In our 38th season of softball at M Street Park, the league has enjoyed one of the better seasons in recent memory. Twenty six teams began the season in two divisions (Feeney and Moran) of play with the top twelve teams qualifying for the playoffs. As of this writing, the first round was scheduled to complete on Monday and the next round would follow. By the time this article hits the newsstands on Thursday, the league could be down to the final four teams. Let's review some of the early round results and look forward to the upcoming series.

Moran Division 6th vs. 3rd - the Clough Club ran into some great pitching from Shenanigan's Bar & Grille's Steve Mills and Jimmy Pinkston and was swept in two games, 11-5 and 12-4. The first year Clough Club had a great season and will be a team to contend with in the future. Shenanigan's on the other hand have been in those same shoes but now have a few years behind them, a roster full of talent, and are ready to contend for the title. They will now face Jimmy McNiff and the Cranberry Café who finished in second and received a first round bye.

Moran Division 5th vs. 4th - the Brewers were expected to give the Stadium Stingers a run for their money in their best of three series but the Stadium's offense made sure that never happened. The Stadium plated 40 runs (22-4 and 18-5) in their two games and easily swept the series. Their next opponent is last year's champion, the Dawgs, who are very capable of reversing the tables against the Stingers.

Feeney Division 6th vs. 3rd - after getting through the regular season with mixed results the Shamrock Pub came out swinging in their first game against Doran Mechanical and won big, 17-1. Doran's injured pitcher Joey Venuti was expected to make the start in game two but Doran decided to take the ball out of his hands and wave the white flag of surrender. Folks, I just don't get that kind of mentality. You play all season to make the playoffs and when you finally get there you forfeit the game? In any case, Shamrock took the night off and appears ready for their next opponent, the Boston Beer Garden, which should be a pretty good series.

Feeney Division 5th vs. 4th - this is the only series that has gone the full length and as of this writing a winner has yet to be determined. The Playwright nearly pulled off the game one upset when they went ahead by a run in extra innings only to watch Il Giardino rally with two outs in the bottom of the inning for the dramatic come from behind win. Billy Robinson's single to right center scored Mike Kenny with the game winner, 14-13. Game two was much like the first game of the series with both teams taking then giving back the lead. However, Mike Raditz and the Playwright would hang on for a 10-7 win to even the series and force a deciding game three which was scheduled to be played on Monday, August 25. Hopefully, the deciding game is just as good as the first two games. The winner of this series will face the Sidewalk Café who finished in first place and has been anxiously awaiting their opponent.

Scheduling note - playoff games start at 6:30 and 8:30 and are played Monday through Thursday at M Street Park. After Thursday's games, the teams will break for the holiday weekend and resume the playoffs on Tuesday, September 2.

The league received some sad news early last week with the passing of Larry McGrath. Larry was a resident of the M Street Park neighborhood and has always been a friend to this address. Whether it was borrowing a ladder to put up a flag or locating a lost softball, he was always there to offer a helping hand and will be missed by family and friends.

In other news, Shamrock Pub's Charlie Conners organized one of the better competitive co-ed softball tournaments around which was played this weekend in Dorchester. Thanks to Conners efforts, the 3rd annual P.J. Flavin Memorial Tournament is growing in size and was a huge success. Matt Traft's team outlasted the competition and took home the championship trophy. Several M Street players participated in the tournament and represented the league very well. One particular player comes to mind though and that's Cranberry Café's Pat Pickup. The Second Street resident bought tickets for the 50-50 raffle and was lucky enough to be holding the winning ticket. Instead of pocketing the money, Pickup never accepted the prize but instead gave it all back to the charity. It was a class move that would make any parent proud.

While on the topic of tournaments, congratulations are in order for Al Martin and Luis "Daniela" Colon of Shenanigans' Bar & Grille. The pair traveled to Drifton, Pennsylvania last weekend to play with Team Thunder (CT.) in the North American Sports Federation (N.A.S.F.) 9-man class "A" national championship. The tournament has been in existence since 1971 and always draws the best teams from all over the country. Colon (SS) and Martin (C) played instrumental roles allowing Team Thunder to take home the crown. It has also been reported that a few of the participating teams (Mela Power CT, Ground Zero PA, Strausberg PA, and our friends from the Philadelphia league) follow the M Street league through our website. That's right guys, softball fans from all over the country are reading about you and keeping an eye on our league, the playoffs, and even read what's being said in the Talkback section. In fact, Al Martin added that "one guy knew more about the league than I did." Great stuff!

In closing, I would like to thank those Tribune readers out there who remind me that writing this article isn't a wasted effort. From time to time I wonder if anyone outside of the league cares or reads this stuff about a softball league. But a conversation with good friend Dennis Misit over the weekend proved to me that the article is read and the news is appreciated. Well, at least I know it is by Dennis and my mother, Marie. Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone!