Announcement
The Nashoba Valley Veterinary Mustangs efficiently made their way through the second round of the playoffs eliminating Drew Farms in the process. The Mustangs outscored Drews 72-26 over the three games. In the other contest, Floral Arts is up two games to one winning the first two decisively but Short Cut Landscaping came back in the third game and the series will continue for at least another night.
Nashoba Valley Veterinary Mustangs 25 - Drew Farms 5 Mike Kennedy led the balanced Mustang attack going 4-4, with a homerun, four RBI and four runs scored. Mustangs with three hits apiece included Paul Selfrige (Leadoff home run, three runs scored), Jim Ward (bases clearing triple), Mark Cusano (two RBI, three runs), and Cormac Bordes (three RBI, three runs scored). Keith Reynolds chipped in with two hits and three RBI. Kennedy made several excellent plays at third base.
Nashoba Valley Veterinary Mustangs 28 - Drew Farms 11 Winning pitcher Don Cusano crushed three homeruns to aide his own cause in the Mustangs game two victory. He got plenty of help from his teammates. Mike Kennedy had four hits, including a homer and four RBI. "Big Game," Paul Selfrige led off the game with another homerun, the first of four hits and four runs scored. Rookie Jim Ward blasted his first homerun of the year as well. Lefties Jack Erickson, Bill Knute, and Mark Cusano all had four hits also. Keith Reynolds added a bomb of his own and super sponsor Craig Smith chipped in with three hits. Ward made an outstanding diving catch in left center to snuff out a Drew's rally.
Nashoba Valley Veterinary Mustangs 19 - Drew Farms 10 The Mustangs jumped out to a 15-0 lead in game three and fought off a late Drews rally to win the clinching game three. Paul Selfrige led the way again, going 4-4 with a homerun blast, 2 RBI, and 4 runs scored. His partner at the top of the order, Jim Ward, also added 4 hits and 4 runs scored to set the table for the middle of the Mustangs order. Mark Cusano ripped two homers with 5 RBI and brother Don belted 4 hits with 3 RBI and a homerun of his own. Jack Erickson smacked 3 hits and Bill Knute added a homerun, too. Paul Ligouri had three hits and combined with Jay Lincoln to make two excellent infield plays. The Mustangs outfielders ran down everything hit their way the entire series long.
Floral Arts 37 - Short Cut Landscaping 8 On Sunday night, Floral Arts defeated Shortcut Landscaping, 37-8, in game one of the semifinals. Floral scored in every inning and banged out seven home runs. Ken Delaney led off the game with a single, followed by a singles by Mike Alonardo and Simon Tripp. Rob Beaudette doubled in two runs and then Roger Whittlesey hit a three-run homer over the center field fence, knocking in three. Whittlesey, who had another three-run homer in the fourth inning, earned seven RBI in the game. But, Floral got multi-homer games from two other players too. Jeff Moore was 4-for-4 with two homers and five RBI, and Delaney knocked out two, going 3-for-4, and collected four RBI. Larry Mardany pitched a great game, keeping the potent Short Cuts offense to only four home runs and seven runs scored.
Floral Arts 24 - Short Cut Landscaping 11 On Tuesday, Floral Arts went up 2-0 in the best-of-five series with a 24-11 win over Short Cuts. Delaney led the way with four hits. Floral got homers from Tripp, Beaudette (2), who also went 4-for-4, Mike Donaruma, Geoff Pavao, and a grand slam from pitcher Mardany. Frank Lancelotta made several nice plays at first base, and Dave Janowsky made a several tough catches in left center.
Short Cut Landscaping 13 - Floral Arts 9 On Wednesday, eager to close out the series, Floral Arts' bats fell silent, as Short Cuts won 13-9. Chad Kirby was a bright offensive light for Floral, hitting two homers and going 3-for-3. Beaudette, Tripp, Mardany, and Ryan Dunn all homered, but it wasn't enough, as Short Cuts maintained the lead throughout the contest and bringing the series to 2-1 in favor of Floral.
