South beat DYR, 10-3 at Kampersal Field as P Greg Copeland (7IP, 7H, 1ER) survived a shaky start giving up 3 in the first but then settled in for 6 shutout innings.  OF Jay Skeldon (3-4, HR, 3RBI) responded for South in the bottom of the first with a solo HR to right.  Skeldon also robbed DYR OF Matt ‘The Hebrew Hammer” Ryder (2-3, 2B, 2RBI) of 2-run homer in the 5^th with a great catch just before the woods in left center.  Not to be outdone defensively, Ryder responded with a great diving catch of his own in the 6^th on a low liner off the bat of OF Ryan Looney (2-4, 2R) to end the inning.  

DYR’s Matt Ryder making his great catch against South Sunday night.

Kingz took care of Brentwood, 11-3 as 3B Ross Dubac (3-4,2 2B, HR, 4RBI) got the scoring started early with a 2-run bomb to left -center that short-hopped the school.  Kingz scored 10 of their runs w 2-out and would send 9-men to the plate in the 3^rd and extend their lead to 7 as Dubac and 1B Kiernan Joyce (2-4, 2B, 2RBI) had back-to-back RBI singles.  Brentwood finally got on the board in the 6^th with an RBI double off the bat of SS Shawn Thompson (2-3, 2B RBI).

A tradition unlike any other (in Jim Nance voice) Kingz SS Danny MacDonald and 3B Ross Dubac with the post-game Kingz bling.

In a game that lived up to the hype, Kampersal nipped Braggville, 19-15 in 9 innings thanks to their stellar defense late in this one.  Kampy’s jumped out to a 10-2 lead heading into the bottom of the 3^rd thanks to an Alex Kampersal (4-5, 2 HR, 2B, 5RBI) 1^st inning 3-run bomb to left.  Braggville then answered with 3 in their half of the inning and 5 in the 4^th thanks to their patience at the plate (drew 10 walks in the game!) and timely hitting to tie at 10 heading into the 5^th thanks in part, to LF Darren Fell’s (4-4, 2 2B, 4RBI) 2- run double. Kampersal went back on top thanks to OF Brad Rowe’s (4-5, 2 HR, 5RBI) second HR of the night, a 2-run shot into the playground at Damigella. Trailing by 3 headed into the bottom of the 7^th, Braggville rallied as OF Paul Murphy (3-4, 2B, 2R, 2 RBI) led off with a double and would score on SS Jason Cooper’s (2-4, 2RBI) single.  3B Greg Greenburg (3-4, 2B, 2RBI) then doubles to put runners on 2nd and 3^rd. With 2-out, up comes P Johnny Marsell (2-4,R, 1 RBI) who promptly laces a single to left and Greenburg is waved home only to be gunned down at the plate by a step on an absolute hose from LF Tim Swift (5-5, 2B, 3B 3R) (who went to LF from SS after LF Brad Rowe came up limping after diving for a ball in the 6^th).  C Mike DeFazio (2-4, R) made a great short-hop catch to complete the dramatic play and nail Greenburg.  Both teams went scoreless in the 8^th and then Kampersal put up 4 in the 9^th as OF Chris Boggess (4-5 2B, 2RBI) led off with a double and would score on Alex Kampersal’s 2^nd HR of the night to break the tie.  Tim Swift would later follow with his RBI triple to extend the lead to 4.  P George “wild thing’ Kampersal, for the first time all night, didn’t have a seizure on the mound and walk anyone in the 9^th and earned the W. Denis Dietz (2-4, 2R) had 4 put outs in RF for Kampersal.

Kampersal C Mike DeFazio tagging out Greenburg to keep the game tied at 11.

Interesting side note to this one, since this was the late game, some players from the earlier game stayed to watch.  The earlier game featured Brentwood and they lost a key player, Chris Ennis, to Braggville via ‘free agency’ 2 yrs ago so the let him know how mutch they missed him each time he stepped in the box:

Anthony’s nipped Johnson North, 9-7 as P Chris Landers (7IP, 8H, 5ER) pitched well enough to earn the win.   The key in this game was Anthony’s taking advantage of the short Potoma porch in RF as OF Ben Pratt (3-4, 2 2B,3 R, 2RBI) and OF Travis Jonasson (2-4 2 2B, 3RBI) found the woods multiple times.  1B Mike DelPrete (3-3, 2B, 2RBI) flashed the leather in the 7^th making a diving stab of a grounder down the line and ‘bounced up’ to beat the batter to the bag for the force out.

Anthony’s 1B Mike DelPrete beating the batter to the bag to record an important out in the 7^t

Downtown smacked Jasper Rock, 14-4 , as OF Todd Kiley (3-4, 2B, 2R, 2RBI) and lead-off hitter OF Scott Burke (3-4, 3R) paced the offense. P Mike Adams  (7IP, 7H, 2ER) held Jasper at bay all night. Jasper P Derek Cordon (2-4, 2B) took 2 line drives off both shins in the 3^rd and 4^th inning but remained in the game despite the enormous swelling/bruising.  

Jasper’s Derek Cordon showing his teammate where it hurts postgame.

Dalton Rd upended Mudville, 18-10 as OF Mitch Cotto (4-5, 2B, 3RBI) and OF Derek Jordan (4-4, 4R, 2RBI) led an offensive attack that broke open a 5-5 tie with an 11-run 5^th thanks to a Cotto 3-run double that got the scoring started in the 5^th.  Mudville rallied in their half of the 5^th to load the bases with 2 out but OF Rob ‘El Gallo’ Klimeczko (3-5, 2B, 2R) came up empty and went down on strikes for the first time since ’84 when he suited up for the East Aurora (Buffalo-area) little league.  His coach, and biggest influence in his life, Morris Buttermaker was distraught with his performance.

Coach Buttermaker watching the live stream of the Mudville game and El Gallo’s pivotal at-bat.

The Hood edged Lions, 16-15 and the only reason I know is a text I received from Lions.  So, we’ll go with Lions highlights: 1B Ned Daniels (2-4, 3RBI) got the scoring started with a 3-run HR in the first, while 2B John Cronin (2-4, 2R, 2RBI) played well in the loss.  Known for his hitting, Ernie ‘the hitman’ Tomacelli (3-4, 2 2B, 3RBI) had 7 put outs and 1 assist from his outfield spot.  Hey Hood, let’s see if we can make it through the year with NO game updates at all.  Only 2 weeks left, you got this!

My in-box all year…..

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

As you may have heard, Kampersal Field may be put on the market as Kerry K would like to be done with paying the taxes and field maintenance. We, as a league, have a decision to make on whether we would like to increase the dues by $25/ player (for both spring and fall) to pay the RE taxes and maintenance of the field. Please connect with your coaches for all the details and vote as a team on how you would like to proceed.  Your coach can forward you the original league email….

GAME OF THE WEEK for WK #9 (6/9/24))

Johnson North (4-4) vs. DYR (3-5) at Damigella 6pm

• A must win for both teams for different reasons.
• A DYR win and they stay in A
• If Johnson North wins and South loses, JN finds themselves in the 

4-team playoff…

*Prediction: DYR 11 Johnson North 9

’24 Record (5-2)

Division A Standings through 09 Jun

Position	Team	Won	Lost	Tied	Pct	Runs For	Runs Against	Opp Wins
1	Kampersal	8	0	0	1.000	151	65	33
2	Braggville	7	1	0	0.875	106	57	24
3	Dalton Road	6	2	0	0.750	100	80	18
4	South	5	3	0	0.625	91	64	18
5	Johnson North	4	4	0	0.500	77	86	11
6	Downtown	3	5	0	0.375	79	81	5
7	DYR	3	5	0	0.375	85	82	6
8	Jasper Rock	1	7	0	0.125	48	92	5

Division B Standings through 09 Jun

Position	Team	Won	Lost	Tied	Pct	Runs For	Runs Against	Opp Wins
1	Anthony’s East	5	3	0	0.625	98	71	16
2	Kingz	4	4	0	0.500	80	100	10
3	Mudville	4	4	0	0.500	90	86	7
4	The Hood	3	5	0	0.375	77	115	5
5	Lions	2	6	0	0.250	76	90	6
6	Brentwood	1	7	0	0.125	37	126	4