Week 1:

Downtown nipped Anthony’s, 5-4 behind the bat of SS John Drohan who had 2 hits and 2RBI in the win while also playing some solid D as he helped to turn 2 double-plays to thwart a rally in the 5^th and 6^th inn.  Downtown was also the beneficiary of some keen base running by Anthony’s Mike Delprete.  With the score 5-4, bottom 7 man on 3^rd 1-out, Delprete is pinch running for the batter, Alan Lisak.  Runners must start with a hand on the backstop fence and can break for first once batter makes contact. Lisak hits a grounder to 3rd and the runner on 3^rd breaks for home (not great) and is forced out.  Downtown C Todd Kagno sees that Delprete is still stuck at the fence, so he throws to first for the easy double play.  Game over.

Jasper Rock doubled up The Hood, 8-4 as P Derek Cordon went the distance giving up just 4 hits and 2ER.  His brother, Jeremy (the fastest accountant in the East) excelled in the lead-off spot with 2 hits and 3 runs scored for the victors.  OF Colin Fields has 3 hits and all 4 RBIs in the loss for The Hood.

Johnson North pounded Lions, 23-9 as OF Dave ‘Big Tree’ Lyskowski hit 2 mammoth HRs and drove in 6 runs on the night.  His teammate, Andrew ‘Pony-boy’ Langlois went 5-5 and scored 4 times in the win.  The night wasn’t a total loss for Lions as they exacted revenge on former teammate, Ben Schwarz who they struck out in the 5^th. 

Kampersal took Braggville to the woodshed, 22-6 as OFs Brad Rowe, Bill Sticka, and Josh Jolicouer combined to go 15-15 w 2HR’s, 4 Doubles and 12 runs scored. ’22 HSS MVP Alex Kampersal picked up where he left off last year with a mammoth HR of his own that landed at the Medway VFW, approximately 879ft away to put Kampy’s up by 12 in the 3^rd. 

That makes 3-straight losses dating back to ’22 for the men from Braggville which probably hasn’t happened in 20+ years (I’m too lazy to look it up but trust me). Still, there was no panic is Manger/P Chris Connors post gm talk with his club.

Dalton Rd beat KingZ, 19-13 behind the batt of 3B Jamie Ross who collected 4 hits and 4 RBI while OF Steve Cotto collected 3 hits and drove in 4 as well.  The ‘B’ ROY OF Alex Wolf scored 4 times from his leadoff spot for KingZ in the loss.

Mudville blanked Brentwood, 11-0 as new P Eric Higgins shined in his debut with a 4-hit, complete game shutout.  3B Eric Kuharich got things started early for Mudville w a leadoff double and came around to score the winning run on a first inning single off the bat of Steve Miller.

South pounded DYR, 18-6 behind an all-HSS performance by P Greg Copeland. After a 5-run second by DYR, the veteran lefty settled down and pitched 4 shut-out innings until giving up a meaningless run in the 7^th.  Copeland also caused chaos at the plate by going 5-5 with 8 RBI. OF Sean Jacquet hit a 3-run HR in the 4^th that had to be shot down by NORAD as it entered restricted airspace over the US Capitol, unauthorized.  He did it in front of his kids, which is pretty cool. To this writer’s surprise, recently retired SS Stephen Lawless quickly unretired as South was dangerously low on players and caught me creeping in from LF to take away the shallow single.  He then promptly launched one over my head for a 2-run double in the 5^th to extend the lead.  But it was Copeland who stole the show in this one with a ridiculous Opening Day performance.

GAME OF THE WEEK for WK #2 (4/23/23)

South (1-0) vs Dalton Rd (1-0) at Stoddard (beach) 6pm

• The only ‘A’ match up this week pits 2 teams aiming for a spot in the new 4-team playoff.
• Can Captain Chaos keep it up 2 weeks in a row for South?
• Will the return of Dalton P Dave Birmingham be a boon or a bust?
• We will have complete coverage of this one next week.

*Prediction: South 14 Dalton Rd 10

Prediction Record (1-0)