On a wet and soggy night throughout Holliston, Dalton Rd clipped Johnson North, 13-11 in 8 innings behind the bat of 3B Kevin Lauze who had a career night going 4-4 w a Grand Slam and 2 2B’s along with 7 RBI.  Skipper Steve Cotto juggled his lineup to try and jump start their anemic offense and it paid off.  Slugger 2B/P Dave Birmingham, mired in an 0-30 slump dating back to last season, was dropped from his customary clean-up spot to the 8-hole and responded with 3 hits and a key RBI single to tie it in the 6^th.  The teams combined for 16 errors and of the 24 combined runs, just 2 were earned.

Without the services of SS Chris King, Johnson North struggled to make plays in the infield which allowed Dalton Rd to grab the win on Sunday night.

South downed Lions, 15-10 as RF Kevin Abreu hit a 6^th inning grand slam that short-hopped Placentino School n RCF to give South the lead they would never relinquish.  LF Dave Franco hit a 2-run HR in the 4^th to cut the South defict to 2 and ‘Mr Clutch’, Bryan Sweeney doubled for the first time since the Clinton administration in the 5^th to to put his team up by 1.  The Lions’ answered in their half of the 5^th as OF Ernie Tomicelli tied it at 11 with a solo shot that would set up Abreu’s  heroics in the 6^th and lead South to a surprinsingly close victory.  South was so excited about their come from behind win, they celebrated in style at Anthony’s post game.

South ‘celebrating’ their win Sunday night at separate tables as the 2’ leaders’, Sweeney & Jay Smith sit at the bar with their backs to their teammates.  South spelled backwards is TEAM. .

Mudville is now 2-0 in the new uniforms as they upended The Hood, 16-10 as 3B Erik Kuharich went 4-4 w 3 runs scored and CF Josh Burke was a HR away from the cycle.  70’s rocker and long-time Mudville player Steve Miller made his ’24 debut behind the plate and collected 2 hits before he headed back out on tour.

Miller (sunglasses, center) is flanked by current Mudville teammates before departing for his ’24 tour.  L-R: Manager Eric Higgins, 3B Eric Kuharich, OF John Galiardi, CF Rob Klimeczko, and 1B Errick Spada.

Anthony’s beat KingZ, 20-13 despite the absence of HSS All-Star SS Dave Robinson who injured his back in a wheelbarrow accident transporting his perennials and garden vegetables.  Saturday was a big day at the Robinson homestead as the planting and gardening takes precedence over resting for softball the next day.  Heal fast, D-Rob..

Robinson right before the wheelbarrow accident that landed him on the 7-day DL

LF Ben Pratt and 1B Chris Landers paced the victors with 3 hits and 4 RBI apiece. Down 16-4 in the after 5, Kingz put up 9 in the next 2 innings behind 3B Russ Dubuc’s (3-4, RBI) 2-run double in the 6^th and an inside-the-park 3-run HR in the 7^th while RF Ryan Smith went 4-4 with 3R’s from his lead-off spot.

DYR pounded Brentwood, 24-5 as 8 guys had 2 or more hits led by your humble correspondent (4-4, 4 RBI and 4 Rs) while 1B Dave Randlett went 4-4 with 3R’s.  P Justin Lessard went the distance giving up just 2 ER as sloppy outfield play(me) in the 3^rd led to 3 unearned runs.  Interesting play in the 4^th; Brentwood has runners on first and third with 1-out, a shallow fly ball hit to left and I come in to make the catch and prepare to throw home to get the runner tagging from 3^rd.  Unfortunately for me, the Brentwood runner is the fastest middle-aged man along the eastern seaboard and was at least 12 ft down the line when I looked up to throw home.  Shockingly, upon appeal, he was ruled safe by his 3^rd base coach.  When asked how he could be that far down the line a second after the catch, I was told, ‘he’s fast’.  No comeback for that… 

The scene at 3B just as I caught the flyball in LF.

Kampersal smacked Downtown, 24-8 pulling away late after a sluggish start as Downtown held an 8-6 lead heading into the 6^th.  Even though Kampy’s was missing 2 of their young stars, the absence of 1^st team All-HSS and emotional leader, C Brian McShane seem to have a bigger impact as they played lackluster softball for 5 innings.  After going down quietly in the 5^th, manager Tom Kampersal (4-5, 3Rs, 3RBI) ‘circled the wagons’ in the dugout and gave am impassioned speech to fire up his squad.  In true champion fashion, they responded with 12 in the 6^th and 7 in the 7^th to smash any Downtown hope of an upset.  After some sloppy Downtown defense, RF Alex ‘The Big Hurt’ Kampersal (4-5, 2 R’s, 5RBI) got the scoring started in the 6^th with a missile to right that nearly killed short-fielder Todd Kagno as it was traveling approx. 289 mph just 6ft off the ground for 325 ft scoring 2.  He would later score on a double to center off the bat of OF Dennis Dietz.

Alex Kampersal’s hits are now being included in US military weapon brochures (4^th one down)

Braggville edged Jasper Rock, 7-5 in awful field conditions at Stoddard Park.  OF Chad Engel (2-4, 2RBI) got the scoring started with a 2-run double in the first and later made a nice running catch on a gap shot off the bat of Jasper P Derek Cordon (3-4, 3RBI) in the 5^th w 2 on and 2 out.  Both teams complained about the field conditions and were none too pleased to be playing in the crummy weather but, in the end, Braggville took a 7-3 lead into the bottom of the 7^th and held on for the win.  The best part of the game for both teams was when Chris Connors’s nephew, Colin showed up.  He can always put a smile on your face, even in bad weather.

Not sure what the fuss was about in terms of field conditions.  Stoddard looked  playable to me.

GAME OF THE WEEK for WK #4 (5/12/24))

Dalton Rd (2-1) vs Downtown (1-2) at Damigella 7:30pm

• Probably the most competitive ‘A’ match-up this week 
•  Can Dalton carry the momentum over from their extra inning win over Johnson and make it 2 in a row?
• Does Downtown have the offensive might to match Dalton?

*Prediction:  Dalton Rd 12 Downtown 9

’24 Record (1-1)

Division A Standings through 05 May

Position	Team	Won	Lost	Tied	Pct	Runs For	Runs Against	Opp Wins
1	Kampersal	3	0	0	1.000	65	19	3
2	Braggville	3	0	0	1.000	39	9	2
3	South	2	1	0	0.667	33	29	2
4	Dalton Road	2	1	0	0.667	29	22	1
5	DYR	2	1	0	0.667	50	31	1
6	Johnson North	1	2	0	0.333	26	38	2
7	Downtown	1	2	0	0.333	43	45	0
8	Jasper Rock	0	3	0	0.000	18	41	0

Division B Standings through 05 May

Position	Team	Won	Lost	Tied	Pct	Runs For	Runs Against	Opp Wins
1	Anthony’s East	3	0	0	1.000	63	28	2
2	Mudville	2	1	0	0.667	43	30	1
3	Kingz	1	2	0	0.333	30	51	2
4	The Hood	1	2	0	0.333	27	48	0
5	Lions	0	3	0	0.000	28	43	0
6	Brentwood	0	3	0	0.000	14	74	0