep LF to score Gershon and to push the lead to 9-2. The Kings battled and had 2 on in the 7th but Freidman got Hendricks to fly out to RCF. Manager David Finkelstein finally got the Gatorade bath he’s been waiting for way too long and the Bombers will sleep much better this winter.

Notes: Manager Finkelstein missed his first playoff game the week before as the Bombers beat the Natty O’s and NWC. 2nd baseman, Chaim Finkelstein took over and led the team to victory. When Chaim had had to fill in for his father this year he went 4-0.

Thank you to Commissioner, Howard Goldberg and the league umpires for doing a great job all year.