Mother Nature smiled on us this weekend as we were able to get the Regular Season Championship and the Play-in-Game in on Sunday.
First for the Play-in-Game AKA the battle to not wear the Pink Shirts, it was the battle of the Marc’s, Team Brafman vs. Team Simons.
Mark Simons for the winners:
Sunday Mornings Play-in-Game took place on Sunday August 16th in muggy conditions between team Simons and Brafman. Team Brafman lost the coin flip and team Simons selected last licks, the home team. Team Brafman drew first blood with some good hitting in the first inning. Team Simons responded in the 3rd with 7 runs, which team Brafman matched and they went into extra innings. Neither team could pull away until the top of the 9th when team Brafman unloaded on team Simons for 3 runs, making the score 12-9 going into the bottom of the 9th. Team Simons chipped away, one run at a time until there were two outs and they were down 12-11. Jamie Kurtzer decided he was fed up with various shenanigans and sprayed a liner over the right fielders head. One run scored, and Dan Bernstein came around 3rd for the winning run to seal the game at 13-12. Capt. Brafman would like to add that Joel “Hallelujah” Buckley had a great day at 2nd base and at the plate, Michael Askin made every play in the field and was terrific at the plate and a special thanks to David “Slim Shady” Wertheim for subbing.
Capt. Brafman would like to thank all of his team for a fun season. While the season wasn’t what we wanted we always played hard and had a good time doing it. Let’s all wish Mark “The Purple Haze” Levine a speedy recovery on his knee surgery.
And on Field 2 it was Team AJ vs. Team Groh for the Championship Game.
AJ for the winners:
It was a great morning on Field 2 as Team Orange Crush defeated Team Groh 16-6 to capture the Regular Season Championship.
As has been the case all year, this was a true team victory with contributions from everyone throughout the lineup.
We came out swinging, scoring six runs in the first inning behind two hits from me, along with hits from Landon Hawkins, Harry Meisner, Ryan Small, Eric Zied, Todd Wasserman, and Ian Conwell.
From there, our defense really took over after a small hiccup in the second inning. We were able to keep their dangerous lineup in check while continuing to add to our lead. In the second, Tyler Stansbury launched a home run over the fence, and in the fourth inning, a Harry Meisner triple followed by a Joel Fogel double helped extend our advantage.
Leading 9-6 entering the bottom of the fifth, the floodgates opened.
Tyler drove me in with an inside-the-park home run, and Harry followed with a back-to-back shot over the fence. Joel added a double, Ryan Small singled, Eric Zied drove in a run with a single, and Todd Wasserman followed with a two-run single. I then came up and singled home Zied to cap off the inning and secure the 16-6 run-rule victory in the fifth.
I’d also like to recognize a couple of teammates:
- Mike Gray once again sacrificed his body to make a key defensive play. He has been an absolute beast for us all season, and we appreciate the effort and toughness he brings every week.
- Todd Wasserman went 4-for-4 today and has consistently delivered for us all season, both at the plate and at first base.
I’m extremely proud of this team and everything we’ve accomplished together. We look forward to carrying this momentum into the tournament this week and continuing our success.
League Notes will return after the games this week.