by Ken Sawyers
6/27/2018

Championship Week saw Braggville edge a valiant DYR squad 11-8 to earn a “Three Peat” as the ‘A’ game winner.  DYR jump out to an early lead thanks to a Jay Miller RBI triple only to see Braggville battle back and tie the game 5-5 behind a 3-run HR by OF Dan Kittredge in the 4th.  Trailing 6-5 heading into the 6th, DYR scored 3 times behind the rare 2- RBI Sac Fly by your humble correspondent to take an 8-6 lead.  But, true to their championship pedigree, Braggville came right back in the bottom of the 6th as the heart of the order got things rolling.  Back-to-back singles by OF Rich Cordani and Kittregde put Braggville up 9-8 and DYR looked to keep it there heading into their final at-bat.  But, with 2-out and a man on second, Johnny Marsell ripped a clutch single to center to extend the lead and then 2B Dan Devine drilled a double into the gap in left to push the lead to 3.  P Chris Connors worked around a 1-out single in the top of the 7th to retire the next 2 as Braggville earned their 3-straight ‘A’ title.  Congrats, fellas!   In the ‘B’ playoff, Dalton Rd pounded a depleted Kampersal squad 12-1 as P Dave Birmingham went the distance allowing just 3 hits and 1 ER giving manager Steve Cotto something to think about this off season as he plans his roster for next year.   P Jack Kober has been solid all year, so the manager will have to decide who gets the ball Opening Day 2019.  Though Birmingham did spend a lot of time hanging out at the Braggville table post game furthering speculation that a contract offer may be in the works.  The meeting did not go unnoticed by Cotto who was livid with Birm and had to be restrained by teammates.  Should be an interesting off season for Dalton Rd.  In the ‘C’ game, Downtown pounded Anthony’s 15-3 behind SS John Drohan’s 3 hits and 4 RBI.  The veteran SS finished the year strong putting the rumors to bed that it may time to gently move him to 2B or 1B.  In the ‘D’ game, Mudville beat Lions 11-8 but both teams will still move down to ‘B’ division.  Mudville Manager Eric Kuharich will be spending time this offseason in the Dominican Republic looking to bolster his outfield.  Word has it Kuharich has been Face-timing with Hanley Ramirez about a few of the former Sox friends from Lawrence, MA that want to play.  Not sure current Mudviller Eric Higgins (MA State Trooper) will be OK with that but Kuharich will pull out any and all stops to get Mudville back to ‘A’ division.  Stay tuned…

(INSERT BRAGGVILLE TEAM PIC HERE)

In ‘B’ Division, Jasper Rock edged Brentwood 22-5 to ensure their move up to ‘A’ division.  LF Tom Dumas paced Japser with 4 hits and 5 RBI while the ‘Brothers Cordon’ combined to go 7 for 9 with 8 RBI.  South punched their ticket to ‘A’ as they pounded Long Distance Tire 15-3.  P Bryan Sweeney was sharp yet again going the distance and not giving up an ER.  The offense was paced by LF Steve Lawless who had 3 hits and 4 RBI while fellow OF Jason Smith collected 2 hits and 2 outfield assists.  With his cannon right arm, Smith threw runners out at 2B and home in the same inning as LDT ran the bases like Forest Gump.   And in a game no one cared about (not even one of the participants), the Toilet Bowl was won in a forfeit by Queens, 7-0.  Thanks to The Hood for showing up this year 7 out of 11 weeks.  What commitment.  Manager Sean Peters will be hitting the recruiting trail hard this off-season.

And finally, Holliston Sr Softball would like to thank Mike and his Anthony’s on the Green staff for another great year of hot pizza, cold beers, and exceptional service by the wait staff.  The spread at the year-end banquet was outstanding too.  Looking forward to seeing you all again next April to start another year of ‘Ole Man Softball’.

Division A Standings through 24 Jun

Division B Standings through 24 Jun

Jasper Rock and South are promoted to Division A - congratulations!
Mudville and Lions are relegated to Division B

Congratulations to Braggville for winning the Division A championship game
and congratulations to Jasper Rock for winning the Division B championship game!