Washington Township Senators 35+

Did you know that Senator skipper Nick Frese hit only five triples between 1993 and 2004? And did you know that in early 2005 he hit triples in THREE consecutive At-Bats? The first came off Marlin lefty Don Davis at Rider College in his last AB of a 4-1 win on April 24. The next two were off lefty Joe Emerson of the Cinnaminson Reds on May 8 (after a May 1 rainout). All three blasts went to right-center, and all were run-producing hits.

Did you know that the first grand slam in Over 38 Senator history came on Sunday, May 8, 2005? It was hit by Dale Amos in a 10-run fourth inning against right-hander Steve Burns and the Cinnaminson Reds. The ball sailed majestically over the 340 sign in left-center at Washington Township High School. The Senators won the contest by a 19-3 score. It was Amos' first homer as a Senator.

Did you know that the O-28 Senators, notorious for their slow starts, set a new high in low, fanning 21 times in the '05 opener and losing 3-1 to the Voorhees Phillies and rookie lefty starter Mike Greenwood. Senator rookie John Trotter was welcomed to the league with four punchouts!

Just wanted to share some of the categories in which the Senators led the MSBL this summer. It was an impressive display, which would have been MORE impressive had we finished better! But such is life, and there’s always next year! All stats are from American (A) Division only, as I don’t think B division stats should apply, considering the overall level of pitching in that division. BATTING AVERAGE Frank Izzi led the league with .512. He was the only Senator to appear in the Top 10. RUNS SCORED Mark Alessandrini was third in the league with 12; Frank Izzi was seventh with 11; Nick Frese and Ted McKinney were tenth with 10. HITS Frank Izzi and Mark Alessandrini were first and second, with 19 and 18 hits respectively. Dan Laudisio and Joe Santone were tied for fourth with 16; Nick Frese was tenth with 15. DOUBLES Mark Alessandrini tied for the lead with five. Chris Lawrence tied for second with four. Joe Leo tied for third with three. TRIPLES Frank Izzi tied for the lead with one. HOMERS Joe Santone tied for second with three. Dan Laudisio and Miles Reader tied for four with one. RBI Joe Santone led the circuit with 18 ribs. Chris Lawrence tied for fifth with nine. Nick Frese and Joe Leo tied for sixth with eight. TOTAL BASES Joe Santone led the league with 27. Mark Alessandrini was third with 23. Frank Izzi tied for fourth with 22. Dan Laudisio tied for fifth with 21. WALKS Joe Santone was fourth with eight. Mark Alessandrini and Frank Rose were tied for fifth with seven. Nick Frese was tied for sixth with six. STRIKEOUTS Frank Rose and Ted McKinney tied for fourth with seven. ON-BASE PERCENTAGE Frank Izzi was fourth with a .550 OBP. SLUGGING PERCENTAGE Joe Santone was third with a .643 mark. Frank Izzi was sixth with .595. Mark Alessandrini was ninth with .489. Pitching: EARNED RUN AVERAGE John DiPietro led the league with a nifty 0.73 mark. Frank Rose was seventh with a 3.50 tally. WINS John DiPietro tied for the league lead with five. Frank Rose was tied for third with three. Chris Lawrence tied for fifth with one. WALKS Chris Lawrence tied for fifth lowest total with eight. Frank Rose was eighth with 16, John DiPietro ninth with 18. STRIKEOUTS John DiPietro was seventh with 49. Frank Rose was ninth with 18. INNINGS PITCHED John DiPietro was fifth with 49. Frank Rose was sixth with 36. COMPLETE GAMES John DiPietro and Chris Lawrence were tied for third with two. Jim Toth tied for fourth with one. SAVES Chris Lawrence led the league with two. Frank Rose was tied for second with one. HITS PER NINE INNINGS Johen DiPietro was second in the league with a 7.53 mark. Frank Rose was sixth with an 8.50 tally. Chris Lawrence was tenth with a 10.71 mark. STRIKEOUTS PER NINE INNINGS Chris Lawrence was tenth with a 5.59 score. WALKS PER NINE INNINGS Chris Lawrence was ninth with a 3.72 mark.

I just wanted to drop you all a note to tell you what a GREAT time we had playing baseball in Florida with the Delco Angels. The experience of the MSBL National Fall Classic is one that you ALL need to enjoy at some point. The four Senators who were invited were Mark Alessandrini, Frank Izzi, John DiPietro and myself, along with Jim Toth, who was already a member of the club. I went with the understanding that I would be used on an “as-needed” basis only, which was fine with me – if you’re gonna ride the pines, Florida is a pretty good place to do it! Joe Santone was also invited to be a member of the team, but he had to back out at the last minute, unfortunately. The four so-called “Little Italy” members of the team stayed at the Sea Oats condo in Reddington Beach, FL, just down the road from Clearwater, spring home of the Phillies. We had a three-bedroom, two-bath, beachfront condo with laundry facilities right in the room. It was terrific, and it only cost us about $1300 (split four ways) for the entire week. And we found a source right at the condo that tells us we can get the same room next year for as little as $900 total -- a steal. Cost to play in the tournament was $175, and the flight cost us about $195 round trip. We also had to rent a car for the week, which was about $250 or thereabouts (again split four ways). So the total cost per player for the week – Saturday to Sunday – was under $800.00 (when you factor in food and fun). That’s a pretty darned cheap week, boys! Toth was also playing for the Delco Cobra Over 28 team while down there, and Jim managed to hook me up with an Over 47 (ouch!) team called the Snowbirds, where I could pick up a few extra at-bats. The Snowbirds were not a very good team, but I really didn’t care about that, as I was just looking to have some fun. And that I DID have. After practicing at Frank Tack Field on Sunday night at 7:00 PM, the Angels had their first game at the Carpenter Complex on Monday morning vs. the Triad Orioles. We lost 6-4 to a darned good team. I would say their two pitchers were both in the “Mike Coffey” class. The guy who pitched in relief was in his mid-to-late 40s, and he could still really bring it. Mark played CF, Toth DHed, and Izzi held down LF for most of the contest, and they carried the Senator banner proudly (I don’t have specific stats for each game, but will provide totals at the end of this story). I did not play in the game. DiPietro worked a few innings towards the end of the game. My first Over 47 game with the Snowbirds was 8:00 PM that evening at the fabled Jack Russell Stadium, former spring home of the Phillies until they moved to Brighthouse Stadium this past April. Russell is an old-school ballpark, a very cool place to play. I was stationed in CF for the game, the spot were Lenny Dykstra and Phils centerfielders throughout the years patrolled. It was AWESOME to stand out there in front of that big, green wall with the 400 foot sign! I managed to get hits my first two times up, stole a base, and went 2-for-4 in the game. We got drubbed by a score something like 22-10, helped along by a total of 11 errors. No, the Snowbirds were not a good fielding team! Furthermore, it was too cool for words to be standing out there in center when the late night fog swirled around me. While this was happening, you could hear a black Baptist preacher and band just wailing away over the left field wall for hours…it was a surreal, fascinating scene that I will remember until my dying day. The next day, the Angels traveled to the University of Tampa to play a morning game vs. Louisville, yet another fine ball club. We faced yet another solid pitcher, and they whipped us by about 9-4 or thereabouts. Mark and Izzi again did well, spending a little more time on the bench defensively (you really do need to get your rest down there when you can!), and Toth had at least one RBI hit that I can recall. A Louisville player was ejected from the game early on when he forearmed our catcher, Rich Mahosky, on a play at the plate. Rich is the wrong guy to try that stuff with, and we almost had ourselves a little brew-ha-ha. But things cooled off and the game moved along to its dismal conclusion. Our offense apparently stayed up north! The Snowbirds had a game later in the day at Joe DiMaggio Field, but I declined to participate in that one due to a creaky back. They lost again, this time in a fairly close game, I’m told. I’m glad I stayed home, because I sure needed the rest. Wednesday was our doubleheader day with the Angels AND the Snowbirds, and all the games happened to be in Sarasota (and hour-plus drive) at the Cincinnati Reds Complex by coincidence. The Angels first game was at Ed Smith Stadium, spring home of the Reds. VERY nifty ballpark! Unfortunately, we lost again, with DiPietro getting the start. John pitched pretty well, but our offense was absent again, and the Cleveland Sports rolled by about a 9-4 score. Mark, Toth and Frank got plenty of playing time at this great stadium, and all chipped in with hits, I believe. I watched once again (unfortunately). The Angels moved over to one of the Ed Smith Complex fields for Game #2, while I did the same to play with the Snowbirds (who got smoked again in their first game of the day), where I figured to get some playing time (the Angels sure didn’t need me, as they got their first win against a hard-throwing lefty who the boys tell me could bring it pretty good). I singled my first time up, and then struck out after letting a REALLY bad strike call get into my head. How was the pitching in the Over 47? Not too good, really. But you have to remember that I was playing in the weakest Over 47 division down there. Some of the other O-47 games I saw looked a LOT more competitive. So, going into Thursday’s play, the Angels were sitting at a dismal 1-3, and the Snowbirds were an even more dismal 0-4. But things do change, it seems. The Angels rolled out to face the Montgomery County Yankees Thursday morning at the Tampa Bay Devil Ray Complex in St. Petersburg, and the Snowbirds had an afternoon game later in the day at that same location. In order to have ANY chance at making the playoffs, the Angels had to win and then hope the tie-breakers worked on in our favor. We did our part, getting past the Yankees by about a 4-run margin. Mark, Jim and Frank were in there again, and I finally got my first O-38 tournament AB. I came up with first-and-third and one out late in the game (7th or 8th, I believe), with us holding a two-run lead. So we really did need the run. I was looking to simply drive the ball into the outfield off Mike Evangelist. Well, that theory went out the window when the runner at first got picked off before I saw a pitch! With the pressure on, I took ball one and then slapped a low fastball up the middle for an RBI single, and a 1.000 batting average. There was a hue and cry on the bench from the Senator boys, and I will always remember their great support after that one. It was a neat moment. Next, I moved one field over to play in the Snowbirds final game, once again patrolling CF. This was a game the Snowbirds felt they could win, as it was against another kind of loose team, the Firebirds, who they had met before. We fell behind, but rallied nicely and picked up a 13-9 win! I had a double, inside-the-park homer to deeeep right-center, and a key walk, so my Snowbird stats for the week were a nice 6-for-9. It was off lousy pitching, but I didn’t care! After the game the Snowbirds said their goodbyes, and Mark picked me up so we could go back to the condo and wait for word on our Angel fate. Well, the Gods were smiling – all the tiebreakers went our way, and we qualified for the playoffs by the skin of our collective teeth. We had to face a VERY good team called Suncoast in the quarterfinals at the Blue Jay complex in Dunedin. All our pitchers were tired, but ready to roll for this one as needed, and Duane Hyatt got the starting nod. Duane pitched well, but our offense was again not there, as we dropped a 5-2 decision to exit the tournament. We managed to bring the tying run to the plate in the final inning, but the last out was made by Tim Lobach on a screamer back to the mound. If that ball goes through, we are looking at a 5-4 game with the winning run on base. But it was not to be. Frank, Mark and Jim all played a role in this one, and I coached a lot of third base…as I did most of the week. DiPietro once again emerged from the pen to pitch a few scoreless innings towards the end of the game. John got his money’s worth on the week, I think. So what was there left for us to do but have a night out on the town! We traveled down to Ybar City (say “ee-bar”), a hopping place that you have to see to believe. There were a bunch of drunken Angels on that street Friday night, and I have to admit I was one of them. I haven’t been that loaded since college! But it was all in good fun, and we all made it home safely – after a rather interesting 4:00 am stop at McDonald’s drive through! It was one of those goofy nights that most of us will be talking about for years to come, believe me. Saturday was our first chance to hit the beach, and that’s where we spent all day. As with the rest of the week, the weather was sunny, high 70s, just perfect! Everyone got a little tanned, we had a few beers and pizzas, and just generally wound ourselves down from the hectic schedule we had. It was idyllic. Much time was spent staring out our balcony window at the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. DiPietro headed out on Saturday night for the flight home, while the three of us remained for one more nice night in the Florida balm. We had a nice bite to eat, a few more beers, and got to bed at a reasonable hour for the flight back home to chilly Philly. I sure didn’t want to leave! If you ever get down there, make sure you visit Crabby Bill’s and get yourself some blackened grouper. Boy was that good! In all, this was a very, very rewarding experience, something I hope you all get a chance to be a part of some day. The Angels – many of whom you met during the fall league -- are just a terrific bunch of fellows. They were supportive, ready to laugh, and generally a joy to be around. And the fields were all picture-perfect, with baseball-friendly Bermuda grass on all, perfectly tended. What a pleasure on which to play! I know that all of “Little Italy” hopes to have a chance to do it again in 2005, God willing. I hope that someday all the Senators will have a chance to join us! The Stats Jim "Chubzilla" Toth -- 7-for-23 = .304 Mark Alessandrini -- 7-for-15 = .466 (.600 OBP) Frank Izzi -- 9-for-22 = .409 Nick Frese -- 1-for-1 = 1.000 Pitching stats for DiPietro unavailable