GDS Coed Softball Leagues
coverage by Mike Loser
Week 6
Marlton League
Balls & Knockers vs. Hairy Koalas
Balls & Knockers kept themselves in 2nd place in the Marlton League with a 9-5 win over the Hairy Koalas. The Hairy Koalas did most of their damage in the first inning on a pair of bases loaded singles by Dennis Moffett & Beth Atkins. Beth was apparently having some break problems as she just kept running on a single by Anthony Bernato. Balls & Knockers got a run back in the bottom of the inning and would’ve cut the lead in half if it weren’t for Jason Hunt trying to round the bases with a piano on his back.
Both teams put up goose eggs in their half of the 2nd and the score remained 4-1 until the bottom of the 3rd. Ed Kuhn turned on the jets and led off the inning with a triple. He was quickly knocked in by a Brian Hill single who also scored in the inning to cut the Hairy Koalas’ lead to 1.
The Hairy Koalas stayed cold in the top of the 4th and Balls & Knockers took advantage of their cold streak and took the lead back with 2 runs in the bottom of the inning. Balls & Knockers looked to open up their lead in the bottom of the fifth and pitcher Brian Babineau did his best to put a stop to that with a great defensive play on the mound. His impressive glovework didn’t prove to be enough as Balls & Knockers scored 3 runs in the inning to open up their lead. It wasn’t til a sliding catch by Rhoys Coker aka Willy Mayes Hayes in left that Babineau and the Hairy Koalas got out of the inning.
The Hairy Koalas couldn’t cut into Balls & Knockers lead in their next to at-bats and the game finally ended on a rather impressive pop up by Patrick Wallace. For some reason, Brian Babineau of the Hairy Koalas received the game ball for his performance in the losing effort. Maybe it was to reward him for slightly less than average pitching performance, maybe it was for his outstanding catch in the field, or maybe it was just because he kept all of his clothes on this week.
Around the Marlton League: Hit & Run edged Sta-Green Turf Care 8-6 – either Sta-Green is getting better or Hit & Run is getting worse…only time will tell. PJ’s broke out of their funk with a 22-0 win over the Ball Busters – you couldn’t have picked a better team to play when you’re in the middle of a losing streak. We Got the Runs stayed perfect with a 12-1 win over the HK Bombers who apparently had the game time mixed up.
Hammonton League
Rabid Woodchucks vs. AC Strangers
The Rabid Woodchucks squeaked out a hard fought win over the AC Strangers for their first win of the season. This game was easily the best and most entertaining game I’ve seen all season with a back & forth battle that didn’t end until a walk off homerun in the bottom of the 7th.
The AC Strangers got on the board first with one run in the first inning. Pitcher Ray Ewing gave up back to back singles at which point he received some outstanding advice from left fielder Jeff Driscoll who told him “Hey Ray, try to get a guy out”. It almost worked but unfortunately, the AC Strangers scored before Ray took his advice and Juan Pino to ground out to end the inning. The Rabid Woodchucks fought right back in their turn at the plate as they got their first 2 batters on base off of pitcher Neil Wetzel. Neil got Phil Pirollo to pop up to catcher Carl Maglowski for the first out but one batter later, an error allowed the Rabid Woodchucks to tie the score. Neil apparently felt bad about making the Pirollo family look bad as he walked Phil’s better half to load the bases. He then got the next batter to pop up to end the inning with the scored tied 1-1.
Ray Ewing walked Milissa Lunser to start off the 2nd inning and was immediately heckled by Jeff Driscoll and Phil Pirollo also known as Jerry Lewis & Dean Martin – no one was off limits for these two. Chuck McClure came across the infield from his shortstop postion looking like Brian Dawkins intercepting a pass as he leapt in front of his 2nd baseman to catch a pop up for out #1. Ray settled down and got the next 2 batters to pop out as well. The Rabid Woodchucks’ couldn’t get any offense going in the bottom of the 2nd and the score remained 1-1.
Neil Wetzel beat out an infield single and scored on an RBI triple by Joe Wells which made up for his error in the previous inning. With his team down 1 run, Phil Pirollo cranked a 2 run double to take the lead right back for the Rabid Woodchucks. Chelon Ellis singled in Phil to put them up 2.
The AC Strangers went down in order as Cesar Morales robbed Mike Tomasella of a basehit, Joe Simko flied out to right and Dave Bartole flied out to deep left to end the inning. The Rabid Woodchucks put a few more on the board in the bottom of the 4th with 3 runs to give them a 5 run lead.
Juan Pino started things off with a single over the head of Chuck McClure who was promptly heckled by Phil & Jeff for being too short. Cesar Morales’ error allowed another baserunner and Tristan Bennett moved the baserunners over with the hardest swinging bunt in softball history. With runners on second and third, Elaine Piontkowski hit a groundball to Chelon Ellis at first who threw the ball across the diamond to Cesar Morales in plenty of time….if it was a force out. Unfortunately, he forgot to tag the runner and the bases were loaded. The AC Strangers only managed to get one run in the inning and the Rabid Woodchucks’ lead was looking like it might be big enough. In the bottom of the 5th, Neil Wetzel brushed back Sheri Pirollo who threatened to charge the mound. Thankfully, commissioner Jamie Connor was there to keep the peace and a crisis was averted. After things settled down, Neil got Sheri to pop up to end the inning.
The AC Strangers mounted a comeback in the top of the 6th inning which was started when Mike Tomasella came up huge with a 2 run double down the left field line to cut the Rabid Woodchucks lead in half. Joe Simko singled to score Mike Tomasella and make it a 1 run game. After Dave Bartole flied out to deep left field, Juan Pino singled to put men on first & third. Milissa Lunser then hit what looked to be an easy grounder to Cesar Morales who threw the ball over his first baseman’s head which lead to the tying run crossing the plate. Tristan Bennett then pulled off another swinging bunt to knock in the go ahead run. The Rabid Woodchucks came right back in the bottom of the inning as Jeff Driscoll singled and an dropped fly ball in the outfield gave Ray Ewing a chance to help himself- he took full advantage of the opportunity and stroked a 2 run double to take back the lead. Chuck McCure knocked in another run for insurance but the Rabid Woodchucks got greedy and got gunned at the plate by Dave Bartole for the 3rd out.
With a 10-8 lead, the Rabid Woodchucks brought in Cesar Morales to close things out. Carl Maglowski tomahawked a high pitch for an infield single and then pulled a Roger Dorn when he refused to come out for a pinch runner. The AC Strangers got another baserunner when Natalie Gimalski got on base thanks to another Cesar Morales error. I think we should just start calling errors “Cesars” from now on. Neil Wetzel came up with 2 on and no outs and worked a walk. A single by KC brought the AC Strangers within 1 and then a Joe Wells sac fly tied the game. With a chance to take the lead, Cesar flashed some leather and robbed Mike Tomasella for the 2nd time in the game for the 3rd out. What happened next made this game an instant classic – Phil Pirollo walked to the plate with the game on the line and hit an opposite field walk off homerun to end the game.
Around the Hammonton League: The Golden Nugget apparently left their bats at home for the 3rd game in a row as they lost to Title America 19-1. The West End Warrior beat Prestige Worldwide to put themselves over the .500 mark. That’s What She Said won their first game of the day 16-10 over the Wet Beavers. Just Us gave I’ll Hit That a 17-2 spanking. ARH put up 21 in their win over That’s What She Said.
GDS Men's Basketball League
coverage by Mike Valenti
Week 6
Marlton League
Last second shot… Week 6 featured two games that were each decided by one point. In the early game OFF ALL NIGHT took on the 0-5 Team GHOST. I apologize that I don’t have the names of many of the players from Team GHOST to add to this article. It was fairly difficult to keep track of who was who being that they all wore different t-shirts and had numbers written in magic marker on their backs. I doubt that even Dick Tracy could have figured them out. The game started with each team trading baskets. Then Mike Loser from OFF ALL NIGHT had four close range shots toilet bowl out. Some believed that his shirt was affecting his ability to finish in the paint. I was told that Mike Loser recently switched shirts from his original which was cut off at the sleeves. Apparently teams were complaining that his shirt was revealing a little too much. For those of you who are trying to figure out what could have possibly caused this uproar I would advise you please reference the “Janet Jackson Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction.” Mike perhaps it is time to go back to the oldie but goodie regardless of what others think. Despite this distraction it wasn’t long before OFF ALL NIGHT opened up a 10 point lead behind the sharp shooting of middle aged man of the year nominee Chris Caprio. Don’t be fooled by his matured look or the baseball gravel stained sneakers, this guy can flat out shoot the rock. Meanwhile the scrappy play of Team GHOST enabled them to chip away at their deficit to bring them within 2 at the end of the first half 25-27.
The second half proved to be just as close as the first. This game was sure to be decided by the last possession. Nate “The Not So Friendly Ghost” Reedy was hitting just about everything he put up. Team GHOST took a 5 point lead with just under two minutes to play. OFF ALL NIGHT was able to close the gap to one on a three by Lee Minniti and a mid range jumper by Chad Hilliard. With less than 5 seconds remaining OFF ALL NIGHT rebounded the front end of a one and one. In an effort to catch Team GHOST with their sheets down, OFF ALL NIGHT neglected to call a time out and pushed the ball down the court. Chad Hilliard was met by two defenders and had to pass the ball off to team Captain Mike Valenti. The buzzer sounded and the shot went up. The shot would have been reviewed but it was actually no where close to going in. Team GHOST was led by Nate Reedy and his 23 points. In a losing effort Chad Hilliard scored 21. Needless to say Team GHOST picked up their first win of the season by upsetting and beating OFF ALL NIGHT 55-54.
In another inter-league game the Grizzle Bear Survivors looked to stay undefeated against Bro’s Before Ho’s. I would like to know if the Bro’s Before Ho’s team actually believes in their team name. Something tells me that their team name might not hold true at a bar at 1:30 am when a little something something approaches you. I usually am not concerned with my Bro’s whatsoever at that point. Now back to the game. Glory Days own Mark Denafo suggested at the start of the game that this could be a preview of this years championship. The first half featured several lead changes as both teams went back and forth each scoring tough baskets while playing good defense. Chris Hand from the Grizzle Bear Survivors owned the paint in the first half scoring at will. Keith Brown from BBH’s was quick to answer at the other end. At the end of the first half BBH’s led GBS 25–23.
Bro’s Before Ho’s came out on fire in the second half hitting three consecutive 3’s. Lou Russo responded with a three of his own finally finding his stroke from behind the arc. With ten minutes to play in the game GBS took a slight lead over BBH’s 39-38. Just when you thought GBS had taken the lead Justin Stribling answered with his own 10-0 run consisting of two 3’s and two dribble drives. BBH’s had regained the lead at 48-41 with seven minutes remaining. Rishawn Davis pulled GBS within three when he completed a behind the back opposite hand layup. Each team again traded baskets. Then Lou Russo hit yet another big three to pull GBS within three at 50-53. Chris Hand completed a dunk to put GBS ahead 54-53. However, it left plenty of time for Justin Stribling to dribble penetrate and score putting BBH’s back on top 55-54 with 31 seconds left. Justin came through in the clutch once again and hit two free throws to put BBH’s up 57-54. Chris Hand went coast to coast in all of 4 seconds to pull GBS within one. GBS would have one last chance at inbounding the ball from their own end but their desperation shot fell short as Bro’s Before Ho’s won this epic battle 57-56. GBS was led by Chris Hand who scored 14 and Mike Mullane who added 15. Bro’s Before Ho’s picked up the impressive win behind the play of Keith Brown who scored 15 and the player of the game Justin Stribling who added 17. GBS did add after the game that they were without their big man Sean Coffey, like the drink just not spelled the same. Ironically enough Bro’s Before Ho’s was without its Captain Tom Dickert who was unable to play due to a Mr. Deeds black foot… Maybe there will be a shot at redemption. Look for these two teams to match up at some point in the playoffs. Until next week…Arrivederci!
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