PLAYOFFS SET TO BEGIN

Although a few weeks later than usual, the playoffs have finally arrived in the M Street Softball League. The top fourteen teams will begin competing for the championship which should be awarded sometime in mid-September. However, with more rain falling as this article is being written it's very possible that the season could extend even beyond that date. Either way the playoffs are always action packed and provide some of the best softball you will see in the country. We hope you make it a point to stop by the field in the coming days to catch some of the action. Moving to the few games that were played last week, Tuesday's action saw the Ole Rebels rally from five runs down to nip the Place, 9-8. The win gave the Rebels the upper hand in holding onto first place in the Feeney division as they had just one game left and would need a win against the struggling Bulldogs later in the week. Eric Malerba picked up the win for the Rebels and provided a couple of key hits in the late rally. Tuesday's middle game saw the Stats Bar & Grille squad facing a win or go home scenario against the Swingers. Jim Sullivan had his troops ready to play the role of the spoilers as they battled and kept the score close for the first four innings of the game. But Steve Anastasi wouldn't be denied and would take the game over himself as he stroked four homeruns over the left field fence while collecting 11 RBI's! In all of my years associated with the league I can't recall ever seeing an offensive performance like that. The umpire working the game said that each homerun was hit on a different pitch - most of them weren't even strikes. Steven hit the low ball homerun, two high strike shots, and one towering blast that would have been out of Fenway. He and teammate/cousin Greg DAntona will have something great to talk about at future family gatherings. After dropping a tough one in the first game of the evening, the Place came back to play thier second game of the split double-header and had better results. It wouldn't be easy though as Clarke's jumped out to a 7-0 lead after the first inning and the weather began to worsen. Now playing in the rain the Place mounted a comeback of their own and would edge Clarke's 8-7 to lock up third place in the Feeney division. With some of the other teams forfeiting games these last couple of weeks it's great to see a team like The Place still competing and showing up for a doubleheader played under not so great conditions. On Thursday, some of the league's best players took the field for the annual all-star game. The league was divided into two groups of players. The "Old School" squad featured veteran M Street Softball players like Marty Jemenez, Bobby Wogan, Pat Sullivan, Rob Rogers to name a few. Their opponent was made up of newer M Street players who took on the name of "We Belong." In the end, We Belong proved that they do in fact belong in the league as they edged the old schoolers 13-10. Makepeaces's Ian James, Bill Davis (Telegraph Hill), Brad Morrill (George Pratt Club), and Mike Briggs (Quencher Tavern) led all hitters with three hits each while Pat Sullivan (Geaorge Pratt Club) got the nod as the defensive star of the game. Jimmy Pinkston (Makepeace) picked up the win as he threw three scoreless innings of ball. Prior to the start of the game, ten of the league's power hitters participated in a Homerun Derby that was won by former unknown Stats Bar & Grille's slugger Sam Devito. The big lefty found his homerun stroke early in the first round as he connected on six straight pitches. Brad Morrill (5 hr's) and Jimmy Pinkston (4 hr's) also found their swing in the first round as both qualified for the final round. However, Devito wasn't going to be denied as he only needed three pitches to win the contest by smacking two homeruns to deep left. Congratulations guys! Sam Devito of the Stats Bar & Grille softball team won the Homerun Derby at M Street Park last Thursday by hitting a total of 10 homeruns. As of this writing, the playoffs were scheduled to begin on Tuesday, August 16th with preliminary round games starting at 6:30 and 8:15pm. The round was scheduled to continue through the week with the quarter finals set for Monday, August 22nd. The players look forward to seeing you in the stands in the coming days. Have a great week!