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As the players were taking their final warm-ups under the warm and sunny skies legend Sam Moran made his way to the pitching mound. Sam held the oversized ball in his longshoreman's hands, wound up, and "bounced a strike" to catcher Bob Sweeney to officially mark the beginning of another season. Unfortunately, the leagend couldn't lead his troops to victory in Tuesday's opener as third baseman Tom Dickey spoiled his evening with a three-run homer to left giving Sidewalk Cafe a 6-4 win. In the second game Kelly Club's Danny Lamonica provided the most exciting moment of the night when he hit a game winning three-run homer to right. Entering the last inning, the Kelly Club trailed the Beer Garden by nine runs but managed a dramatic come from behind 11-10 win. "That will bring us back for another night," Lamonica stated moments after the big win. Tuesday's late game saw Bay View Liquors needing extra innings to earn a hard fought win against Rooney's. With the score tied in the top of the eigth, Jared Marshman doubled home Timmy Talbot giving Bay View the lead. They would later add three more insurance runs in the inning and lefty pitcher John Nee retired the side in order in the bottom half of the inning to earn the 12-8 win. Olde Time Hardware proved that they can do more than sell hammers and nails as they won their season opener 7-5 over the Beer Garden. Pitcher John DiBlasi kept batters guessing and Charlie Russo provided two timely hits. It is very early in the season but something must be said of the job that first year coach Jim Ahern has done in assembling his team. Ahern's Seapoint Restaurant capped their week off with a 9-0 shutout on Friday behind Mike Whitney's three-run homer to left and Joey Burke's strong performance on the mound. A rumor swirling around the park had pitching great Paul Alessi joining Seapoint which would give Ahern's team a legitimate shot a winning the title this year. First year slugger Brian Linehan hit two homeruns and pitcher Danny Smallcombe pitched well enough to give Molly Darcy's their first win of the season. Steve Morrill also had a productive night at the plate as he collected four hits. Local P Street resident Don Holmer showed his support to the league by donating several bats and balls to the Molly Darcy team....Nine year old Taryn Senna spent her holiday weekend helping her dad prepare the grounds for opening day...With this kind of assistance from the players, fans, and local residents, it appears that the M Street Softball League is on its way to making a full recovery from last years dismal season. |