by Ken Sawyers
6/19/2019

Week 10:

South smacked DYR 24-15 despite falling behind 7-0 in the first.  Luckily for South, DYR had to go out and try to play defense.  DYR P Justin Lessard actually had his ERA drop this game as I don’t think he gave up an earned run.  Offensively, South was led by C Bryan Sweeney who had 4 hits, SS Sean Jacquet and OF Jason Smith each had 3 hits and 3 RBI.  Big news here is rookie P Greg Copeland got the start as manager Sweeney chose to go with the hot-hand.  Seems Sweeney has changed his ways a bit for the betterment of his team and it’s led to their most successful season in a decade.

If Rocky can change and Sweeney can change, we ALL can change!!!

Kampersal sent Downtown to their 3rd straight loss and closer to the B division with a 7-1 win as 3B Mike DeFazio had 3 hits and 2 RBI while P George Kampersal twirled a gem giving up just 6 hits and a run.

Downtown players sit dejectedly in their dugout following their 3rd straight loss.

Long Distance Tire kept Brentwood winless with a 9-5 win behind the bat of 3B Keith Carlton’s 3 hits and 3 RBI’s. Mudville tripped up Queens 13-9 as SS Mark Landry had 3 hits and 3 runs scored for the victors. Dalton Rd clipped Jasper Rock 9-3 as P Dave Birmingham improved to 4-0 on the year giving up just 4 hits and an earned run.  Dalton was led by 3B Mike Silk who went 3-4 with 3RBI and OF Jack Kober’s 3 hits and 3 runs scored.  Bizarre play in the 4th as Jasper P Scott Ripley made an amazing stab of hard grounder and then spun and threw towards 2B to start a double play.  One problem, no runner from first was advancing yet both the SS and 2B were there to cover the bag.  So, naturally he sailed the ball into the outfield allowing the batter to end up on 2B.  Good Stuff…

The Hood nipped Lions 7-6 but not before squandering a 3 -run lead in the 7th with consecutive errors that put the tying run at 3rd with 2-out.  Luckily, P Shawn Peters induced a lazy fly to CF for the final out.   Peters also helped himself at the plate collecting 3 hits that went a total of 115 ft -but hey, it's 3 for 3 in the scorebook.

P Shawn Peters shows off his form on 1 of his 3 ‘hits’ vs Lions on Sunday.

Braggville edged Anthony’s 8-6 behind OF Rich Cordani’s 2 doubles and 4 RBI.  Anthony’s had the heart of the order up in the bottom of the 7th as 1st ballot Hall-of-Famer SS Dave Robinson lead off with a single but, weak pop-ups by OF’s Mike DelPrete and Ben Pratt crushed any hopes of an Anthony’s rally.

Anthony’s OF Mike DelPrete’s key at-bat in the 7th vs Braggville did not go as planned

PLAYOFFS PREVIEW & PREDICTIONS: (4-1 for the yr on my picks)

‘A’ Game:  Braggvile (8-0) vs Kampersal (6-2): 3x defending champs have not missed a beat this year and are primed for a 4-peat.  Kampersal does play great D which should keep it close.  I like Braggville, 9-6.

‘B Game: Dalton Rd (6-2) vs South (6-2): Rain kept this match up from happening in wk #4, so this match up intrigues me.  The ‘new’ South vs a veteran Dalton Rd team.  I like Dalton because they're hot (3-gm win streak) and are very sound defensively.   14-8, Dalton.

‘C’ Game: Downtown (3-5) vs Anthony’s (4-4): A rematch from wk #8 in which Anthony’s was victorious and started the 3-game skid for Downtown.  A desperate D’town could be tough but I think Anthony’s will prevail, 14-11.

‘D’ Game: Jasper Rock (1-7) vs DYR (3-5):  Meeting just 2 wks ago in a game that lasted 32 minutes, both teams will look to get consecutive hits during this rematch.  Jasper, destined for the B division has nothing to play for but pride while DYR needs a win to stay in A.  For that reason, its DYR, 10-6.

‘E’ Game: The Hood (6-2) vs Mudville (6-2): Both teams are assured of moving up to ‘A’ division so not much to play for other than pride.  Mudville won just 2 weeks ago when they met and I think they’ll prevail again as The Hood has stumbled a bit here down the stretch, 13-10.

‘F’ Game: Lions (2-6) vs Long Distance (4-4): Long Distance doubled-up Lions just 2 weeks ago and I see that happening again in this rematch.  16-8, Long Distance.

‘G’ Game: Brentwood (0-8) vs Queens (1-7): A 1-run Queens victory just 2 weeks ago kept Brentwood winless but I like them in the rematch as they should be motivated to grab that elusive first win against a team they know they can hang with.  Brentwood, 15-13.

Division A Standings through 16 Jun

Division B Standings through 16 Jun