MCSN: Aug 17, 2013

Surprise Party

Week 8/First-Round Playoff Recap

By Bill Van Tuinen

Thur, Aug 22, 2013

3:16 Mafia's Keshia Richardson continued to shut down down MCSN offenses This week marked the finale of the regular season and the first week of playoffs in MCSN.

In the day's opening game, Witness played host to the hard-luck Orange Crush. The Crush were playing without top hitters Erik Summers and David Zuperku but still managed to score an 18-14 victory against the league's first-place team.

In a meaningless game, perhaps manager Rob Tong held back on his full repertoire of managerial tactics? [Editor's note: Don't tell Tong that the game was meaningless, though, after he crashed into a tree chasing a deep ball that was Crushed. Spinning helicopter-style to the ground after the collision, Tong still had the presence of mind to get up and retrieve the ball to start a relay with Robert Martinez and Dennis Diaz that nailed the batter at the plate to prevent a home run.

[Crush manager Tim Kurtz unleashed a season's worth of frustration by hitting his first career over-the-fence home-run. He wasn't the only one, though, as batter after batter slammed balls at or near the outfield fence, causing Witness outfielder Nate Arnett to wonder if the balls were juiced or the suddenly buff-looking Crush hitters.

[Even still, Witness, who also was playing without a couple top players, had a one-run lead going into the bottom of the sixth (and final) inning, but the Orange Crush snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with more impressive hitting.]

The regular-season finale pitted Cross The Bases against the Killer Beehs with three different teams' seeding on the line. A victory by the Bases would "Lock" up second place and an automatic bye, while a big loss would push them down to fourth and let 3:16 Mafia move into second.

The Beehs play their best with their backs against the wall and they came through in the clutch again with a 13-2 victory over the suddenly hapless Bases. Jeremy Huntington hit his second over-the-fence home-run of the season.

“Mafia vs. Beehs could be the game of the season.”

- Witness' Rob Tong said of this Saturday's upcoming playoff matchup

Ironically, the now fourth-seeded Bases still secured a bye due to Orange Crush's inability to field eight players only an hour after having beaten Witness. Thus, the Bases advanced to the semi-finals where they will face the regular-season champs, Witness.

In the other quarterfinal matchup, the #3 seed Beehs continued their solid play with a 22-6 roasting of the Roosters in which they pounded out 30 hits and scored in every inning. The Roosters were again a bit short-handed due to the absence of Les Carter among others, but were at least able to field nine people for the game.

Looking ahead to Championship Saturday, the morning will start with 3:16 Mafia hoping to be less-than-gracious hosts to the Killer Beehs. The teams split their games in the regular season and both teams have consecutive victories by double-digit run totals. In a strange twist, the other semi-final (Bases vs. Witness) will pit two teams coming off losses (excluding the Bases' forfeit playoff victory).

"The Mafia vs. the Beehs playoff game could be the game of the season," Tong predicted. "Both those teams have been torching the ball in recent games so it should be quite an entertaining slugfest for fans."