Senior Softball: The Speakeasy, Salty Dog, American Legion crowned divisional champions

The 2018 Divisional Champions were determined this past week. The Speakeasy won the Island Division, Salty Dog won the Marco Division and American Legion Post 404 won the Gulf Coast Division. Both The Speakeasy and Salty Dog won their respective divisions by a two-game margin. The American Legion clinched the Gulf Coast with three games still to be played.

The 2018 Tournament portion of the season began in the both the Island and Marco Divisions. To follow the progress of the Tournament or view the schedule of games, visit marcoseniorsoftballleague.com.

MARCO DIVISION

Salty Dog, 14; Mango’s, 13

The game was for the Marco Divisional Championship and it took extra innings to finally determine the winner. Both teams gave everything they had to give; it was tied at 11-11 after seven innings. In the top of the eighth, Mango’s scored two runs only to see the Salty Dog come back and score three in the bottom of the ninth with Larry Wildes driving in the winning run for the win and championship. Bob Traver and Ralph Leiterding nailed three hits for the Dogs with Gary Grefer, Pat Comerford, George Lancaster, Pat Romzek, Joe Cervelli and Jan Grossman having two. Comerford and Romzek hammered a homerun and Cervelli a triple. Comerford, Romzek and Cervelli had two RBIs. Warren Uhl pounded the ball for four hits for Mango’s; Tom Parker, Brian Maguire and Leon Schmitt had three; and Jim Battye, Ed Caster and Tom Grucci had two. Caster Uhl and Jim White chased in two runs.

Stonewalls, 19; Crazy Flamingo’s, 12

Doug Stang, Rick Carson and Jerry Cnudde had four hits for Stonewalls, which included Stang rocketing two homeruns in the game. Team member Randy Morrison had three hits; Gary Swink, Dave Coward, Jon Wood and Bob Smith had two. Stang assembled seven RBIs; Swink four; and Morrison and Wood two. Butch Coursen had four hits for Flamingo’s; Bob Stried had three; Tom Purtell, Mario Lucca, Mark Waks, Joe Furst and John Hollerbach had two, with Waks hoisting a homerun. Coursen and Furst had three RBIs, and Waks had two.

CJ’s on the Bay, 12; Joey’s Pizza, 11

CJ’s edged the Pizza boys for the win scoring the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning breaking an 11-11 tie. Bill DiNeno, who had three hits, drove in the winning run. Doug Kemp, who had two hits, cracked a triple and had three RBIs. DiNeno had four. Steve Clark drilled three hits for Joey’s while Jim Baumann had two. Bauman had four RBIs and Denny Davis had two.                        

TOURNAMENT GAMES MARCO DIVISION

CJ’s on the Bay, 25; Stonewalls, 21       

In the first game of the Tournament it was a slug fest with CJ’s on the Bay outlasting Stonewalls. Winning pitcher Larry Anspach and Randy Wesolowski nailed four hits; teammates Doug Kemp, Bill DiNeno, Ed Kopecky and Paul Womack had three; and Chet Dal Bianco, Ray Niemeyer and Fred Kramer had two. Kemp, who belted a homerun, and Kopecky chased in four runs; Anspach three; and Dal Bianco, Niemeyer, Kramer and Don Schwartz two. Bill Kayhart ripped five hits for Stonewalls; Gary Swink three; and Randy Morrison, Doug Stang and Dick Carson two. Carson and Bob Smith launched a homerun with Smith’s being a grand slam. Smith tallied six RBIs; Roger Fleming three; and Kayhart, Carson and John Wood two.

Crazy Flamingo’s, 19; Joey’s Pizza, 8     

Flamingo’s slammed four homeruns in its win over Joey’s; Mark Waks, Butch Coursen, Robert Stried and Don Rooksberry each delivered a lethal blow. Stried, Joe Furst and Frank Dooley had three hits, with Rich Larkin mashing a triple. Waks, Rooksberry, Dooley and Bob Levasseur had three RBIs; Coursen and Stried had two. Joey’s had Joe Barry, Paul Vorwick, Nick Brooks, Jim Baumann and Jim Green with two hits. Vorwick walloped two homeruns for his hits and Brooks crushed a triple for one of his two. Vorwick picked up four RBIs and Baumann two.

GULF COAST DIVISION

Doreen’s, 19; Moose Lodge, 15

Denny Lello and John Ranieri punched out four hits for Doreen’s; Jerry Lenhoff, Butch Monson, Ed Dreyfus and Bill Moors three. Lello and Monson launched a homerun with Monson having five RBIs in the game; Lello, Lenhoff, Ranieri, Dreyfus and Bob Grimm two. Moose had Gary Badger, Jerry Kratz and Leroy Fishleigh with three hits. Tom Patterson, Dan O’Sullivan, Joe Callahan and Jim Adams all had two RBIs in the loss.

American Legion, 20; Moose Lodge, 19

With the win the American Legion clinched the Gulf Coast Divisional Championship. The American Legion made the most out of eight walks and three hits from John Ranieri and Al Bozzo, along with two hits from Bill Dauch, Dave Banghart, Alan Schneider and Rick Condle to edge out the Moose. Dauch and Banghart cracked a triple in the game. Dauch ended up with four RBIs; Bozzo, Schneider, John Gill and Mick Keller two. Gary Badger and Dan O’Sullivan punished the ball for four hits for the Moose; Joe Callahan, Jerry Kratz, Leroy Fishleigh and Jim Adams had three hits; and Tom Patterson and Dan Cody had two. Badger hit for the cycle having a homerun, triple, double and a single. Besides Badger, O’Sullivan and Kratz each walloped a homerun. Badger drove in five runs; O’Sullivan and Kratz three; and Fishleigh and Dick DeAnna two. 

Doreen’s, 20; American Legion, 5 

Doreen’s ended the game on the mercy rule against the Gulf Coast Division Champions after six innings. Dick DeAnna, John Ranieri, Ed Dreyfus and Ray Malone each zinged three hits; Butch Monson and Bill Moors two. Monson whacked a homerun and a triple, with DeAnna and Moors also recording a triple. Monson had five RBIs; Malone and Denny Lello had three; and Ranieri had two. Mick Keller and John Gill had two hits for the American Legion with Rick Condle thumping a triple. Condle had three RBIs and Keller had two.

ISLAND DIVISION

The Speakeasy, 14; Nacho Mama’s, 11

The Speakeasy knocked off second place Nacho’s to become the 2018 Island Division Champions. Bob Williams and Mike Shone had three hits for The Speakeasy with Andre Paquette smashing a triple. Dan Marinelli chased in three runs in the win; Williams, Paquette, Tom Buettner and Tom Angelo had two. Gary Revall and Tom Polston ripped four hits for Nacho’s and Steve Hummel had three. Revall, Polston and Jim Stewart had two RBIs in the regular season finale for Nacho’s.

Mutual of Omaha Bank, 20; Sand Bar, 5

The Bank ended the game after seven innings due to the mercy rule. Rick DiStasio, John Gross and Pete Oellrich had three hits. Griffith, Bill Thompson and Ed Kingsbury each delivered a triple. Joe Rocco had four RBIs; Thompson had three; and Gross and Dean Stone had two. Lou Marinaccio and Dan Dumbauld had three hits for Sand Bar with Marinaccio having two RBIs.

Brewery, 28; DaVinci’s, 27

It was final game in the Island Division regular season and the wildest one.  The Brewery was down by 10 runs going into the last inning and came back to tie the score and send it into extra innings. DaVinci’s scored two in the top of the 10th only see Jeff Hultgren unleash an opposite triple to drive in the winning run in bottom of the 10th. The Brewery’s Mike Schwab stung the ball for five hits. Jim Ramage hit for the cycle with his fours hits having a homerun, triple, double and single. Teammates George Grygorcewicz, Paul Shelton, and Bill Wright had three hits with Grygorcewicz hoisting a homerun. Ramage and John Haskins plated four runs; Hultgren, Wright and Frank Tedesco three; and Grygorcewicz and Shelton two. Craig Cunningham smoked the ball for five hits for DaVinci’s. Tom Pugh, Dan Gulick and Gary LaMotte had three hits. LaMotte blasted a homerun, and Ralph Sieja and Lou Marinaccio both hit a triple. LaMotte accumulated five RBIs; Sieja and Cunningham four; John Barrett and Mike Endelman three; and Gulick and Rob Mann two.

TOURNAMENT GAMES ISLAND DIVISION

Mutual of Omaha Bank, 17; Brewery, 11

Rich Krumholz and Tom Bishard blistered the ball for four hits while Jon Wiseman and Bill Shurina had three for the Bank. Joe Rocco drove in four runs; Krumholz and Bill Thompson three; and Herman Griffith and Ed Kingsbury two in the win. The Brewery had Jim Williams rip four hits and Tom Gazzillo blast a homerun. Paul Shelton had three RBIs and Gazzillo two.

Sand Bar, 18; DaVinci’s, 15

Sand Bar was down 12-3 before storming back with three consecutive five-run innings for the win. Wayne Bombaci and Don O’Connell pounded four hits to lead Sand Bar while Lou Marinaccio and Mike Garofalo contributed three. Marinaccio and O’Connell had three RBIs; Jeff Kaczka, Mike Endelman, Tom Whitlock and Charlie Lamb had two. DaVinci’s Dan Gulick had three, which included a booming homerun. Gulick, Craig Cunningham and Ralph Sieja chased in three runs; Tom Pugh and John Barrett two.

ISLAND DIVISION STANDINGS / Wins / Losses

Speakeasy ** / 16 /  6

Nacho Mama's / 14 / 8

Sand Bar / 14 / 8

Mutual of Omaha Bank / 12 / 10

Brewery / 6 / 16

DaVinci’s / 4 / 18

MARCO DIVISION STANDINGS / Wins / Losses

Salty Dog** / 16 / 6

Mango’s / 14 / 8

Crazy Flamingo’s / 12 / 9

Stonewalls / 11 / 10

CJ’s on the Bay / 9 / 13

Joey’s Pizza / 3 / 19

GULF COAST DIVISION STANDINGS / Wins / Losses

American Legion** / 11 / 4                  

Moose Lodge / 7 / 9

Doreen’s / 5 / 10

** Divisional Champion