Due to rainouts and scheduling conflicts, the Murphy’s Law softball team has played the fewest number of games in the league thus far. As opponents were playing doubleheaders, piling up wins, and gaining league experience, Murphy’s watched helplessly as they passed by in the win column and in the standings. However, with only three losses to date and seven games remaining on their schedule, Murphy’s has a legitimate shot at catching the Spartans and finishing on top in the Moran Division.

Coach Ryan Cox (.441, 15 RBI) has assembled a great team of athletes in the likes of Mike Quirk (.697, 30 RBI), Matt Thayer (.545), Brendan Carney (.543, 15 RBI), Nick Herz (.471, 16 RBI), pitcher Eric Malerba (6-2), and several others. Murphy’s are young, energetic, and talented. They are the league’s bright future but are playing like veterans who want to win in the present.

Last week we wrote about how disappointing a season the Il Giardino Club was having. Those words followed by a 26-8 pounding by the Sharks must have finally sent the signal that enough was enough. On Thursday, they played solid defense and put together timely hits to take an 11-10 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning against the second place Green Team. A win would have a huge impact in the standings for both clubs giving this game a lot of meaning. With runners on first and third and one out, the Green team’s Adam Leicht smacked a double to right to hand another tough loss to the Giardino club. A dejected group of players slowly walked off the field knowing they had given it their best shot but still came up empty.

Ten minutes later, Giardino regrouped and took the field for their second game of a doubleheader. However, this one was against and even tougher opponent - the hard hitting Shannon’s Tavern team. As an observer of the previous game, this writer thought that Giardino would be flat and clearly overmatched. Surprisingly, they played loose and came on like a team with nothing to lose and everything to gain. After four innings of play, they led Shannon’s 6-0 and were in total control of the game.

But Shannon’s fought back hard in the fifth inning to tie the game on homeruns by Rob Rogers and Steven Couturier. Giardino then rallied and put runners on the corners with no outs in the top of the sixth inning. With the game in the balance, that would be as far as they would get as Shannon’s ace pitcher John Gregorio left them stranded. Shannon’s then put the game away with four runs in the bottom of the sixth winning the game, 10-6.

At the end of the night, it was two more losses for Giardino but somewhere within these two games the team may have finally found their A-game. They will need to win at least one of their remaining four games to secure the last playoff spot. Normally, a team with a handful of wins wouldn’t pose a threat to a first place finisher. However, the Giardino team that played last Friday did not play like a last place Feeney Division team and could be a very difficult draw for any playoff opponent.

A week ago, Coach Peter Hourihan was sitting in the Beer Garden and visibly upset. In what should have been an easy win for his softball team turned out to be a disappointing loss to the Dorset Club. It was the Beer Garden’s third loss in a row and they were quickly slipping in the standings. Things didn’t look like they would get any better this past week when Hourihan and his troops were set to play the second place Green Team. Making matters worse, they were facing hard throwing ace pitcher, Nick French who had been dominant in his first eight games of the season.

After falling behind early, another long and frustrating night was on the horizon for coach Hourihan. However, the Beer Garden regrouped and turned the game around with timely hits while playing great defense behind their pitcher, Mark Landolfi. In the end, they came away with an 11-10 upset win, and a smiling coach was spotted back in the Beer Garden exclaiming, “The losing streak is over!”

Since an 8-6 loss in the first week of the season to Sidewalk, the Spartans had been on a roll. Winners of eleven straight games they had control over first place in the Feeney Division. The wins kept coming and their confidence level was soaring. There was talk that they could have contended in the “A division” this year. Then along came a scheduled game against the defending champions – Playwright. This was billed as a must see game – a true test for the Spartans.

Well, if this were a college mid term then the Spartans would have received a failing grade as they lost, 12-0. Like a student who receives such a grade, their pride and psyche may have suffered but their resolve must remain intact. Besides, with Shannon’s, the Hawks, and the Green Team still remaining on their schedule the tests are only going to get tougher. We hope to see you at the park!