Games of 9/23

We're slowly catching up here...

Rosengard 10, O'Connor 2
This game was tied at 2-2 going into the top of the 7th, when Rosengard's team erupted for 8 runs. Sam Melendez's infield single scored the go-ahead run. Ian Parfrey was 4-for-4 with 2 RBI, and Eric Schulman added 3 hits. Dave Rosengard allowed one earned run on 7 hits for the win.

Melendez 8, Lawrence 5
Freddie Melendez was staked to a 6-0 lead after 2 innings, and cruised to a win. He helped his cause with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. Phil Ciccone was 3-for-3 with 2 RBI for Lawrence's team.

Mishkin 7, Hewes 7 (5-inning tie)
In the third game, Mishkin's team led 7-5 after 2 innings, but the pitchers eventually regained control. Nel Yomtov was 3-for-4 with a double, triple, and 4 RBI for Mishkin's squad, and Havelock Hewes backed his own pitching with 3 hits and 2 RBI.

GAMES OF MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

1. Hewes 2, Melendez 1

Ian Parfrey's walkoff double to right scored Mike Sulyman in the bottom of the 7th. Havelock Hewes scattered 8 hits for the win, and Freddie Melendez was almost equally magnificent, allowing only 2 runs on 4 hits.

2. Appell 5, Nilva 3 (14 innings)

Despite throwing 11 straight scoreless innings, Zach Nilva was once again beaten in the 14th inning. Mike Sulyman led off with a bunt, and came all the way around to score on a pair of throwing errors. Chris Hall's sac fly provided the insurance run. Brian Hernandez hit a 2-run HR for Appell's team earlier in the game. Appell allowed 3 runs on 16 hits; Nilva allowed 5 runs, 3 earned, on 10 hits. Brian Hernandez threw the winning run out at the plate in the bottom of the 13th.

3. Hewes 4, Connor 2

Havelock Hewes (10-3) continued his winning streak, allowing 7 hits. The winning runs scored on an error and a Zach Nilva single in the top of the 7th.

4. Melendez 8, Nilva 4

Finally the bats came alive to back Freddie Melendez (5-5). Freddie and Nel Yomtov each went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI, and Chris Hall added 3 hits and a triple. Freddie allowed only 6 hits.

Games of 4/3

On our last weekend in Riverdale, Havelock Hewes (4-1) defeated Zach Nilva 15-6. Nel Yomtov was 3-for-4 with a 2B, HR, and 4 RBI. Jim O'Connor also drove in 3, and Alex Rivera homered. Eric Schulman led Nilva's team with 3 hits. In the nightcap, Matt Mishkin (1-1) beat Jim O'Connor, 15-4. Eric Schulman homered and drove in 5 runs, Mike Sulyman homered and drove in 4, and Freddie Melendez was 4-for-4 with 2 RBI. Nel Yomtov added 3 more hits for O'Connor's side.

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.

GAMES AND NOTES OF 10/24

SFLOI record broken! Freddy Melendez won his 44th game of the season in today's Game 3, breaking Joe Gerber's record of 43 wins as a player in 1995. Zach Nilva has 41 wins this season, so it isn't guaranteed that Freddy will keep the record for very long. Freddy currently holds a 1.5 game lead in the pennant standings.

As for the games themselves, Tony Connor and Josh Balsam stacked their side with Riverdale players, but dropped a tripleheader to Ian Parfrey and Havelock Hewes's Brooklyn-Manhattan squad.

Melendez 7, Appell 4
Freddy Melendez (13-8) prevailed in a contest that was tied at 1 after 6 innings. Ian Parfrey's 2-run double to shallow right broke the tie in the top of the 7th, and then the floodgates opened. Melendez's team scored 6 times, and then had to hold on in the bottom of the inning when Sam Magnus smacked a 2-run HR to left-center. Alexander Rodriguez was 3-for-3 with 2 RBI for the winners.

Hewes 2, Martinez 1
Havelock Hewes (12-18) won a pitchers' duel. Parfrey had an RBI single in the 1st, and Alexander Rodriguez tripled to right-center in the 5th, and came around to score on a throwing error. Havelock's only spot of trouble came in the bottom of the 5th, as two singles and an error loaded the bases. Jaime Orochena's groundout drove in a run, a walk to Eric Schulman reloaded the bases, and Sam Magnus grounded out to end the inning.

Rosengard 7, Stoeth 3
Dave Rosengard (5-7) was in control throughout, and didn't allow an earned run. Nel Yomtov's 2-run HR to left in the 5th (on an 0-2 pitch with 2 outs!) broke open a 1-run game, and Rosengard's team scored 3 more times after that, taking advantage of two key outfield errors. Rosengard retired Marvin Cohen and Zach Nilva on grounders to snuff a 7th-inning comeback.

GAMES OF OCT 17

Nilva 12, Rosengard 10
This was a seesaw battle, as Zach Nilva (5-4) allowed 6 runs in the bottom of the first, and Dave Rosengard allowed 6 in the top of the second. The game was tied at 10 in the top of the seventh when Jaime Orochena booted Ken Walker's grounder, allowing 2 runs to score. Rosengard was victimized by 8 errors, and 9 of the 12 runs were unearned. Zach Nilva helped his own cause by going 2-for-3 with 3 RBI. Alexander Rodriguez was 3-for-3 with an RBI double in a losing effort.

Martinez 6, Hewes 3
Derek Martinez was in control throughout and improved to 5-6 on the year. Martinez helped to break a 1-1 tie in the 5th inning by getting caught in a rundown between first and second. He got safely back to first as Nel Yomtov came in from third with the go-ahead run. Hewes unraveled and allowed 3 2-out runs afterwards. Eric Schulman was 3-for-4 with an RBI in the victory.

NYMSL PLAYOFFS SUNDAY!

Hello folks,

So as most of you know, I play for and co-captain the DC Comics softball team. Well this Sunday, soon after SFLOI's weekly gameday ends, DC will be squaring off against the Wall Street Journal in a semifinal match to determine who plays in the final directly afterward. High Times will be playing WNYC at the same time in the other semi. I invite all of you to stick around Heckscher and cheer on two of your boys, myself and Nel Yomtov, and the rest of the DC Bullets!

Here's the NYMSL Playoff info:

All games @ Heckscher Playground

Seminfinals: 1:30 pm

WNYC vs. HT, Field 1

WSJ vs. DC, Field 4

Championship Game, Field 1, 3 pm

Consolation Game, Field 4, 3 pm

Best,
Sal

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.