HSS Week 1: Soggy Conditions Postpone Play
Week 1: Games Cancelled; (Fields not released by the town-ALL SCORES are Fictional)
After consecutive 70-degree days, and a mild early Spring, Holliston Park & Rec still could not get their act together and prepare the fields for play. Hopefully “prep fields’ is on their ‘To Do List’ for this week.
Lions shocked Downtown 12-10 as OF Ernie ‘the Hit Man’ Tomacelli drove in 3 -runs and had a key 2-out, 2-run double in the 5th to break a tie game. Downtown had a chance in the bottom of the 7th but SS John Drohan popped out to 3B with the 2 runners on. Dalton Rd got off to a strong start with a 9-3 win over Long Distance. P Dave Birmingham tossed a complete game 5-hitter while SS Dan Geary had 3 hits and 4 RBI’s. South knocked off Queens 10-6 behind the arm and bat of P Bryan Sweeney who had 3 hits and struck out 3 (two looking). Word has it that OF Steve Lawless is NOT abiding by the South self-imposed alcohol ban- nor are any of his teammates. #allinforalcohol.
GAME OF THE WEEK:
Braggville (1-0) vs Kampersal (0-1): 10-9 (9 inn) for Braggville
In a game for the ages, Braggville squeaked past Kampy’s on a disputed walk-off 1-out double by OF Paul Murphy that drove in Rich Cordani from second. Kampy’s insisted the ball nicked the branch hanging out over the first base bag (which would mean foul-ball). The Braggville base coaches, who act as umpires, got together and (shockingly) determined that the ball did NOT clip said branch. Kampersal manager Tom Kampersal had to physically restrained from entering the Braggville dugout. Despite the controversial end, the game lived up to the hype and featured 5 lead changes. Braggville jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on a 3-run HR by OF Dan Kittredge in the first but Kampy’s tied it in the bottom half when OF (and this reporter’s 2019 MVP choice) Chris Boggess homered with 2 on. Tom Kampersal tied in the top of the 7th with a double to left center that scored 2B Mike DeFazio from first. Tom was later thrown out at home on a perfect throw by Kittredge to send it to extras where Murphy’s heroics ended it in the bottom of the 9th.
Kampersal Manager Tom Kampersal being restrained from the Braggville dugout following the controversial fair/foul call in the bottom of the 9th.
DYR doubled-up Brentwood 10-5 behind 3 hits and 4 RBI’s from 1B Dave Randlett. P Justin Lessard gave up just 3 hits but 6 DYR errors kept Brentwood close throughout the game. Jasper Rock took The Hood to the woodshed, 21-4. All 13 guys in the Jasper line-up had 2 or more hits while P Derek Cordon kept the Hood hitters off balance with his mix of his gyro-ball and drop ball. Speculation continues to swirl around Hood OF Greg Andreola’s status with the team. The slugger was seen on vacation in February with good friend, Ben Leverone, 3B for DYR, leading some to believe a move will be made soon to unite the 2 friends.
Anthony’s East held on to nip Mudville 19-18 behind the bat and glove of SS Dave Robinson. D-Rob had 4 hits and 6 RBI’s but made his biggest play with his glove in the bottom of the 7th. After Mudville had batted around scoring 9 times to cut the lead to 1 (giving Anthony’s manager Mike DelPrete a cerebral hemorrhage), D-Rob made a leaping snag of a line drive off the bat of OF Eric Higgins w 2- out and 2 on to seal the win. Mudville Manager Eric Kuharich was still in his Chevy Silverado weeping uncontrollably 45 minutes post game. No update on his condition as of this writing.
Publishers' Note: The cancellation of play did not deter our intrepid sports 'editor' from filing this fictional account. Let's hope the future real action lives up to this creative tale.
I certainly agree with the absolute fact that the fields and the extreme lack of maintenance is an embarrassment. It is not rocket science by any means to maintain the fields. What it does take is a little pride. Something that has been lacking in the past 10-15 years. I've played and coached on ALL of these fields for the past 35 years and never have seen it so bad. So there you go
Dan Kittredge | 2019-05-01 21:25:31
HI Paul, Thanks for the note and glad you like the write-ups. Both my girls are now at the HS and I share your frustration. Our athletic facilities are an embarrassment and rank dead last in the Tri-Valley league yet no one in a position of authority does anything to try and fix it. I've been trying for 3 yrs to get the HS turf to be replaced (its 3-4 yrs past due) and have supplied the SC (2) proposals from Turf companies and still nothing. That field is a hazard and would not pass HIC testing (way to evaluate the safety of the turf). I hope the new HS doesn't take that long. Can you imagine what our facilities would look like then with this current 'plan' still in place? -ken
Ken Sawyers | 2019-04-18 06:22:46
Ken - thank you for this awesome report and continued laughter. When my wife and I were looking at towns to start a family, Holliston rose to the top. Obviously, the school system helped in our decision making process, but the community itself is what drew us toward buying. As my children have grown, and gone through the system, I have noticed a change in the school system, the deterioration of the facilities, and have noticed the surrounding communities upgrades to the schools and school athletic facilities. It has become an embarrassment, to host other schools, as Marshall field has become our best facility, one not owned or operated by the town. I hear that we are building a new HS in ten years, and therefore are willing to ignore our athletic facilities, but as a parent of children who will be out of HS in less then ten years, I am very disappointed with the committee;
Paul St. John | 2019-04-14 18:35:41
Ken, As an elected member of the Parks & Rec Commission I take issue with your characterization of efforts to "get the fields ready to play". There is a large collaborative process each spring to prepre the fields ONCE the weather and spring thaw conditions allow it. If you have productive suggestions on how to improve this process, please attend a meeting of the Commission to share them. If not, your sarcasm was inaccurate and poorly played.
Shaw Lively | 2019-04-11 13:26:48