Monday's games didn't have an impact in the standings and were not played with much enthusiasm. The Lynx knocked off the Spartans and the Stadium whipped the Sidewalk Café, 18-8. It was early in the week and I was hoping that neither of these games would be the week's top story.

On Tuesday, the Full Tilt (6-8) team was playing their rival Gorilla Fingers with both teams realizing this was a big game as far as qualifying for the playoffs goes. The two teams slugged it out for seven innings with the outcome of the game being decided on the very last play. The Fingers had rallied in the last inning but were still trailing by a run and had baserunners on first and second. The batter, James Metcalf, stepped into the batter's box and smacked what appeared to be the game tying hit to the vacant area behind the pitchers mound. Just then, infielder Eric Romiza left his feet in a desperate attempt to get a glove on the ball. Amazingly, Romiza made the game saving catch and managed to hold onto the ball when he came crashing down on his right knee and shoulder. It was 9pm on Tuesday night and I felt at the time that I had my lead story for the weekly article.

Then Wednesday arrived and another playoff bearing game was taking place but this time it was first place that was up for grabs in the Feeney (A) division. Both the Stadium Club and Lynx entered their final game of the regular season with identical (11-3-1) records making this last game a "must win" for both teams. That pressure coupled with the fact that the pre-game temperature was hovering around the 100 degree mark made this one even tougher.

The league assigned two umpires (Chuck Feltch and Earl Garrett) to work this one and just after 7:30 pm Feltch yells, "Play Ball" to get things moving. Soon after that, the Stadium wastes little time getting on the scoreboard as they opened the first inning with four runs. Steven Couturier and Chris Martin both connected to drive in two runs each and the Stadium's offense started off hotter than a fox in a forest fire.

However, the Lynx answered back in the home half of the first with four runs of their own - tying the game at 4-4. Marty Jimenez struck the biggest blow in the inning when he homered to deep left. Watching the games one becomes accustomed to hearing the ball hit an object or a hard surface when it finally lands. Strangely, this one didn't make a noise as it crossed First Street and disappeared into the Sithe Power Plant yard. One of Jimenez's clever teammates later added, "The ball hasn't landed yet. I saw it passing me on 93 North while I was driving home from the game."

The scoring continued with both teams scoring two more runs making it 6-6 after two innings. It was early still but this was hardly a defensive dual.

Pitcher, Jerry Thomes then settled in and held the Stadium offense in check for two innings. Meanwhile, the Lynx continued their onslaught in the fourth when they scored six runs to take a 12-6 lead. The Stadium hurt themselves when they committed a couple of fielding errors and Mike Hoadley made them pay by smacking a 3-run homerun to center field.

But the Stadium fought back with a four run fifth inning that chased Thomes from the game and made it 12-11. Tom Patella's all out hustle was the key to this big inning as he stretched a single into a double and eventually scored on a wild series of events. Patella slid into second to beat the throw then got up and ran to third and needed to slide again. As he went down the ball again eluded the fielder and Patella got up and charged home. Another close play and a well timed slide scored the now exhausted and dirty Patella. That kind of all out hustle wins championships and doesn't go unnoticed in this column.

Fearing that the game was about to slip away the Lynx offense sprung back to life in the bottom of the sixth inning. Juan Sanchez, Jason Allen, and Chris Diggins all singled to start the rally. Jerry Thomes Jr. then singled to drive in two runs and was followed by Danny Ekasella's RBI single. The Lynx were back on top, 17-12 and would hold on to the win and first overall place in the standings. It was mid-week, and I was positive that my article had the top story and was all but written.

It's Thursday, and due to a scheduling conflict there is only one game taking place tonight. I watch L Street pound Dorset into submission (26-8) and keep their playoff hopes alive. I'm confident that I still have my top story with the Lynx/Stadium game.

Friday arrives and the league has an interesting scenario playing out. The 6 House (4-9), L Street Tavern (6-9), Brewers (6-8), Full Tilt (7-9), and Gorilla Fingers (7-9) are all vying for three playoff positions. The first game of the night gets the 6 House closer to the playoffs when they hang on to defeat the Dorset Club. 6 House then hustles down to the N Street field to finish the last two innings of a game that was suspended when the lights went out on July 24. L Street is ahead by five runs but loses a tough one to the 6 House in the seventh inning. Meanwhile, the Brewers knocked off the Dorset Club to edge to setup a do-or-die game in the nightcap against the now weary 6 House team. Confused yet? In the end, the Brewers proved they were up to the challenge as they ended the 6 House's season with a 25-10 defeat. It's the end of the week and I'm thinking there is a lot to cover here but this could be the top story for the article then that all quickly changes.

While watching the night events unfold I'm made aware that one of our league's pitchers, Jay Malley, was hospitalized with an infection. Thinking it had nothing to do with softball I'm shocked to hear that Jay was originally hurt during a game on our field. I'm told that Jay broke a finger after catching a line drive on the mound. Within two days, the finger got infected and quickly traveled to his arm and heart. Jay was rushed to the hospital and had to stay there for a week while doctors treated him. Thankfully, Jay will be OK and is now home recovering.

In a similar set of circumstances, Sammy Acevedo who pitches for the Stadium was also hit by a line drive and hurt this year while pitching in another league. Sammy's left ankle was badly bruised and also became infected. After hearing about Jay and realizing this was the second pitcher within the year to be seriously injured by a batted ball the league decided something had to be done to protect our players.

After conducting some research it was found that the bats players are using today have the ball coming off their bat 30-40 mph faster than those used in the past. The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) created a bat standard in 2000 that permitted a batted ball to travel 125 feet per second or 85mph. ASA then increased that limit to 98mph in 2004 and marked these bats with a certified stamp. However, it was found that certain companies called "bat doctors" have taken to the practice of altering a perfectly legal bat to give it added distance. Their secrets have become widely known leaving these new doctored bats to produce batted ball speeds of well over 110mph! Obviously, that added bat speed has left our pitchers and infielders with little or no time to react which explains the injuries and high scores of the games. Sounds like I inadvertently stumbled on my top story this week.

So how does a league control the use of these bats? Well, the league could purchase an ex-ray machine to see inside the bats. With the umpire looking on, the batter would slide his bat through the machine and a green or red light would flash indicating whether or not the bat was legal. I'm sure such a machine doesn't come cheap and the last time I checked the league coffers we were breaking even like we have for the past ten years. Although that sort of thing might add a little fun and excitement for awhile, the league will instead change the ball we use. Starting on Monday, the league will use an ASA certified restricted flight ball - COR .44. The ball is designed to keep the speeds down and eliminate the need for doctored bats. Hopefully, pitchers and infielders will feel like they have time to react and make plays again without the possibility of injury. The power hitters will still hit their share of homeruns but I'm hoping the injuries and the 29-28 scores that we saw this season will be a thing of the past.

And that's a wrap for this week's article. With the playoffs taking place and the introduction of the new restricted ball I'm sure there will be a lot to write about next week.

M Street Softball is played Monday through Friday at M Street Park. Our playoffs are underway this week so be aware that the schedule changes as it is dependent on the teams involved in the series. Games times are 6:30 and 8pm.

In closing, the League would like to apologize to those readers and fans that may have traveled to the field to catch our all-star game last week. Due to scheduling conflicts the game was not held as mentioned and we are in the process of rescheduling.