We have two weeks winding down to the end and already, the middle of the pack appears to be shifting. There are several deeply important double headers coming up this weekend. With so many upsets happening this Fall, the final count could be as unthinkable as most of the individual performances we’ve seen all year:
(8 – 2) Frozen Ropes at (7 – 3) Pelham Village Wine
The Ropes continue to play their game and take a bigger hold of the overall number 1 spot in the standings. Their two wins this past weekend were punctuated by stellar performances from Steve Yurchak, who started things off with 2 homeruns in the opener. He then hit another homerun in the bottom half and threw 3 no hit innings to grab the victory. Anthony Yurchak hit a homerun each game and tossed 4 shut out innings while striking out 10 for the opening win. Rocco Justice returned with a long ball of his own in Game 1. They head down to JHS 074 Saturday morning to meet their opponents from the Summer championship, the Pelham Village Wine. Pelham received 2 wins last weekend, putting them right back in the thick for the top spot. Game 1 and Game 2 were both thrown by AJ Romano, who finished logging 10 innings and getting 15 strikeouts for the 2 wins. In Game 2, Joe Battaglia mashed 2 homeruns while Randy Belfiore hit one of his own. These squads are fighting tooth and nail for the number 1 seed. They’ve seen each other in the Finals and now are looking forward to a big showdown for huge implications.
(3 – 7) Clippers at (4 – 6) Shadyville Sluggers
The Clippers needed at least one win this past weekend and received it after a home field split. Steve Chodan was all his group had offensively throughout most of the day as he drove in himself with a homerun in the opener and a triple in the bottom half. Thanks to Vinny Burns throwing 7 innings and only giving up 1 run, the bases loaded walk to Keith Chodan won them the second game, putting them in better position to make a run in the playoffs. They will now drive towards Pulaski Park in the Bronx Saturday to face the Sluggers. After their bye week, the Sluggers are looking forward to playing with their full squad and getting back into the thick of the division as they were before. They managed to receive a homerun in their opening game two weekends ago from Jay Nestrosio, then another from Jay in the second game along with 3 from Miguel Cabezas. They need to protect their court this Saturday morning against a group that has strung together 3 wins in their last 4 games to maintain a hold in the middle of the playoff bulge. Both sides need these wins badly. Who will come up with them can shift the entire scope of the bracket.
(3 – 9) Gashouse Gang at (3 – 9) Tornadoes
Gashouse had two games in their grasp this past weekend but were unable to get over the hump. They still received a 2 run shot from Sean O’Malley in the opener that put them in the lead for a while and 10 innings by Scott Almazan where he struck out 18 batters overall. They have one last week to put themselves in strong position against their old rivals, the Tornadoes, Saturday morning. The Tornadoes have been piling up the runs, but their pitching has been suspect throughout the course of the season. Last weekend, they managed a homerun by Steve Tomasik and a homerun by the hot hitting Evan Rivels to get themselves moving, but couldn’t answer with equally strong pitching performances. They are now fighting for their playoff lives with a team that is finishing up their season hoping to squeeze into the tight grouping themselves. It’s all or nothing for both squads this weekend.
(8 – 2) Frozen Ropes at (7 – 3) Pelham Village Wine
The Ropes continue to play their game and take a bigger hold of the overall number 1 spot in the standings. Their two wins this past weekend were punctuated by stellar performances from Steve Yurchak, who started things off with 2 homeruns in the opener. He then hit another homerun in the bottom half and threw 3 no hit innings to grab the victory. Anthony Yurchak hit a homerun each game and tossed 4 shut out innings while striking out 10 for the opening win. Rocco Justice returned with a long ball of his own in Game 1. They head down to JHS 074 Saturday morning to meet their opponents from the Summer championship, the Pelham Village Wine. Pelham received 2 wins last weekend, putting them right back in the thick for the top spot. Game 1 and Game 2 were both thrown by AJ Romano, who finished logging 10 innings and getting 15 strikeouts for the 2 wins. In Game 2, Joe Battaglia mashed 2 homeruns while Randy Belfiore hit one of his own. These squads are fighting tooth and nail for the number 1 seed. They’ve seen each other in the Finals and now are looking forward to a big showdown for huge implications.
(3 – 7) Clippers at (4 – 6) Shadyville Sluggers
The Clippers needed at least one win this past weekend and received it after a home field split. Steve Chodan was all his group had offensively throughout most of the day as he drove in himself with a homerun in the opener and a triple in the bottom half. Thanks to Vinny Burns throwing 7 innings and only giving up 1 run, the bases loaded walk to Keith Chodan won them the second game, putting them in better position to make a run in the playoffs. They will now drive towards Pulaski Park in the Bronx Saturday to face the Sluggers. After their bye week, the Sluggers are looking forward to playing with their full squad and getting back into the thick of the division as they were before. They managed to receive a homerun in their opening game two weekends ago from Jay Nestrosio, then another from Jay in the second game along with 3 from Miguel Cabezas. They need to protect their court this Saturday morning against a group that has strung together 3 wins in their last 4 games to maintain a hold in the middle of the playoff bulge. Both sides need these wins badly. Who will come up with them can shift the entire scope of the bracket.
(3 – 9) Gashouse Gang at (3 – 9) Tornadoes
Gashouse had two games in their grasp this past weekend but were unable to get over the hump. They still received a 2 run shot from Sean O’Malley in the opener that put them in the lead for a while and 10 innings by Scott Almazan where he struck out 18 batters overall. They have one last week to put themselves in strong position against their old rivals, the Tornadoes, Saturday morning. The Tornadoes have been piling up the runs, but their pitching has been suspect throughout the course of the season. Last weekend, they managed a homerun by Steve Tomasik and a homerun by the hot hitting Evan Rivels to get themselves moving, but couldn’t answer with equally strong pitching performances. They are now fighting for their playoff lives with a team that is finishing up their season hoping to squeeze into the tight grouping themselves. It’s all or nothing for both squads this weekend.