Announcement
With two-thirds of the season completed, the Mustangs remain on top with only one loss at 15-1. Floral Arts is also having a strong season and sits firmly in second place at 15-3. Short Cut Landscaping and Burton's Grill are 11-5 and 10-6 respectively and are in third and fourth place. Willis Tent at 9-6 is the only remaining team with a winning record and is in the fifth spot. The top seven teams earn a playoff berth and the final four teams are each firmly in contention for those two coveted positions. Important games this week include Healy Oil versus Drew Farms and again when Healy plays Pro Sports Therapy.
Floral Arts 16 - Pro Sports Therapy 12
Pro Sports Therapy battled hard and put a scare into second place powerhouse Floral Arts but the stronger team prevailed in the end. Matt Critch and Simon Tripp homered for the winners, who scored five runs in the fourth and six runs in the fifth to provide the margin of victory. Pro Sports used the long ball to score three runs in four separate innings including two home runs from Ryan Steele and one from Brian Dubey.
Nashoba Valley Mustangs 21 - Burton's Grill 7
Last week's Cy Young pitching for Burton's Jerod Colley ran into the Mustangs' southpaw sluggers who combined for five of the seven team home runs and 13 RBI in the win. Bill Knute (4-for-4, two home runs, including a grandslam, seven RBI) and Cormac Bordes (4-for-4, two home runs, five RBI, three runs scored were the leaders of the surge. Fellow lefty Jack Erickson added a home run of his own, along with righties Don Cusano (three hits) and Keith Reynolds. Mark Cusano chipped in with three hits and gunned out a speedy Burton's hitter from right field trying to stretch a single into a double. The Mustangs turned three infield double plays to end potential run scoring innings each time. Burton's were missing their regular three thru six hitters and lacked the power needed to keep up with the Mustangs. Murph McKeon contributed as always going 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. Lefty Jerry Breen launched another team leading home run, Jason Lenicheck hit his first career home run as part of his 3-for-3, two RBI night. Kieran Murray also went 2-for-2 for Burtons in the loss.
Willis Tent 15 - Pro Sports Therapy 9
Pro Sports hung tough early: leading 3-1 in the first, 3-3 after two, and went up 7-5 after three innings. Then, the bats went quiet, at least on the PST side as the Willis' youth put up five in the fourth and four more in the sixth to pull away while PST could only get two more the rest of the way. PST got two hits from a bunch of players, but simply not enough in slow pitch softball to win. Ben Armstrong was the offensive leader again with a double and home run and two RBI. PST also got a home run and two RBI each from Ryan Steele, Brian Dubey, and Donald Slate. Willis game standouts were Justin Swanson going 3-for-3 with three home runs, one ruled a single because of the 7 HR rule limit, Roger Nield 3-for-3 with a single and two home runs, Rick Devanna 3-for-3 with three singles. Also contributing to the Willis win with home runs were John Luttati and John Beebe.
Burton's Grill 15 - CSA Graphics 2
Burton's tenth win of the season was another run-rule victory, three in Burton's last four games. CSA played tough the whole way but Burton's was able to chip away with a few runs every inning to close it out after six. Leadoff hitter Tim Scott was 4-for 4 with two runs scored and four RBI. Kieran Murray kept up his torrid hitting with a triple and two runs scored on his perfect 3-for-3 night. Eric Cataline scored three times and had three RBI, Jerry Breen knocked in two more runs including the run-rule game winner and Dave Batchelder hit a three-run home run. Rick Waldron scored twice and Luke Boulanger, making his first appearance of the year, shook of the cobwebs and went 3-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored to win the game MVP.
Nashoba Valley Mustangs 14- Pro Sports Therapy 5
Veteran Mustang's slugger Don Cusano blasted three home runs (eight RBI, three runs scored) to lead the Mustangs to victory after an early deficit to PST. Jack Erickson set the table from the two hole with three hits, three runs scored and one RBI. Paul Selfrige blasted a leadoff home run of his own in the bottom of the first after PST's leadoff batter Ben Armstrong launched one to start the game. Long time Mustang Brian Foley came off the reserve list to chip in with a single, an RBI, a run scored and two nice plays at catcher. Armstrong went 3-for-4 for PST with a double and home run. Brian Dubey and Mark Pelosky also had home runs for PST in the loss. PST scored in the first to grab an early lead and scored again in the third to take the lead for the second time. Unfortunately PST didn’t score again until the Mustangs were up 14-4.
Short Cuts Landscaping 21 - Healy Oil 8
Healy Oil lost to SCL on the only Friday night game of the week, 21-8. With both of Healy's pitchers out, Bill Eaton filled in holding SCL to just one run after four innings. Defensive plays and strong fielding and hustle from Matt Dowling and Brian Herrmann in left / left center kept Healy in this one early. Healy lead 8-5 going into the bottom of the fifth with a three run home run over center from Bill Eaton. However, SCL exploded in the fifth putting up 14 and ended any hopes of a Healy rally. Credit the Oilers with one of the finest (and most boistrous) alumni sections seen at VFW Field in a long while.
Floral Arts 17 - Willis Tent 2
Floral Pitcher Larry Mardany had quite a game as he carried a shutout into Willis’ last at bat, and contributed two home runs at the plate. Jim Peloquin made a handful of sparkling plays in the field to help thwart the Willis offense and Mike Alonardo and Simon Tripp added home runs of their own. Justin Swanson broke up the shut out with a two run bomb for Willis in the fifth.
Drew Farms 20 - Pro Sports Therapy 7
Drew Farms needed a win as they claw for a playoff spot with the season winding down. They got this one beating PST with a run-rule win 20-7. Drews hit the game-max seven home runs and an eighth that counted as a single. Jeff Fuller went 3-for-3 with his first home run of the season and scored three of the PST seven runs. Brian Dubey had a big three-run bomb in the first to give usPST an early lead that didn't hold up.
