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The Nashoba Valley Veterinary Mustangs swept Burton's Grill in the best of five series. Burton's held it close in two of the games but the Mustangs continue to be a very strong squad both at the plate and on defense. In the other semi-final match, last year's champion, Floral Arts has a 2 Games to 1 lead on 3E Moving.
Nashoba Valley Veterinary Mustangs 15 - Burton’s Grill 14
Burton’s tied up the hard fought game in top of 7th but Mustangs played small ball without any homers left to get the victory in the bottom half of the inning. Paul Selfrige Jr used his speed to beat out an infield grounder for his fourth hit while the winning run scored from second base on an errant throw. Earlier Mustang home runs were hit by Mike Kennedy (2HR, 5 RBI), Bill Knute, Paul Selfrige, Keith Reynolds, Cormac Bordes, and Mark Cusano. Good middle infield defense by Dan Crogan and Paul Selfrige Sr (2 doubleplays) helped the winners. Burton's contributors were Jerry Breen (2-for-4, 3 RBI), Murph McKeon (3-for-4, 2RS, 2 RBI), Tim Scott (2-for-4, 2 RS, 2 RBI), and Dave Batchelder (2-for-3, HR, 3 RBI).
Nashoba Valley Veterinary Mustangs 21 - Burton’s Grill 6
Mustang newcomer Nate Frazee led the charge with three home run blasts and nine RBI. Other Mustang homers were hit by Bill Knute (2), and winning pitcher Don Cusano. Outfielder Jim Ward made an outstanding sliding catch while short fielder Jack Erickson threw out two runners on the bases in the win. Home runs by Justin Randall and Mike Santiano were the lone Burton's offensive highlights in this one.
Mustangs Valley Veterinary Mustangs 22 - Burton’s Grill 17
The Mustangs won their 10th straight game to close out Burton’s. Southpaw slugger Bill Knute launched three homeruns with five RBI to lead the Mustangs. Other home run hitters were Jack Erickson, and Paul Selfrige Sr. Paul Selfrige Jr. added 4 doubles, while Keith Reynolds, Cormac Bordes, Nate Frazee, Craig Smith, and winning pitcher Paul Liguori all chipped in with two hits apiece. First baseman Smith and Liguori teamed up for a great play and Keith Reynolds also made an outstanding catch and throw to get a runner at first.
Mustangs 26 - Healy 16
Bill Knute went 5-for-5 with two home runs, five runs scored and eight RBI to lead the offensive charge for the Mustangs. Mike Kennedy added five hits (3 RBI, 3 RS) and Don Cusano chipped in with four hits and a homer of his own. Paul Selfrige Junior had three hits and a walk and Dad ripped three hits as well, with a home run blast himself. Jack Erickson (4-for-5, HR, 4 RBI) and Keith Reynolds crushed home runs of their own and Selfrige Junior made two outstanding running catches in foul territory in the last inning to help shut down Healy's late rally.
Mustangs 19 - Healy 12
Mustangs won their seventh straight game and knocked out a talented young Healy squad in the first round with a balanced offensive attack and good pitching and fielding by Don Cusano (4-for-4, HR, 3 RBI). Cormac Bordes also added four hits and a home run of his own. Other home run hitters were Keith Reynolds, Jack Erickson, and Paul Selfrige Jr and Senior. Jim Ward had an outstanding leaping catch at the fence to snuff out a Healy rally and chipped in with three hits. Scott Lawrence contributed two timely hits. Paul Selfrige Sr played well in the field and combined with Don Cusano to turn two big infield double plays to help the Mustang cause.
Burtons Grill beat Drews 15-11 and 14-3 to win their best of three first round series as well. Mike Santiano led the winners going 6-for-7 with three home runs five runs scored and eight RBI. Dave Batchelder (3-for-6, 2 HR), Erik Pasters (4-for-7, two HR, 5 RS) as well Tim Scott, Jerry Breen and Brian Collamore all contributed in the series victory
Burtons will take on the Nashoba Valley Mustangs in the next round while Floral Arts faces 3E Moving.
So with Burton’s 17-10 win over PST tonight, the standings are final…
- Floral Arts has the #1 seed and the first round bye with a 19-5 record
- The Mustangs finish one game back at 18-6
- SCL takes the #3 seed with a 14-10 record
- Burton’s Grill and Drew Farms finished tied with 12-12 record, with Burton’s getting the #4 seed by virtue of a 2-1 record head-to-head record
- We also had a tie for the sixth position, with both 3E Moving and Healy Oil finishing at 11-13. 3E gets the #6 seed by virtue of their 2-1 head to head record
- PST finishes in 8th, again
- And CSA is on the clock. Will they win the lottery with a draft pick the likes of this year’s #1 (and only) draft pick?
Play-offs start Friday night, the schedule is as follows:
Friday (8/24) 6:30 - #7-Healy Oil @ #2-Mustangs; 7:45 - #6-3E Moving @ #3-SCL
Sunday (8/26) 6:30 - #5-Drew Farms @ #4-Burton’s Grill; 7:45 - #2-Mustangs @ #7-Healy Oil
Tuesday (8/28) 6:30 - #3-SCL @ #6-3E Moving; 7:45 - #4-Burton’s Grill @ #5-Drew Farms
Wednesday (8/29) 6:30 - #7-Healy Oil @ #2-Mustangs; 7:45 - #6-3E Moving @ #3-SCL
Tuesday (9/4) 7:00 - #5-Drew Farms @ #4-Burton’s Grill (NOTE that all single games in the play-offs are played at 7 PM)
Note about the Game 3 scenarios- If the #2-#7 and/or the #3-#6 series end in 2 games and the #4-#5 series goes to a 3rd game, it will move to Wednesday, 8/29. If there is only 1 game that night, it will be played at 7 PM.
As for the second round, Floral Arts and the 3 teams that advance should be prepared to start round 2 on Wednesday, 9/5. However, it is possible that Round 2 will start on Tuesday (9/4) if one or two of the first round series goes the distance. And if all three series end in two games, then Round 2 will start on Wednesday, 8/29.
Final night of the regular season and playoff seeding is still in flux. A PST win could put the Burton's squad in a very tough first round match-up with the Mustangs. Floral Arts officially has the bye and CSA is out recruiting for next season.
Nashoba Valley Veterinary Mustangs 27 - Burton's Grill 18
Paul Selfrige Senior (4-for-5, HR, 4 RBI) and Mike Kennedy blasted grandslams early in the contest to help the Mustangs win a slugfest over Burtons. Paul Selfrige Junior joined Dad in the longball department with two of his own. Bill Knute and Don Cusano did their thing from the three and four slots with five hits apiece, including a homerun for each of them. Jack Erickson added four hits, including a bomb of his own. Jay Lincoln chipped in with 4 hits and Paul Liguori contributed three hits, including an RBI double. For Burtons in the loss: Erik Pasters (4-for-5, 2 RS), Jerry Breen (4-for-5, 2 RS 4 RBI), Charlie Chungu (2-for-4, 2 RS, 1 RBI), Mike Santiano (3-for-4, HR, 3 RBI), Dave Batchelder (3-for-4 6 RBI), John Geary (3-for-4, 1 RS), Jerod Colley (2-for-4, 1 RBI)
Nashoba Valley Veterinary Mustangs 17 - Burton's Grill 4
Two home runs apiece from winning pitcher Don Cusano and Bill Knute led the Mustangs. The Paul Selfrige father-son combo homered in the same game for the fourth time this year. Jack Erickson also blasted a home run in his second straight game. Jim Ward made a great leaping catch at the fence and added three hits and three runs scored while Jay Lincoln and Cormac Bordes, fresh off the disabled list, chipped in with two hits each. Knute also made a nice catch in left field for the Mustangs. Dave Batchelder had a three-run shot for Burtons in the loss.
Floral Arts 22 - CSA Graphics 9
Floral Arts and CSA Graphics began their game, each scoring six runs in the first inning. After CSA took a 7-6 lead in the top of second, the sky opened-up and the tilt had to be postponed due to the rain. Upon resuming the game a few nights later, Floral posted four runs in the bottom of the second. CSA could not keep pace, only scoring two in the third, which was then followed by another six from Floral who continued the offensive onslaught and eventually put CSA away by mercy rule. Cody Freihofer went 3-for-3 with a home run and Garrett Quinlan was 2-for-3 with a double and homer on the losing side.
Drew Farms 22 - CSA Graphics 6
Drew Farms went right to work early, posting seven runs in the top of first inning. After two innings it was 10-4 in favor of Drew's, and then Drew's exploded for another seven runs in the third inning and five in the fourth. CSA Graphics had solo home runs from Cody Freihofer (3 for 3) and Garrett Quinlan (2 for 3) in the 5th inning. Great defense by Zak Smolkin at third and Ben Pacific at short kept the game from getting even more out of hand.
Healy Oil 16 - CSA Graphics 3
It seemed they might run out of zeros to use on the scoreboard, but Healy scored when it mattered, beating CSA Graphics 16-3. Healy scored four in the first inning and never gave up the lead, scoring another six in the third, and keeping CSA scoreless thru three innings. CSA got on the board with a Bill Cullen two-run homerun in the fourth inning, and added another run in the fifth with a sacrifice fly from Jim Coveno, scoring Chris Brisson. The CSA rally was cut short, though, after a sharp line-drive caught at third allowed Healy to double-up a CSA runner on second base. In the top of the seventh inning, Healy captured enough runs to end the game per mercy rule.
Floral Arts 17 - Healy Oil 11
The game began slowly with Floral scoring only once in each of the first three innings, highlighted by a Dave Janowsky home run, and Healy only scoring in the first inning. But then Floral plated ten runs in the next two innings, as Mike Alonardo and Jim Crowley each stroked three-run homers. Healy Oil plated five in the bottom of the fifth inning to make the game 13-8, but in the top of the seventh Ken Delaney hit a grand slam for Floral to add a little insurance to the lead. In the bottom of the seventh, Healy got five hits, including a three-run homer, but, with men on first and second, a hard shot to Delaney at third was followed by a race to the third base bag, which Delaney won to get the final out of the game. Healy's bats didn't come alive until the 4th inning with Nick Wilmot sending a line drive over the center field fence. Healy couldn't match the consistent hitting of Floral and had plenty of opportunities to bounce back but stranded 14 base runners during the contest. Home runs for Healy came from Nick Wilmot (2) and Tony Pantoja. Defensive standouts were rookie Dan VanShalkwyk who continues to shine in left field as well as Wayne Meadows at third base.
Short Cut Landscaping 30 - CSA Graphics 3
CSA Graphics scored three in the top of the first inning, but Short Cuts rebounded with four in the bottom half of the frame. After a 1-2-3 second inning for CSA, they made roughly a dozen errors in the bottom of the second, allowing SCL to score 23 in the inning. It was no longer a game after that, another 1-2-3 in the third followed by three more runs for SCL made it 30-3, and that is how the tilt ended. Jeff Bernier played in his first game of the year for CSA, and brought his usual swagger, but it was just not enough.
As the final week of the regular season arrives, so did several nights of rain. The final standings and playoff picture is near set- Floral Arts is a win away (or a Mustangs loss) from securing the first round bye while CSA Graphics and Pro Sports Therapy won't be attending the post season. Due to some rainouts, there remain some important match-ups that could alter seedings and playoff opponents.
Burton's Grill 19 - Drew Farms 6
Burton's put up 16 runs in the top of the first inning to post a lead from which Drews could not recover. Jerry Breen led the winning squad with a 4-for-4 night including three home runs and eight RBI, including the game winning walk-off. Dave Batchelder, (HR, 5 RBI), had a strong night at the plate as well as on the mound achieving the win. Every Burton's player had at least one hit and all but one crossed the plate in this important late season victory.
