by Ken Sawyers
6/20/2018

Week 10 finally saw the playoff picture take shape (see match-ups/predictions below).  In a much-anticipated game to determine who drops down to ‘B’ Division, Downtown nipped Mudville 9-8 behind the bat and glove of OF Tim McCarron.  The slugger had 3 hits and 4 RBI and made a game-saving, highlight-reel catch in the bottom of the 6th.  With the bases loaded, 2-outs and his team down by a run, Mudville’s SS Mark Landry (the fittest SS on earth) hit a rocket into the gap in left center that McCarron tracked down and used all of his 6’4” frame to make a leaping catch to rob Landry and end the Mudville threat.  The win assures Downtown stays in ‘A’ and Mudville drops to ‘B’. 

Braggville continued to roll as they edged Lions 29-8.   All 10 guys in the Braggville line-up had 3 hits.  They will now play upstart DYR in the ‘A’ Championship as DYR won their 8th straight in an 18-4 beatdown of Anthony’s East.  DYR RF Doug Reely had 4 hits and 4 RBI including a monstrous HR in the 6th.  Anthony’s was without OF John Shanahan who was in Arizona for a family wedding.  Turns out, the wedding is not until July, so John will stay out there and look for senior housing.  Make sure it has a memory care unit, Shanny, just to be safe. 

Kampersal slipped past a struggling Dalton Rd 8-5 as SS Dana Bureau had his first multiple hit game of the season and LF Derek Jordon (who was able to pencil his team in Sunday and not be galivanting across the eastern seaboard participating in an Ironman Race) had 3 hits and 2 RBI in the win.  As luck would have it, these 2 teams will play again in the ‘B’ playoff game so look for Dalton manager, Steve Cotto, to shuffle a line-up that has struggled these last 2 weeks.  Dalton slugger 1B Dave Birmingham is battling through a debilitating heel injury that has not gone unnoticed by his teammates.  His warrior mentality should rally this group as they look to avoid a 3-game losing streak for the first time in franchise history.

In ‘B’ Division games, The Hood almost got their first win of the year as they took a 1-0 lead into the 2nd but ultimately ended up losing a nail biter to Brentwood, 15-1.   Apparently, the Saturday night curfew put in place by South player/manager Bryan Sweeney worked as South took down Long Distance Tire 18-12 behind SS Sean Jacquet’s monster night (4 hits, 6 RBI).  An unnamed source tells me Sweeney will keep the curfew in place for the playoff game next week. Not the news OF Steve Lawless wants to hear this time of year.   Jasper Rock got by Queens, 10-6 despite the 3 hit, 3RBI night of Queens P Dan Pessin.  Jasper’s brother duo of Derek and Jeremy Cordon combined for 5 hits and 6 RBI in the win while Doug Herman played third base.

PLAYOFF MATCH-UPS /PREDICTIONS: (Season Record 1-3)

• ‘A’ Game: Braggville (9-1) vs DYR (8-2):  Perennial power taking on upstart DYR (No prediction here as I play for DYR).  Hopefully it’s a better game than the week #2 meeting in which DYR made 341 errors (211 by me in LF) as Braggville hit the ball over the place.
• ‘B’ Game:  Kampersal (8-2) vs Dalton Rd (8-2): Rematch of regular season finale last week as both teams were looking for help to get into the ‘A’ game with a win.  I can’t see Dalton losing 3 straight so they are the pick here as they’ll edge Kampys.
• ‘C’ Game: Anthony’s East (6-4) vs Downtown (6-4):  Location is a key factor in these games and since this one is at Potoma (short RF porch), I like Anthony’s as their lefthanded-heavy line-up will look to take advantage of that short porch.
• ‘D’ Game: Mudville (4-6) vs Lions (2-8): Not a lot at stake here as both teams will be dropping to the ‘B’ Division but look for Mudville to go out with a bang and put up some runs in a win.  Lions OF Ernie Tomacelli is 3 hits shy of 50 for the year and 1,000 for his career so some incentive there for Lions.

‘B’ Division Playoff Match-Ups:

• ‘E’ Game:  Jasper Rock (6-4) vs Brentwood (5-5): A lot of possible scenarios here in ‘B’ but I like Jasper to prevail here and move up to ‘A’.  Brentwood could still move up with a loss as long as South loses.
• ‘F’ Game:  South (5-5) vs Long Distance Tire (3-7): With a win, South moves up to ‘A’ and I expect them to do so as they are a motivated bunch to get back to ‘A’, though, LDT will not roll over here. LDT 3B Chris Landers has guaranteed a win so that should help get the juices flowing for Sweeney and his crew.  Wins by South and Brentwood mean they move up and Jasper Rock stays put in ‘B’. 
• ‘G’ Game: Queens (1-9) vs Hood (0-10):  Pretty sure these 2 teams will stay in ‘B’ division no matter what the outcome of this game is.

 Division A Standings through 17 Jun

Division B Standings through 17 Jun

“Self-help guru, Tony Robbins (foreground) couldn’t coax Queens to victory Sunday Night at HHS despite this line-drive double by P Dan Pessin in their 10-6 loss to Jasper Rock.”