Week 6:

In the game of the week, South remains unbeaten as they took down Dalton Rd, 9-3 behind CF Sean Jaquett’s clutch 2-RBI double in the 6^th that broke up a 3-3 tie.  SS Jason Smith later extended the lead with his 2nd double of the game that drove in 2.  The win was especially sweet as the team celebrated the college graduation of their ‘mascot’ Joe Gioffre.  Joe has been a fixture on the sidelines for South for the last 10+ yrs.  Despite his age, Joe also acts as the voice of reason during countless disputes over runs scored, safe/out, etc. as the ‘adults’ in his dugout sometimes often take the South ‘team spirit’ too far.  His record on the pregame coinflip is an astounding 114-2 over his career leading some to believe (this reporter included) that he’s rigged it somehow.  He has passed this skill on to his sister who, earlier this season, hoodwinked me in the pregame flip.  Despite having Chris as his dad, Joe is a great young man, and we wish him all the best as he heads into the grown-up world.

The Hood earned their first win by beating Brentwood, 15-8 behind the bat of All-Star CF Colin Fields who went 4-5 with 6 RBI including a 3-run bomb in the 2^nd to stake P Shawn Peters to an early lead. Peters was aided by his defense with 2 double plays turned to kill Brentwood rallies.  OF Greg Andreola also had a good night for the victors collecting 3 hits and 3 RBI.

In the late game, new uniforms (that look the same as the old ones) couldn’t help Downtown as Kampersal squeaked out a win, 28-8 as both Tom and Alex Kampersal hit home runs to pace the offense.  Tom’s was a blast to right center that hit the Miller School, yet the Downtown outfield somehow thought it may have bounced over the fence. Alex followed up his ‘HR’ with a pop-out to the catcher to keep that streak alive at 2 weeks in a row. Seems the Downtown outfield misplayed the shot hit by Alex into a HR (photo below). C Brian McShane went 4-5 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored.   Downtown P Mike Adams was the victim of some poor defense as indicated by his line score of 7IP, 24H, 1BB, 0K, 28R, 5ER.  Post-game, some Downtown players were none too pleased with the sizing of the new same jerseys.

Braggville beat DYR, 24-13 overcoming a 10-run deficit after 1.5 innings as DYR scored 4 in the first and 6 in the second which included 2B Zach Raymond’s 3-run homer in the first. But in true, championship form, B’ville slowly chipped away with 3 in the 2^nd, 6 in the 3rd and 3 in the 4^th to take a 12-11 lead.  They also made plays defensively, in particular, CF Darren Fells. With 2-out and 2 on in the top of 5^th and trailing by 1, DYR 1B Dave Randlett hit a liner to right-center that would’ve scored 2, but Fells made an unbelievable diving catch to end the inning.  B’ville blew it open in the bottom of the 5^th with 9 runs behind some timely hitting and some poor DYR defense and coasted to victory. After his great catch, Fells appeared a bit shaken up in his next AB but toughed it out and still finished the game.  Postgame, he complained of rib and neck pain and drove himself to the hospital to get checked out.

In the upset of the season so far, Jasper Rock beat up on Anthony’s East, 15-4 despite missing their fearless leader, P Derek Cordon (COVID protocol).  OF Kevin Hastings and 2B Jeremy Cordon each had 3 hits and 3 RBI’s while emergency P Tom McHugh kept Anthony’s bats silent until the 6^th when Anthony’s scored their first runs of the night.  Anthony’s 1B Chris Landers relieved starter Alan Lisak after 3 innings and gave up zero runs the rest of the way which has stirred up some questions about the starting P role moving forward.  Manager Mike DelPrete will have to handle this situation carefully as the ego-centric Landers can ruffle some feathers in the clubhouse.

Mudville pounded Johnson North, 21-8 behind the bats of 3B Eric Kuharich and 1B Errick Spada who each hit HR’s early in the game.  Only up 4 in the top of the 7^th, Mudville exploded for 13 runs to put the game out of reach for Johnson.  Kuharich finished w 4 hits and 5 RBI while a rookie named Mike had a HR as well for Mudville.  Still waiting on those Johnson North game recaps.  Nothing in the mailbox this morning.  Postgame, Mudville was well-behaved at Anthony’s and sat quietly at their table.

Lions kept Queens KingZ winless with a 18-10 victory as 3B Mike McKenna continued his hot streak with another 4-hit game and drove in 5.  Seems Kingz P Greg DeAngelo had some location issues and gave up 6 straight walks to put his team in a hole early and end his pitching career with Kingz.  Manager Sean Foley is searching the waiver wire as we speak to find a viable arm to pitch the rest of the season.  Kingz Newbie OF Alex Wolf and LF Rob Young had 3 hits apiece as their rally from a 16-4 deficit came up short.

GAME OF THE WEEK for WK #6 (5/30/22)

Jasper Rock (4-1) vs DYR (2-3): Damigella @6pm

• DYR cannot afford a loss here if they want avoid relegation to ‘B’ so, expect an all-out effort from them.  Desperate times, indeed
• Will Jasper Rock Manager/Pitcher Derek Cordon be well enough to play after his battle with COVID?
• We’ll have a full write up and photos of this game in next week’s write up.

*Prediction: DYR 16 Jasper 14 [ Prediction Record (1-1)]