Week10: Holliston Senior Softball Wrap-Up: (thru 6/18)

June 23, 2023 / Ken Sawyers /

Week 10:

The Hood nipped Kingz, 11-10 behind 1B Scott McAdams’ 3^rd hit of the game,awalk-off single in the bottom of the 8^th that scored SS Greg Andreola from 3^rd. The bulk of the scoring occurred in the early innings as the dreaded ‘Stoddard Sun’ took its toll on the outfielders as fly balls were an adventure for both teams. Kingz managed the early innings better and held a 10-8 lead after 3 and were led by 1B Kiernan Joyce (2-3, 2B, 2RBI) and 2B John Poor (3-3, 2RBI). Things stayed quiet until the 6^th after The Hood cut the lead to 1 on an RBI single by P Shawn Peters. With a runner on 3^rd with 2 out, The Hood’s Tony Porciello hit a groundball to SS who then flipped to 2^nd ~~for the force out~~ for no particular reason which allowed the tying run to score and set up McAdams’ heroics in the 8^th.

*Kingz going for the ‘force out’ at 2B with 2-out & runner on 3^rd.*

Dalton Rd blanked Johnson North, 4-0 thanks to manager Steve Cotto’s bold decision to bench the inconsistent P Dave Birmingham in favor of veteran ‘swiss army knife’ Jack Kober. Kober answered his skipper’s call and was outstanding throwing just 59 pitches in a game that took 26 minutes to play. Birmingham moved to catcher and watched Kober allow just 4 hits but was quick to point out that Kober’s success was a joint venture.

*Dalton Rd’s Dave Birmingham’s quote of the night in his postgame press conference*.

Kober did have help from his teammates who play in fair territory so, in the 4^th, up 2-0 with runners on the corners and 1 out, 3B Kevin Lauze made a diving stab of a liner off the bat of Johnson’s Chris King and then had the where-with-all to get up and fire a strike to C Bob Cotting to nail the runner from 3^rd trying to score for the inning-ending double play.

*A glimpse at the offensive performance of Johnson North Sunday night*.

Later in the 6^th, with a runner on, King was robbed again as OF Mitch Cotto made an outstanding over the shoulder catch just before crashing into the fence in left field to preserve Kober’s shutout.

*Dalton Rd’s Mitch Cotto robbing Johnson’s Chris King of extra bases in the 6^th.*

Jasper Rock extended the Budville losing streak to 7 with an 11-8 win. 3B Doug Herman (4-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI) led the way for JR. Budville did not go quietly though, as they battled back from an 8-4 deficit to tie it at 8 after 5 innings thanks in large part to the ‘powder keg’, 3B Eric Kuharich who doubled home 2 to tie it. A frustrating year for Mudville has the ’22 All-HSS 3B has his teammates, family, and community on edge as his access to ~~fireworks~~/explosives is troublesome. Boston ATF has been made aware of the situation and is on standby. An impassioned mid-game speech by Jasper Rock C Greg Williams sparked his team to victory as they scored 3 times in the bottom of the 6^th to coast to victory.

*JR’s Greg Williams getting ready to inspire his teammates after Mudville tied the game in the 5^th.*

Kuharich did announce that he will be turning over the managerial reigns to teammate Eric Higgins next year to focus on growing his cache of ~~fireworks~~ explosives and trying to win the Cupcake Trophy. It’s hard to know for sure how this news was received in the Mudville locker room:

*The Mudville locker room after the Kuharich announcement.*

Braggville took down South, 20-12 as the venue (predicted by yours truly)played a role in the win.The lefty leaning Braggville line up took advantage of the short porch in RF at Potoma a half-dozen times and some shaky South defense to score runs early and often in this one. OF Rich Cordani paced the offense with 4 hits (3 into the woods in RF) while SS Jason Cooper was a vacuum defensively and squashed potential big innings for South w some great range and hands on numerous occasions.

*Braggville SS Jason Cooper taking the field Sun night vs South.*

South did score 7 in the 7^th thanks to a 3-run HR off the bat of SS Jason Smith to make the score somewhat respectable. A bit of controversy in the 3^rd when South P Greg Copeland was called for an ‘illegal’ flat pitch by Braggville skipper, Chris Connors. The batter swung at the pitch and grounded into an inning ending double play. However, an illegal pitch (if called while in flight) is considered a ‘no pitch’ and the play is redone. South Asst Manager, Bryan Sweeney handled the ruling as you might expect, ~~with grace and class.~~

*South’s Bryan Sweeney handling the illegal pitch ruling with his customary restraint.*

DYR clipped Lions, 9-6 as 1B Dave Randlett went 3-4 and scored 3 times while 3B Ben Leverone went 3-3 w 2 RBI and flashed the leather a few times down at the hot corner to thwart a Lions comeback. Both teams saw at least 1 guy leave the game with leg injuries running out grounders. DYR lost 2 and Lions lost clean-up hitter, Ned Daniels. After some investigative reporting, I may have found the culprit:

*Photo of sniper down rightfield line at HS field during DYR/Lions game.*

Kampersal beat Anthony’s, 9-5 despite 3B Keith Carlton taking the team bat bag and leaving it in his truck at the airport as he jet-setted to the London International Horse Show this weekend. The team had to quickly improvise after Anthony’s skipper and league agitator, Mike DelPrete refused to share bats with the defending champions. So, 3 former Boy Scouts on the Kampy’s roster went to work quickly in the Stoddard woods and whittled some bats from branches.

*The bats made by the quick-thinking teammates of Kampersal. Not too bad.*

The “Big Hurt”, 1B Alex Kampersal continues to crush softballs despite the poor bat selection (see above) as he went 3-3 w 2 RBI while OF Brad Rowe also collected 3 hits and drove in 3. P George Kampersal cruised until the 5^th when he faced LF Ben Pratt who launched a 3-run HR high into the Stoddard forest to cut the lead to 2.

*The flight of Ben Pratt’s 5^th inning bomb into the night at Stoddard Park*.

Rowe would extend the lead back to 4 in the 6^th with his 2-run double to left. George then settled down over the last 2 innings to earn the win.

Downtown pounded Brentwood, 18-5 behind the bats of OF Tim McCarron (4-5, 2 2B, 4 RBI) and 2B Pete Warren (4-5 with 4 runs scored) while P Mike Adams was on cruise control in the circle giving up just 3 ER on 5 hits in 7 innings of work.

‘A’ Playoff Preview (6/25/23)

Top 4 Seeds in ‘A’:
- Kampersal (8-0)
- Braggville (7-1)
- Dalton Rd ( 7-1)
- South (6-2)
- Gm 1: #4 South @ #1 Kampersal (Damigella) 4:15pm
- Gm 2: #3 Dalton Rd @ #2 Braggville (High School) 4:15pm
- Finals: winner of Gm 1 vs winner of Gm 2 (Damigella) 6pm

Predictions:
- Gm 1: Kampersal 18 South 8
  - While the Kampy’s line-up is relentless, their defense is what separates them. South will need a great start by P Greg Copeland to have a shot in this one.
- Gm 2: Braggville 14* Dalton Rd 10
  - Rumor has it B’ville may be missing a few key cogs in the line-up for this one hence, the close score. Can new DR starting P Jack Kober duplicate this past Sunday performance vs B’ville?
  - (*Should all be in attendance, add 10 to their total.)