Washington Township Senators 35+

Two big wins this week against our B Division brethren, both by big scores. The Senators beat the Marlton Red Sox on Tuesday night by a 14-1 tally, and followed it up with a Sunday 15-0 win over the Cherry Hill Greenjackets. Big kudos to Rich Kulikowski, who threw six one-hit innings in the sweltering heat to get his first Senator win in his first start. Ken Bevenour led the offense with two hits and four RBI. Next up for the Nats is a divisional game at Washington Township High School against Phil Ball's Voorhees Angels. John DiPietro is expected to be back on the hill for this contest. Tentative batting lineup: 1. Toth-EH
2. Alessandrini-CF
3. Lawrence-SS
4. Izzi-1B
5. Bevenour-LF
6. McAllister-3B
7. Frese-EH
8. Kulikowski-EH/OF
9. R. Amos-C
10. Rose-EH/2B
11. Trotman-2B After Jim Toth hits in the first inning, Bobby Wood will be inserted into his spot in the lineup. Bobby will pinch run for him if he gets on. This will allow Jim to get another game in and then go do what he has to do. Dale Amos and Miles Reader have told me they will not be there. Over the next few weeks and beyond, things get more difficult for the manager, as he must decide who is going to be out there during the playoffs. As always, we will hit only 11 players during these games, and our best defense will be out on the field virtually 100% of the time. It is the hardest, most-disliked part of of my job when I have to tell people they will not be playing on a given Sunday. But alas, the chore here is to win games, and somebody (lucky me) has to make those hard choices. So I hope you all understand this as we move forward as a team towards our goal of getting that second consecutive championship. We will hit Thursday night at the varsity cages. See you there!

Looks like the bats finally got rolling last night, as the Senators handed the Marlton Red Sox 14-1 defeat to bring their record to 8-4 on the season. Mark Alessandrini and Miles Reader had big three-run blows, and Gene Michalski worked seven solid innings to pick up the win. Frank Izzi contributed three single and Chris Lawrence had two as well. The Senators continue their tour of the B Division with a Sunday game against the Cherry Hill Greenjackets at Lindenwold Park. Rich Kulikowski will get his first Senator start in this contest. I know Jim Toth won't be there, but far as I know, everyone else is expected. We will NOT hit this Thursday night due to the game last night. Lineups for Sunday will be posted as soon as I have them.

Face it: Gabe Masterangelo was our master yesterday. The Tigers scored six unearned runs off a frustrated John DiPietro, and went on to a relatively easy 6-1 victory. This win gives the Tigers a pretty straight path to first place in the division, and to a likey bye in the first round of the playoffs. As for us, it is beginning to look like third place will be our best shot, unless we get some major help from here on out. Tuesday night we take the field at Washington Lake Park for a match against the Marlton Red Sox. Remember, these guys will be JACKED to beat the champs. So we need to play like champs. Rich Kulikowski has the ball. If Rich cannot be there, Gene Michalski will start. I am looking for five, maybe six out of Rich, and then we'll let the bullpen do its job thereafter.

Well, again we were unable to do what I'm sure most of us think we should have done, which is sweep a doubleheader yesterday. But give the Sharks some credit: Ed Brown had a nice game for them and kept them right there, and we simply ran out of innings on the comeback trail. We were one of very few games played yesterday, so the chances are that we might have bought ourselves a week off in early August, should the league decide to extend the season. The 28s have already done just that. We meet again on Thursday, July 6 for batting practice -- and considering the long layoff and how we've been (not) hitting of late, I would recommend you attend. Then we play the Tabernacle Tigers on Sunday, July 9 at Washington Lake Park, with John DiPietro taking the ball. And we continue at the Park on July 11, as Rich Kulikowski makes his Senator starting debut on the mound vs. the Marlton Red Sox. The starting lineup: 1. Alessandrini-CF
2. Lawrence-SS
3. D. Amos-LF
4. Bevenour-EH/RF
5. McAllister-3B
6. Reader-C
7. Toth-EH/1B
8. Frese-1B/EH
9. Kulikowski-RF
10. R. Amos-EH/C
11. Trotman-2B Hang in there...it will get better.

A nice mound effort out of John DiPietro and some clutch hitting from Dale Amos -- along with some great defense by the entire team -- gave the Senators a hard-fought 5-2 win over our old buddies the Delco Astros. Great job, troops! Very gratifying to see the infield of Billy Trotman, Frank Rose, Frank Izzi and Chris Lawrence come up big on this hot day. And a nice job by Gene Michalski to nail it down. All in all, this was our most Senatorial effort of the season, finally worthy of a championship club. And this while missing guys like Beave, McAllister and Wood. Next week, we travel to Clearview High School for a doubleheaders against the Sewell Sharks. We will be the home club for BOTH games of this twin-bill. John DiPietro will start Game #1, and Gene Michalski will get the starting nod in Game #2. I will get Billy Alvaro into both games, and I will also get Rich Kulikowski some innings on the hill. Tentative Game #1 lineup: 1. Alessandrini-CF
2. Lawrence-SS
3. D. Amos-LF
4. Izzi-1B
5. Bevenour-EH/LF
6. McAllister-3B
7. Reader-C
8. Toth-EH
9. Kulikowski-EH/RF
10. Rose-EH
11. Trotman-2B
12. Wood-RF Game #2 lineup to be determined once we see who is available. I cannot be at BP this week, unfortunately, so we will not be hitting on Thursday (unless someone wants to get the baseballs from me).