Games of 3/27

1. Hewes 16, Martinez 5

Mike Sulyman was 5-for-6 with a HR and 5 RBI, Eric Schulman was 4-for-6 with 2 HR's and 4 RBI, and Zach Nilva added 4 hits.

2. Connor 18, Schmerler 4

Ken Walker homered twice and drove in 5. Derek Martinez was 4-for-5 with 2 RBI.

3. Nilva 9, Melendez 5

Alex Rivera homered twice and drove in 6. For Melendez's team, Ken Walker homered twice.

Games of 3/20

Hewes 17, O'Connor 8

Alex "Cid" Rivera continued his hot hitting-- he was 3 for 4 with 4 runs scored, a HR, and 5 RBI. Freddie and Sam Melendez each added 3 RBI. Ken Walker homered and drove in 4 for O'Connor's squad.

Nilva 9, Mishkin 8 (8 innings)

Brian Hernandez hit a walkoff 2-run single to left to give Zach Nilva's team a stunning comeback win. Down to their last out and facing a 6-3 deficit, they got a 2-run double from Nel Yomtov, who then came around to score the tying run when Marvin Cohen dropped a throw at first. Ian Parfrey clubbed a 2-run HR in the top of the 8th, but Nilva's team had another comeback in them. Hernandez homered and drove in 3, while Parfrey was 4-for-4 (enroute to a 10-for-10 day) with 2 doubles, a HR, and 4 RBI.

Melendez 16, Parfrey 4 (5 innings)

Ken Walker homered twice and drove in 6, and Derek Martinez added a grand slam, as Melendez's team took advantage of some shoddy fielding, but also clubbed Parfrey and reliever Havelock Hewes for 16 hits. Parfrey was 3-for-3 with 2 RBI in a losing effort.

AWARDS

The second annual winter meeting live blog will follow. Here are your 2010 award winners.

GG Pitcher: Freddie Melendez
Catcher: Josh Balsam
1st Base: Marvin Cohen
2nd Base: Laura Stoeth
3rd Base: Freddie Melendez
Shortstop: Phil Ciccone
Outfield: Zach Nilva, Alex Rivera, Eric Schulman, Bill McLaughlin, Brian Hernandez
Rookie: Ken Walker and Eric Schulman
Pitcher: Freddie Melendez
MVP: Ian Parfrey

Opening Day 2011

We opened the season the right way today-- good weather, exactly enough players, and two one-run games. Havelock Hewes beat Freddy Melendez 5-4, and Dave Rosengard's team got him a comeback victory in game 2, 10-9 over Adam Garcia. Hewes's team scored 4 times in the 1st, and just barely held on. Bill McLaughlin's single to center was the first hit of the year, and he came around to score the first run, driven in by Ian Parfrey. Melendez's squad chipped away at the lead, and stranded the tying run on second base when Justin Stotsky flew out to right.
In the second game, Stotsky came through, delivering a 2-run single to short center to tie the game in the bottom of the 8th. Gil Schmerler grounded a double down the left field line to score Mike Sulyman for the decisive run. Seven straight batters reached base during this rally, which started with Ken Walker's 2-out, 2-run HR to left-center.
Thanks to Zach Nilva and Tony Connor for getting us the field and the turnout.

Game Photos from November 19

These photos were taken by my friend Matt Holden at East River Park two weeks ago. He's a pretty good photographer, and there's some nice action shots and portraits. Enjoy!

Softball @ East River Park

ZACH NILVA, RECORD BREAKER (part 2 and 3)

Zach Nilva got his 140th hit of the season, a 4th inning RBI single off of Freddy Melendez, to break Joe Gerber's single-season record, which had lasted since 1995. Nilva also had 17 consecutive hits over 5 games before finally being retired on a groundout by Jeff Appell. This is also a record as far as we know.

Zach needs to score 5 more runs to break Gerber's run record, and Ian Parfrey needs 10 RBI to break Larry Savell's record. Alex Rivera needs 3 doubles to break Phil Kotik's record. Parfrey also has a chance at breaking 2 more obscure records-- most times reached base and most runs produced, needing to reach 6 more times and produce 11 more runs, and also may become SFLOI's 4th ever Triple Crown winner. To recap, Zach has already broken the records for most hits and most singles; Freddy Melendez has broken the record for most player wins; Laura Stoeth has broken the record for most wins by a female pitcher; and Havelock Hewes has batted for the 6,000th time. It has been a historic season already and there may be more to come.

Now onto the games.

Hewes 6, Appell 4
Ken Walker hit a grand slam and tripled in another run, and Evan Peters added 3 hits as Hewes (13-20) held on for the win. Zach Nilva was 4-for-4 for Appell's team.

O'Connor / Garcia 21, Connor / Melendez 14
Game 2 was a slugfest featuring 35 runs, 41 hits, 12 walks, at least 7 errors, and 4 pitchers. Jim O'Connor (13-9) got the win and Freddy Melendez got the loss in relief. Adam Garcia picked up the save with 3 innings of relief pitching. O'Connor was staked to an 8-2 lead, but Connor's team scored 5 in the 3rd and 5 more in the 4th to take a 12-8 advantage. O'Connor's team scored 8 times in the bottom of the 4th and 5 more in the 5th to regain control. As you might expect, there are alot of individual performances to mention: For the O'Connors, Ian Parfrey (4-for-4, 2B, 5 RBI), Zach Nilva (4-for-4, 2 RBI), Adam Garcia (3-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI), Jeff Appell (3-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI), Joe Geller (2-for-3, 3 RBI). For the Connors, Freddie Melendez (5-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI), Sam Magnus (4-for-5, 3 RBI), Alex Rivera (3-for-5), Ken Walker (2-for-4, 3 RBI), and Havelock Hewes walked in all 5 of his at bats.

Melendez 13, Appell 9 (5 innings)
Eric Schulman homered and drove in 4 runs, and Adam Garcia was 3-for-3 with a triple and 4 RBI, as Freddy Melendez improved to 16-9 on the year. Alex Rivera had 3 hits in a losing cause, and Sam Magnus tripled twice. Melendez's team opened a 13-4 lead and barely survived their own defense.

GAMES OF 10/31-- FREDS VS MARVINS

Freds 11, Marvins 7
The Marvins had early leads of 3-0 and 5-3, but the Freds scored 5 times in the bottom of the 4th to open an insurmountable lead. The Marvins did succeed in making it nearly impossible for the opposing fielders to tell who was batting. Ken Walker was 2-for-3 with 3 RBI for the Freds, Josh Balsam drove in the go-ahead run, and Jeff Appell picked up his 7th win and lowered his ERA to 2.71.

Freds 4, Marvins 3
In the bottom of the 7th, the Marvins loaded the bases with no one out and a run already in. However, Jim O'Connor (12-8) induced Tony Connor to pop out, and then Havelock Hewes lined into a double play, as Freds SS Ian Parfrey made a diving stop and then doubled Alex Rodriguez off of second. The game was a pitchers' duel all the way, with Jim O'Connor scoring the go-ahead run on a dropped fly ball in the 5th inning.

Freds 4, Marvins 2 (5 innings)
Laura Stoeth (7-9) picked up her first win since July 11, allowing 4 hits and 1 earned run. The Freds scored all of their runs with 2 outs in the 4th inning, starting with Ken Walker's solo bomb to deep center. Parfrey then doubled to left. Sam Magnus walked, Joe Geller singled to center for the go-ahead run, and Jeff Appell ripped a 2-run double to left for the final margin.

SFLOI PLAYS 14-INNING MARATHON

Melendez 7, Appell 5
Freddy Melendez improved to 12-8 on the season, as his team scored 4 times in the first and never looked back. Zach Nilva was 2-for-3 with a home run, and Tony Connor was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Alex Rivera was 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 runs scored for Appell's side.

Hewes 9, Nilva 8 (14 innings)
There was talk of playing a tripleheader, but we decided to just play Game 2 forever instead. As is his usual custom, Havelock Hewes gave up 6 runs in the first 2 innings (only 2 of them earned), and then masterfully held Nilva's team to 2 runs over the final 12 innings while his team battled back.
Sal Cipriano lined a 2-run single with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th to tie the game at 6. In the bottom of the 8th, Nilva escaped a bases-loaded 1-out jam by retiring Don Weiss and Alex Rivera on short fly balls. Ken Walker singled and later scored on a throwing error in the top of the 9th, and Nilva got the first two outs before Alexander Rodriguez tripled to right-center, and came around to score on an infield grounder when Marvin Cohen failed to hold on to a high throw. In the top of the 10th, Ken Walker's single to left plated Fred Lang, but Zach Nilva was tagged out in a rundown between third and home, and Walker was out advancing to second to end the inning. Alex Rivera's 2-out infield single to deep short scored Jaime Orochena in the bottom of the inning, after Orochena had just beaten out a hustle double earlier in the inning. Rivera was gunned out with the winning run by Glen Lawrence on Sal Cipriano's single. Nilva escaped a bases-loaded no-out jam in the 12th when Don Weiss led off with a single and reached third when it got past RF Derek Martinez. Afrer two intentional walks, Sal Cipriano popped out, and Alex Rivera was inexplicably caught off of second base. Jeff Appell grounded out to end the inning. Finally, Ian Parfrey led off the 14th with a double to deep right-center, and scored when the relay throw to third ended up in the dugout. If anyone knows of an SFLOI game that went longer than 14 innings, let me know. I've never played in a game longer than 11.
Offensive stars in the long game were Jaime Orochena (5-for-7, 2 doubles), and Alexander Rodriguez (4-for-6, 3B) for Hewes's team. Ken Walker was 5-for-7 with an RBI for Nilva's team.

ZACH NILVA THROWS NO HITTER

Game 1
Hewes 7, O'Connor 5
Havelock Hewes (10-16) needed most of a 7-0 cushion to pick up the win. Sam Magnus was 2-for-4 with a double and 3 RBI for the winners. Ken Walker (3-for-4, 2 RBI) and Freddy Melendez (3-for-3) led O'Connor's team. Hewes stranded the tying runs on base.

Game 2
Parfrey 10, Stoeth 3
Ian Parfrey (11-7) battled control issues in the first, when he walked the bases loaded and then allowed Glen Lawrence's 3-run double. He settled down to throw 6 scoreless frames afterwards. Alex Rivera was the offensive star, going 3-for-3 with 2 doubles, 2 runs scored, and an RBI. Ian Lebowitz scored 3 runs, drove in 2, and participated in a bizarre play where his short fly ball to center fell just in front of Don Weiss, who recovered to force out Parfrey at second, and the throw on to third got Bill McLaughlin, while Alex Rivera scored from third.

Game 3
Nilva 1, Melendez 0, 5 innings
Zach Nilva allowed no hits and walked three, and a French tourist walk-on named Manu made three difficult catches in right-center to preserve the no-no. He then asked me if we play every day, and I told him only on Sundays. I hope not to see him unless he's on my team. Zach's defense turned two double plays behind him, and the game's only run came when Mike Palma hit a leadoff triple to right-center, and then came around on Ken Walker's sac fly to deep left. Freddy Melendez was the hard-luck loser, scattering 4 hits.

RECAPS OF SUNDAY's GAMES

With unseasonably warm and beautiful weather, Zinsser Park in Hastings was packed to the gills with softballers. We had a near-record 27 players in Game 2.

Game 1
O'Connor 21, Rosengard 18
Jim's team built a quick 16-5 lead and then had to sweat it out, as the Rosengarders stormed back with a 9-run 5th inning to close within 17-16 before Alex Rivera (3-for-3, 3 RBI) tripled to key a 4-run rally that proved to be decisive. Ken Walker also drove in three runs for the winning side. Ian Parfrey had a home run and 5 RBI for the losing team. Freddy Melendez added a home run, Joe Geller drove in 3 runs, and Sal Cipriano was 3-for-4 with 2 RBI.

Game 2
Hewes 11, Melendez 5
Havelock was sharp in his first outing since the Massacre at Riverdale, scattering 11 hits and allowing very little after a 3-run first inning. Freddy matched him until a 6th inning defensive collapse led to 7 runs scoring. The winning team was led by Rich Rowlands and Alex Rivera (2-for-3, 2 doubles each). Parfrey was 3-for-3 with an RBI and a boneheaded baserunning mistake for the losers.