By Mark Senna

Playwright's II ace pitcher Joey Venuti started the week off with a bang when he through a no hitter against the L Street Tavern in a 5-0 victory. Venuti has been dominating this year which gives the Playwright II a great chance to go deep into the playoffs. Only two batters (a walk and a hit batsman) kept Venuti from the perfect game. Mercy! The no-hitter was the first in the league since Nick Kleimola through one back in June of 2004. Rookie Joe Sullivan provided most of the offensive with a double, two triples, and 3 RBI.

Monday's late game featured the undefeated Sidewalk Café taking on the Stingers. The Stingers were coming off an impressive win against the Playwright last week and were looking to be the first team to trip up Sidewalk. The game began with both pitchers striking out two of the three batters they faced. But after a hit batsman that resulted in a spirited exchange between players from the two teams, Sidewalk's Mike Mercier lined a triple to right that scored Marty Jemenez from first. Mercier would strike again with a homerun to deep left in the fifth that helped put the game out of reach as Sidewalk wins it going away, 9-3. Tim Walsh (1 HR), Jim Ladio (2 hits, 1 HR, 2 RBI), and Jemenez (2 RBI) were the hitting stars in this one while George Pratt scattered three hits while striking out five on his way to the win.

Tuesday's action matched two Feeney teams who were battling to stay on top in their division. Entering the game the Bulldogs were three games behind the Cranberry Café and were hoping to inch closer by pulling off an upset. After a scoreless first inning, the Bulldog's Chris Holmes got things going when he connected for a three-run homerun and the Bulldogs would never look back as they cruised to an 8-3 win. Mark DiPierro (3 hits), Jamie Hannah (2 hits), Jeff Ransdell (2 hits), Sean Gorman (2 hits), and Craig Maurer (2 hits) all chipped in with timely hits while Tom McGrath notched his third win of the season. Scott Bothwell (3 hits, 2 RBI) and Mike Davis (2 hits) sparked the attack for Cranberry.

Tuesday's middle game saw the quickly improving Stadium club win their third game in a row, 16-10 over the Southie Sox. Brendon Barry (3 hits, 3 RBI) and Sean Marshall (2 hits, 3 RBI) contributed to the win for the Stadium while Jim Crowley (2 hits, 3 RBI) and Jared Barber (2 hits, 3 RBI) were the hitting stars for the Sox.

The night closed with a very one-sided affair when Shennanigan's dismantled the Blood, Sweat, and Beers squad, 25-0! Dan Brown (4 hits, 1 R, 4 RBI), Luis Colon (3 hits), Brian Pacheco (3 hits, 1 HR, 4 RBI), Greg Trudell (3 hits, 3 RBI), John Hoadley (3 hits), and Mike Hoadley (3 hits, 3 RBI) all had a big night at the plate for Shennanigan's. But the bigger story of the game may have been the return of pitcher Mike Hoadley who picked up the win in his first appearance of the year.

Wednesday's early game saw the Masterbatters playing their first game against an upper division opponent, Murphy's Law. The Masterbatters proved themselves nicely with a 10-5 victory behind the pitching of Sean Burns and the hitting of Vinny Gingle (2 hits), Sumi Basnet (2 hits, 1 HR, 3 RBI), and Martin O'Malley (2 hits, 1 HR, 3 RBI).

The middle game featured a rematch of last year's finals with the Playwright looking to cool down the red hot Shennanigan's team. After missing a couple of games, pitcher Keith Zewiey was making his return for this one and was opposed by Mike Hoadley. Both men brought their "A" game as it was clear from the outset that this was going to be a pitcher's duel. Batter after batter walked away from the plate with little to show other than their expression of frustration. Finally in the fourth inning, Shennanigan's broke through when John Hoadley (2 hits) connected for a triple that plated brother Mike who had reached base on a walk. John then scored on Juan Rivera's (2 hits) triple making it 2-0. Rivera would come home to make it 3-0 on a sacrifice fly by Dan Brown and that would complete the scoring in this one. Mike Hoadley was dominant in this one as he scattered three hits and struck out four while shutting out the Playwright.

The great night of softball action came to a close with two heavyweights in the Playwright II who were looking to ace pitcher Joe Venuti to put an end to the Sidewalk Café's undefeated streak. Venuti was opposed by the author of this article who was making his fourth start of the season. After a scoreless first inning, Sidewalk's Kevin Ohara connected for a solo homerun to deep right that made it 1-0. The score stood until Playwright II's leadoff batter Charlie Conners tied it with a homerun to right in the fourth inning. Sidewalk's Tommy Connolly (2 hits) answered in the fifth when he singled home Jim Ladio (2 hits) who had reached with a triple to left center, 2-1. Amazingly, with all of the offense on the field that night the 2-1 score would stand. Rob Moriarty (2 hits) and John Manning (2 hits) led the offensive attack for Playwright II.

Although there were a couple of homeruns and some great pitching in this one, the play of the game went to catcher Pat Pickup's tremendous catch in the third inning. Pickup went after a ball that was straight up and in between the plate and the mound. However, on his way to the spot he tripped and fell flat on his stomach. Just as the ball was about to land Pickup rolled on to his back and stuck his catcher's glove out to make the catch. Wow! A fan was overheard saying that the catch would have made the highlight reel for the "best and worst."

After a quick moving storm in the area wiped out Thursday's schedule of games, the league continued play with a triple header on Friday. The first contest of the night had the Cranberry Café looking to catch the Sidewalk Cafe napping after already playing two tough games earlier in the week. Cranberry quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead and for a few innings it was looking like the undefeated streak would be coming to an end. However, the Sidewalk bats came to life in the fourth inning and they didn't look back as they cruised to a 17-4 win. Andrew White, Jim Ladio, and Mike Smith homered for Sidewalk while Pat Sullivan homered for Cranberry.

The middle game was another makeup which had Shennanigan's facing the Playwright for the second time in a week. Both teams were undermanned in this one but Shennanigan's proved they are the deeper team at the moment as they crushed the Playwright, 18-6. Al Martin (5 hits), Dave Conti (3 hits), Luis Colon (3 hits, 1 HR, 4 RBI), Dan Brown (2 hits, 1 HR, 4 RBI), and Juan Rivera (2 hits, 1 HR, 4 RBI) all enjoyed a productive game at the plate while Dom Lemarra notched the win for Shennanigan's.

The week concluded with the Masterbatters looking to make it two in a row against their Feeney opponents. However, the Bulldogs have been riding a nice winning streak of their own lately and were not about to go down without a fight. The two teams traded runs through five innings play before the Bulldogs pulled ahead to stay and hung on for the 14-12 victory. The two wins this week by the Bulldogs moved them from fourth to second place in the Feeney division.

League Leaders - Mark Harris (Stadium) leads the league in hitting with a .651 batting average. Tom Christensen (Below Average Joe's) is closely behind at .643. Anthony Garofalo (Below Average Joe's) is the league's homer run leader with 7 while Dan Brown (Shennanigan's) and Marty Jemenez trail with 6 each. Dan Brown is also the league's RBI leader with 30, while Garofalo (27), and Sumi Basnet (Masterbatters) 25 are closely behind. Pat Kelly (Southie Sox) leads the league in hits with 29, while Mark Harris (Stadium) 28, and Tom Christensen (Below Average Joe's) 27 are hot on his heals. Dom Lemarra (Shennanigans) leads the league in wins with 9 with Joey Venuti (Playwright II) trailing with 8. Venuti is the leader in the ERA category with an incredible 1.77 earned runs per game and is also the leader in strikeouts with 75. It would be fair to say Venuti is dominating this year.

Movie Night - last Monday, several members from the league were invited to a sneak preview of the newly released "Grown Ups" staring Adam Sandler. Bob Carlson, Kyle Carlson, Jesse Carlton, Jason Atton, Bill Davis, Pat Kelly, plus several family and friends enjoyed the show at the AMC Theater on Tremont Street.

Rosemond Tournament - the tournament committee announced last week that they have removed the female requirement from the rules. The deadline for the tournament is fast approaching and there are still a few spots open for teams so please get in touch with Jim Burgio to secure your spot.

Last week we saw some great crowds at the games and are hoping to see the trend continue. League games are played Monday through Friday with 6pm, 730, and 9pm starting times with all games taking place at M Street Park. Have a great week!