Games of April 29

Melendez 12, Rosengard 11
Freddie Melendez backed his own pitching by going 4-for-4, Solomon Sarway hit a 3-run HR, and Jaime Orochena was 3-for-4 with 3 RBI. Melendez's team nearly blew a 12-2 lead, as they gave up 6 runs in the top of the 7th, and Melendez retired Mark Rodriguez with the bases loaded to end the game. Mike Heller was 2-for-4 with a HR and 3 RBI, and Robert Rodriguez and Sam Melendez each had 3 hits and 3 RBI.

Nilva 6, Appell 6
The second game ended in a 5-inning tie, as Nilva's team came back from a 6-1 deficit. Mike Heller hit his second HR of the day, and Gil Schmerler threw out the go-ahead run at home plate on a relay to preserve the tie.

Game of April 22

Parfrey 9, Hewes 8

Zach Nilva (3-for-5, HR) hit a walkoff sac fly, as Parfrey's team overcame two Brian Hernandez home runs. Marvin Cohen graciuosly played first base for both teams despite injuring his thumb in batting practice.

Games of April 15

Parfrey 13, Melendez 10
Parfrey's team came back from a 5-run deficit to win. Jeff Appell had 3 hits in his 2012 debut. For Melendez's team, newcomer Mike Heller was 3-for-4 with a 3-run HR.

Hewes 10, Appell 3
Appell's team committed 6 errors and allowed 7 runs in the first inning. Neither game was crisply played, to say the least.

Opening Day-- Games of 4/8

Parfrey 17, Hewes 4
Ian Parfrey backed his pitching with 4 hits, Don Weiss also had 4 hits, and Alex "Cid" Rivera drove in 5 runs. Parfrey's team scored 9 times in the 2nd inning to blow the doors off of this one.

Nilva 12, Melendez 4
Zach Nilva scattered 9 hits for the win, Sam Melendez was 3-for-4 with a grand slam, and Bob Holzwasser also homered in his return to SFL after missing all of 2011. Freddie Melendez was victimized by his defense-- only one of the 12 runs was earned. Eric Schulman was 3-for-3 with 2 RBI.

Lawrence 4, Connor 3
Glen Lawrence picked up the win and hit the winning sac fly to score Alex Rivera.

Happy Opening Day

A BARTERING EQUIVALENCE Marvin Cohen

After the last game, Ian Parfrey and I happened to be let off the same car, into the same subway station, aimed for the same C train. But I descended the stairs too slow, causing him to miss the train he would have made if he hadn't waited for me. It cost him an extra 5 minutes till the next train came. This is like I cost him a double or triple if he hits it into the gap with me on first and I can't make it past second base. Since time is money, and he's busy, I asked him how much I owed him for the 5 minutes between trains. Unlike a hard-nosed businessman, he didn't charge me anything except this contribution to our website. Thus the barter system is still informally alive in a social economy that shows good will pitching a meatball strike to a forgiven batter whether he can respond to the opportunity or not.

Games of April 1

Hewes 18, Martinez 5
Sam Melendez (2-for-4, HR, 6 RBI) hit a grand slam broke open a close game in the 5th inning. Matt Mishkin was 5-for-6 with 2 RBI. Havelock Hewes allowed 9 hits and picked up his 2nd win of the season. Eric Schulman homered for Martinez's team.

Greenblatt 10, Nilva 9
In a thrilling finish, Eric Schulman's 2-out 2-run single to right capped a 5-run comeback in the bottom of the 7th. Sam Magnus, Jim O'Connor, and Dan Greenblatt had consecutive 2-out hits before Schulman's game winner. Schulman and Freddie Melendez each had 4 hits. Nilva's team had scored 5 times in the top of the 7th to take a 9-5 lead.

Hecksher Season Starts Sunday by Havelock Hewes

On Sunday, April 8, we begin our Central Park Season at Field #1 at Hecksher Field. Games begin at 8:30 am. This Sunday will be Easter, so it is quite likely that the league which has the field after us will not be playing, so we can play past our usual eleven o'clock ending time.

The cost of our permit has gone up by over 50%, from $16 a week to $25 a week and the retail price of clincher softballs has gone from $8 plus tax to $9 plus tax. In order to keep up with these costs we have put dues up 33% this year, from $30 to $40. In the past we have not enforced a "no dues, no play" rule until we had 27 players. This year we are reducing the number to 23. This means that if we have 23 or more players and a player has not paid dues, he/she will not be allowed to play. You may pay Gil Schmerler dues at game time and you will be allowed to play.