Games of July 4

Two big innings made the difference. In Game 1, Jeff Appell's team scored 5 times in the first, and hung on for a 5-4 victory over Havelock Hewes. The winning run was stranded on first base. Zach Nilva went 4-for-5 to back Appell's pitching. In Game 2, Derek Martinez's team scored 6 times in the second, and won 6-2 over Ian Parfrey. Don Weiss was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI.

GAMES OF 9/5

1. Hewes 6, Stoeth 5
Havelock Hewes (9-16) got Gil Schmerler to line out to SS Dave Sommers with the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the top of the 7th to preserve the win. Sommers (2-for-3, 2B, 3 RBI) supplied most of the offensive firepower for the winning side. Mike Palma was 3-for-4 with 2 RBI for Stoeth's team.

2. Appell 6, Rosengard 4
Jeff Appell (4-3) scattered 7 hits, and worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the 7th inning, allowing only Jaime Orochena's sac fly. Appell also doubled and drove in 2. Zach Nilva was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Rosengard got a 2-run double by Derek Martinez and little else in the way of offensive support.

3. Melendez 10, Martinez 2
These two pitchers squared off against each other in an equally lopsided game last week, won by Martinez, and this time Freddy Melendez (10-6) got his revenge, scattering 11 hits and pitching shutout ball over the final 6 frames. Don Weiss (3-for-5, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI) and Zach Nilva (3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI) led the way, as Martinez struggled with his control all day, walking nine.

GAMES AND NOTES OF 8/8

O'Connor 17, Stoeth 11
Jim O'Connor (9-6) prevailed in a wild slugfest of a game. O'Connor's team scored 7 two-out runs in the second inning to take a 10-6 lead. An Alex Rivera 2-run triple and a Phil Ciccone (2-for-3, 4 RBI) single brought Stoeth's team within 13-11 in the 5th, but that was as close as they would get. The winners were led by Jaime Orochena (3-for-3, 2B, 4 runs, 3 RBI). O'Connor and Don Weiss also drove in 3, and Ian Parfrey scored 4 runs. Eric Schulman had 3 hits in a losing cause. Stoeth's control issues finally caught up with her, as she walked 7 batters, and all but one came around to score.

Rosengard 4, Hewes 2
Dave Rosengard (3-4) pitched well, scattering 7 hits, and Don Weiss (2-for-2) hit a 2-run double in the third that proved to be the decisive hit. Phil Ciccone was 2-for-3 with 2 doubles and an RBI for Hewes's team, who stranded 5 baserunners over the final two frames.

APRIL 18 GAME RECAPS

Game 1: Parfrey 8, Hewes 3
Backed by the bats of Chris Hall (2-for-3, triple, 4 RBI), and Freddy Melendez (3-for-3, RBI), Parfrey (2-2) scattered 12 hits and won. Hall's 2-run triple broke a 3-3 tie in the 4th inning.

Game 2: O'Connor 4, Melendez 3
With the 11am curfew rapidly approaching in the bottom of the 6th, Don Weiss tripled to right, and Zach Nilva hit a deep sac fly to right-center to bring him in, breaking a 3-3 tie. Jim O'Connor (4-1) settled down after allowing a run in each of the first 3 innings to shut down a good offense over the final four. Ian Parfrey was 2-for-3 with an RBI for O'Connor's team, and Fred Lang made two game-saving catches in right field. Sal Cipriano hit his first HR of the season in a losing cause.

INSTANT IMMORTALIZATION NOW AVAILABLE

Let's all join in thanking Don, Sal and Zach for these great cards. If you haven't sent in your order, don't wait. Supplies are limited. OK, maybe not - but why wait? It will easily be the best money you spend this winter! (That includes the Ant Farm you intend to buy so you'll have some company during the long, cold winter months.)

I have in on very good authority that these cards will triple, quadruple and even fivetupple in value when you attempt to sell them on eBay in the year 2050. They will also provide archeologists with a truly excellent look back at how we lived our lives in the early years of this century. You can easily imagine them wondering how these individuals were able to earn a living while playing a game they loved!

Again, thanks Don, Sal and Zach for a job well done!

COMMISSIONER'S REPORT

Players,

Thanks to all the people who have helped move us into the twenty-first century. A year ago our on-line presence was our e-mail list and LarrySavell.com. Then we were on Heywoodtheband.com (Ian Parfrey's site) and we had a Facebook page, thanks to Tony Connor. Now we have our own web site, thanks to Sal Cipriano.

Also this year we were discovered in The New York Review Of Books as a "curious collection of players" whose game is more compelling than the Mets or Yankees. These "curiosities" can be seen on the first Softball For The Love Of It softball cards, thanks to the work of Don Weiss.

Besides achieving all this fame, the on-field experience of playing our game has never been more fun. Despite two horrific injuries (dramatic limb dislocations to Phil Ciccone and Marvin Cohen) and lots of rain, we managed a full and glorious season. Derek Martinez hit seven homers in one morning on his way to breaking Phil Kotik's single-season homerun record. Martinez, Parfrey and Alex Rivera all had historic seasons which will make for an interesting MVP vote. We are considering a ballot with only those three names, to insure that no one loses because he was entirely left off one ballot.

Going into the last week of the season, Parfrey, Alex Rivera and Bob Holzwasser were tied in the pennant race at ten games over .500. Holzwasser's strategy was to stay home. Parfrey and Rivera both lost two games, handing Holzwasser the pennant with his Sunday breakfast and newspaper.

We welcomed back Richard Tedesco on a regular basis this season, but I am coming to the conclusion that, for a number of our players, the single biggest factor in attendance is geography. When we move to Westchester, Richard Rowlands, Dan Schneider and Larry Savell show up. Bill Vernick is a Manhattan-only player. We had not seen Joe Balento in a couple of years, until Joe Gerber got us a permit for Lowenfish Field at 108th in Riverside Park and here comes Balento! Could it be that we finally got within Joe's geographical sphere (he lives 5 blocks away).

In the past we have had several theme games. Most notably the Capitalist/Communist game in which the commies scored one run in virtually every inning, only to lose 8-7 because the robber barons put up two boom innings among their goose eggs.

This season, we played the first-ever "Backwards" game. Several players could not remember to run to third out of the box, inspiring at least one new nickname, Richard "Wrong Way" Rowlands. My favorite moment of the 2009 season came on the last day. Game One was our backwards game. In game 2, Alex Rivera hit a line drive and ran to third base! That's what I call a fast learner.

-Havelock Hewes

SFLOI CLASSICS-- 9/6/09

While waiting for the weather to warm up, here's a recap of one of last season's most thrilling games.

On September 6, 2009, SFLOI played a day-night quadrupleheader. The 4th and final game went 11 innings. Derek Martinez pitched for the visitors, and Jeff Appell for the home team. The visitors took an early 5-1 lead, but Appell's team scored four 2-out runs in the bottom of the 2nd to tie, highlighted by a Mike Palma 2-run single, and a Don Weiss RBI single on which Marvin Cohen tried to go first-to-third, made it, and then scored on an overthrow.

The pitchers then got down to business, and the game remained tied at 5 until the top of the 9th inning. Martinez's team took a 6-5 lead on a throwing error, but the game was quickly tied again. Marvin came to bat with the bases loaded and no outs, and beat an attempted 5-2-3 DP, and the runner from second alertly scored. Martinez got out of the jam by inducing a 9-2 DP, with Nel Yomtov gunning down the winning run at the plate.

Things got dicier in the 10th, with Martinez needing a rare 4-6-2 DP to escape. Ian Parfrey threw a strike to Josh Balsam to catch Don Weiss trying to score. Weiss's clean, hard slide toppled the catcher, who somehow held the ball. Both players were injured but remained in the game.

In the 11th, Martinez's team loaded the bases with nobody out, but only managed one run, with Martinez's SF to left just barely scoring Yomtov. Martinez held down the fort in the 11th, and came away with a 7-6 win.