Week 2:
After a 1-week delay (town fields unplayable) Holliston Senior Softball is back as is this column that I’m sure you all missed over this long winter. Despite the beautiful weather all week, Sunday night provided temps in the low 50’s and 40+mph SUSTAINED winds…not great.
Kampersal had no trouble with the wind and nipped DYR, 17-1 as lead -off man 2B Tom Kampersal went 4-4 with 4 runs scored and OF Brad Rowe had 3 doubles and 5RBI. Scoreless in the bottom of the 3rd, until Kampy OF Chris Boggess connected on a solo HR to LCF. Kampersal would add 3 more in the 4th, 7 in the 5th, and 6 in the 6th to cruise to victory. P George Kampersal (6IP, 4H, 1ER) was in control from the start and help himself at the plate w 2 hits and 2 runs scored. OF Dennis Deitz had 2 hits in the win. For DYR, seems we may need more than 6 guys showing up to a preseason BP session (just spit-balling). At least it gets easier next week for us with Braggville …
A snapshot of what the DYR offense looked like Sunday night at the HS.
Downtown upended The Hood, 12-8 despite only having 8 and down to their 4th -string pitcher, Jack Hendler. Perennial Lady Bing nominee, Hood Manager, Colin Fields provided all the accommodations needed for his undermanned opponent and, as they say, ‘nice guys finish last’. Downtown jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead as SS John Drohan (2-3, 2B, 2RBI) drove in a pair with a double to LCF in the first. Despite Hendler’s work in the circle (7IP, 8H, 4ER) he was not the story of the game. It was the mystery man, Gerry, who was called up 5 mins before game time to play. The big lefty hit one into the CF woods at Patoma to drive in 3 and provide some breathing room for the inexperienced Hendler to close it out. For The Hood, they were led by a newbie as well, OF Cory Grimes went 2-3 2B, 2Rs. Veteran P Shawn Peters, battling bronchitis, had to be replaced in the 4th by Alan Keller who pitched will until Gerry stepped in the box in the 6th.
Downtown’s new arrival……
Johnson North outslugged Braggville, 23-20 to pull off a defining win for the franchise. IF Pete Guellnitz and OF Drew Langlois combined to go 8-9, 3 2Bs, 7 Rs while OF Dave ‘Big Tree’ Lyskowski (3-5, 2B, HR, 3RBI) paced the offense. The team speed of Johnson North was the difference here as the took extra bases on any Braggville miscue (and there were many!) to constantly place runners in scoring position. For Braggville, this was an ugly game and not because of the loss but, the manner in which they lost. Flawless defensively for years, Sunday night was a horror show in the field. Giving 2-3 extra outs an inning to good teams leads to 23 runs being scored against you. The ageless wonder OF Paul Murphy (5-5, 2 2Bs, 4 RBI) was a bright spot for Braggville. Its early and plenty of time to turn things around but manager Chris Connors is concerned. Speaking of concerned, Braggville was without 2 starters Chad Engel and Ted Mottor who apparently are re-enacting the car journey from Thelma & Louise as they make their way to Florida ( just the 2 of them) for an undislcosed reason. Rumor has it they were looking to raid the Kampersal Futures Camp down in Miami to bolster their roster.
Ted and Chad getting psyched up as they begin their road trip to FLA.
South walked-off Dalton Rd, 6-5 behind the bat and arm of the Bryan‘Big Country’ Sweeney (7IP, 6H, 3ER and 2-3, R, 2RBI). Forced into the circle because regular starter Greg Copeland was on a bender in the Dominican, Sweeney stepped up and delivered for his squad keeping Dalton off balance all night. Then, in the 7th his single loaded the bases and set the stage for 1B Chris Gioffre (2-3, RBI). Gioffre, with 2 of his 3 kids in attendance, laced a 2-out single to left that drove in OF Dave Franco (2-3, 2Rs) with the winning run. Dalton’s emergency starter, Chris Munroe (7IP, 8H, 3ER) was up to the task and kept his team in it. Manager Steve Cotto (2-4, 2B) played well despite trying to manage the no-shows that left him scrambling for 10 players for this contest.
South P Greg Copeland following the South off-season nutritional program to the letter; ripping butts and pounding Corona’s. The level of commitment to his health is why he’s been a Top 3 pitcher in this league since ’05. Younger guys, take note.
In a mild upset, Brentwood beat Jasper Rock, 15-8 behind slugger, Erik McGrath (4-5, 2B, GS, 6 RBI) and P Mike Budway (7IP, 7 H, 5ER) who spun a gem. Using the Brentwood run-conversion model, giving up just 5 earned run is equivalent to a shutout so, congrats to Mike! Up 2 in the 5th, McGrath put the game away with his grand slam to LCF giving Budway a stress-free 6th and 7th. Jasper P Derek Cordon (7IP, 9 H, 2K’s) struck out back-to-back hitters in the 5th but was still the hard luck loser. Troubling news to report here as Jasper took a pregame team photo shirtless….thats right, shirtless. I have been able to corroborate this and I’m shaken to my core. I’ll make this as clear as I can; at no point is it ever acceptable to take a shirtless photo with your teammates, except maybe at a pool party. That’s it…
The reaction of Brentwood SS Shawn Thompson when asked to take the half-naked Jasper team photo.
Anthony’s took Lions to the woodshed, 25-4 behind the bats of OF Ben Pratt (4-6, 2 2Bs, 3 R’s, 5 RBI), 3B Dan Higgins (6-6, 2 2Bs, 4Rs), and OF Angelo D’Amato (4-5, 2B, 3B, 4RBI). P Chris Landers (7IP, 6H, 2ER) was stellar inside the arc for the winners and SS Dave Robinson had the dubious honor of making the 2nd and 3rd out in an inning in which his team scored 14 runs on 9 hits. Not ideal. Lions was ‘led’ by OF Ernie ‘The Hit Man’ Tomacelli (2-3, 2 2B’s, 2 RBI).
Mudville smacked Kingz. 17-4 as P Eric Higgins (7IP, 6H, 2ER) stifled the Lions bats in this one. OF Josh Burke (4-5, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI) was a HR shy of the cycle while 3B Chris Bogusky had a key 2-out bases-loaded double in the 4th that cleared the bases to push their lead to 6 and the route was on. Kingz was led by OF Ryan Smith (3-3, 2B, 2 RBI) and 3B Kiernan Joyce (2-3, 2B, RBI). No word on who got the FLAVOR FLAV Kingz chain postgame.
A replica of the Kingz chain the give to the weekly MVP of their game.
COMMUNITY NOTE:
2025 HYBSA DIAMOND CUP GOLF OUTING
EVENT DETAILS – FRIDAY, JUNE 6th @ 8 AM – Pinecrest Golf Course
Registration at the course is from 7 to 7:30AM *SHARP*
Range Balls Included (after you have signed in!)
Cost: $500 per foursome or $125 per single (cost includes cart, lunch and guarantees* a good time)
The Scramble Format Tournament
It would be nice to have a 4-some or two from each team to help raise money for the youth program so, spread the word!
2025 HYBSA Diamond Cup Registration
GAME OF THE WEEK for Wk 3 (5/4/25))
Johnson North (1-0) vs Dalton Rd (0-1) at Kampersal Field @ 6pm
- Can the young guns ride the momentum of their biggest win in franchise history last week?
- Can Dalton avoid an 0-2 start and play with the grit that had them in the Final 4 last yr?
*Prediction: Johnson N 16 Dalton Rd 9
Division A Standings through 27 Apr
| Position | Team | Won | Lost | Tied | Pct | Runs For | Runs Against | Opp Wins |
| 1 | Kampersal | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 17 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Anthony’s East | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 25 | 4 | 0 |
| 3 | Mudville | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 17 | 4 | 0 |
| 4 | South | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | Johnson North | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 23 | 20 | 0 |
| 6 | Dalton Road | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | DYR | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | 1 | 17 | 0 |
| 8 | Braggville | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | 20 | 23 | 0 |
Division B Standings through 27 Apr
| Position | Team | Won | Lost | Tied | Pct | Runs For | Runs Against | Opp Wins |
| 1 | Downtown | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 12 | 8 | 0 |
| 2 | Brentwood | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 15 | 8 | 0 |
| 3 | The Hood | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | 8 | 12 | 0 |
| 4 | Jasper Rock | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | 8 | 15 | 0 |
| 5 | Kingz | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | 4 | 17 | 0 |
| 6 | Lions | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | 4 | 25 | 0 |
That Mystery Man must have really been a Mystery that his name was even changed. I believe his name was Greg – Greg Wright.