Westford Over-30 Slow-Pitch Softball

Week two of Over 30 softball shows an undefeated Short Cut Landscaping at the top of the standings at 3-0. The Mustangs are in second at 4-1 and leading in the "Runs For" category with nearly 100 scored already. The rest of the pack is bunched up other than Pro Sports at 0-4 and looking for their first win of the young season.

Floral Arts 21 - Burtons 7

Burtons held an early game lead and held out hope for an early season upset win, however, a 15-run, two grand slam inning by  Floral Arts put a quick end to Burton's dream.  Floral Arts defeated Burton's Grill, 21-7, in five innings. Floral hit seven home runs in the contest, including two by Rob Beaudette (two-run shot, grand slam), two by Mike Alonardo (two-run homer and a grand slam) and one each by Mark Chambers, Larry Mardany, and Roger Whittlesey with the walk-off.  Playing well on defense for Floral were Chad Kirby in left center and Simon Tripp at shortstop.  For Burtons, rookie Mike Santiano went 1-3 with a home run and four RBI, Murph McKeon 2-3 with a run scored and one RBI, and Tim Scott, 2-3 and a run scored.

Drew Farms 15 - Pro Sports Therapy 12

PST scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 12 but left the winning run on third base in the loss.  This turned out to be a fatal error, as Drew’s responded with four in the top of the first extra frame to put the game away.  Offensive highlights for PST include a two-run homerun by Ben Armstrong in the first (to begin his 3-4 effort with three runs scored), Mark Urlage going 3-4 with three RBI, and Ryan Steele going 3-4.

Nashoba Valley Mustangs 30 - CSA Graphics 2

Some team had to pay for the Mustangs opening game loss and unfortunately for CSA, they were next on the schedule.

CSA succumbed to the mercy rule in the 5th as they continue to struggle in both the field and at the plate.  Mustang hurler Paul Ligouri  got the win on the mound and was on base three times, scoring each time and adding two RBI to help his cause.  Every Mustang had at least one hit and scored at least one run in the balanced attack.  Bill Knute led the charge with four hits, including two homeruns, four RBI, and three runs scored.  Other Mustang homerun hitters were Cormac Bordes, Mike Kennedy, Don Cusano, and Jack Erickson.  Kennedy made several nice plays at third for the winners.

Drew Farms 10 - Willis Tent 9

Drew’s scored five runs in the second inning but Willis scored six to take the lead.  In the top of the sixth, Drew’s would  score one run to tie it up but in the bottom half Willis would score two more holding onto an eight to six lead over Drew’s. Willis would add one more run to pad their lead but in the bottom of the last inning, Drew’s banged out four key runs taking the win 10 to 9. Contributing to the Willis effort were Darren Swanson, going 3 - 3 with two singles and a homerun, Roger Neild, 3 - 3, two singles and a double, Zach Ellis, with a homerun.

Nashoba Valley Mustangs 17 - Burtons Grill 15

After maxing out on their homerun limit early in the game, the Mustangs rallied from one run behind in the top of the 7th the old fashioned way: by hitting singles and doubles and hustling on the bases.  The Mustangs scored three times and held off the middle of the powerful Burtons lineup in the bottom of the 7th to close the game.  Mustangs shortstop  Paul Selfrige (3-4, HR, two RS, one RBI) turned a double play to end the game with the tying run at the plate for Burtons, who had bashed their way to a lead early in the game with a 12-run inning.  Other excellent defensive plays were made by Mustang infielders Paul Ligouri, who also had a clutch two RBI double in the seventh inning rally, and Dan Crogan (diving stop at second to force out a runner at second base late in the game.)  Other homerun hitters for the Mustangs were Scott Lawrence, with the first of his career, two by Don Cusano, two by Bill Knute, and one by Jack Erickson (4-4, HR, four RS, two RBI).  Jay Lincoln added two hits and a walk and made nice defensive play by leaping to pull down the game ending throw at 1B for the Mustangs.  A surging Burton's squad again played the Mustangs tough as they have done several times over the last few years.  Down only two in the bottom of the seventh, Burton's couldn't rally to score the needed three for the win. Tim Scott contributed with two homeruns on a 2-4, five RBI performance. Newcomer Erik Pasters was 2-3 with a homerun in his first ever Over-30 league appearance and Captain Dave Batchelder chipped in with a homerun on a 2-4, three RBI night.  Pasters also now holds the rookie of the year post game spread award.

CSA Graphics 13 - Drew Farms 7

Everyone in the line-up hit for CSA Graphics and the team scored in five of six innings to log their first win of the season versus Drew Farms.  After a scoreless first inning, each team scored twice to keep the game even after two innings.  In the third CSA took the lead and never looked back.  Josh Haskin was 3 for 3 on the night plus a sacrifice fly, scoring two runs and driving in two others.  Jonathan Ring went 3 for 4 with a couple runs and an RBI, along with making some great plays at shortstop.  Jeff "the zip code" Bernier also reached base safely three times, scored a run, and had an RBI.  The hero for CSA Graphics was Tim Piwowar who went 3 for 3 on the game, including a three-run homer, had two other RBIs and scored twice.

Short Cut Landscaping 15 - Pro Sports Therapy 7

Pro Sports had hits from 11 of the 13 players in the lineup, but it wasn’t enough against the big bats (five home runs) of Short Cut Landscaping.  The offensive highlight for Pro Sports Therapy was a three-run homerun from Ben Armstrong.

Nashoba Valley Mustangs 23 - Floral Arts 19

In a back and forth game between the league's two finalists for the last eight seasons, the Mustangs prevailed on a two out walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 7th inning by Keith Reynolds (4-5, HR, six RBI).  To get to that point the Mustangs had to come back from five separate deficits in the game to pull out the victory. Jim Ward set the table in the number two spot of the Mustang order going 5-5 with five runs scored.  He also played outstanding defense in left center field all game.  Winning pitcher Don Cusano provided tremendous offensive punch for the winners with four hits, including two long homeruns, a walk, six RBI, and four runs scored.  Mark Cusano chipped in with five hits himself, including an opposite field homerun blast, four RBI and three runs scored.  Jack Erickson and Bill Knute chipped in with three hits apiece and Knute made an outstanding diving catch down the left field line with the game still hanging in the balance.  Super sponsor Craig Smith added two hits, including a clutch double down the left field line.  Floral hit eleven balls out of the park, the last four only producing singles owing to the home run maximum of seven. Ryan Dunn (2), Ken Delaney (2), Larry Mardany, Rob Beaudette, and Mike Alonardo homered in the loss for Floral. 

Burtons Grill 21 - Drew Farms 12

Burtons put up 21 and evened their season record to 2-2 in a nice win over Drew farms on Friday night. Led by the coaching of cricket expert Raghu Mantena, Burton's batted around in the third inning scoring nine runs and erasing a 10-4 deficit.  Jerry Breen went 4-5 with three homeruns and five RBI.  Rookie Erik Pasters continued his great start hitting two more homeruns, now three in his first two games in the league. Defense was just as strong at Brian Collamore made a great catch in right field and Tim Scott got Burton's out of jam in the sixth with a diving catch and throw to second to double up the runner and end the inning.

Willis Tent 11 - Healy Oil 9

After one it was tied up with three runs apiece.   Willis took an 8 to 6 lead into the sixth inning but Healy would add three more runs to their total, briefly taking a 9 to 8  lead over Willis.  In the bottom of the sixth Willis offense took over, banging out three runs to take an 11 to  9 lead . Willis sultimately ended it with a game ending double play.  Willis' wins 11 to 9.  Notable Willis contributions were Dennis Kane  3 for 3 with one single, one double and a homerun, Andrew Metters 3 for 3 with teo singles and a homerun, Brian Gallardo and Justin Swanson each with a homerun.