Washington Township Senators 35+

The Tabernacle Tigers took a doubleheader from the Washington Township Senators Sunday at Patty Bowker Field by scores of 3-0 and 7-4. Mike Coffey tossed the complete game shutout in the opener, and Steve Alemi survived Game Two despite allowing 16 Senators hits. The Tigers were opportunistic on the morning, delivering the key hits when needed and getting the key outs when they had to have them. The Nats, meanwhile, were unable to do the same. Senator hurlers John DiPietro and Pat Dewechter both threw the ball well, but that wasn't enough given the lack of run support. Miles Reader had a nifty 4-for-4 effort in the nightcap, and Mark Alessandrini was on base in four of his six plate appearances. The Senators did not play badly or give anything away. They simply fell just inches short throughout the morning, and those inches added up to two defeats. This leaves the Nats looking at a second place finish in the division at best, though they are likely to still receive a first-round playoff bye if they can right the ship after three consecutive losses. Next up: the Nats face nemesis the Sewell Sharks in another doubleheader, this one likely to be played at Washington Lake Park. DiPietro will start one game, with the second game starter yet to be announced.

The Sewell Sharks used a great performance by Ed Brown and some solid clutch hitting to upend the Senators by a 13-8 score and remove them from the ranks of the unbeaten. The Sharks were helped by four Senators errors which resulted in six unearned runs. Mark Alessandrini had a two singles and a double in the loss, while Dale Amos pounded a pair of doubles, just missing a homer by two feet, and stealing three bases. Senator rookie hurler Pat Dewecheter also flexed his hitting muscles, pounding a double and a homer in four trips. Miles Reader, Jim Stefano and Danny Laudisio each had two hits, and Laudisio also tossed out three Sharks trying to steal late in the contest. John DiPietro gave it all, pitching a complete game in the heat. But he was hurt both by his defense and by an inordinate amount of two-strike hits by the Sharks, who were admittedly excellent in the clutch. The Senators are very familiar with June losses, and well aware that championships are won in AUGUST, not June. So we'll forget this one and focus on next week's doubleheader against the Tabernacle Tigers, who were kind enough to ALSO lose yesterday, their first defeat as well. Dewechter and DiPietro will have the balls next week.

Pat Dewechter tossed five one-hit innings in relief of Frank Rose as the Senators scored late to beat the tough Cherry Hill Bombers by a 7-2 margin. Dewechter did an amazing job, retiring 15 of the 16 Bombers he faced, nine via groundouts and five via strikeouts. The only ball hit in the air was a pop to short in the 7th frame. Pretty efficient! Mark Alessandrini and Miles Reader were each on base in all four plate appearances, and the Senators used their usual balanced offense -- seven different players scored runs -- to handle the Bombers, who must be the best 0-9 team on Planet Earth. The generally concensus in our dugout was "how the heck can these guys have no wins??" Frank Izzi, Jim McAllister and Danny Laudisio added two hits each to the cause (team had 14 safties), and Nick Frese picked up two more RBI. Next up: another home games, this one against our old buddies the Sewell Sharks. And we look to be VERY short-handed. The following players may not be there: Jimmy McAllister, Chris Lawrence, Ken Bevenour and Dale Amos. The pitching chores will be in the able hands of John DiPietro, Frank Rose, and Pat Dewechter.

Frank Rose held the fort for six innings, and a balanced Senators offense produced enough runs to get him a win in his first start of 2006 as the Nats got past the Delco Astros by an 11-7 tally. Chris Lawrence notched the save with three solid innings of work, including his brilliant escape of a bases-loaded, no outs jam in the eighth. The Senators remain unbeated at 7-0. Missing stalwarts Jim McAllister, Jim Stefano, Bill Trotman, John DiPietro and Pat Dewechter -- not to mention DLers Doug Crowe, Bobby Wood and Richie Kulikowski -- the Senators won anyway, scattering 11 hits up and down the lineup, and with six of the 10 batters scoring runs. Mark Alessandrini, Dale Amos, Frank Izzi and Rose each had mutliple-hit days, with Rose scoring three times. And Nick Frese drove in three runs, two with a key two-out double in the fourth. Next up: a home (where???) game against the Cherry Hill Bombers followed by another home game the following week vs the Sewell Sharks. DiPietro and Pat Dewechter are expected to split these two games down the middle. The tentative lineup: 1. Alessandrini-OF
2. Amos-OF
3. Laudisio-C
4. Izzi-1B
5. Barbara-3B
6. Reader-OF
7. Lawrence-SS
8. Stefano-OF
9. Rose-EH
10. Frese-EH
11. Trotman-2B

Please choose TWO candidates for the All-Star Game on Saturday, July 1, 2007. The players listed below told me they are availble to play in the game that day; the guys who CANNOT make it have not been included in the poll. Also, note that pitchers will be chosen by your opponents -- the manager needs to nominate one pitcher from an opposing team in his division.