Westford Over-30 Slow-Pitch Softball

In the end, Shortcut Landscaping could not defend against the relentless Nashoba Valley Veterinarian Mustangs attack, losing to the reigning champs in the semifinal round three games to one. 

Meanwhile, Willis Tent and Floral Arts find themselves tied, 2-2, in the best-of-five semifinal series. The winner will play the Mustangs in the final round, also a best-of-five scenario. 

Tuesday, September 1

Floral Arts 23 – Willis Tent 9

Floral Arts scored 16 runs in the first inning and then seven more in the second inning to go up 19-3. Willis’ Rob Swinamer accounted for the first three Willis runs with a solo shot and a two-run homer. Floral’s Roger Whittlesey, Mark Chambers, Simon Tripp, and Jim Peloquin homered in the game. Willis made an attempt at a comeback but fell short in the bottom of the seventh, scoring six runs, including a home run by Brian Gallardo. Willis’ Rick Devanna went 2-for-3 with a double and a single. 

Nashoba Valley Veterinarian Mustangs 14 – Shortcut Landscaping 11

Jack Erickson’s walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning completed the Mustang comeback from seven runs down in the last two innings of the pivotal game three, giving the Mustangs a 2-1 series lead. Erickson (3-for-4, GS, 6 RBI), was assisted offensively by Bill Knute (3-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 3 RS), Don Cusano (2-for-2, HR, 2 BB, 4 RS), and Cormac Bordes (solo HR). Mike Kennedy played outstanding defense at third base, while Knute ran down everything hit his way in left field. 

Wednesday, September 3

Willis Tent 14 – Floral Arts 12

It was do-or-die for Willis Tent, a team that entered the game with confidence and then executed throughout the game on offense and defense, thwarting Floral’s sixth-inning comeback attempt, and then adding to the lead in the following at-bat. The win tied Willis and Floral at two wins apiece. Willis’ Brian Gallardo had a big game for the men in green, knocking in six and swatting two homers, including a late-game grand slam. Kevin Adolph was 3-for-4, Dennis Kane was 2-for-3 with a homer and 2 RBI, and Andrew Metters, Jeff Briggs, Keith Wauters, and Steve Damiani each went 2-for-3. Floral’s Ken Delaney hit two homers, and Simon Tripp made several outstanding running catches in right field. 

Nashoba Valley Veterinarian Mustangs 18 – Shortcut Landscaping 8

The Mustangs clinched the hard-fought series, 3-1, over a much-improved Shortcut squad. Don Cusano (3-for-3, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 4 RS) led both on the mound and at bat. Jack Erickson (4-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 RS), Bill Knute (3-for-4, HR, 1 RBI, 3 RS), and Paul Selfrige (2H, HR, 2 RBI, 2 RS) were the other offensive standouts of the game. Mark Cusano and Dan Crogan were solid on the right side of the infield, while catcher Jay Dolan made the play of the game in the last inning, backing up first base and catching an over-thrown ball before tagging out the runner as he headed for second base. 

It’s Westford’s Little Bandbox.  The dimensions at the VFW Field on Prescott Street are smaller than a typical softball field—most slow pitch softball fields require a hitter to bash the ball more than 300 feet to knock it over the fence. At the VFW Field, it’s only 240 feet to the left field fence, about 250 feet to straightaway center, and only 220 feet to right. About fifteen years ago, the town added a second tier to the fencing in left, but center field and right field fences are still the original eight feet of chain-link. 

To adjust for the small physical dimensions of the field, the Westford Over 30 Men’s Slow Pitch Softball League uses bats and balls that are designed (balls are flight-restricted and bats are single walled) to make the park play like one with more typical larger dimensions. 

To hit a ball out of VFW using the league equipment, you have to hit the ball just right and with a great deal of power. Home runs don’t come easy. Case and point: one team this season combined to club only 15 home runs!

Still there is a select group of power hitters who year-in and year-out continue to pound the ball over the fence in bunches. The Nashoba Valley Veterinarian Mustangs Don Cusano is one of those players. He led the league with 23 home runs in 2014. This year, he hit even more.

Below is a list of the elite power hitters of the 2015 season.

1.                    Don Cusano: The 56-year-old is the most dangerous power hitter in the league. His teammates call him “Donny-matic,” a pun on the word automatic because he is so reliably productive at the plate. Cusano dominated this season, hitting 27 home runs and knocking in 90 RBI in 21 games. 

2.                    Thanh Nguyen: He’s known across the league as simply “T.” Nguyen is a five-tool player who hits some of the longest home runs in the league for team GutCheck. Opposing pitchers fear him and often pitch around him—Nguyen walked 15 times this season. Nevertheless, he managed to blast 20 homers and amass 49 RBI.

3.                    Simon Tripp: Ever since Tripp joined the league in 2009, he has been a perennial power hitter, his best year coming in 2013, when he hit 23 home runs and knocked in 82. This year the Floral Arts cleanup hitter swatted 18 round-trippers and tallied 53 RBI. 

4.                    Billy Knute: The Mustang lefty is an excellent athlete, both defensively as the starting left fielder and offensively as the cleanup hitter. This year, mid-season, Knute went on a tear and hit seven home runs in nine at-bats. He finished the season with 17 home runs. 

5.                    Jason Humphrey: Now in his third year on Shortcut Landscaping, Humphrey, an English teacher and baseball coach at Westford Academy, is one of the top defensive shortstops in the league. Always a solid hitter, this season the ball jumped off of his bat. In a game in July, he hit four home runs in one game. Humphrey finished the regular season with 15 long balls.

6.                    Jim Peloquin, Brian Gallardo, Mike Gross, Dave Sullivan & Brent Oakleaf: Once an all-star shortstop at UMass-Lowell, Peloquin still has great range in the field and a relentless competitive spirit. Despite starting the season way off of his 2014 home run pace that produced 20 home runs, the Floral Arts shortstop still impressed at the plate, knocking out 14 home runs in only 43 at-bats. 

Willis Tent’s Brian Gallardo made a splash in his rookie season. The left-handed batter hit .708, used his great speed to leg-out eight doubles, and swatted 14 home runs in 48 at-bats for his third place team. 

Pound-for-pound, Shortcut Landscaping is the biggest team in the league—a team peopled by giants. It is no wonder that nearly half of the names on this list are from SCL, including the following three: 

Mike Gross is a stocky first baseman with a big personality. Grossy, as his friends call him, also carried a big stick this season, banging out 14 home runs. 

Gross’ teammate, Dave Sullivan, is a fleet-footed outfielder and all-around athlete. Sullivan is known for turning singles into doubles with his all-out hustle and exceptional speed, but his bat also has a lot of pop. Sullivan hit 14 home runs this season. 

Brent Oakleaf is the tallest of the SCL giants—standing at 6 feet, 5 inches. A basketball player at UMass-Lowell in his college days, Oakleaf now spends his summer evenings launching rockets out over the left-field fence. Oakleaf also hit 14 home runs for his fourth place team.

11.         Matt Sepe: Most lists end at ten, but here’s one more. Sepe moves slowly, but carries a big stick. His GutCheck teammates joke that the righty’s motivation for hitting home runs is so that he can trot around—rather than run—the bases. Sepe hit 13 home runs in 13 games this year (50 at-bats) and knocked in 36. His power-stroke was key in getting his team in the playoffs for the first time. 

With Wednesday night's results, the Westford Over-30 Softball League is down a single game per night until a champion is crowned.

The defending champions earned the right to defend their title.  With an 18-8 win, the Mustangs defeated Short Cut Landscaping and moved on to the Finals, clinching the series 3 games to 1.

But their opponent is still to be determined.  Willis Tent pulled out a clutch 14-12 win to defeat Floral Arts, tying the series at 2 games apiece and forcing a Game 5 on Tuesday, September 8th, at 7 PM.

The winner of this game will take on the Mustangs the following night as the Finals are scheduled to open on Wednesday night, Septemeber 9th, at 7 PM.  This best of 5 series will determine the 2015 champion.

The First Week of Playoffs:  There are only four teams left. Willis Tent and Shortcut Landscaping swept their opponents in the first round of the playoffs this week. Willis Tent powered by Drew Farms by a combined scored of 38-8, while Shortcut Landscaping won a close one against GutCheck before taking the second game of the series by a large margin. Willis and Floral Arts are now tied 1-1 in the best-of-five second round, while reigning champs Nashoba Valley Veterinarian Mustangs are 1-1 against Shortcut Landscaping.

First Round of the Playoffs

Willis Tent 26 - Drew Farms 5 Willis’ Rob Swinamer pitching, the strong defense behind him, and a productive offense were the key contributors in the the 26-5 win over Drew Farms in Game One of the first round of playoffs on Sunday. Willis powered past Drew Farms, scoring five runs in the first while holding Drews to only one run. Willis Tent led 8-3 heading into the fourth inning and then put the “pedal to the metal” from then on. Swinamer went 5-for-5 with four singles, a HR, and 5 RBI, Brian Gallardo was 4-for-5 with two singles, 2 HR and 6 RBI, Dennis Kane went 4-for-5 with two singles and two doubles, Dave Harrington was 4-for 5 with three singles and a double, Andrew Metters had a 3-for-4 night with three singles and 3 RBI, Jeff Briggs was 3-fo-5 with two singles and a double, and John Duffy went 3-for-5 with three singles and 2 RBI.

Willis Tent 12- Drew Farms 3 Willis Tent earned a trip to the second round of the playoffs by sweeping the best-of-three series against Drew Farms, winning Game Two, 12-3. Willis scored once in the first and three times every inning thereafter through the sixth inning. Brian Gallardo went 3-for-4 with a triple and 2 HR, Rick Devanna was 3-for-4 with two singles and a double, Jeff Briggs was 3-for-4 with two singles and a double, Rob Swinamer went 3-for-4 night with three singles, Dennis Kane was 2-for-4 with two HR, and Andrew Metters was 2-for-4 with two doubles. Also helping to set up the win were Keith Wauters, Paul Duato, Steve Damiani and John Duffy, each went 2-for-4 with two singles. Drew Farms’ Todd Shepherd was strong in the series, hitting three home runs in five at-bats.

Shortcut Landscaping 15 - GutCheck 14 SCL got off to a big 15-4 lead on the power of home runs by Rob Prendergast , Jason Humphrey, and Mike Gross. But GutCheck bounced back with five runs in the sixth and four in the seventh to almost come from behind.

Shortcut Landscaping 20 – Gutcheck 10 Rich Acabbo led the way for SCL with two long home runs and a wall ball double, good for seven RBI. Pat Flaherty and Chris Smith also hit two-run homers. Chris Clark and Jason Humphrey played solid defense to limit GutCheck’s scoring chances.

Second Round of the Playoffs 

Nashoba Valley Veterinarian Mustangs 17 – Shortcut Landscaping 5 The Mustangs jumped out to quick lead and then coasted. SCL never posed any threat. SCL’s Jason Humphrey and Chris Smith each drove in two runs.

Shortcut Landscaping 11 – Nashoba Valley Veterinarian Mustangs 4 SCL’s Dave Sullivan led off the bottom first with a home run to give SCL a 1-0 edge, then Mustangs went up 4-1 on a three-run homer by Don Cusano and a solo HR by Mark Cusano. In the fourth inning SCL got two-run home runs from Chris Clark and Rich Acabbo to go up 5-4, and in sixth inning SCL put up six runs, as Brent Oakleaf knocked in three on a homer, and Chris Clark hit a solo shot. The series is now tied 1-1.

Floral Arts 20 - Willis Tent 8 Floral Arts hit four home runs in the contest (Simon Tripp, Rob Beaudette, Jim Peloquin, and Mark Chambers each homered), but the majority of the runs scored came as the result of timely hitting throughout the lineup. Larry Mardany pitched well for Floral Arts.

Willis Tent 21 – Floral Arts 7 Floral Arts built a 6-run lead through four innings, and solid pitching and defense kept Willis Tent from scoring, but then Willis Tent erupted for 16 runs in the fifth inning and then five more in the sixth, creating a deficit that Floral Arts could not overcome. Rob Swinamer hit two deep home runs for Willis Tent. Dennis Kane also homered. Willis made some excellent plays in the field, especially at third base. Tom Semeter and Simon Tripp homered for Floral in the loss. The series is now tied 1-1.

With convincing victories, both Short Cut Landscaping and Willis Tent completed first round sweeps on Wednesday night to move on to round two.  SCL defeated Gutcheck 20-10 to win their series 2 games to none.  Shortly thereafter, Willis Tent defeated Drew Farms 13-3 to also complete a two game sweep.

Round Two, which is best 3 of 5 games, will begin on Friday night with defending Champion Mustangs taking on SCL followed by Floral Arts taking on Willis Tent.