Week #6: Holliston Senior Softball Wrap-Up: (thru 5/27/24)

Mudville smacked Jasper Rock, 9-2 and took over first place in ‘B’ as 3B Eric Kuharich (3-4, 2 2B, 4RBI) paced the offense while P Steve Miller (7IP, 6H, 1ER) twirled a gem while also collecting 2 hits and driving in a pair.  Jasper manager Derek Cordon held a closed-door meeting afterward to try and save their season as we’ve now passed the midway point and they’re 2 games out of playoff spot with 3 to play.

Jasper skipper, Derek Cordon (R) addressing his troops after their loss to Mudville.

Week # 6 provided two upsets and Lions upending Anthony’s, 11-6 certainly qualifies as the first.  P Pete Barbieri (7IP, 7H, 3ER) kept a depleted Anthony’s line-up off balance all night while OF Dan Linehan (3-4, 3R, 2RBI) paced Lions offense.  Playing with only 8, Anthony’s 3-man outfield was exposed often.  Interim Anthony’s manager Angelo D’Amato failed to make any defensive adjustments leading to some ‘Sunday night quarterbacking’ by his teammates.  We’ll keep an eye on this developing rift in the Anthony’s clubhouse.  Star SS Dave Robinson is still not fully recovered from his wheelbarrow accident a few weeks ago and was a scratched from the line-up.  No word on when he might return.  

Kampersal beat Johnson North, 18-12 utilizing their late-inning rally formula once again. Trailing 11-6 heading into the 6^th, the 2x champs batted around for an 8-spot and were led by OF Denis Dietz (4-5, 2 2B, 3R,4RBI) who’s 2-run double to right-center got the rally started and OF Chris Boggess’ (3-4, 2B, HR, 4RBI) 3-run HR into the playground at Damigella tied it at 11.  1B Alex Kampersal and OF Brad Rowe homered back-to-back in the 7^th to extend the lead.  Johnson North got off to a hot start thanks to 2B Leo Downing (4-4, 3R) and RF Dave ‘Big Tree’ Lyskowski who’s mammoth 2-run HR in the 3^rd put JN up 10-4.  Looking to extend their lead after the ‘Big Tree’ blast, C Pete Guelnitz (3-3, 2 2B) blew through a stop sign at 3^rd on a bases loaded single by Chuck Kerchner and was thrown out at home by 20 feet on a perfect throw from Brad Rowe to end the inning. 

Johnson North’s Pete Guelnitz running through the stop sign at 3^rd .

Bragville clipped South, 12-9  behind the bats of the ageless wonder OF Paul Murphy (3-4, 2 2B, 3RBI) and 3B Greg Greenburg (4-4, 3 2B, 4RBI).  Some poor base coaching by South hindered any chance of a comeback in this one.  With runners on 2^nd and 3^rd and  1 out, Braggville OF Chris Ennis bobbled a single down the line and the South 3B coach thought it was enough to both runners…it wasn’t.  Ennis collected the ball and through a missle to the plate to nail the runner by 30 ft killing a potential rally. Needless to say, this sent P/1B Bryan Sweeney into a tirade in his dugout yelling at teammates. Children in attendance were introduced to some old-time softball vernacular that I’m sure they will repurpose in school this week amongst their peers.

A young HSS fan witnessing Sweeney’s tirade in the 4^th inning of Sunday night’s game.

Trailing by 5 heading into their final at bat, South plated 2 thanks to a Dave Franco (3-4, 3R, 2RBI) 2-run single.  After an infield single that loaded the bases, up comes Bryan Sweeney with 1-out.  Unlike previous weeks where he was the hero, Sweeney grounded P Chris Connors’ 2-0 offering to all-HSS SS Jason ‘the Hoover’ Cooper who turned a 6-3 DP to end the game.  

South’s Sweeney leaving abruptly after his team’s loss to Braggville.

Dalton Rd beat The Hood, 20-14 as OF Chris Munroe (4-5, 2 2B, 5RBI) and P Dave Birmingham (4-4, 2 2B, 3B, 4RBI) paced the offense.  No further info available here as both managers provided nothing.

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Me waiting for a text from The Hood…

The second upset of the weekend was winless Brentwood walking off Kingz in extras, 9-8 as OF Chris Hess (3-4, 2B, 3RBI) singled home Garth Fondo with 1-out in the 8^th to set off the celebration.  Some controversy in the 7^th though, as Brentwood entered the inning trailing by 5. After a P Doug Schmidt single cut the deficit to 1, up comes Capt SS Shawn Thompson (3-4, 2R, 3RBI) with 2-out and the winning run on second.  Thompson rips one down the 3B line over the bag for what he thinks is the game winner but, two steps out of the box, he hears ‘foul ball!”

Thompson celebrating just before the ‘foul ball’ call was made.

Seems Thompson’s grounder was indeed fair…

After a brief ‘discussion’, Thompson was called back to the box and promptly popped out to end the inning.  Schmidt then worked a 1-2-3 8^th to set up Hess for his heroics.  

Kingz Skipper Sean Foley alone in the dugout after the loss to Brentwood.

Downtown smacked DYR, 9-3 thanks to a 7-run top of the 6^th sparked by 2B Dave Savage’s (2-4, 2B, 2RBI) bases loaded 1-out double to RF.  Professional hitter OF Scott Burke (3-4, 2B, 3R) followed with a double of his own to push the lead to 5 while SS John Drohan’s (3-4, 3B, 2R) third hit of the night in the 7^th provided the 6-run cushion.  P Mike ‘Smoltz’ Adams twirled a gem giving up just 6 hits and 2 ER in the win. DYR will undergo a major line up shift to try and jumpstart the offense.  P Justin Lessard is currently sipping steak through a straw and is doubtful for Sunday’s contest.  Leading off in the 1^st, Lessard hit a grounder to SS and the throw to 1B sailed a bit and hit Lessard in the cheek as he crossed the bag.  Lessard, ever the warrior, stayed in the game and pitched well enough to win.

DYR P Justin Lessard, asking if there is any swelling where he got hit.

DYR’s struggles at the plate Sunday night are captured in the above photo..

GAME OF THE WEEK for WK #7 (6/2/24))

Dalton Rd (5-1) vs. Kampersal (6-0) at Patoma 6pm

• Can Dalton’s lefty’s shine in the friendly confines of Potoma?
• Kampersal hitters use all fields so, the short porch in RF will have an impact on the outcome.
• Can Dalton prevent the late, big inning that has been Kampersal ‘MO’ these last few weeks?

*Prediction: Kampersal 19 Dalton Rd 13

’24 Record (3-2)

Division A Standings through 27 May

Position	Team	Won	Lost	Tied	Pct	Runs For	Runs Against	Opp Wins
1	Kampersal	6	0	0	1.000	110	43	15
2	Braggville	6	0	0	1.000	77	34	14
3	Dalton Road	5	1	0	0.833	75	48	10
4	Johnson North	3	3	0	0.500	65	73	5
5	South	3	3	0	0.500	56	54	8
6	Downtown	2	4	0	0.333	61	72	3
7	DYR	2	4	0	0.333	71	66	4
8	Jasper Rock	1	5	0	0.167	38	67	3

Division B Standings through 27 May

Position	Team	Won	Lost	Tied	Pct	Runs For	Runs Against	Opp Wins
1	Mudville	4	2	0	0.667	76	56	5
2	Anthony’s East	3	3	0	0.500	77	60	6
3	Kingz	3	3	0	0.500	62	72	7
4	The Hood	2	4	0	0.333	57	86	2
5	Lions	1	5	0	0.167	53	73	3
6	Brentwood	1	5	0	0.167	33	107	3