MCSN: August 8, 2015

Setting the stage

Week 8 Recap

By Rob Tong

Thu, Aug 20, 2015

Reapers and the Ospreys pray before their game In the penultimate (hey, how often does one get to use the word 'penultimate'?) week of the regular season, teams were trying to outmuscle one another for better placement in the playoffs. All seeds were up for grabs, from No. 1 down to No. 11, and this week's games gave quite a bit of clarity. Let's get right to it.

8am game: In Focus Ospreys at LaSalle Mustard Seeds

You could say the early morning game was a game of two halves...if softball was conveniently split into two halves like football or basketball. But essentially, the In Focus Ospreys owned the first half of the game while the Mustard Seeds dictated the second half of the game. Fortunately for the Ospreys, their half was a bit better than the Seeds' half as In Focus triumphed with a 16-9 win.

"My team came out ready to play," Osprey manager Dan Cameron said. "We were able to kickstart the game with four runs and followed it up with two five-run innings and two one-run innings. Our bats were hot."

Not only were the In Focus bats hot, but their gloves weren't half bad either, shutting out LaSalle's team for the first three innings. The Ospreys sported a 9-0 lead after three innings and a 14-1 lead after four innings.

That's when the Seeds started to sprout. They outscored the Ospreys 8-2 in the final three innings but it wasn't enough to overcome the initial deficit.

In Focus finally sealed the deal after allowing the Seeds to score five runs in that unlimited final inning.

"Our left fielder, Andy Decker, was being given the run around in the bottom of the seventh and he was having a hard time catching the balls," Cameron said. "With two outs, one of the Mustard Seeds hits a fly ball right to him in left and he was able to make the catch and end the game. Right after he catches the ball and people begin running in, with a huge grin on his face, he spikes the ball in victory! We were all grateful that he was able to make the catch!"

The Bird is the word as the win moves the Ospreys to 3-4-1 while the Seeds fall to 3-5.

9am game: Covenant at Fellowship Of The Ring

You could say the 9am game was the marquee game of the season as mighty Covenant squared off against the undefeated Fellowship Of The Ring. But given the final result, you'd have to say that if you paid to see this fight, you'd demand a refund, as Covenant manhandled the shorthanded Fellowship 17-5. Playing without star shortstop Robert Martinez for the fourth straight game finally caught up to the Rings of fire.

The game actually wasn't a blowout until the end. "Great game between Fellowship Of The Ring," Covenant co-manager Bryan Beeh said. "The game was very close going into the fifth."

Both teams pitched strong, with neither team scoring in the first inning. Covenant's Ovi Tisler blasted a three-run shot over the fence after the team had already scored three to punch six in the second inning but Gang Green clawed back with three runs in the next two innings to stay in shouting distance, 6-3 after three innings. After another scoreless inning in the fourth, Covenant struck with three runs to take a 9-3 lead. Given the Fellowship's No. 1 offense, such a deficit wasn't insurmountable though no one would disagree with Beeh that it gave Covenant "some breathing room."

Covenant pitcher Nick Ploegstra, however, made it hold up, shutting out the Rings for two more innings, the first time all season that the Fellowship did not score in three consecutive innings. Covenant then iced the game with an emphatic eight runs in the final inning to put Covenant up 17-3. "The seventh inning was the best inning of softball Covenant has had all season," Beeh said. "12 people went to the plate and all nine players got a hit."

Covenant's Jason Folkerts was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and had several stellar plays at third base. Ethan Simmena went 4-for-5. Every Covenantal player got a hit and nearly every player got an RBI. Meanwhile, the Rings only mustered a meager nine hits. The old addage that defense trumps offense held true today, as Covenant's No. 1 defense stopped the Fellowship offense.

An additional measure of satisfaction for Ovi Tisler came in the fact that his team was able to end the Fellowship's run at an undefeated season. As a result, Tisler's 2008 Emoticons team remains the only undefeated team in league history.

The win puts Covenant at 7-1 while the Rings drop to 8-1.

10am game: FROG at Holy Walkamolies

Another intriguing matchup also ended up not living up to the expectations as FROG cruised past the Walkamolies 15-5.

Somewhat similar to the script for the 9am game between Covenant and Fellowship, the game was close early. FROG jumped out to a five-spot in the first inning and shut out the Holy team for the first two innings. But after allowing another run in the top of the third inning, the Walkamolies tallied four to make it a 6-4 ballgame through three innings. But that's when FROG hopped to it.

FROG outscored the Walkamolies 9-1 the rest of the way, led by Emilio Mendez, Juan Cruz, William Tassone and Joshua Pagan each reaching base three times, while Jesus Leon was a perfect 3-for-3. Every FROG got a hit and their defense was solid too, holding David Cho, Tim Kurtz and Steve Portokalis to a combined .417 average on the day.

“The seventh inning was the best inning of softball Covenant has had all season.”

- Covenant's Bryan Beeh on scoring eight runs against the Fellowship

FROG improved to 5-2 while dropping the Walkamolies to 3-4-1.

11am game, Clarendon: Team America at Flames

Something had to give.

The league's two teams still in search of a win duked it out to see who would still be searching at the end of the game. And Team America took all the suspense out of this game early, coasting to a 14-3 win over the upstart Flames.

Dan Untch proved to be an effective leadoff hitter for Team Blue, going 4-for-5 with four RBI to get things started. Team America shot out to an 8-0 lead by the middle of the third inning. The Flames responded with three runs in the bottom of the third to make it a respectable 8-3 lead, thanks in part to the Flames' own leadoff hitter Rachel Anderson, who ended up 2-for-3 on the day.

But the Americans weren't fazed, scoring six more runs over the final three innings while dousing the Flames offense to secure the win.

Elbert Whitfield and Daniel Klingenberg each went 2-for-3 and some random dude named Jack also chipped in with two hits for the Flames. For the Harvest team, Josh Patterson and George Birkenstock were a combined six-for-six with five RBIs. Liz Eidem, Alexandra Piatt and Julie Ciesla each contributed a hit.

Team America is now 1-7; the Flames, who are on bye next week, end their regular season at 0-9. The Flames join the 2009 Mt. Sinai Sluggers and the 2014 Fruit Of The Spirit as the only winless teams in league history, though if it's any consolation, at 0-9 the Flames are a half-game better than both those 0-10 teams.

11am game, alternate field: Dugout Donuts at FROG

The Donuts knew ahead of time they would only be able to field four of its own players, so they gave advance notice of the forfeit. This gave FROG a default 7-0 win, bumping them to a 6-2 record, while the Donuts dropped to 5-2.

12pm game: Dugout Donuts at Reapers

Needless to say, the Donuts had to forfeit this one too, giving the Reapers their easiest win of the season. The Reapers are now 5-3 while the Donuts are a tough-luck (or tough-blessing) 5-3.

Looking ahead

With one last slate of games to go in the regular season, all the seeds (no, not the Mustard version) are still in play except for the #11 seed.

At 8am, Holy Walkamolies battle the Dugout Donuts.

At 9am, the Fellowship Of The Ring take on the Mustard Seeds.

The Reapers and FROG duke it out at 10am.

The 11am game features Covenant vs. Team America.

And the noon game pits the In Focus Ospreys against Caravan.

Who takes what seed? Tune in next week!